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c9That's better.
I passed the exam today. Amusingly* also by only two questions. So next week's course is a go, thank god. Having been in the role of instructor scheduler, I know what a monumental nuisance any other outcome would have been.
You might be wondering why I'm teaching something in which I apparently can't pass an exam. Funny thing, that. There are a couple issues. Primarily, this specific course has no exam of its own; rather, I needed to pass the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam (either 1.2 or 1.4) despite the fact that the course covers only 2/3 of the material, give or take. Typically, certified courses are tailored to specific exams, but in this case the vendor (CIW) chose to just use the Sun exams instead. Needless to say, somewhat frustrating.
Why was I writing the exam just before the course anyway? This is actually very common, but not as depressing as you might find it. Instructors are recruited on the basis of existing skills or background most often. I have written 14 certification exams, and until yesterday had failed zero. My first two exams were scheduled to take two hours, and I finished them in twelve minutes. It sounds like I'm bragging a bit because I am. This failed exam thing messed me up. :) Most exams actually have very high passing grades as well. Not those last two. But I wrote one where I couldn't teach unless I got over 87%.
Don't we have lots of programmers who could teach Java? No. Out of 65 instructors, there are three. Most of our developers are .NET / Visual Basic types. But Java is a hot language, it's in my cell phone! Yes, but corporate computer training teaches people to make in-house inventory apps and websites, not cell phone applets.
So why did I get chosen? I volunteered, stupidly. That'll teach me. I would have been fine too,if it weren't for those darn kids if my promotion at work wasn't giving me a ton of other urgent projects.
Update: I'm not suggesting that all this is an OK state of affairs, BTW.
So now I get to focus on just making the class a success. Phew!
* gotta laugh or else I'd cry. I actually got the exact same number of correct answers this time around, it's just that today's exam had a lower passing grade. Gah.
I passed the exam today. Amusingly* also by only two questions. So next week's course is a go, thank god. Having been in the role of instructor scheduler, I know what a monumental nuisance any other outcome would have been.
You might be wondering why I'm teaching something in which I apparently can't pass an exam. Funny thing, that. There are a couple issues. Primarily, this specific course has no exam of its own; rather, I needed to pass the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam (either 1.2 or 1.4) despite the fact that the course covers only 2/3 of the material, give or take. Typically, certified courses are tailored to specific exams, but in this case the vendor (CIW) chose to just use the Sun exams instead. Needless to say, somewhat frustrating.
Why was I writing the exam just before the course anyway? This is actually very common, but not as depressing as you might find it. Instructors are recruited on the basis of existing skills or background most often. I have written 14 certification exams, and until yesterday had failed zero. My first two exams were scheduled to take two hours, and I finished them in twelve minutes. It sounds like I'm bragging a bit because I am. This failed exam thing messed me up. :) Most exams actually have very high passing grades as well. Not those last two. But I wrote one where I couldn't teach unless I got over 87%.
Don't we have lots of programmers who could teach Java? No. Out of 65 instructors, there are three. Most of our developers are .NET / Visual Basic types. But Java is a hot language, it's in my cell phone! Yes, but corporate computer training teaches people to make in-house inventory apps and websites, not cell phone applets.
So why did I get chosen? I volunteered, stupidly. That'll teach me. I would have been fine too,
Update: I'm not suggesting that all this is an OK state of affairs, BTW.
So now I get to focus on just making the class a success. Phew!
* gotta laugh or else I'd cry. I actually got the exact same number of correct answers this time around, it's just that today's exam had a lower passing grade. Gah.
