Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 1

Jeff Moden (1/15/2012)
GilaMonster (1/14/2012)
Jeff Moden (1/13/2012)
It would appear that MS finding out about someone using such a site and revoking their cert because of it has been and certainly is nothing but a myth.
No, it's not. I can't say more in public, but the statement that MS can and will revoke certs when people use illegal study material (braindumps, actual questions from the exam) is not a myth
However neither Transcender nor MeasureUp are braindump sites. They are MS learning partners, they produce practice exams that test the material covered by the certifications, not the ability to memorise the question.
Saying that using practice tests to study for exams is wrong is like saying that students shouldn't do exercises in text books (for say maths or physics) as a way to study for their university exams. Stealing the actual exam paper (or examiner's answer sheet) and memorising questions is wrong, but practising example questions (text books, teacher/lecturer provided examples, old papers) is an old and established way of studying, of showing before you write the actual exam what gaps there are in your knowledge.
IF someone uses practice tests only to see where they may fall short and THEN study/practice to overcome that deficit, then I agree.

The question is, how else do you use the practice tests? Using them, seeing that you're short on a particular area and ignore it? Using them, seeing that you're short on a particular area and take them again and again until you've memorised the practice test (not going to help with the real test with different questions), ???

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 2

Jeff Moden (1/15/2012)
GilaMonster (1/14/2012)
I've seen Transcender sample tests before, they're miles from the real exams.
Then, totally switching gears, are such sample tests actually helping to learn those things necessary to pass the test? To put it another way, if they're so far from the real exams, do they actually show you where you may be light so you can study those areas more?

Learn the things necessary to pass the real test, not really. Show you which areas you are poor at, yes.

The practice tests aren't really about learning (though they'll give you the right answers when you're wrong), they're about evaluating yourself. You could do that by paying for the real test and seeing how badly you've scored (and in some cases that's cheaper).

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 3

Revenant (1/15/2012)
the fact is that there is 2012 waiting for the official release; IMO all adequate tests today ought to be for that one - the newest version -, because that is the one people who are taking tests today will be working with three months down the road.

Yeah, right...

I have one client on SQL 2005 that is planning a 2012 upgrade late next year. I have two clients on 2008 that might consider 2012 in a year or two. The rest have no intention to move versions (about 40% SQL 2005 and 60% 2008 or 2008 r2)

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Cadavre SSC-Forever Points: 41690 More actions · Answer 4

Revenant (1/15/2012)
Jeff Moden (1/15/2012)
GilaMonster (1/14/2012)
I've seen Transcender sample tests before, they're miles from the real exams.
Then, totally switching gears, are such sample tests actually helping to learn those things necessary to pass the test? To put it another way, if they're so far from the real exams, do they actually show you where you may be light so you can study those areas more?
And, no... I'm not trying to be contentious here... I'd really like to know.
The problem, or at least one of the problems, is that the tests are ALWAYS behind the state of the art. We may talk about brain dumps and all that until cows come home, but the fact is that there is 2012 waiting for the official release; IMO all adequate tests today ought to be for that one - the newest version -, because that is the one people who are taking tests today will be working with three months down the road.

We're only just about to upgrade to SQL Server 2008 R2 with the newest release of our software. SQL Server 2012 will be years away, despite the usefulness of some of the ranking functions.

Forever trying to learn
My blog - http://www.cadavre.co.uk/
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better, quicker answers on SQL Server performance related questions, click on the following...http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/

MysteryJimbo SSC-Insane Points: 24203 More actions · Answer 5

GilaMonster (1/16/2012)
Revenant (1/15/2012)
the fact is that there is 2012 waiting for the official release; IMO all adequate tests today ought to be for that one - the newest version -, because that is the one people who are taking tests today will be working with three months down the road.
Yeah, right...
I have one client on SQL 2005 that is planning a 2012 upgrade late next year. I have two clients on 2008 that might consider 2012 in a year or two. The rest have no intention to move versions (about 40% SQL 2005 and 60% 2008 or 2008 r2)

I'm mid 2008R2 upgrade on my SQL environment and will be considering 2012 very shortly.

My last employer was in the financial sector and I wouldnt have considered moving SQL versions for at least 2 years after release and full plan was in place. My current employer is web based and wants to remain at the cutting edge

Brandie Tarvin SSC Guru Points: 173068 More actions · Answer 6

Jeff Moden (1/15/2012)
GilaMonster (1/14/2012)
I've seen Transcender sample tests before, they're miles from the real exams.
Then, totally switching gears, are such sample tests actually helping to learn those things necessary to pass the test? To put it another way, if they're so far from the real exams, do they actually show you where you may be light so you can study those areas more?

I've used Transcender on several occasions. They were very helpful in pointing out what areas I still needed to work on and, on occasion, showed that I knew more than I thought I did because there was actually one or two mistakes on the Transcender that I recognized when I saw them. Mistakes are rare, but it still gave me a warm fuzzy.

