AC certification

[Petros Ioannou]

Does Graphisoft has an official standard for qualifying users with Archicad knowledge? And if so is there a sort of test or anything else to prove that a student has attended AC lessons or seminars?
I am asking this because a lot of students and professionals who came to the drafting/drawing school where I am teaching usually ask for some sort of verification for their training.
IMHO the best way to verify this is your everyday performance in a practice but people usually need some sort of papers to prove this.
....or sometimes because they just like to collect diplomas!

Petros

[Link]

I have just returned from a long trip to Europe so please excuse my delay in replying.

I feel compelled to defend myself here because the last thing I want to do is make people upset or irritated or annoyed. Firstly, I am all for ArchiCAD certification! This is something I have discussed with GSUS and have offered to help with. Of course it is not in my hands, and as soon as a plan starts to develop, I will be there with bells on! More on this later.

Regarding my title as an Authorized Consultant, yes it is true that I am the only one with this title. But let me explain the reason for this. Now I love my job, I love helping people, I feel very lucky to have got myself where I am, so please do not take this as a complaint. I would just like to make it clear about what is behind the title of 'Graphisoft's First Authorized Consultant':

Many of you may know that I have been using ArchiCAD extensively for the past 6 years. Many may know me only from ArchiCAD-Talk where I have always participated as much as my time permits. Many may remember when the company, for which I was the CAD Manager in Orlando Florida, suddenly collapsed I decided to create my own company called ArchiLINK (yes the name was originally a joke!). Despite the many generous offers from around the country, I felt my knowledge would be put to best use helping ArchiCAD users everywhere rather than helping just one company. Please keep in mind that ArchiCAD has opened up new worlds to me - literally. Because of it I have traveled from Australia, to the US, and more recently to the UK. ArchiCAD has given me many happy opportunities and has enriched my life, and as uncommon as this may sound, I feel I owe the program a lot and this is why I am happy 'to return the favor'. So I risked everything I had, set about building my own company from scratch and started helping people anywhere I was asked to go.

And I still do this! But it didn't simply mean putting a banner ad at the old escribe ArchiCAD-Talk and waiting for my phone to ring. It meant networking with a lot of the power users on this forum, visiting them and other users and many resellers all across the country. Dealing with the politics of the ArchiCAD world, the egos and fickle personalities that strangely enough face someone who is not trying to step on toes, but simply offering to help the ArchiCAD cause. It meant pleading with GSUS representatives and indeed the president of GSUS to recognize what I am willing to offer the ArchiCAD community. Investing countless hours with internal ArchiCAD forums, beta testing ArchiCAD for months on end, involving myself with add-on developers to improve the quality of their products. Donating time to assist with training at universities. Offering free and comprehensive advice to random people who contact me privately. Providing my services at comparatively highly discounted rates - I'm not getting rich off this!! Paying for myself to get to ArchiCAD Universities in the US & the UK, to further expand my knowledge and meet, and indeed teach, other ArchiCAD users. Paying for myself to visit with the product management and design teams at Graphisoft HQ in Budapest (yes - the mother ship! ) to discuss current workflow issues and how they can be solved in future releases.

And I don't want to risk sounding negative about the travel aspect of my job, because I do love travel, but to put it into perspective, the last time I went to my own home was 7 weeks ago and that was only for a 12 hour 'layover'! Trying to keep friendships when you only see your friends once every two months isn't the easiest - and my poor fiancée never knows whether I am coming or going! But I digress.

I hope that I have made it a little clearer what it has meant to me to become 'certified'. There was no such test. No multiple choices. No set fees. No formal schooling. If only it was that simple! I believe I have the title of the first Graphisoft Authorized Consultant because I created it.

I would humbly like to add that I am in no way saying that I am better than everyone else! Karl, Matthew, Ben, Djordje, James and many others impress me daily with their knowledge of the program and their similar determination to improve the product. I thoroughly enjoy reading their posts (although I don't always get a chance to reply) and I am privileged to communicate with these level of users privately whenever the opportunity arises. These are the people who truly deserve the highest of certifications and I sincerely think it's about time everyone got the credit they deserve. Until then I will remain grateful at the support I have received, and will proudly use my title to offer help to any ArchiCAD user who may need it.


ArchiCAD Certification:

From my experience it is evident that there are many users that are excellent at what they do in their office, but few that excel in all areas of the program. Excuse me if I am repeating other ideas, as I haven't quite got the time to read every post, but IMHO, I think certification depends on a combination of:


- Knowing the program intimately - and that means everything from drawing a line to scheduling to team working to animating to linking views into PlotMaker, etc;

- Knowing how the program is designed to be used in every detail (not just what it does, but why);

- Knowing the entire process of producing real world architectural documentation and having practical experience in it (including the importance of standards and CAD Templates to tips on how to save time in all aspects of ArchiCAD);

- Being fast (speed and efficiency is definitely an issue that is all too often overlooked!);

- Being able to answer the wobbly questions that often only a new user can throw at you (How many levels of display order are there in PlotMaker? How do I match my PlotMaker pens with my ArchiCAD pens? How many ways are there to access the Wall tool? What does that little cloud really mean in the 3D window? I could go on forever!);

- And finally - being able to teach it in a way that people understand.


