I'd like to inject my own .02 here -- for what it's worth. I am a retired law professor -- having taught law students, lawyers and even judges over the years! One of my pet peeves during my career was the inability of students (on whatever level) to effectively communicate both orally and with the written word.
For a number of years I taught in Ireland, England and Australia where there was only one examination per year in each subject. This meant that a student's entire grade for an entire year rested on their performance in a single written examination. Since I had come from an American academic background, where there are finals each semester (rather than annually) and mid-terms, term papers, class performance, etc. I was a bit shocked at this different academic system. So, in an effort to both deal with my "pet peeve," and ensure that my students would be able to effectively communicate their knowledge on a final examination, I instituted a process whereby I gave students, short papers to write every two weeks and reviewed them individually with each student. Also, I gave continuous mock examinations to teach students to communicate under pressure. None of this admittedly was for "credit." Everything still depended on a student's performance on their final examination. However, by aggressively pushing students to master written communications during the academic year, I hopefully ensured that they maximized their chances of passing -- and with a good grade. In fact, though I never -- never mentioned it to any student -- I never failed any student who showed up for my final examination. I knew that their efforts in dealing with the persistent intense pressure to write during the year, and answer my searching cross-examinations of their substantive knowledge far surpassed anything they might produce during a 3 or 4 hour written examination in June. However, this only became an issue with border-line examination scores, as most students passed with sufficiently high-grades. In those instances where a few students who had undergone the year-long writing process performed badly or inadequately on the final examination, I was always able to give them the benefit of the doubt -- as I knew their true abilities from observing their efforts during the academic year. Oftentimes, too many external factors, such as a suddent loss of memory, physical ailments, fear, stress or other similar factors negatively effect a student's performance on a final examination. My process was a stopgap to ensure that those factors were either minimized or negated entirely. Only those few who failed to attend class, either at all or sporadically during the year were not given the benefit of the doubt in borderline cases. Everyone else was given this benefit. I mention this -- long-windedly (as I am an attorney) -- because it seems that there may have been a breakdown in the testing process here. A teacher's responsibility -- especially in a hands-on environment as here -- is to drum this information into students' heads -- during the acadmeic year -- to the point that student's know and understand the information without any effort. The lab hands-on should not be a means of eliminating students, but to ratify that the teacher has effectively communicated the information to students during the academic year. If ALL or MOST students fail such an examination, it is a strong sign that the teacher has failed his/her responsbilities to the students. I guess I could go on, but I'll wait and see what flames this message brings! To all, Have a Happy and Joyous Holiday! Greg Macaulay (Almost) Oldest CCNP/CCDP on Earth Lifetime AARP member Retired Attorney/Law Professor ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Lisa" To: Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 5:59 PM Subject: Re: cisco academy's routing skills final ,tough!!! [7:29212] > Although I would prefer that all my students passed on the first try, you > are correct in your assessment. Unfortunately, having passed the CCNA > exam does not guarantee success at the CCNP level. I have stated > before that I like to compare the Cisco certs to the Crafts skills > designators. > I consider the CCNA an apprentice, the CCNP journeyman, and > CCIE master craftsman level of expertise. Not all apprentices make it > to the journeyman level and very few journeymen ascend to the Master > craftsman level. > > Prof. Tom Lisa, CCAI > Community College of Southern Nevada > Cisco Regional Networking Academy > > > Brian Whalen wrote: > > > I really don't agree that everyone should pass, tho perhaps that was a > > wisecrack I didn't see. Inevitably in any class some students try and > > some don't. If everyone fails then yes perhaps that is a problem, but > > given the material difficulty, I would expect a substantial failure rate. > > > > Brian "Sonic" Whalen > > Success = Preparation + Opportunity > > > > On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Tom Lisa wrote: > > > > > I resemble that remark! > > > > > > Prof. Tom Lisa, CCAI > > > Community College of Southern Nevada > > > Cisco Regional Networking Academy > > > > > > Priscilla Oppenheimer wrote: > > > > > > > It sounds like some old-fashioned meanie wrote this test. > > > > > > > Priscilla > > > > > > > > At 12:32 PM 12/14/01, brian hall wrote: > > > > >Just a message to those who (like me!) thinking that reading, doing > labs > > > and > > > > >taking multiple choice test will prepare you for the real world and > > > > >(hopefully)the CCIE lab need to be exposed to cisco's network accademy > > > > >semester 5 skills final . I just took it yesterday and failed . In > fact > > > the > > > > >whole class failed!!!!. > > > > > > > > > >One of our students who scored high on most test and blazed through > the > > > > >final written exam in 10 mins, walked out in frustration . > > > > >Another student who works as an administrator, was are best chance of > > > having > > > > >someone pass missed it . I myself knew after an hour that if you don't > > > have > > > > >those commands down cold with a solid understanding of how to > implement > > > them > > > > >your GOOSE is cooked !!! . You do have the option to have your own > written > > > > >notes to help but that might weigh you down if too much is in front of > > > you . > > > > >Working on idividual labs is one thing but putting the whole > environment > > > > >together is a whole different animal . > > > > > > > > > >Once given the actual skills asessment designing, implementing and > trouble > > > > >shooting you assume that this ones in the bag . The environment wasn't > > > large > > > > >and looking back at the running config's there wasnt much to them > other > > > than > > > > >having MED and CBAC . Ah!!! but how wrong I was!!! I'll spare the > details > > > > >and say that this was an eye opener . It showed me what I really don't > > > know > > > > >and to do the job in the real world will take a lot work on my part FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
