Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 00:05:27 -0400 From: "Lanny Baron" <lnb@cybertouch.org> To: Jonathan Lemon <jlemon@americantv.com>, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG, mavery@mail.otherwhen.com Cc: Princess Noemie <nbuzaglo@mrs.com> Subject: Re: FreeBSD Certification...again Message-ID: <199907130404.AAA93660@freedom.cybertouch.org> In-Reply-To: <199907130227.VAA23721@hostigos.otherwhen.com> References: <199907130150.UAA08668@free.pcs>
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Hello all, It is evident that certification is getting more attention. But then as one who wrote below says, that in many cases it's a joke. True. I will agree. Just knowing enough to pass some tests that "get you by the exams" is not enough. When I talked to ms people at microsoft they told me that they are changing the test questions to make it more adept (is that the right word?) to a person truly knowing what he/she is doing with NT and networking. While writing this mail, I am looking at a printout of a Sun course being offered at Learnix. I will quote the "Program Details" to show what I thing the pros at FreeBSD can make 10000% better. "The Sun Certified Administrator Program for Solaris ^tm 7 is comprised fo two examinations: Part 1 exam will be available on April 30, 1999 and Part II exam will be available on June 11, 1999. You are given 90 minuets to complete the 72 multiple-choice and short answer type questions asked on each exam. To pass Part I you must score at least 75%, Part II only requires a score of 70% or better to pass. The fee for writing each exam is $150." I would hope/think that FreeBSD, as its system is great (but hard as hell to learn), could make it that one must "prove" their knowledge. Make them set up a network, from scratch. Then ask questions. I know you geniuses (i am not being sarcastic when i say that) of FreeBSD can make this happen. Lanny > On 12 Jul 99, at 20:50, Jonathan Lemon wrote: > > >On 13 Jul 99, at 8:32, Sue Blake wrote: > > >> On Mon, Jul 12, 1999 at 06:01:46PM -0400, Lanny Baron wrote: > > > > > > It appears you are making a joke of it. FreeBSD could come up > > > > > with programs for different areas of proficiency. Each with its > > > > > own certification. It may not go far right away, but down > > > > > the road, as with most good products, it would succeed. > > > > > And who will pay for this to be developed? > > > > It kinda depends.... if all we want is certification, it's cheap > > > and easy. If we want it to *MEAN SOMETHING*, then it'll be > > > harder. > > > > Still, the training courses and testing are two different aspects. > > > I suspect generating the tests would be fairly easy..... and the > > > questions on them can be validated in a few hundred test cycles so > > > a short, valid, test could be administered.... > > > *cough* *cough* > > > You've never done this before, have you? > > Well, I used to be a teacher... and I have had experience with > generating and validating tests. > > > Generating and validating the test is the _hard_ part. Calculating > > the reliability and validity of the test, using factor analysis to > > weed out the useless questions, and insure that scores wind up with > > a normal distribution takes a while. > > > I asked a professional (my wife, actually, :-), and she said that > > it would take a minimum of a year to develop a reliable test. The > > curriculum is the easy part. > > Ahhhh.... yeah. It's always easy to say your part is the hard part and > the other guys is the easy part. Generating a curriculum is not easy. > If it is intended to work, challenge all the students, without putting > those at the far ends of the bell curve into a coma. > > Workshops are easy... courses and curricula are a lot harder. > > Once a test has been created, determining which questions are > discrimators is pretty easy. Determining WHAT they discriminate > can be hard. > > Like I said, if we don't care about validity, it's easy. If we want it > to *MEAN SOMETHING* then it gets a lot harder. > > > As to different areas of proficiency, you're absolutely right. There > > wouldn't be "one" test, but different tests based on what skillsets you > > were looking for, and what the goal of the test was. > > > Yes, I was half kicking around the idea of seriously doing this. However, > > 1) the test would not be free, and 2) I wonder whether there really is a > > market for this or not. > > It's a chicken or the egg problem. Has FreeBSD reached a critical > mass where it seems to matter to employers whether or not people > are certified for FreeBSD? > > What differences would you expect to see in a FreeBSD certified > person and a Certified Unix Admin? (Sorry, can't remember the > names of the group that handles that certification right now....) > > Mike > > ====================================================================== > Mike Avery MAvery@mail.otherwhen.com > (409)-842-2942 (work) > ICQ: 16241692 > > * Spam is for lusers who can't get business any other way * > > A Randomly Selected Thought For The Day: > A bad joke is a parody error... > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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