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VITC exit exam questions and answers — Set 5 — Vertical Integration Course for Trainer

Set 5 of the Vertical Integration Course for Trainer (VITC) exit exam bank — 30 of 172 questions, with the correct option marked and a one-line explanation for every one. Read it end to end, jump to a single set, or search it — then sit the same bank as a timed paper. The real DG Shipping exit exam is 30 marks with 15 to pass.

These are the bank's original groupings. Practising deals the whole bank out again every time you reshuffle, so a practice “Set 3” is a different 30 questions each time — the set numbers below are the source file's, and are only used here so the key stays navigable. Options are listed in their original order with fixed letters; when you practise, those move too.

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Set 5 — 30 VITC exit exam questions with answers

1. The main purpose of debriefing participants after a practical exercise is to:

  • A. Secure the equipment
  • B. Review what happened, reinforce correct actions and identify lessons and areas for improvement
  • C. Collect fees
  • D. Record attendance
Answer: B — Review what happened, reinforce correct actions and identify lessons and areas for improvement
A debrief allows trainees and instructor to analyse the exercise, reinforce good performance and identify mistakes and lessons learned, which consolidates the learning from the practical session.

2. A list of equipment with its inventory is included in the practical training programme mainly to:

  • A. Calculate the course fee
  • B. Ensure that all equipment needed for the exercise is available, accounted for and serviceable
  • C. Decide the trainee intake
  • D. Prepare the course certificate
Answer: B — Ensure that all equipment needed for the exercise is available, accounted for and serviceable
The VICT guideline requires a list of equipment and its inventory so that the instructor knows what is available and can verify that it is complete and serviceable before and after practical sessions.

3. In Tuckman's model of team development, the stage in which conflict arises as members assert ideas and test roles is called:

  • A. Forming
  • B. Storming
  • C. Norming
  • D. Performing
Answer: B — Storming
Tuckman's stages are forming, storming, norming and performing (later adjourning). Storming is when disagreements and conflict over roles, goals and methods emerge before the team settles its norms.

4. In Tuckman's model, the stage at which a team works effectively and largely independently towards its goal is:

  • A. Forming
  • B. Storming
  • C. Norming
  • D. Performing
Answer: D — Performing
In the performing stage the team has agreed roles and norms, members trust each other, and the team works efficiently towards its goals with minimal supervision.

5. Which of the following is a characteristic of an effective team?

  • A. Members avoid giving feedback to each other
  • B. Shared goal, clear roles, open communication and mutual trust
  • C. One member makes all decisions without consultation
  • D. Members work towards individual goals only
Answer: B — Shared goal, clear roles, open communication and mutual trust
Effective teams share a common purpose, have clearly understood roles, communicate openly and trust one another; these are the characteristics the VICT teamwork activity asks trainees to identify.

6. In Belbin's team role model, the 'Completer Finisher' is the member who:

  • A. Generates creative new ideas
  • B. Polishes work, searches for errors and ensures deadlines are met
  • C. Coordinates the team and delegates
  • D. Explores outside contacts and opportunities
Answer: B — Polishes work, searches for errors and ensures deadlines are met
Belbin describes the Completer Finisher as painstaking and conscientious, searching out errors and omissions and ensuring the task is completed on time; ideas come from the Plant and coordination from the Coordinator.

7. The VICT activity on teamwork is intended to show trainees:

  • A. Methods of disciplining team members
  • B. The purpose of teams in the work context, characteristics of effective teams, and how to build and maintain them
  • C. How to avoid working in teams
  • D. How to select team leaders by seniority only
Answer: B — The purpose of teams in the work context, characteristics of effective teams, and how to build and maintain them
Activity 4.1.1b of the DGS VICT guideline aims to show the purpose of teams in the work context, the characteristics of effective teams, and building and maintaining teams, including team roles.

8. When a trainee instructor organises group work in class, the best practice is to:

  • A. Give a clear task, time limit and expected output, and monitor the groups
  • B. Avoid any reporting back
  • C. Give no instructions so groups find their own way
  • D. Let one trainee do all the work
Answer: A — Give a clear task, time limit and expected output, and monitor the groups
Group activities succeed when the task, time allowed and expected output are clear and the instructor monitors progress and arranges a report-back, ensuring all members contribute.

9. Which is the main benefit of using team exercises in maritime training?

  • A. They develop communication, cooperation and leadership skills needed for shipboard operations
  • B. They eliminate individual assessment
  • C. They reduce the need for instructors
  • D. They shorten the course
Answer: A — They develop communication, cooperation and leadership skills needed for shipboard operations
Shipboard operations depend on teamwork; team exercises develop communication, cooperation, leadership and shared situational awareness, skills reflected in STCW competences such as leadership and teamworking.

