Re: state of the midrange (fwd)

Larry,

You raise valid concerns and logistical problems that need to be solved.

I find it hard to believe an organization that tests people on how to solve 
these
issues wouldn't be able to solve them themselves <g>

IMO, life is an open book test, so should the certification tests.  Otherwise
they test memorization skills instead of problem solving skills.

I was told this story about Albert Einstein:  He was doing an interview and was
asked his phone number.  Mr. Einstein replied that he did not know his phone
number.  The interviewer was amazed that the most brilliant mind of the time
could not remember something as simple as his own phone number. Mr. Einstein
stated that he doesn't bother to remember anything that is easy to look up.

I guess he deferred those brain cells to other issues.  And certainly he did 
have
some things memorized.  Just not all of it.  Even -his- head would explode! <g>

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for some form of certification.  We all started
with our high school diploma and went from there.  I think that structuring the
test itself would be more difficult than structuring the test center.

Larry Bolhuis wrote:

> "James W. Kilgore" wrote:
> >
> > There's thing new thing ... the internet <G>
>
>   And a Wonderfull thing it is!  Currently there are a lot of issues
> that preclude it's use in the testing environment.  There are lots of
> security issues, doubts that all the testing centers have access
> (remember the tests are administered world wide), and the likelyhood
> that loading additional software at the testing centers would not be
> allowed.  Certainly the test candidate can't be allowed free access to
> the net during the test so it would have to be strictly limited to an
> emulation session.   JAVA based emulators are really coming along, and
> they don't need pre-installation but need a failrly strong PC to run
> quickly (my experience so far) and the test centers again may not have
> that.  Also if you are running in the browser then there's that access
> to deal with again.
>
>   Now add in OpsNav and you open a whole new can of worms. (And yes we
> must test this).  Do you load that on the test center PC as well?  Not
> likely to happen!
>
>   As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd love to see access to the
> AS/400 while taking the test but it simply is not likely to happen.
> So we stay the course and write questions in such a way that the
> 'certifiable' candidate can correctly understand them.
>
>   - Larry
>
> --
> Larry Bolhuis         | Trivia Question: What famous car carried
> Arbor Solutions, Inc  |  the tags:   BDR 529 ?
> (616) 451-2500        |
> (616) 451-2571 -fax   | Two rules to success in life:
> lbolhui@ibm.net       | 1. Never tell people everything you know.
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