On Mon, 2004-06-21 at 06:59, Steve Poe wrote: > Before you continue to blow this guy out of that water that he doesn't > know enough or is not skilled enough,
I don't think I was suggesting that at all. He only missed passing by 40 points. He sounds like a _very_ competent sys admin. The reality is that some people fail, some people always fail, and that's just a fact of taking an exam. All he needs to do is take it again. Now he didn't state how he prep'd for the exam. I don't know one IT/vendor certification exam, other than a CompTIA one, that just anyone can walk into without some review. I would be interested in finding out what he used for prep. My point is that I still reviewed each and every objective individually for several hours before walking into each exam (which I took sequentially, one each day). > I think "we" as the people who are helping re-write the questions for > up-and-coming Linux sys admins, we should evaluate what truth we can pull > out of this person's email and apply it. We'll only made the quality and > caliber of the LPI test that much better. Well, you're right in that regard. > Issue 1: Fill in the blank. > "'fill in the blank' questions were often hard to understand, given with > little criteria/syntax to use. There are 50 ways to do any one task in > Linux". And you must be very specific, or list as many correct answers as you can. But many times, FitB is designed to catch people off-guard. I know _I_ personally missed at least 1 FitB on each exam -- and then felt _stupid_ afterwards when I remembered the answer (after the exam was over). FitB is a good measure, when used appropriately. > True, there could be 50 ways. And, if the fill-in question is not > detailed and specific to what LPI is testing, we do a disservice. As we > discovered during our writing, to make a question challenging and > understandable according to the topic objective is a difficult but > necessary responsibility. How can we do this better? Be specific. Know specifics. Then use an extensive man page keyword orand Google.COM/Linux searches to make sure another command cannot be used in any way to do the same thing. If you find any, and cannot make them a "correct answer" (too many, not a simple syntax, etc...) then you should change the question. > Issue 2: Question Confusion > "More so, silly stuff like piping and input direction questions seemed > to just be there to be confusing, and not really get to the bare idea of > what it does. You don't need to combine two pipes and a stdin into one > question, it just makes it confusing, regardless if you know what they do. " > Again, it sounds like this person has two questions in one (possibily) > and became confused. I disagree that one doesn't need to use two pipe in > combination. If we minimize confusion, the knowledge can be better > assessed. I think he was talking about a "distractor" answer. Short-answer: I _never_ saw a question or correct answer with two pipes and a stdin redirect. Long-answer: LPI exams _are_ very "straightforward" in design. The answer _will_ jump out and bite you _if_ you have done it. I remember when I took the LPI 101 and 102 betas last year and this was the case. I'd get a little confused until I realized the one answer was just perfect. But there are plenty of "distractors" that _will_ take advantage of you if you do not know the answer. I'm sure the use of a convoluted pipe/redirection was a "distractor." In fact, given the "access," one will quickly noted several of those -- they are _good_ questions. This is quite _unlike_ CIW** and MS exams where they give you a _perfect_ answer, then change something that makes it wrong. Then they turn around and give you a "less ideal" answer, but it is the only correct one. That is what most people call "ambiguous." You end up reading all the answers and start wondering if its a "test of a test" (which _all_ CIWs** are, and many MS ones are too). Again, I did not see those in any LPI Level 1 content we were involved with. The "correct" answer is straightforward, and will "jump out and bite you" if you know it. If you don't, then you'll see things like this guy did -- because those are the "distractors." -- Bryan **NOTE: CIW is a "test of a test" I have only failed 1 IT exam out of some 40. It was the first CIW exam I ever took -- in the Master CIW Administrator track (450, 460, 470 exams). I didn't have to take the "easier" CIW Foundations exam (410) because I had the CompTIA i-Net+ which they accept as equivalent. I probably should have to get used to the "test of a test" approach. On this first CIW test, I got a 69% out of 70% required in one "subsection." When I retook the exam the very next day, I reversed my logic to answer the "less than perfect answer," I scored a _perfect_100%_. Needly to say, once I learned that the CIWs were a "test of a test," they were _very_easy_ to pass. DISCLAIMER: I am not an employee of LPI and my views do _not_ represent those of LPI. Any comments on CIW or MS exams is a personal reflection, based on real and factual experiences. -- Bryan J. Smith, E.I. -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ lpi-examdev mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.lpi.org/mailman/listinfo/lpi-examdev
