Part 2 of the series I'm writing...
CertGuard
The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part two
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/13646
These are the other links I posted from the Part 1 post, in case ya missed
'em. ;-)
http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/cisco/
This is part 1 of the article:
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/13341
Some other useful links:
Home: http://www.CertGuard.com
Forums: http://www.CertGuard.com/forums/
Braindumps: http://www.CertGuard.com/braindumps.asp
Practice Test Providers: http://www.CertGuard.com/reviews.asp
Study Materials and Books: http://www.CertGuard.com/store.asp
Vendor Links and Emails: http://www.CertGuard.com/links.asp
--
CertGuard
You think you know IT?!?!
Check out the new 'No Braindump' CertGear:
http://www.cafepress.com/certguard <-- we sell Thongs!!
Scooby
wrote in message news:131mvok...@news.supernews.com...
> Well, here it is...Part deux!
>
> The cheating industry that is devaluing IT certification - part two
> http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/13646
>
>
> These are the other links I posted from the Part 1 post, in case ya missed
> 'em. ;-)
> http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/cisco/
>
> This is part 1 of the article:
> http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/13341
>
While I agree with you on concept about cheating hurting the certification
industry, I don't believe that is the real problem. You could almost
consider some of the ciscopress material as braindumps, since it is meant to
help you pass an exam. In the end, you aren't that much closer to
understanding the material, you just have learned enough to pass the test.
Back in the early 90's, I started my networking career by going to classes
to get my Novell CNE. When I got all done, I was certified, but I would
have been scared to death to take over someone's Novell network, even though
I knew enough to pass the tests. This was long before the days of readily
available braindumps. Also, I've hired contractors with certifications that
didn't understand what they were doing - again before the days of
braindumps.
I think the real focus should be towards the tests themselves. I say make
these tests really hard, and open book/open resource. Then, braindumps
become useless. You would need to really understand what you are doing to
pass the test. Also, real life is open book. I use resources all the time
to complete my work. All good engineers know how to be resourceful, not
just apply what is in the memory banks. That is really what needs to be
tested.
Now, I understand that this would make testing more expensive, but I am all
for that. Personally, I despise paying $125 for a certification test that
really isn't testing my ability to do the job. I'd be much more happy
paying $500 for a more comprehensive open book test. And, I firmly believe
that a certification received from that type of testing would be much more
valued than today's paper certs.
I think Cisco has it right with their CCIE lab tests, although I do think it
should be a litte more open resource. Extremely comprehensive, proctored
and no way are you getting out of there with brain dumps. I'm not saying
every test should be quite this comprehensive, as the CCIE tests are really
expensive and long (a full day). But, I think this is a good model that
should be built on for the other tests.
So, in summary, I think the focus here is in the wrong place. You aren't
going to stop the brain dumps from happening. Try changing the testing
industry to give us tests worth a certification.
<Jim now gets down off his high horse>
Just MHO,
Jim
Peter Pradelski
> I think the real focus should be towards the tests themselves. I say make
> these tests really hard, and open book/open resource. Then, braindumps
> become useless. You would need to really understand what you are doing to
> pass the test. Also, real life is open book. I use resources all the time
> to complete my work. All good engineers know how to be resourceful, not
> just apply what is in the memory banks. That is really what needs to be
> tested.
I believe, a certification which would really mean something, should
include a test about solving problems, with all the basic informations
available. Because this is what You have to be able to do in Your work,
not to know some obscure parameters and numbers which You can easily
google for.
CertGuard
the tests themselves become more comprehensive. If you're not already aware,
Microsoft has been using adaptive exams for a couple years now. I haven't taken
one myself, but there are many people here that have. Maybe one of them can
throw in their 2c about the adaptive exams.
Educating people about the dangers of using braindumps is only one aspect that
CertGuard is exploring. It's the whole "Arrest the 'Johns', to prevent the
prostitutes from working" theory. We know it isn't 100% effective, but while we
work on other methods of preventing cheating, we're trying to get the word out
to as many people as possible that using braindumps is wrong.
You've got a great idea about the exams being 'open book'. Although it would
need a lot of refining, that is one possibility that, I too feel, should be
looked into. I remember taking college exams, and the toughest exams were always
the open book exams, because if you had to search for the information on even
25% of the questions, you were going to fail the exam. Knowing the answers was
always the best method of passing the exams, but you're never going to remember
everything, and therefore, having the resources by your side is equally as
important.
Thanks for your comments Jim, why don't you (and your high horse) come on over
to the CertGuard Forums?! We can always use a little opposition and fresh ideas.
Again, thanks
--
CertGuard
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"Scooby" <mmsc...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:37XSh.1764$3P3....@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
CertGuard
I can't even count the number of times I've had to pull up a TechNet article to
help me get through a problem, or gone searching through a book to find the set
of command line commands used to check the setup of a mail client.
Thanks for your input.
--
CertGuard
Get the new 'No Braindump' CertGear
http://www.cafepress.com/certguard
"Peter Pradelski" <nospam...@gmx.de> wrote in message
news:583vt8F...@mid.individual.net...
Scooby
I went through the MCSE program somewhere around 1999-2000, not sure exactly
when, but they had the adaptive tests at the time.
Unless what they are calling adaptive has changed, this doesn't address the
problem. It just means that you can finish the test quicker if you do well
answering the questions. So, the number of questions on the exam is not
fixed. Not much else is different.
"CertGuard" <newsg...@CertGuard.com> wrote in message
news:131ps56...@news.supernews.com...