Thu 21 Sep 2006
The Test, TV, and Other Quick Thoughts
Posted by Liza under Personal
The test. It’s almost impossible to blog about, because I think if someone searched for it and found my blog, and I said what I really think, it might reflect badly on me as a professional.
So I will restrain myself to noting that I was surprised and frustrated to find so many grammatical and typographical errors in a professional certification exam. It made me think of the disclaimer Michael Feldman always includes in his show, “Ambiguous, misleading, or poorly worded questions are par for the course, and listeners who don’t like it should get their own show.”
I have no idea how I did. There were only a few questions where I didn’t feel confident in my knowledge about the subject matter. But whether I interpreted the questions as they will be graded — and mind you, they were all either multiple choice or T/F — that I don’t have the slightest idea.
And I got lost in the parking deck trying to go to work after it was over. So lost I had to call security to help me find my car.
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Apparently Jill and I missed the Atlanta casting call for the NEXT season of America’s Next Top Model. We can’t imagine how that happened. However, we are extremely excited to go to the casting call for America’s Next Top Short Old Plus-Size Model. I would be a great spokesmodel for breastpumps, having tried and broken every model known to motherkind. (Beware! A product review post is coming! I just need one more replacement part in order to try my last major brand.)
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Poor Noah. His mouth is killing him and it’s making him cry almost all the time that he’s awake, unless he’s nursing. (It’s amazing that I have anything left to pump.)
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PLLP 9/20-2: I did have that apple, even though Project Runway was a rerun.
PLLP 9/21: Fruit - none. Veg - 1/3 cup mixed veg, 2/3 cup salad, ~1/4 cup veggies in soup. Treats - chocolate glazed donut after the test, chocolate-hazelnut pannacotta at colleague’s birthday lunch.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:58 pm
If you ever want to see how red my face can get, or watch me become sputteringly inarticulate, just ask me what I think of standardized tests. Just ask. But be prepared to duck in case my ire ends up expressing itself via high-speed projectiles.
I’m sure you did fine, though, if only because you’re the demographic those tests are made for. Seriously.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:58 pm
If you ever want to see how red my face can get, or watch me become sputteringly inarticulate, just ask me what I think of standardized tests. Just ask. But be prepared to duck in case my ire ends up expressing itself via high-speed projectiles.
I’m sure you did fine, though, if only because you’re the demographic those tests are made for. Seriously.
Well, and the fact that you’re brilliant. That doesn’t hurt.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:59 pm
How odd — I can’t erase my first post that happened because of a stuttering touchpad finger (no doubt brought on because even the very IDEA of standardized tests winds me up). Sorry about the repeat.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 am
While this was, technically, a standardized test, the main relationship it had to anything produced by the SAT people is that I had to use a number 2 pencil and fill in bubbles with the answers.
Of course, I share your opinion that those tests test your demographic more than anything else. But THOSE tests, those tests have always been written for me. There was only one time I ever walked out of a \”real\” standardized test feeling nervous and like maybe I didn\’t ace it. (Ironically, it was the GRE, and the section in which I scored in the 95th percentile.)
This time, I walked out feeling mad that the test costs $500 and yet they apparently didn\’t even hire a proofreader.
And feeling annoyed about an extremely poorly worded question that began, \”Which ONE of these methods is not considered acceptable….\” The answers included:
1) One answer which was a compound noun, not a method, however, the noun(s) are the object(s) of commonly accepted methods of [doing the subject of the question];
2) One answer which was a legal term, possibly being used accurately, possibly being used in a layperson\’s understanding, resulting in different answers, and
3) One method that I thought the material disapproved of but which is clearly legal in the US.
I picked \”2\” but in retrospect, I think the test may have intended \”3\” as the correct answer. #1 was actually the most accurate, seeing as it wasn\’t actually a method.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:43 am
This is part of why I hate standardized tests, created by ETS or by someone else. They’re invariably created by psychometricians, not by people in the field itself, and so the questions tend to suck, and to punish the ability to think for oneself.
That said, I’m still sure you did brilliantly.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:12 am
Actually, given that they were too cheap to hire a proofreader, I’m pretty sure this test was written by someone affiliated with the organization. Sadly, someone who never took any of your writing courses.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:14 am
Oh, and I’m not particularly worried about how I did. I tend to think I will pass, and I think that my boss will find it comical if I didn’t. (When I gave him the study materials back, I also gave him a copy of my book, which I used to study.)
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:17 am
BTW, I did learn a new thing in the study materials, and it appeared 3 times on the test. For web forms, POST is more secure than GET.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:52 am
i hate t/f and multiple choice tests for the very reason you describe — depending on information you don’t have in the question but would be obvious from the context in real life, usually either none of the answers are correct, more than one answer is correct, or it becomes clear that they want you to pick a certain answer when another answer is actually the correct one.
i am constantly amazed that i don’t fail t/f and multiple choice tests.