Terp10 experience at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Question

The TERP10 certification was held at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University on Friday, 29th of May 2009. The associated boot-camp was conducted in the days preceding the certification. The class achieved a 100% pass rate.
I attempt to share my overall experience w.r.t the certification in this thread:
The boot-camp is fairly intensive as the class lasts the entire day. Given the amount of information to be absorbed, it is important to learn in the class, alongside the lecture rather than allocate a separate post-class study time.  Nevertheless, 2-3 hours of study time for revision outside of the class is useful.
A few tips:
1. In order to perform well in the certification, it is important to gain a sound understanding of every topic. Alongside, one must also keep the exam's format in mind while preparing. Since the test consists of mostly multiple choice questions, the need to memorize vital bits of information is reduced, but not eliminated. A solid understanding of the concepts, coupled with some amount of memorization is necessary to perform well.
2. It is important to understand how each module fits into the larger scheme of things.You're expected to know how the modules interact with each other.
3. While not absolutely essential, it is useful to prepare a set of notes that can be referred to.
Given the breadth of topics covered, the TERP10 exam is challenging. However, with a sound study plan the complexity is reduced, and the entire process becomes a lot more enjoyable!
Edited by: anpai on Jun 3, 2009 2:19 AM

Answer 1

Hello Anpai,
Many thanks for the informative post. And very well done with the pass rate! I would have to agree with you on the need to have some understanding of every topic. That and remembering to answer absolutely every question. The tree network and ability to jump between branches makes it very easuty to forget. I asked my students to open up the tree at the very end of the exam to its maximum extent just to see if there were any buttons unchecked. It's rare but it does happen that sometimes students have forgotten a question in one section - often one they thought they would go back to.
I think it is also important to have a study plan - the material can be overwhelming to begin with and a clear navigational aid can be invaluable. In fact I tell my students that the best thing to do before starting the course is remove any section headers, blank pages, note pages and so on from their course books - anything which doesn't add anything. This can reduce the volume of the materials considerably and gives an important psychological boost! Combined with a clear navigatinal aid and practice questions the students know exactly what they need to do and don't feel lost.
I also agree with Timothy on the need to express to the students that they will need to commit to the topic. The TERP10 course certainly isn't a walkover and students need to know that this is not a 'basic' SAP course - it is an SAP course and all of the courses are designed to be taxing in order to make them valuable in the marketplace. Once they understand that - and note how valuable it is - they are prepared to commit to it. 2-3 hours is I think more of a minimum time to spend on reading - depending on your ability to absorb information - but my best students (and indeed faculty) are thosew that spent until 11pm / midnight each night studying and making notes.
I think finally the most significant thing to take away would be that the stduents both need to understand how the modules interact. There are specific comments within the reading materials and of course questions that ask deliberately how module A interacts with module B. But the course title is something of a giveaway and the students who gain the clearest understanding of how the system extends beyond inidivudal rooes not on ly does better at the exam - they have taken the key learning away from the course!
Martin
Martin Gollogly
Director, University Alliances
United Kingdom and Ireland