I Just Got an Idea

[DKlein]

Alright, I was thinking about my own computer literacy, when I thought, "it sure would rock if someone would come out with an online test for this sort of thing, that way we could know who knew their stuff and who was just blowing hot air." Then I thought, "that's a good idea, Dave, you're so smart." Then I thought it would be best to put up a post about this idea. Then I did.

Now that we're at the present, who else thinks this is a good idea? Has it already been done? I'm thinking something like an online IQ test: 50 or so multiple-choice questions, ranging in difficulty from "what is another term for CPU," to "which of the following is a more powerful video card" and then having responses with different amounts of pipelines and different core speeds, to some just really hard question only a true expert would know. Say 5 or 6 categories of questions for the different levels of knowledge: "slight to none," "moderate," "experienced," "advanced," "professional," and "expert," (or make up your own, whatever) with equal numbers of questions for each. You could also throw in a twist, like if someone answers one of the easier questions wrong, they lose points, and maybe the tougher questions are worth more points (but there would be more choices too). I'd do it, but I'm not all that knowledgeable, and I'm sure we've got plenty of experts running around here that could figure out some good questions.

Thoughts?

 

[thursday22dp]

yeah sounds good 2 me

 

[ohnnyj]

Sure, then you could keep a database like 3DMark with the highest scores so people can claim they are the ultimate geek...I mean expert.

(No, I am not putting geeks down, I gladly admit that I am one and am proud of it ).

 

[DaveSimmons]

Could be interesting, as long as it's a test of concepts rather than trivia.

Someone who knows their stuff has not necessarily memorized the actual clockspeeed of A64 parts or the differences between 8 flavors of Radeon 9600, they whould just know how to find out the information as needed and be able to understand what they're looking up.

It sounds like concepts are what you're thinking of testing, but be careful not to confuse ability to memorize with a high level of smartness

 

[DKlein]

I wouldn't put trivia completely out of the test, as some general knowledge of what's going on in the world of computer tech is important, but definately concepts would be the primary focus.

 

[Ken90630]

Interesting idea. :light: A suggestion I would (strongly) make is that no questions be multiple choice. Multiple choice questions mean the person could have no clue yet simply guess and get lucky. That won't contribute to a true assessment of their knowledge level.

When I was in college, the hardest classes were the ones in which I had to take "essay" tests, mid-terms & finals (when appropriate). They were the hardest classes, but they were also the ones in which I learned the most and retained the most knowledge long after the class ended. A test like you're describing would be truly accurate if the test-taker has to explain, using acquired knowledge and critical thinking skills, the answer.

Dave Simmons is right on the money re memorized info. It doesn't indicate a "high level of smartness."

Another idea would be to make the test optional, with the idea being that you could take it and, if you do well, receive some sort of title other than the current ones (which simply denote how many posts a person has done, irrespective of those posts' quality).

My .02.

 

[rise]

i'm pretty sure the "elite" title has nothing to do with number of posts.

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: rise4310
i'm pretty sure the "elite" title has nothing to do with number of posts.

That's true. But that's the only one, isn't it? Other than that, the titles are strictly based on number of posts, aren't they?

And, out of curiosity now that you brought it up, what is the criteria for "Elite" status?

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: DKlein
Alright, I was thinking about my own computer literacy, when I thought, "it sure would rock if someone would come out with an online test for this sort of thing, that way we could know who knew their stuff and who was just blowing hot air." Then I thought, "that's a good idea, Dave, you're so smart." Then I thought it would be best to put up a post about this idea. Then I did.

Now that we're at the present, who else thinks this is a good idea? Has it already been done? I'm thinking something like an online IQ test: 50 or so multiple-choice questions, ranging in difficulty from "what is another term for CPU," to "which of the following is a more powerful video card" and then having responses with different amounts of pipelines and different core speeds, to some just really hard question only a true expert would know. Say 5 or 6 categories of questions for the different levels of knowledge: "slight to none," "moderate," "experienced," "advanced," "professional," and "expert," (or make up your own, whatever) with equal numbers of questions for each. You could also throw in a twist, like if someone answers one of the easier questions wrong, they lose points, and maybe the tougher questions are worth more points (but there would be more choices too). I'd do it, but I'm not all that knowledgeable, and I'm sure we've got plenty of experts running around here that could figure out some good questions.

Thoughts?

You stole my idea!

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: Ken90630

Originally posted by: rise4310
i'm pretty sure the "elite" title has nothing to do with number of posts.

