Comptia Exams to include Performance Based Questions

Bokeh

Perhaps this will cut down on the test*** sites and those who just memorize a bunch of questions prior to sitting for an exam.

CompTIA Exams to Include ‘Performance-Based’ Questions

ptilsen

Excellent. I really think these are highly useful, and that Microsoft and CompTIA should both use them liberally (say, 10% or 15% of the exam). Testing the ability to actually do something is generally better, in my opinion, than knowing which of four described way is the correct way of doing something.

dave330i

Isn't CompTIA suppose to be vendor neutral? How are you suppose to add performance when each vendor does things little different?

erpadmin

Not for nothing, but what does a vendor have to do with knowing how to place a RAM chip on a motherboard? That's an example for A+.

Network+, pluging a CAT 5 cable to an ethernet port.

Security+...that can be a bit tricky...could be as something as creating a SSL certificate or something.

As a holder of all of them (lifetime!!) I am happy that CompTIA is going this route as well.

ptilsen

While CompTIA is technically vendor-neutral, CompTIA has never lacked vendor-specific implementations. A+ has always included Windows-specific material. Net+ has always had questions about specific Windows commands. CompTIA serves the real industry (or at least tries to), not some vacuum where there are no software or hardware companies dominating any particular sectors.

Linux+ can certainly have performance questions added for obvious reasons.

For Net+, I could see identifying where cables should go, types of cables, what a given network device is, things like that. I could also see questions about command-line utilities in both Windows and Linux, e.g. Ping, ipconfig, ifconfig, tracert, route, netstat, etc. I think someone who passes Net+ needs to know how to test DNS or release a DHCP lease in Windows, regardless of it being a vendor-neutral exam. Even if they wanted to indicate stricter vendor neutrality, they could make people learn both GNU/Linux/UNIX variants and Windows variants of networking commands with drastically affecting exam difficulty.

Security+ I do see as difficult to write performance questions for since it deals almost exclusively in theory. Net+, A+, Linux+, and Server+ seem easy, to me.

YFZblu

This won't cut down on dumping. Last time I checked Cisco still has ****, it's interactive too.

ptilsen

Sure it will. More complex questions make dumping harder. Having to reproduce a simulation instead of a four-choice question should be much more complex for a **** site. Making it harder should, in turn, reduce its effectiveness and frequency.

Besides, how many people seriously **** A+ and Net+? Are there that many people smart enough to memorize hundreds or thousands of test questions who aren't smart enough to just learn the material in the same time? They're not difficult tests. Cisco tests, by comparison, generally require enough actual knowledge that dumping is probably much easier than actually knowing the material.

YFZblu

Complex? How complex can an A+ sim be? "Find this computers IP address via command line". We really think that is going to deter people who make a small fortune by revealing CompTIA test questions to the public?

spiderjericho

So with tests like Cisco that have simulations, you don't think test dumpers are memorizing simulations? I gave a buddy a CCNP study guide from ccnpguide not thinking anything of it. I guess there were some "labs" in the back and he said they were the simulations from the exam. I was like how the hell do you know, and I guess he had a test **** and they were the same. And these sites include the simulations to microsoft, Cisco, etc. I don't see it being any different for a compTIA exam.

killuminati1987

Interesting; I doubt it, but in the 'coming months', could that mean as soon as a week from now? I've tried my best to understand the concepts, but nevertheless, I hope I don't get any curve balls on the N+ I haven't studied for. =/

ptilsen

YFZblu wrote: »

Complex? How complex can an A+ sim be? "Find this computers IP address via command line". We really think that is going to deter people who make a small fortune by revealing CompTIA test questions to the public?

It's still slightly more complex than "Which of the following commands gets you an IP address". Of course, this is a straw-man argument, as you've taken an impossibly simple simulation for your example. A more practical sim would be "determine why a web site is not reachable", requiring the tester to determine, for example, the wrong router or DNS server is configured.

In any case, I'm certainly not arguing that simulations stop dumping. As I said, it makes dumping at least a little more difficult and result in learning more real knowledge. Even the dumped Cisco labs, for example, will probably teach you a lot more than the dumped answers to multiple choice questions.

biggene

killuminati1987 wrote: »

Interesting; I doubt it, but in the 'coming months', could that mean as soon as a week from now? I've tried my best to understand the concepts, but nevertheless, I hope I don't get any curve balls on the N+ I haven't studied for. =/

Better hurry up and get it knocked out
"CompTIA Network+: Performance-based questions will be added to the CompTIA Network+ exam (N10-005) this year, during the fourth quarter of 2012."

Gene

Psoasman

Good. I feel that sims are a better way of testing.

Also, seeing how A+ and N+ are entry level certs, the sims are not likely to be difficult.

the_hutch

YFZblu wrote: »

This won't cut down on dumping. Last time I checked Cisco still has ****, it's interactive too.

You beat me to it. I was going to make this point too.

jibbajabba

Nice but you could even get **** for RHEL - the **** will simply say what to type or where to click - people will always find a way to **** (sadly).