10. In the 'forming' stage of a team, members are typically:

  • A. Polite, uncertain of their roles and dependent on the leader for direction
  • B. Disbanding after completing the task
  • C. In open conflict
  • D. Highly productive and autonomous
Answer: A — Polite, uncertain of their roles and dependent on the leader for direction
During forming, members are getting to know each other, are unsure of purpose and roles, and look to the leader for guidance; conflict typically appears later in storming.

11. A well-written learning objective should use a verb that is:

  • A. Vague, such as 'know' or 'appreciate'
  • B. Related only to the instructor's actions
  • C. Observable and measurable, such as 'state', 'describe' or 'demonstrate'
  • D. Always 'understand'
Answer: C — Observable and measurable, such as 'state', 'describe' or 'demonstrate'
Learning objectives describe what the trainee should do to demonstrate learning, so they need observable, measurable action verbs; this is why IMO model course objectives are prefixed 'the expected learning outcome is that the trainee...'.

12. A complete performance objective, in addition to the performance itself, normally states:

  • A. The cost of the training
  • B. The conditions under which it is performed and the standard to be achieved
  • C. The textbook chapter only
  • D. The instructor's name and the room number
Answer: B — The conditions under which it is performed and the standard to be achieved
A fully stated objective (Mager format) includes the performance, the conditions under which it is to be performed and the standard or criterion of acceptable performance, mirroring the STCW criteria for evaluating competence.

13. The usual structure of a lesson is:

  • A. Assessment, introduction, conclusion
  • B. Introduction, development (main body), and conclusion/consolidation
  • C. Conclusion, development, introduction
  • D. Development only
Answer: B — Introduction, development (main body), and conclusion/consolidation
A structured lesson has an introduction (objectives, motivation, link to previous learning), a development or main body presenting the content in steps, and a conclusion that summarises and checks learning.

14. When planning a lesson, the VICT guideline asks the trainee instructor to identify first the trainees':

  • A. Likely knowledge and competence at the start of the lesson
  • B. Salary levels
  • C. Preferred seating
  • D. Home addresses
Answer: A — Likely knowledge and competence at the start of the lesson
Learning objective 5.1 requires identifying the trainees' likely knowledge and competence at the start of the lesson and the required knowledge and competence at the end, so that the outcomes bridge the gap.

15. In the VICT activity on formulating learning outcomes, the important consideration is to understand the link between learning outcomes and:

  • A. The institute's prospectus
  • B. The STCW Competence Tables
  • C. The trainee's rank
  • D. The examination timetable
Answer: B — The STCW Competence Tables
Activity 5.1.3 states that the important consideration is to understand the genuine link between learning outcomes and the STCW Competence Tables, preferably working in groups of trainees from similar professions.

16. In Bloom's revised taxonomy of the cognitive domain, which is the highest level?

  • A. Remember
  • B. Apply
  • C. Evaluate
  • D. Create
Answer: D — Create
The revised taxonomy of Anderson and Krathwohl (VICT publication P14) orders cognitive levels as remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate and create, with create as the highest.

17. In Kirkpatrick's four-level model of training evaluation, which level measures whether trainees apply what they learned when back on the job?

  • A. Reaction
  • B. Learning
  • C. Behaviour
  • D. Results
Answer: C — Behaviour
Kirkpatrick's levels are reaction, learning, behaviour and results. Level 3, behaviour, evaluates transfer of learning to the workplace, for example whether officers apply new procedures on board.

18. In Kirkpatrick's model, a course feedback form completed by participants at the end of the course mainly measures:

  • A. Reaction
  • B. Learning
  • C. Behaviour
  • D. Results
Answer: A — Reaction
End-of-course feedback questionnaires capture how participants felt about the training, its relevance and delivery, which is Kirkpatrick Level 1, reaction.

19. In the VICT guideline, 'opportunity to learn' is described as:

  • A. The number of holidays in the course
  • B. The time between two courses
  • C. The overlap between the information that trainees were taught and the information on which they were tested
  • D. The trainee's eligibility to join the course
Answer: C — The overlap between the information that trainees were taught and the information on which they were tested
Activity 6.1.2 states that opportunity to learn is the overlap between what trainees were taught and what they were tested on, and that it includes quality of resources, conditions, curriculum and course delivery.

20. The 3P model of teaching and learning by Biggs, recommended in the VICT guideline, consists of:

  • A. Plan, Prepare, Present
  • B. Presage, Process, Product
  • C. Purpose, Practice, Performance
  • D. People, Place, Programme
Answer: B — Presage, Process, Product
Biggs' 3P model (VICT publication P4) describes presage (factors before learning such as trainee characteristics and teaching context), process (learning activities) and product (learning outcomes).