That's true. But that's the only one, isn't it? Other than that, the titles are strictly based on number of posts, aren't they?

And, out of curiosity now that you brought it up, what is the criteria for "Elite" status?

seems they need to be nominated and approved, by who i don't know. but i love seeing zebo, mechbgon, zepper et al join a thread. not that i blindly trust my hardware to any single one of them, or any reviewer for that matter, but they have a wealth of knowledge.

the idea has its merit but i think that most people figure out pretty quickly who is full of chit.

 

[Blain]

Modesty would prevent me from nominating myself, even though I am quite the expert on every facet of computer knowledge.

 

[Jeff7]

You do realize, some people will need help just getting to an Internet browser. Heck, using the terms "Internet browser" and "address bar" will get blank stares from some people.

The basic section would have to be VERY BASIC - cover things like the difference between right vs left click, how and when to use them, and other simple terms, like "desktop."

What would be ideal would be mandatory computer lessons, like a driving exam - you need a license to get a PC. But with the government running it, by the time a test's content gets fought over, and the lobbyists have their say, it'd be a test in the year 2009 concerning "New Intel Pentium 4, with Hyperthreading technology, and its impact on your online XPerience!"

 

[imverygifted]

i honestly think this should be in off topic

 

[Czar]

isnt this called A+

 

[DKlein]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was OT or general material. It's sort of a mix of the two...

As much as I agree with the idea that written-in answers will tell more about a person, that's not feasible unless someone wants to grade 100s of responses all day (assuming it gets popular). Now if someone does, okay, but I wasn't expecting anyone would. This is why I'd rather just have every question have a multitude of possible answers, like 5 or 6 for the easier ones, and more answers for the harder ones, to ensure guessing would have limited results. Of course, people could also always cheat, but that can happen for any test (and if the questions are hard enough, cheating is going to be difficult). Half of the reason for the test is it would be nice for those who don't cheat to just get a feeling of how far along their knowledge is, and maybe have a little fun using their knowledge for something; bragging rights are always nice too, I guess

Jeff7, you also bring up the good point that we'd need to figure out the varying difficulty levels first... should someone with "moderate" knowledge be expected to know what a CPU is, or just what in general a processor primarily does (store information, process information, render images to monitor, temorarily store information, etc), or just pick out of a group of products which is a processor (AMD XP 2000+, 1MB PC3200 RAM, Western Digital Raptor 80GB 10K RPM, etc)? This was sort of what got me started on this idea was what I would consider myself in this range. Do I have moderate knowledge because I couldn't tell you the architectural differences between an Intel processor and an AMD to much extent, nor could I explain to you what half the processes in Windows XP do, nor could I really explain what a pagefile is for; or do I have advanced/experienced knowledge because I know the difference between RAM and a HDD and how each plays into a computer system, the difference between AMD's HTT and the previous tech (sorta), and how pipelines and frequency speeds affect performance in different ways? Maybe we just need more categories? Or screw it, and just leave it as a score?

I was thinking something along the lines of the thousands of other online tests out there, from "what family guy character are you" to "if you were a kind of ice cream, what kind would that be," but obviously a bit more serious and in-depth than any of those typically go. It shouldn't be too hard to make, if you leave out the points system; it's just we need quality questions, and a good number of them. Maybe I should start a new thread for that, since this seems to have piqued at least a few people's interest?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Shut up. Make it. Post it.

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

It's all subjective.

You know you've arrived when you read a high end buyers guide over on Sharky's Extreme and either name the same parts they have or come up with better ones.

 

[Appledrop]

im thinking of making one now, but thinking of questions is hard actually :l

 

[PCHPlayer]

Originally posted by: rise4310

Originally posted by: Ken90630

Originally posted by: rise4310
i'm pretty sure the "elite" title has nothing to do with number of posts.

That's true. But that's the only one, isn't it? Other than that, the titles are strictly based on number of posts, aren't they?

And, out of curiosity now that you brought it up, what is the criteria for "Elite" status?

seems they need to be nominated and approved, by who i don't know. but i love seeing zebo, mechbgon, zepper et al join a thread. not that i blindly trust my hardware to any single one of them, or any reviewer for that matter, but they have a wealth of knowledge.

Yeah, but who do you trust more. The guy who has 200 well thought out, helpful posts or the guy who lurks in FS/FT and posts 5000 "bumps"?

Back on topic: It is an interesting idea, but I think it would be alot of work. Once completed, you could start a thread where people could post their score. Once the shine wears off nobody will take the test anymore and the thread dies... end of work. You are left with an interesting "computer knowledge test" web page.