The thing I didn't like about the Transcenders in my last go-round was that most of the questions were of the multiple-choice variety. Very few of these questions were case study questions and the two or three sim questions were poorly designed (they didn't work properly at the time). It did not prepare me for the new question formats that MS had designed into their exams.

So, yes, they can help. But they do not cover ALL the subject matter that is likely to be on a test which means any person who relies solely on Transcender to study deserves to fail the test.

Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004365 More actions · Answer 7

GilaMonster (1/16/2012)
The question is, how else do you use the practice tests? Using them, seeing that you're short on a particular area and ignore it? Using them, seeing that you're short on a particular area and take them again and again until you've memorised the practice test (not going to help with the real test with different questions), ???

Practice questions in a math book or practice exam are one thing. Taking a real math exam is quite a bit different in that you either know how to setup the problem to solve it, or you don't.

I'm not sure that the same is true for SQL Server. There are, for example, only a certain number of Server Roles that will allow you to pull off a Bulk Insert. If a practice exam has both the question and the answer for that particular problem, then you've learned a fact by taking a practice exam possibly without ever having done anything with SQL Server itself.

Anyway, I understand your point and appreciate it. Used correctly, practice exams are a very helpful tool and it sounds like the two vendors that MS has teamed up with have the correct spirit. They're not "brain dumps" or copies of actual exam questions.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 8

Jeff Moden (1/16/2012)
I'm not sure that the same is true for SQL Server. There are, for example, only a certain number of Server Roles that will allow you to pull off a Bulk Insert. If a practice exam has both the question and the answer for that particular problem, then you've learned a fact by taking a practice exam possibly without ever having done anything with SQL Server itself.

I really wish people would stop assuming that the exams have questions like 'What role do you need to perform bulk insert', because they don't. Back in the 2000 days, that kind of question was common, not with the current generation. What you get these days is a scenario, a page or two (usually longer) description of an imaginary company with requirements, existing architecture, limitations and complications and a set of questions based off that. Knowing that a particular role is required for bulk-logged recovery is great, but it's not enough. (any anyway, you could learn that fact by reading BoL or any SQL guide or reference book)

I'm not saying they're perfect, you can book-learn and pass (and that's not necessarily a bad thing), you can take one of those bootcamps that teaches you to pass exams not to do the work, there are far too many people willing to cheat or willing to help people cheat.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

Roy Ernest SSC-Dedicated Points: 38780 More actions · Answer 9

Change of topic... I got my second part of my Audit series published here... Yay..!!!!

And I got a A+ review for the year 2011 from my CTO. So thrilled 🙂

-Roy

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398890 More actions · Answer 10

Roy Ernest (1/16/2012)
Change of topic... I got my second part of my Audit series published here... Yay..!!!!
And I got a A+ review for the year 2011 from my CTO. So thrilled 🙂

Well done Roy.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

Paul White SSC Guru Points: 150467 More actions · Answer 11

Roy Ernest (1/16/2012)
Change of topic... I got my second part of my Audit series published here... Yay..!!!!
And I got a A+ review for the year 2011 from my CTO. So thrilled 🙂

I read that earlier - very nice work, Roy. Congratulations on the review too, I presume your salary is to be doubled? :w00t:

Paul White
SQLPerformance.com
SQLkiwi blog
@SQL_Kiwi

Roy Ernest SSC-Dedicated Points: 38780 More actions · Answer 12

SQL Kiwi (1/16/2012)
Roy Ernest (1/16/2012)
Change of topic... I got my second part of my Audit series published here... Yay..!!!!
And I got a A+ review for the year 2011 from my CTO. So thrilled 🙂
I read that earlier - very nice work, Roy. Congratulations on the review too, I presume your salary is to be doubled? :w00t:

Thanks Grant... Thank Paul. I am hoping for a good salary raise and a good bonus. 🙂 The only draw back to this is that I am going more into IT management role. That means less time on SQL Server. 🙁

-Roy

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004365 More actions · Answer 13

GilaMonster (1/16/2012)
I really wish people would stop assuming that the exams have questions like 'What role do you need to perform bulk insert', because they don't. Back in the 2000 days, that kind of question was common, not with the current generation.

My mistake, then. My end of the conversation was based on information no longer applicable. Thanks for the information and the time you've spent helping me understand.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004365 More actions · Answer 14

Roy Ernest (1/16/2012)
Change of topic... I got my second part of my Audit series published here... Yay..!!!!
And I got a A+ review for the year 2011 from my CTO. So thrilled 🙂

Absolutely outstanding! Well done, Roy!

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Roy Ernest SSC-Dedicated Points: 38780 More actions · Answer 15

Thanks Jeff. Hoping that I will allowed to go to the SQL Pass this year as well because of this. And hoping that the Threadizens will also be there. 🙂

-Roy