CompuServe Messages

Hey Wayne. Still have pulled the plug yet on my interest in this issue. I just got through talking to a person who is looking at the Novell certification program and He brought up an interesting point on their certification test. If I take all the courses that Novell requires to become a Novell certified engineer (and thats around $6,000, price controlled by NOVELL, so Boo Hiss!) and I fail the exam, what does that tell me? 1. That the course material and content do not REALLY prepare me for the test. 2. That the fact that I took the courses through a NOVELL authorized are questionable, especially since they do not provide the necessary knowledge to pass their test. 3. That the testing procedure and the fact that being a NOVELL training center are not at the same level. If an individual or a company is spending big money to train someone to be a NOVELL certified engineer, then the courses should be the driving force. If I take the courses and sucessfully jump the hoops set by NOVELL, then I sure as heck better be certified after spending $6,000. If Not, then, someone needs to do some explaining. I think I would demand my money back after spending all that time in an authorized training program and come out empty handed. (We know how NOVELL or the training center would respond to that!) The testing is also in electronic format (by Drake!). If I take the test and fail it, then I would want to know exactly what questions I missed so I could at least know what areas of weakness I might have. You don't get that on the electronic testing! In fact, do you even get a print out showing you what questions you answered correctly or incorrectly, not just a summary? When I was in grad school, I had that courtesy for my written exam. I knew the results of the written prior to being grilled in my orals. If the feedback (to the student) on the exam is presented as a percentage pass/fail, you don't even know the questions/areas that you are weak in. The courses in the ATC need to be detailed enough that if you take them (through a fully authorized ATC) then the certificates issued should have some merit! Otherwise, its just a piece of paper to decorate the wall. So, the student learning ACAD goes through Level I to Level II, and so on. Are you implying that this appoach of training with certificates issued at each level of successfully passing the training is not as valid as taking the ACE? Maybe, there needs to be more emphasis on testing at each level within the ATC program and less emphasis on the final testing? Steve