A key thing that sets us apart from other certification bodies is our commitment to testing our certificates against the needs of industry. An LPI qualification is grounded in demonstrating the practical skills that are entirely relevant to the ways in which businesses are using Linux, day to day.
We have a number of ways of testing this, so you can be sure your certification has employer needs at its heart:
- JOB TASK ANALYSIS – We ask a large number of Linux professionals for their lists of necessary job duties, and then compile the responses to find the common and most important tasks. The most important tasks show up on all lists.
- First we work with a large pool of subject-matter experts to compile an exhaustive list of all the tasks that they think might be performed by the target audience of the certification.
- Next, the tasks collected during the pre-survey go into a job analysis survey. This survey asks practicing Linux professionals to rate each task in several ways:
- Frequency – How often they perform the task.
- Importance – How important it is for an administrator to be able to perform the task.
- Data analysis – Finally, we conduct statistical analysis of the survey responses. We compute statistics indicating, on average, how critical respondents rated each task. This analysis guides the determination of the final job task list.
- OBJECTIVES – The third major stage of development is converting the results from the Job Analysis Study to develop the actual objectives for the exam(s).
- A small group of people with knowledge of both Linux technical issues and psychometric principles drafted an initial set of test objectives, basing them upon the results of the job analysis study.
- After the draft objectives are created, they are placed online in a web based system for public review and comment. This system organises objectives by exam and content topic, displaying the objectives themselves, along with links to additional documentation about the objectives. Public comments about objectives are collected and then supervisors review the comments and revise the objectives as necessary.
- BUILDING THE EXAM – Psychometrics, the study of testing and measuring mental capacity, is used throughout LPI certification development to ensure that our exams reflect the needs of the IT community and industry. Once the LPI psychometric staff has determined the composition of forms, the exam must be converted from text-based items into the actual exam file format to deployed globally through LPI’s network of testing centres.
- BETA TESTING – The exams enter a period of initial testing to determine if the questions are in fact measuring skills and competencies.
- In IT certification, this period is known as the beta testing period.
- During the beta period, candidates can register for tests and complete them at local events. They receive credit, but candidates do not receive scores back immediately after the exam. Beta exams often involve extra questions with an extended-time format as well as additional survey and demographic questions. Several simultaneous processes determine the cut score, so that exams may be evaluated and scored.
You can watch this video to see this process in action, working with UK Fast.