Re: Core Knowledge - Don't mis-interpret this

After all exams you hear different opinions. Personally I have not seen
any of the questions, and I find it difficult to determine from the
discussions just what the overall consensus is from those who have taken
the test recently. Not many people seem to be writing that they have
seen them, whether they passed or failed. Hopefully cisco should have
a better view from the exam feedback and result statistics. In any case
I do think that there are some real benefits from introducing theory
questions into the lab.

With such a large amount of material to cover, the exam is split up into
wo distinct parts across multiple days. With completely separate theory
and practical exams there will always be some who will structure their
learning such that they spent time studying theory for the written,
before moving on from that area of their development and concentrating a
little too much on the practical side ('learning how to pass the lab').
I do not intend that to sound critical of anyone, simply that people
structure their studying with a view to passing in the quickest time
they can - but that approach also has drawbacks.

Other people (particularly employers) expect a newly qualified CCIE to
be able to demonstrate a high level of skill in a number of areas. This
includes, but goes beyond quickly understanding requirements of a
question and producing complex configs. They want someone who can offer
advise on available options, make recommendations and explain the theory
or issues to other people; good general understanding. Depending on
the individual candidate, their experience, how successfully they
understood the theory, and how long the gap between written and lab,
they will forget varying amounts of this before they become qualified.

Introducing simulations into the written exams probably helps bridge the
gap. Reducing the permissible period between written and lab might also
have benefits; but could make introducing new technologies much more
disruptive to people already well advanced in their preparations. The
concept of introducing a small number of theory questions into the lab
strikes me as a good way to ensure a good breadth of knowledge has been
maintained. It also adds flexibility, which is difficult to achieve
with full scenarios.

Core theory topics seem like good areas to cover in the new lab
questions, but if there are some very obscure questions then I hope they
will be reviewed.

Paul.

Dale Shaw wrote:
> Hi Josh,
>
> On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 12:36 PM, Josh Fleishman
> <josh.fleishman_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> <excellent summary of how I suspect most CCIEs-to-be are feeling about
> the core knowledge section>
>
>
>> In case it's not obvious, I'm not pleased with this development and I hope
>> everyone else who isn't pleased is voicing their concerns to Cisco as well.
>> It might even make a difference.
>>
>
> I couldn't agree more with what you've said.
>
> To the wider audience: Rather than a) do nothing or b) make noises
> about this to the wrong people or just this mailing list, does anyone
> know who within Cisco is willing to listen to constructive feedback on
> this topic?
>
> cheers,
> Dale
>
>
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Received on Sat Apr 18 2009 - 12:14:39 ART