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Quality Assurance for Certification Courseware
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The Testing Process
To be approved by either CAQC or LATM, a course must comply with a set of requirements defined by the certification vendor (in this case CompTIA or LPI) to assure that the course closely relates to its stated target certification. In testing for these programs, and for ProCert Labs Tested status, courses are assessed in three areas: coverage of exam objectives, instructional design integrity, and how they compare to other courses.
The first area is essential to certification: the course must cover all of the certification exam objectives. This means that in order to become CAQC or LATM, a course must demonstrate that it incorporates information on every question the exam may include. As simple as it sounds, this is a complex requirement that often includes hundreds of possibilities. Not every course is designed to provide such a comprehensive fulfillment of the exam objectives. Looking for proof that a course has passed this test will assure that the course is compliant, and that you won't be left hanging when you discover an unknown topic in the exam.
The second area of testing, instructional design integrity, covers a wide range of requirements including the course's target audience, ability to deliver new concepts, and the appropriateness of a course to its related certification. This testing also looks for the inclusion of review questions, exercises, quizzes or labs, each of which are essential learning tools that can help learners better comprehend the technology.
The third aspect of testing, comparison to other courses, is a "Consumer Reports" style comparison of the courseware against a list of established courseware benchmarks.
Many Learning Formats Available
In today's market, candidates are able to choose from print, CBT, video and Web-based training options, and more formats are on their way. Recently, the market has seen PDA-based training emerging as a new way to leverage the multitude of Palm and iPaq users roaming corporations, campuses and airways.
Of the need to address all modalities, Judson Slusser, vice president at ProsoftTraining commented "There are three tools required for today's learner: world-class courseware, computer-based interactive assessments (and certification exam practice where applicable), and Web-delivered content for in-class resources and out-of-class reference and reinforcement. The blend of assessment, e-learning, digital videos and simulations with proven best practices of instructor-led training offers students the necessary tools for successful learning." Both the CAQC and LATM programs include testing of various courseware modalities, providing a way for publishers of every type of courseware to participate.
The Importance of Quality Courseware
Through their actions both CompTIA and LPI have acknowledged and supported the important role that quality courseware products play in the pursuit of certification. There is also significant support from the publishing community for the quality assurance initiative. With the assistance of companies such as ProCert Labs, certification candidates, training managers, and others who are responsible for choosing courseware will have an additional tool to assess quality.
For more information about ProCert Labs testing, visit www.procertlabs.com.
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