Anyone who has tried teaching all levels of ArchiCAD users knows that this really can't effectively be determined by a simple multiple choice test. Oral examination alone is difficult given the visual and interactive nature of the work. Most people could cheat an online test given the means and determination and therefore this must be out of the question! I know I personally can get a very good idea of a user's skill level, simply by watching over their shoulder for a few minutes. I strongly believe the most accurate method is to test in person. That is to hold interactive tests at registered testing locations at set times and/or have a trainer/tester visit onsite (and I add trainer, because one of the goals here is to promote the education of the program). Not only that, but there must obviously be certified levels of skill. Even for the sake of those few users who have reached the highest level, the final test must be a very challenging test indeed. Additionally I think that not only should we have a main certification for ArchiCAD, but we should also have additional certificates - advanced GDL, high-end rendering, using calculation lists, etc. This way people could prove their levels of competency with ArchiCAD but also show that they are specialists in a particular field. At the top of the list would be the certified trainers who should have their own forum and network to exchange notes and ensure a high level of testing is mantained.

As I mentioned earlier I am only too keen too see some form of ArchiCAD certification put into place. As a full-time trainer, I would be happy to contribute any resources necessary. I would even be willing to offer my services as an onsite trainer/tester. But we need GS to get the ball rolling - I look forward to hearing from them and others and seeing ArchiCAD Certification come to fruition.

Cheers,
Link.

[David Shorter]

Julia makes a good point, its very easy to build up great knowledge in specific areas of ArchiCAD and not touch others. This is one reason why our Skill Assessment package seperates the various work areas of ArchiCAD. Very often and employer wants a user with specific skills [modelling and presentation] or [documentation] and our assessments are provided on that basis, clearly identifying which areas of ArchiCAD the applicant is strong or weak in.
There are two things that are difficult
1) the assessment must be OBJECTIVE
and
2) the assessment must not take a day otherwise no one could afford it.

It has been very useful over the last two years helping our users expand their skill levels and increasing the understanding of employers of how ArchiCAD can be used to increase their office efficiency

[Djordje]

David wrote:
Properly... ///
All these instances are real examples, usually they come from otherCAD users who think they know how to use ArchiCAD (but not exculsively!!!)
In other words using the program the way it was designed to be used.
Does this answer you question?

Just my take too.

Would you agree that it is the lack of basic training and understanding that leads the people to do it likethey mostly do?

In this case, the exam can be clearly long distance and online, BUT! the danger of wokring around the corners cutting your grade(s) down is a very real one.

So there should be a clearly defined HOW TO first, on the lines of Project Framework, as a text book?

[David Shorter]

Djordje wrote:
Just my take too.

Would you agree that it is the lack of basic training and understanding that leads the people to do it likethey mostly do?

In this case, the exam can be clearly long distance and online, BUT! the danger of wokring around the corners cutting your grade(s) down is a very real one.

So there should be a clearly defined HOW TO first, on the lines of Project Framework, as a text book?

Dealing with your points in order

Yes and no
Yes because its much easier to learn to right way if you're helped at an early stage. Its much easier to come to grips with ArchiCAD when you're working with like minded 'ArchiCAD' people and
No because traditionally there has been the tendancy to think of the drawings as the end result and therefore the act of drawing has been an end in itself.
Using ArchiCAD is, to coin a phrase, "So Simple". You really only have to think (and understand) how a building goes together and that's generally how you build it in ArchiCAD. In the reverse situation the architect is so focused on the building that 'they' wont think about the process of getting the design out. To see a user drawing lines to represent the same element in different views drives me insane. I'm thinking 'why don't they think about how they are doing it? Why don't they make their lives easier?'
So for your first point I think that its generally lack of time to think thats a real problem

On your second point
You seem to think in terms of an exam and this is where we have a different approach, because I don't think an "exam" is the answer. Why do I think this?......
Basically because an exam results in a series of anwers to set problems rather than showing a way of thinking. Anwsers to set problems produce set answers.
Online ...? IMHO the only way to assess the skills of a user is the view a real project and the output thereof and with the size of ArchiCAD projects this is impractical

The "How To" relates directly to putting a project together using ArchiCAD and PlotMaker. Sure Project Framework is a good start but so is creating a any set of documents for any real project regardless of where in the world you are. Any project needs walls, doors, windows, roofs etc. Therefore most projects will satisfy to criteria without the need for a text book. After all the 'text book' should have been have been part of the basic architectural or drafting training, nothing to do with ArchiCAD.

Djordje... I am talking about testing NOT training. Sure training is a real issue, quality, coverage, access to etc... but this is a totally different subject (and one I'd like to continue on a different thread)
At the end of the day I don't care how the applicants are trained I just care that they use ArchiCAD 'properly'

Question
How does one 'train' a new user?
How does one train a user of otherCAD new to ArchiCAD