Stewart,
On Jun 14, 2006, at 9:53 AM, Stewart Watkiss wrote:
would like to ask what do you think about all LPIC-3 exam series be
based in lab exams ?
My biggest gripe with the current LPIC exams is that they are
purely a measure of memory recall. Whether that particular option
is -R or -r does not measure the ability of someone to manage a
linux computer.
Very succinctly put. This is a comment I have heard til my ears bled.
This is not a direct criticism of the LPIC program as many other
schemes also use a similar method. An exam should test the ability
to apply knowledge to accomplish the objects. I think that it would
be better to give access to a limited number of man pages (and
perhaps HowTo), in the form of a printed book for the paperbased
exams, and then test that the candidate understands the tasks and
where to find the information, rather than requiring that the
candidate remember some obscure command options.
In other words, take the attendees knowledge and make them use it in
perspective and with relevancy, not just to a single item on a single
question, but in context. This is damned hard to do with a paper/
multiple choice exam.
Simulators could introduce other problems, especially as there is
so many different ways of performing the same task, and a method
that is discouraged in one distro, maybe the easiest way to achieve
it in another. Something as simple as adding a new user could be
achieved by editing text files, using useradd, using web based
admin tools or using any number of different GUI based tools. If
you only allow the useradd command, as that can be done in all
distros, then it's no different to having a text field and access
to the man pages. Obviously this is a trivial example based on 101,
but the same principles apply to the more involved topics.
This is something that was a definite challenge in the CLP exams, you
effectively have to brief them as to what tool they are expected to
use, and then grep the hell out of the correct files or command
history or whatever to find out if they did it. I have seen some 18
part grep pipelines that checked for things, and very effectively too.
I really like the idea of a flash or simulation exam that's delivered
to the local system as an image, (send your "Flash is a proprietary
technology" emails and flames to [EMAIL PROTECTED], it's an example,
folks) and contains all the questions or little command line
scenarios like the MS IIS test and the Cisco CCNA exams did for quite
a while. It could be done that way, and avoid the pitfalls of real
systems, but that could just be pie in the sky. I could do it in
html, but it's got to be well thought out and encrypted in the
delivery and once the grading is done, it should self destruct and
go away when it's done transmitting the score back to the mother ship.
If you use a full system rather than a simulator then the
difficulty is in measuring the success of the operation, and in how
this is to be handled by the examining centre. The cost would also
go up, which would deter a lot of people.
Ok, I agree, but we KNOW this will not be taken in anywhere near the
numbers that LPIC2 has been getting, they HAVE to take the LPIC1 and
LPIC2 first, so who says it's more than a botique exam set, that can
be delivered in locations around the world. In other words we're so
much of a hammer sometimes that everything has to be a nail, and this
might be a situation where for the numbers we are projecting it makes
sense to keep it out of the standard distribution channel.
Personally I think that there should be a limited set of man
pages / documents made available for the exam, and the questions
then set accordingly.
Nice addition to the discussion.
Ross
Stewart
--
Penguin Tutor
LPIC 101 and 102 Practice exams at:
www.penguintutor.com
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