21. Kirkpatrick's Level 4 'Results' evaluates:

  • A. Attendance records
  • B. The impact of training on organisational outcomes such as fewer incidents or improved performance
  • C. Trainees' satisfaction with the course
  • D. Test scores at the end of the course
Answer: B — The impact of training on organisational outcomes such as fewer incidents or improved performance
Level 4 measures the final results attributable to training for the organisation, for example reduced accidents, fewer deficiencies or improved operational performance.

22. According to the VICT learning objectives, the role of quality management in course evaluation is to:

  • A. Fix the course fee
  • B. Reduce the course duration
  • C. Replace assessment of trainees
  • D. Maintain a high standard of course delivery
Answer: D — Maintain a high standard of course delivery
Learning objective 6.1 requires trainees to identify the role of quality management in maintaining a high standard of course delivery, linking evaluation results to continual improvement of training.

23. An assessment that consistently produces the same result when repeated by different assessors under the same conditions is said to be:

  • A. Valid
  • B. Reliable
  • C. Practical
  • D. Formative
Answer: B — Reliable
Reliability is consistency of results across assessors, occasions and candidates; validity is whether the assessment measures what it is intended to measure. The VICT guideline asks trainees to consider both, together with practicality.

24. Competence-based assessment under STCW is best described as:

  • A. Based only on attendance
  • B. Based on the instructor's general impression
  • C. Norm-referenced, ranking candidates against each other
  • D. Criterion-referenced, judging the candidate against specified standards of competence
Answer: D — Criterion-referenced, judging the candidate against specified standards of competence
Competence-based assessment compares evidence of the candidate's performance with fixed criteria, the STCW criteria for evaluating competence, rather than ranking candidates against one another.

25. Summative assessment is mainly used to:

  • A. Diagnose difficulties during the course so teaching can be adjusted
  • B. Motivate trainees with informal quizzes
  • C. Collect opinions about the course
  • D. Make a final judgement of whether the trainee has achieved the required standard
Answer: D — Make a final judgement of whether the trainee has achieved the required standard
Summative assessment occurs at the end of a unit or course to decide whether the required standard has been met, for example for certification; formative assessment is ongoing and used to guide learning.

26. When giving feedback to a trainee instructor after a practice teaching session, the most constructive approach is to:

  • A. Give only general praise
  • B. Give specific comments on strengths and on areas to improve, with suggestions
  • C. Delay feedback until the end of the course
  • D. Point out only the mistakes
Answer: B — Give specific comments on strengths and on areas to improve, with suggestions
Constructive feedback is specific, balanced and timely: it identifies what was done well and what should be improved, with practical suggestions, so the trainee knows how to develop.

27. According to the VICT guideline, assessment results should be applied to improve:

  • A. Only the institute's marketing
  • B. The assessment process, the teaching and learning process, or both
  • C. Only the timetable
  • D. Only the trainee's certificate grade
Answer: B — The assessment process, the teaching and learning process, or both
Activity 6.3.3 recommends that trainees brainstorm how assessment results can improve the assessment process, the teaching and learning process, or both, using a course evaluation template.

28. Which method of collecting evaluation data allows anonymous responses from all participants at the end of a course?

  • A. Practical test
  • B. Individual oral interview
  • C. Direct observation
  • D. Written questionnaire or survey
Answer: D — Written questionnaire or survey
A written questionnaire or survey can be completed anonymously by all participants and is a common method of collecting course feedback, which the VICT guideline requires from each participant at the conclusion of the course.

29. Feedback to a trainee on assessment performance is most effective when it is:

  • A. Personal and critical of the trainee's character
  • B. Specific, related to the performance criteria and given promptly
  • C. Given only in writing months later
  • D. Given in front of the whole class to embarrass the trainee
Answer: B — Specific, related to the performance criteria and given promptly
Effective feedback focuses on the performance, not the person, refers to the standard required, and is given as soon as practicable so the trainee can connect it with the task and act on it.

30. According to the DGS VICT guideline, a trainee who is unsuccessful in the course assessment should be:

  • A. Barred from the course permanently
  • B. Issued the certificate anyway
  • C. Provided additional hands-on training with records maintained, and re-assessed in a subsequent batch assessment
  • D. Asked to repeat sea service
Answer: C — Provided additional hands-on training with records maintained, and re-assessed in a subsequent batch assessment
Paragraph 12 of the guideline requires institutes to provide unsuccessful trainees with additional hands-on training, keep records of it, and re-assess them in subsequent batch assessments.

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