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Commonly Asked Questions
1. What is the difference between Practitioner Certification and Technical Skills Verification? Practitioner Certification is a competency-based assessment of an individual practitioner’s technical skill set. The assessment is comprehensive, covering all Project Adventure challenge course operating systems. This person once certified could reasonably be expected to operate PA-style elements and courses at sites other than the one he or she is currently working on. Technical Skills Verification is a competency-based verification of an individual practitioner’s technical skill set as it relates to a specific challenge course site. It is far less comprehensive in the knowledge requirements, since practitioners would not be certified to work at other sites. Once they left their current employment, their challenge course skills would no longer be verified. 2. What are the re-certification or expiration periods? Practitioner Certification is valid for three years from the date of your exam. 3. Why doesn’t Project Adventure set up Practitioner Certification exam dates immediately after technical skill workshops (Advanced Skills and Standards, Technical Skills Intensive, Adventure Program Management)? This would make it more convenient for my travel schedule. Our competency-based model is designed to thoroughly evaluate the actual retention of information, knowledge and skills of the individual. In most cases we have found that this works better if there is some period of time between training and testing for certification. When individuals are tested immediately following a training the results may not be an accurate reflection of skills and knowledge actually retained. Many individuals need time to study and practice the skills presented in a workshop to reach the necessary level of mastery. Also, when testing immediately follows a training workshop many of our facilitators report that some trainees are so focused on “passing the test” that the quality of workshop can be affected. 4. I think I am already certified. I took an Adventure Programming workshop with PA in spring of 2002 and Technical Skills Intensive workshop in spring of 2003. I got a certificate! Am I really certified? This is a common misperception. You are not certified under our Practitioner Certification program. The certificate that is issued to practitioners immediately after attending a PA workshop is a certificate of attendance and completion of a PA Training Workshop. This confirms that a particular person was exposed to a certain set of skills and concepts during the duration of that particular workshop. It does not provide any specific evaluation showing that the individual has attained a certain level of knowledge and skill mastery. 5. What does a Practitioner Certification Level 2 exam day look/feel like? Usually we meet at the PA campus at 9 A.M. and do a quick meet-and-greet session. Depending on the weather forecast the morning is usually spent inside. The testing begins with a comprehensive written exam – approximately 40-50 questions. The questions include multiple choice, true/false, short answer and fill-in-the-blank. A knot tying, identification and recognition session, followed by challenge course equipment identification round out the morning. After lunch, served at our conference center, we go out to the challenge course where participants are observed leading a low element. A session on the high elements including belay gear set-up, running the element, doing a belay escape and a belay gear retrieval follows the lows. Next we move on to the final practical piece involving a cutaway rescue. Time permitting, we do a quick feedback, check-in session to let individuals know where they are. We do final grading and notification of certification at a later date. All in all, it can be a long, energy-demanding day. 6. Can you give an idea of the types of questions that will be asked on the written exam? There are true/ false, short answer, multiple choice and a short paragraph essay. Here are some examples taken from Level 2 exam: Section I: True or False Section II. Short Answer The following is printed on a 12 mm steel rapid link: “WLL 1500 kg”. What does this mean? ______________________________________________ Most climbing equipment sold in North America and Europe includes this label indicating that it complies with certain recognized standards: Section III. Multiple Choice (Circle all of the correct answers for each question.) Which of following harnesses are approved to use with a rear clip-in? (Assume harnesses are properly fitted and tied.) Project Adventure Full Body Harness Which of the following are normally acceptable anchor points for self-belayed climbing? Belay cable backup loop Which of the following could damage climbing ropes: Ultraviolet radiation Section IV: Risk Management Please list the critical components of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP). 7. What is the difference again between Level 1 and Level 2 Practitioner Certification? For Practitioner Certification Level 1, the general idea is that the practitioner must demonstrate a good understanding of the content of an introductory four-day workshop (Adventure Programming or Adventure Based Counseling) and a three-day Technical Skills Intensive. They should also have some experience actually leading or co-leading a range of activities including lows, highs, and games. That’s the idea behind the 25-documented program days. Consider a young adult who wants to work at a camp or a recent college graduate who wants to work in a school program. The foundational training is designed to provide a good introduction to important core content. The second level training (30 hours) is designed to provide additional time to ensure that essential safety related skills are practiced to an acceptable level of mastery. The required program time of at least 200 hours minimum (25 program days) is designed to allow individuals to gain additional experience by actually leading or co-leading a variety of program activities. We strongly recommend that newly trained facilitators work under the close supervision of a more experienced practitioner. A potential employer ideally would hire a Level 1 person as a capable assistant instructor or a facilitator who works with other more experienced facilitators. The employer should not expect a Level 1 person to be a “senior” experienced facilitator, but they should expect that they have a solid foundation in the basics, and have demonstrated competence in the material they have learned. For Practitioner Certification Level 2, the general idea is that the practitioner must have a good understanding of what is taught in an introductory four-day workshop (Adventure Programming or Adventure Based Counseling), a three-day Technical Skills Intensive and a four-day Advanced Skills and Standards. They should also have had extensive experience leading a range of activities including lows, highs, and games. That’s the idea behind the 100-documented program days. The Level 2 test is similar to the Level 1 but it covers additional core content and requires a higher level of skill and mastery. A potential employer ideally would hire a Level 2 person as a capable lead facilitator. The employer could expect a Level 2 person to be a “senior” experienced facilitator, and should expect that they could run a variety of initiatives, activities, low and high elements and be knowledgeable of current best practices in the challenge course industry. 8. What is the admissions process for a Practitioner Certification testing date? When you have completed the necessary training and program experience requirements, you may contact Project Adventure's Certification Admissions Counselor to begin the application process. You will be asked to complete our standard registration form that you may already be familiar with, a more detailed application that will be used to assess your readiness for testing and our standard medical release form. The application will include a self-assessment questionnaire, a training documentation form and a program experience form. You will also be asked to submit the full $300 testing fee at the time of registration. If you are not admitted for any reason, you will be reimbursed for the full $300 fee. 9. What type of program experience is required? What type of documentation is required for this? The 25, 100 and 200 days of program experience should be comprised of eight-hour days leading groups on the challenge course. These days should be focused heavily towards the level of certification you are seeking. For instance, it would not be appropriate for someone seeking Practitioner Certification Level 2 to document 100 days of low challenge course facilitation. You will be asked to document your program time on the application form. We do not ask for formal records; however, employer references must be provided as documentation, in cases where we may have questions. 10. Can trainings other than Project Adventures count towards the training day requirement? It depends on a number of variables. First, you have to consider that this is Project Adventure certification, so it would be odd to have taken all your challenge course training from another vendor and expect to do well. Secondly, there are many reputable training organizations out there that may well provide appropriate training that may substitute for some of the requirements. Trainings from other ACCT PVMs ** and Institutes of Higher Education (Colleges and Universities) will sometimes qualify. We would ask you to document the course syllabus, the trainers who taught it, the length of the program including time on task in the classroom and on the challenge course. When you apply for admission we will consider this information. ** Association for Challenge Course Technology Professional Vendor Member 11. What materials should I read, review and study in order to prepare for my exam? Level 1: Challenge Course Technician Level 2: Challenge Course Facilitator Level 3: Challenge Course Manager 12. What happens if I fail only a portion of the exam? In most cases, you would only have to retake the portion that you did not do well on. Partly, it depends on which portion of the exam you failed. In some cases, simply studying those areas of weakness and then retaking that portion may work. Other people may need to spend more time working on their challenge course and facilitating groups. |
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