Allysson .\\oraes wrote:

> is there some plans to LPI release a new certification level based on total
> pratice exames (like RHCE) maintaining the currents?
> What would be the implications? It would be nice to prove theoretical
> skills.

(I'm not at all sure whether I have understood the question, but here goes …)

The party line is that practical exams (as used by Red Hat or Novell) lack the 
psychometric theory that is behind LPI's existing multiple-choice exams. 
Instead, they are based on a warm fuzzy feeling that somebody who can do XYZ 
on a computer in a more-or-less contrived exam situation will also be able to 
do XYZ (and, presumably, related things) on a computer in the wild. We don't 
want to certify people based on warm fuzzy feelings.¹

In addition, one might argue from a pragmatic point of view that practical 
exams are more difficult to deploy since they need a more elaborate 
infrastructure than the current LPI exams. This will result in higher exam 
prices and make the exams less accessible – it is unclear whether practical 
exams could be offered through Prometric/VUE and at major Linux events (where 
LPI currently offers paper-based exams), and LPI isn't really in a position to 
create and maintain its own infrastructure for the practical exams, such that 
they are available nearly anywhere in the world like the current exams are.

The idea of offering optional practical exams *alongside* the existing exams 
seems interesting at first glance, but conflicts with the basic stipulation 
that the existing exams already tell us everything one needs to know about a 
candidate's qualifications. (If that wasn't the case, the current LPI exam 
process would be flawed, and we obviously can't have that, so there we are.) 
If we do accept that stipulation, having a separate optional practical exam 
would be a waste of effort, since it would not signify anything other than 
that somebody who has passed the practical exam was able to afford the time 
and money to go through with it.

Anselm (not speaking for the LPI nor Linup Front GmbH, of course).

1. If one was feeling snarky one could point out that psychometrics isn't the
   most exact of sciences, either, but that is neither here nor there.
-- 
Anselm Lingnau ... Linup Front GmbH ... Linux-, Open-Source- & Netz-Schulungen
[email protected], +49(0)6151-9067-103, Fax -299, www.linupfront.de
Linup Front GmbH, Postfach 100121, 64201 Darmstadt, Germany
Sitz: Weiterstadt (AG Darmstadt, HRB7705), Geschäftsführer: Oliver Michel
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