I've been lurking on this thread, and it's interesting to me, but I've
hesistated to post an opinion because I'm not really sure what I think
yet.
On Thu, 8 Jul 1999, A.R. (Tom) Peters wrote:
> Which brings up the question, how and when do we upgrade the exams and
> what do we do with the old ones?
This question, I do have an opinion on!
IMO, we should revise the initial exams 6-12 months after they are
released, and at least every 2 years after that. The reason for the
initial revision is that since every item on the initial tests are "new",
there will be some bad items to drop or edit.
After the first revision, we should revise the exams again either:
(1) When the material changes substantially enough that the old exam no
longer adequately covers what practitioners need to know, or
(2) Two years have passed,
whichever comes first. The reasons for (2) is that after a while,
some questions need to be replaced with new ones to maintain the security
of the exam. Psychometrically, it is not absolutely necessary to update an
exam merely because of the passage of time, but in a high-stakes,
credential-providing testing program, it is the professional thing to do.
Now, to the issue of renewing certifications. Other than generating needed
revenue, I can see no good reasons to require candidates to retake the
same exam they passed every year or so just to maintain their
certification.
But I'm not comfortable issuing certificates that are eternally valid,
either. I understand the argument that by including date and version info
about the exams on the certificates, employers can judge for themselves.
But I think that we, as the certification authority, should provide a
standard for judging whether certificates are "fresh" or not. After all,
largely the value of the certificates will depend upon the respect LPI has
in the field. We don't want people calling themselves "LPI certified" if
their knowledgebase is out-of-date.
I am also not pleased with the suggestion that we issue certificates
corresponding to distro or kernel version numbers, and expire them when
the major number changes. This gives control to outsiders. Also, there is
no guarantee that increments to the major version number indicate a major
advance or change.
Perhaps a rule like this would work: A new version of each exam will be
published every 2 years or sooner if justified for major changes in Linux.
When a new test is released, certificate-holders have 1 year to pass the
new version before their certificate lapses. This would seem appropriate
for the L1 tests. For the higher level tests, we might allow more time,
like 2 or 3 years.
If there is serious criticism about LPI using renewals as an undue source
of income, we could offer renewal tests at a discount.
My mind is far from being made up on this, so feel free to offer better
proposals. It is a very important issue.
-Scott Murray, LPI Exam Development Director
________________________________________________________________________
This message was sent by the linux-cert-program mailing list. To unsubscribe:
echo unsubscribe | mail -s '' [EMAIL PROTECTED]
