[lpi-discuss] LPIC-4 ? :)

[Anselm Lingnau]

Scott Lamberton wrote:

> Firstly I would just like to say that there is a profound difference
> between services which read our objectives and come up with sample
> questions based on those objectives and actual "brain dumps".  The
> former have a certain legitimacy while the latter can be defeated
> through frequent item rotation and vigilance.

As the author of a LPI exam simulator program I object to the term »a certain 
legitimacy«.

My colleagues and I have gone out of our way to come up with plausible 
questions, and our software is generally considered very helpful by the 
alumni of our LPIC-1 preparation classes, as well as random people who 
download it from our web site. (Our question set has, in fact, been ripped 
off by at least one »LPIC community« web site.) This gives it more than »a 
certain legitimacy«, IMHO. We do include a very obvious disclaimer that 
anybody who prepares for the exam solely on the basis of these made-up 
questions is doing so at their own risk. Any matches between questions in our 
software and actual exam questions would be due to sheer conincidence, owing 
to the fact that we don't know exactly which questions are in the actual exam 
these days.

> Hands-on exams have a certain following.  However, more than a few
> psychometricians (the science of exam development) have questioned the
> scientific validity of these kinds of exams.  I'm no psychometrician so
> I won't pursue that further.
> [...]
> I won't say, however, that "hands-on" exams are being ruled out at LPI.
>  Internally, this debate regularly arises.  We will always embrace
> innovation where it is something that serves our purposes and those of
> our stakeholders.

Right. Who wants to bet that should VUE/Prometric magically acquire the 
ability to deliver Linux hands-on exams (maybe along the lines of what Novell 
does), that LPI won't come around to tell us they're the best thing since 
sliced bread etc., yadda yadda :^)

(Incidentally, if multiple-choice tests are psychometrically just as good as, 
if not even better than, hands-on tests, then why is a practical exam still 
required for a driving licence?)

Anselm

(This is my personal opinion and not that of Linup Front GmbH.)
-- 
Anselm Lingnau ... Linup Front GmbH ... Linux-, Open-Source- & Netz-Schulungen
Linup Front GmbH, Postfach 100121, 64201 Darmstadt, Germany
anselm.lingnau at linupfront.de, +49(0)6151-9067-103, Fax -299, www.linupfront.de