> From: Will Backman <bitge...@yahoo.com> >To: Luca Ferrari <fluca1...@infinito.it>; Mikel King <mikel.k...@gmail.com> >Cc: "bsdcert@lists.nycbug.org" <bsdcert@lists.nycbug.org>; Dan Langille ><d...@langille.org> >Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 12:28 PM >Subject: Re: [BSDCert] BSDA Practice Questions > > >On Tuesday, October 29, 2013 4:11 AM, Luca Ferrari <fluca1...@infinito.it> >wrote: > >On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 7:15 PM, Mikel King <mikel.k...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> Yes SME's are prohibited from taking the exam or producing study materials. >>> >> >>From >>http://www.bsdcertification.org/certification/certification/sme-policy-document: >> >>[quote] >>SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) from the BSD sysadmin community write >>exam questions as well as review their technical accuracy. SMEs are >>required to sign an NDA >> >>While under the NDA, SMEs have access to the database containing the >>questions for the particular exam they are writing/reviewing >>questions. SMEs do not have access to questions for those exams in >>which they are not participating as an SME. Once an SME ceases to >>participate in an exam, their access to the database is revoked. >>[/quote] >> >>Now it is not clear to me what makes a SME, but however I believe >>taking back to the OP question it is not possible to provide an >>exam-like study material, but rather a study guide. >> >> >>Luca > > >My intent would be to only involve people like myself who have not taken the >exam or participated as a SME. >I am wondering if there is any publicly available information at all about the >types of questions used in the exam. Just multiple choice? Short answer? >Essay? Complete the diagram? >If there is not (or should not) be any publicly available information, then >the next thing would be to generate a bunch of general practice questions, and >then ask people who have used them to prepare for the exam if the question >bank was "helpful." I very much do NOT want to do anything that would even >come close to wrecking all the hard work that goes into the BSDA certification >process.
Sorry for the late response, catching up on email after travels... What would be more useful than practice questions would be to fill in the gaps in the study wiki: http://bsdwiki.reedmedia.net/wiki/Table_of_Contents.html The number 1 comment we get back from examinees is that they wish there had been more info here to supplement the Exam Objectives document for users who are still learning sysadmin skills. To prevent spambots, the user creation is protected by a password, but Jeremy can provide that password to anyone interested in assisting with the wiki. Here's some background information, feel free to ask for more info if something is unclear. On purpose, we do not provide practice questions. Part of this is philosophical (we don't want people to just learn to an exam), part is practical (if you understand the exam objectives, it does not matter how the question is asked), and part of it deals with the psychometrics (which requires us to only ask questions covered by the objectives in a very clear manner, which means there really is only so many ways you can ask a question). The three part series on taking the exam in BSD Mag (February through April 2012) discusses this in much more detail. Regarding SMEs, anyone can become a Subject Matter Expert, though it does mean that you are experienced in at least some areas for the exam that you act as an SME. The SME NDA stipulates that you cannot take, teach, or create materials for the exam you act as SME for a period of at least 6 months after your last contact with the exam questions. This is to prevent conflicts of interest and to protect the integrity of the exam. It is also a requirement to have a separation between people who have access to exam questions and any study materials in order to meet the requirements of accreditation standards. Our last SME session was several years ago, though we plan to have BSDP SME sessions in 2014. This NDA also prevents me from creating study materials or providing exam training as I continue to have access to the exam questions as I prepare and ship the paper-based exams. Cheers, Dru _______________________________________________ BSDCert mailing list BSDCert@lists.nycbug.org http://www.nycbug.org/mailman/listinfo/bsdcert
