Innovations for Quality, LLC
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Preparing for an ASQ Certification Exam
If you are planning on taking one of the ASQ certification exams, congratulations. You have made an excellent decision, the process of becoming certified strengthens your career progression and solidifies you professionally. There are many ways to prepare for the exam and over the years we have observed people approach the exam in many different ways. Some prefer to study on their own, some like to study with other people and some prefer to have a structure of class environment to help them along. We have been associated with the ASQ Certification exams and preparation courses for over fifteen years. That experience has provided us an understanding of what works and what doesn't when preparing for the exam. We have learned a solid approach to passing the certification exam involves a four step process we call material - testing - modification - repetition.
Material means you know what material the exam covers and you study and learn the material. Testing means you test yourself on what you've learned. Modification is taking the results of the testing and strengthening the areas you are weak in. Repetition is simply doing it over and over. Do not do in once a week, do a little bit every day. The continuous repetition is what cements the knowledge within you.
The first thing you should obtain is a summary of the material you need to study. This material is called the body of knowledge for the specific ASQ Certification Exam you are preparing for. You can obtain the ASQ Certification body of knowledge for the certification exams at the ASQ website. The BOK or Body of Knowledge not only explains what is covered, but it gives you the weighting of each area and the level of cognition for each area of the BOK. The cognition level is very important to understand because you do not need to know everything very well. Some areas of the BOK you will only have to remember or recall and some you will have to be able to analyze and apply. Spend some time reviewing the BOK and become very familiar with it. Once you have completed reviewing the BOK, you should find reference materials. An excellent source of material are the primers from the Quality Council of Indiana. The primers developed by the Quality Council of Indiana provide good, broad coverage and are aligned very well with the ASQ BOK. We have used the primers for many years for our preparation courses.
One of the downsides of the primers is their lack of detail relative to other reference books. If a topic exists that requires supplemental information to the primer, ASQ's website provides a wide selection of reference books for the ASQ certification exams.
Another method you can employ is to take a refresher course or a preparation course for the exam. They are offered by various ASQ sections throughout the country as well as ASQ National in Milwaukee. The benefit of a refresher course is that you will be provided with the materials and you have an instructor who has knowledge of the material teaching you. This avenue can save on time down the road. You don't have to take a preparation course, you can achieve the certification on your own. It's a personal decision for people similar to hiring a consultant when implementing ISO 9000.
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Material means you know what material the exam covers and you study and learn the material. Testing means you test yourself on what you've learned. Modification is taking the results of the testing and strengthening the areas you are weak in. Repetition is simply doing it over and over. Do not do in once a week, do a little bit every day. The continuous repetition is what cements the knowledge within you.
The first thing you should obtain is a summary of the material you need to study. This material is called the body of knowledge for the specific ASQ Certification Exam you are preparing for. You can obtain the ASQ Certification body of knowledge for the certification exams at the ASQ website. The BOK or Body of Knowledge not only explains what is covered, but it gives you the weighting of each area and the level of cognition for each area of the BOK. The cognition level is very important to understand because you do not need to know everything very well. Some areas of the BOK you will only have to remember or recall and some you will have to be able to analyze and apply. Spend some time reviewing the BOK and become very familiar with it. Once you have completed reviewing the BOK, you should find reference materials. An excellent source of material are the primers from the Quality Council of Indiana. The primers developed by the Quality Council of Indiana provide good, broad coverage and are aligned very well with the ASQ BOK. We have used the primers for many years for our preparation courses.
One of the downsides of the primers is their lack of detail relative to other reference books. If a topic exists that requires supplemental information to the primer, ASQ's website provides a wide selection of reference books for the ASQ certification exams.
Another method you can employ is to take a refresher course or a preparation course for the exam. They are offered by various ASQ sections throughout the country as well as ASQ National in Milwaukee. The benefit of a refresher course is that you will be provided with the materials and you have an instructor who has knowledge of the material teaching you. This avenue can save on time down the road. You don't have to take a preparation course, you can achieve the certification on your own. It's a personal decision for people similar to hiring a consultant when implementing ISO 9000.
Next Page >>
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