Linear vs Adaptive

Muck

What is the difference between these two testing formats?? And which one is better??

Gotta start getting my certs, as experience along just ain't cuttin' it for me.

DaPunnisher

With the adaptive format questions were rated on a point scale. if you got any easy question right, you got a hard question, if you got that question right you'd get anotherhard question or get bumped bac to an easy question if you got it wrong.

The linear format is any question given randomly.

lazyart

Adaptive will give you 20 questions. If at that point it feels it cannot "judge" your knowledge you will be asked up to 10 more questions.

Linear will present you with a fixed number of questions (i think it is 70).

Since each question is based on the previous answers in an adaptive exam, you cannot skip a question or change your answer later. With linear you can come back to any question before submitting your answers.

Adaptive is a 30 minute test, be can be finished quicker (so quick you could probably leave your engine running). Linear you are given 90 minutes to finish.

"Better" depends on who you ask. After finishing so quick I kinda wished I had taken the linear form. I've spent more time in a grocery store checkout line than I did on the test.

Which is quicker- The A+ Core adaptive exam or the world record for the mile? The exam or downloading a 1 meg .pdf on a 56k modem? The exam or burning an 80 minute cd at 16x?

Hmmmm.....

janmike

I didn't care for adaptive exams in A+. I found myself anticipating the end of the exam--I finished in plenty of time, but it was just a concern that shouldn't have been there.

I liked the linear style of Network+ more. Had 72 questions and 90 minutes to answer them. Seems that I was more relaxed.

Either way, you have to study(and practice) expressly to prove that you are capable of performing the work you're being tested on no matter what form the exam takes.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!!!

bellboy

the linear exam might last longer than the adaptive one, but if you have a few topics that you are weaker in, you may find that you could still pass the exam on the merits of the objectives that you know better.

the adaptive exams contain 20 to 30 questions, so they cannot cover everything in the same depth that an exam containing 70 questions or more.