 

[Appledrop]

Back on topic: It is an interesting idea, but I think it would be alot of work. Once completed, you could start a thread where people could post their score. Once the shine wears off nobody will take the test anymore and the thread dies... end of work. You are left with an interesting "computer knowledge test" web page.

cynic

 

[GimpyOne]

Originally posted by: Ken90630
Interesting idea. :light: A suggestion I would (strongly) make is that no questions be multiple choice. Multiple choice questions mean the person could have no clue yet simply guess and get lucky. That won't contribute to a true assessment of their knowledge level.

When I was in college, the hardest classes were the ones in which I had to take "essay" tests, mid-terms & finals (when appropriate). They were the hardest classes, but they were also the ones in which I learned the most and retained the most knowledge long after the class ended. A test like you're describing would be truly accurate if the test-taker has to explain, using acquired knowledge and critical thinking skills, the answer.

Dave Simmons is right on the money re memorized info. It doesn't indicate a "high level of smartness."

Another idea would be to make the test optional, with the idea being that you could take it and, if you do well, receive some sort of title other than the current ones (which simply denote how many posts a person has done, irrespective of those posts' quality).

My .02.

Off topic again...but the most difficult exam I have ever taken was multiple choice.(A Magnetic Materials Grad Course) 50 questions and all of them were on the order of:

What is the approximate width of a magnetic domain wall?
a. 10^-6 m
b. 10^-7 m
c. 10^-8 m
d. 10^-9 m

The entire damn thing was that way, from numbers to equations to concepts...the answer is c by the way.

 

[Fern]

Hey DKlein!

I think this a good idea. Yeah, some speak of it's usefulness in determining 1337ness of posters. Others mention bragging rights like the OC database is for OCers'.

I think it would also be damn interesting for others of us to see where we stand and what we should improve upon. How many posts have we seen like "well since I built my last rig 2 yrs ago I've been outta the loop, what should I do about.....". Well, go take the "quiz", see what you fvched up, learn it and come back with any ?'s etc.

I assume you'd know what answers you missed, and then could view the correct answers.

I'd suggest putting together an outline (or categories of ?'s) b4 we get to actual questions. In fact the way the forums are seperated here is a start. Ex,

*Gen Hardware (what is this part and what is it's function, whats IDE, SATA),

*CPU's and OCing, Cases and cooling (do I need case fans, which way should blow air etc, how big a PSU do I need etc)

*Motherboards (How to change FSB, vcore vdimm, whats DC, how to clear CMOS)

*Networking (How to, troubleshooting etc.)

*Software and Apps (How to install, restore, clone etc.)

*Video (what diff between AGP v PCI v PCI-e. Whats AA & AF)

That's just off the top of my head, but I think you get the idea. Once we have the categories, I think the questions will come easier.

I think I could help with beginner to advanced categories on some things. Don't think of myself as a pro or expert in any category.

Maybe we get a site to host the project. Then those who volunteer from here could log in to submit questions, edit, or practice taking draft tests to see if it's difficulty is about right etc.

When finished, open the site for others feedback, make changes and bam, you concept comes to fruition.

Anyway, I think a good start is to come up with the categories.

Fern

EDIT: I think to start we need to get volunteers signed up and then a site to working on the categories.

 

[MrControversial]

Yeah, let's do it. But it's still a bit subjective. I have a BS in Computer Science, A+ Certified and work as a Network Administrator but I STILL had to learn about overclocking and memory timings and such from reading websites and posting here. So such things aren't always a good barometer of a person's expertise.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Shut up. Make it. Post it.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: MrControversial
Yeah, let's do it. But it's still a bit subjective. I have a BS in Computer Science, A+ Certified and work as a Network Administrator but I STILL had to learn about overclocking and memory timings and such from reading websites and posting here. So such things aren't always a good barometer of a person's expertise.

I'm glad to see someone say so. I have no formal training in Computer science. But I can tell I have learned more (here at AT) about such things you mention than the "Pro's" in my community. I very rarely need to hire one. And I'll only choose those who are enthusiast/games. Cuz they seem to know more in general. The other guys seem to be oriented towards corporate customers who don't know crap. When I wanted a server, one company gave me a proposal for $3,000. I read the specs, crap like PC100 ram WTF?. I built and deployed myself for $800. And it's hella faster than what they had spec'd.


Anyway, this project will require the input of many. Soo many different areas, and I think it's hard for pro's and experts to come down to my lower level sometimes.