Ubuntu Certified Professionals

[Bry Melvin]

>Alan McKinnon wrote:
>>My personal anecdotal evidence differs :-) In school I used to 
>>consistently score $MARK>=B+ for technical stuff and $MARK='awful' for 
>>Latin no matter how much I studied or how confident I felt or how I was 
>>feeling on the day.
>
>Your experience doesn't suggest that multiple choice tests aren't affected 
>by your mood. It suggests that you have an aptitude for technical stuff and 
>not for Latin :)
>
Just an "outsider's"  two cents worth: I have no first hand knowledge of
Computer professional test developement, but spent a large part of my career 
developing tests in another technical area. So this thread hit an area of 
interest for me.

A Good validation process is what makes or breaks the tests.
OTOH I can't see a written without practical evaluation as adequate.

I come from a field that B+ (85%) is minumum written passing grade however 
and a serious mistake in practice is often lethal. I have washed out many 
who could pass a written that couldn't actually do the job however, often 
giving thanks that my student didn't kill me that day! :-)

If mood seriously would affect your performance level either in testing or 
at work, maybe you are in the wrong career?

As far as test validation in computer systems I see the practical MORE 
important possibly because the technology changes too rapidly to be able to 
properly statistically validate the written (multiple question) test. That 
form is the best in technical areas as it nearly eliminates subjectivity 
however. Basically you would have to validate by throwing away questions an 
expert test group missed and push ahead....then elimanate questions from the 
test base that the top scorers got wrong and the bottom scorers all got 
right. This is a faulted process that in time would generally end up with 
too many of the more difficult questions eliminated...
The test would gradually deteriorate in value.

Much like some of the FAA's current tests. :-)

BTW I didn't do that hot with Latin either :-)

Bryann