Walter & Group...
From Tim Lawson :
Gordy,
Question: What are the
principal differences you see between the FFF CCI and MCCI exams
?
Answer:
PREPARATION
1.
If you can?t perform
every cast as written on the Master?s Performance Test with confidence, ease,
and consistency, don?t take the test.
2.
If you have not
written a short answer and a long answer for every question
in the Masters Study Guide, and committed these answers to memory, don?t take
the test.
3.
If you have not read
and taken copious notes from the works of Krieger, Wulff, Borger,
Kyte, Lord, etc, etc, etc, and then committed the notes to memory, don?t take
the test.
4.
Ditto for every issue of
The Loop, and every posting by this study group.
5.
If you have not scoured
the inexhaustible source of information on the Web, and downloaded and committed
to memory a stack of hard-copy information at least a foot in height, don?t take
the test.
6.
Teach at every
opportunity!
7.
Even if your
opportunities for #5 are limited, if you have not practiced
teaching?..to your wife, your dog, the tree in your yard??every aspect of every
cast on both (CCI, MCI) Performance Tests, and honed your delivery to a razor
edge, don?t take the test.
8.
If you have not taken
at least one serious pre-test, with a Master who will tell you the truth
about your abilities, don?t even THINK about taking the
test.
9.
I wasted a lot of time
looking for short cuts. Trust me???there are none.
10.
Enjoy the
journey
!!!
Tim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tim... To do all that along with the development of high level teaching skills and the many hours of practice needed takes a long time.
Many of our successful Master candidates have taken four years or longer to prepare after CCI certification.
It is time well spent on that wonderful journey.
Gordy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Jim Bass :
Gordy one other thing we need to know about the Master is it is more subjective. In order to look at the depth of knowledge it must be.
Jim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim.... On the casting part of the MCCI exam, it is largely objective... the candidate can either make quality casts or not.
The MCCI Testing Committee is trying to make that part of the exam even more objective by refining and publishing the expectations for the performance of each task.
You are correct in that a certain amount of subjectivity has to prevail with the oral part of the exam. While each one is necessarily different, the basic concept of requiring a high degree of expertise is maintained.
You will get a better picture of that if you go back to Paul Arden's attachment and take the time to read my entry in it. It is my own way of trying to make the exam as fair as I can without sacrificing quality.
Gordy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Jim Valle :
Gordy and Group,
There is a definite difference
between the CI and the MCI.
The CI is about basic
fundamentals and the ability to make basic casts.
The MCI includes a few more
advanced casts and distance, however the real difference is about ?Confidence
and Understanding?
A
Master must be able to take information from many and varied sources, evaluate
that information and due to his/her real understanding be able to determine a
logical position on the subject and present it confidently in the simplest of
terms.
I
advise my MCI Candidates to take the exam as a
?Master?
Hope
that helps
Jim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim... Well stated. G.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was my answer to Denise :
Denise...
I have given this a lot of thought.
We can offer it as a topic for our Group discussion and take from there.
Basically, as I see it, the Master's exam goes a great deal further than the CI exam in several ways :
1.) The CCI candidate must perform most of the casting tasks in a satisfactory manner. The performance (casting) part of the Master's exam requires almost flawless performance with respect to loop and line control. Distances to be achieved are obviously higher. The Master candidate is expected to demonstrate this performance with ease.
2.) There are more advanced casting tasks on the Master's exam than on the CCI test. These include curve casts and mends, Spey casts, change of direction casts and others.
3.) The Master candidate must have in depth knowledge of a wide range of topics including the five outlined in the Master Study Guide. Basic casting and teaching knowledge is required of the CCI candidate.
4.) On the CCI exam, the candidate must be able to teach any of the tasks. The Master candidate is expected to have many different methods of teaching each casting task.
5.) The CCI candidate is expected to be able to have a method of correcting the most common faults encountered. The Master must be able to diagnose almost all faults. He must have several ways of correcting each fault in his "bag of tricks".
6.) The Master candidate must be able to produce effective lesson plans for any teaching circumstance or challenge. This is not required on the CCI exam.
7.) Professionalism is expected of CCI candidates. It is especially true with Master candidates.
8.) The Master candidate should exhibit well founded confidence during the oral part of the examination. This same level of confidence should appear as the casting tasks are performed. This goes beyond what is expected of the CCI candidate.
9.) A Master should demonstrate organizational skills during the exam. This will be noted as he goes through the oral exam with things such as the organization of complex answers as well as the ability to come up with lesson plans on the spot. Evidence of this ability will appear during the practical (casting part ) of the exam in other ways such as the algorithmic or other organized ways in which he presents his repertoire of sequential casts as in explaining and demonstrating a series of change of direction casts, casts with wind in different directions, and Spey casts needed for different banks and wind directions, etc. This goes far beyond the CCI exam requirements.
10.) The CCI candidate is expected to have read basic material on fly casting, fly fishing, and teaching. The Master candidate is expected to have studied a wide range of material including the texts of our generally acclaimed authors, the back and current issues of the Loop, teaching videos recommended in the Master Study Guide and others.
11.) The Master candidate should be conversant with different styles of casting. He should be able to compare the different default styles of our most well known experts. He should know the reasons for changing style to suit a fishing or casting circumstance. He needs to be well founded with respect to the essentials of fly casting as they relate to these styles. This is not required of CCI candidates.
12.) The CCI candidate can pass the exam without having had a great deal of interaction with teachers of fly casting. Not so with the Master candidate. The Master candidate will be unlikely pass without having acquired the poise and ease of communication gained from years of "community" with other fly casting instructors.
13.) I left what I feel to be most important 'til last : The Master candidate must have acquired several years of teaching experience, preferably under Masters prior to taking the exam. Failure to have this experience will become obvious to the examiners early during his test. Basic teaching experience will certainly help the CCI candidate during his exam, but isn't vital at that level.
Gordy
From Ally Gowans :
Hi
Gordy,
I think that this would
be a good time to ask for opinions on which elements of the tests candidates
most regularly fail on. Sadly I think that in many cases it is the inability to
make good basic casts that is the foundation for
failure.
Best
regards,
Ally Gowans
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ally,
I'll start with my own observations.
On the CCI exam, several candidates flunk on the basis of loop control. The basic loops are not consistantly good ... sometimes good forward loops with poor unmatched back cast loops. The tailing loop demonstration is sometimes done in a manner not consistent with the way a student is likely to do it (such as artificially shoving the rod tip up into the line path, etc.).
Many fail on one or more of the tasks (18. - 24.) listed under the heading, INSTRUCTIONAL ABILITY.
Some fail to make the 75' distance cast by a wide margin.
On the MCCI exam, I find what you found. Inability to make Master quality casts across the board .
Many fail the line control tasks, particularly the mends.
Some are simply unprepared for the answers and discussions required on the oral exam. They have not understood the depth of knowledge required for this test.
Others fail because even though they may be able to make the casts, they fall short when asked to teach them. This is generally due to lack of actual teaching experience. These candidates usually also do poorly in diagnosing and correcting faults.
Gordy