online SO test.

[RePete]

Can we get a paper rule book to read!!??? Open book ain't too cool without a book.

I downloaded and printed out the new rulebook and used that. You should be able to do the same from the IDPA website.

I wish they'd remove the comments from the PDF and publish a final version. Not having a 2" margin on the right side out save some paper.

Follow this LINK to the IDPA forum for a PDF copy with all the comments removed.

Awesome! Its 14 pages less.

The problem is that there are questions from the last 14 pages.

[Sundance3]

I failed on my first attempt also, did not use the book. On second attempt had PDF open beside the test, 97%. Using the search feature made it simple. I think limiting the SOI's will hurt them in a long run. Each Match Director should be able to select a person from their club, that person should be able to test out on line. Most clubs have someone who is alreay a certified instructor in other disciplines who could fill the role for the club.

[Rob Tompkins]

Not to give anything away but the questions about "X" being in "Y" section when it was in "Z" sections were very poorly done. If you said no, not in "Y" it was wrong but even post test answers did not have "X" in "Y". I guess I should have just known what they ment and not relied on what they wrote.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Rob Tompkins

[DMark]

A very poor online testing product for an open book exam.

An open book is meant to be a teaching tool.

I have been part of the distance learning world within the military since the late 90s and the method use with this test is referred to as the "Treasure Hunt." It requires searching back and forth through the text without any regard to the flow of the overall concept of the material.

Not a good means to educate....., but a great way to Rat F- - k with the those taking the test.

A better way, especially when the subject matter covers an area where the test subjects are being introduced to new information in a field that they are experienced in is the "Cover to Cover" method. That type of exam starts its questions at the first of the book and finishes on the last page of the book. In other words as you look for and find the answer to the first question you can continue to read and the answer to the next question will appear. At the end of the exam the test taker will have read most of the book cover to cover.

Also, the questions for an open book exam must be Word-For-Word for what is in the book. Several of the questions in the SO exam did not do this.

[firemantj]

A very poor online testing product for an open book exam.

An open book is meant to be a teaching tool.

I have been part of the distance learning world within the military since the late 90s and the method use with this test is referred to as the "Treasure Hunt." It requires searching back and forth through the text without any regard to the flow of the overall concept of the material.

Not a good means to educate....., but a great way to Rat F- - k with the those taking the test.

A better way, especially when the subject matter covers an area where the test subjects are being introduced to new information in a field that they are experienced in is the "Cover to Cover" method. That type of exam starts its questions at the first of the book and finishes on the last page of the book. In other words as you look for and find the answer to the first question you can continue to read and the answer to the next question will appear. At the end of the exam the test taker will have read most of the book cover to cover.

Also, the questions for an open book exam must be Word-For-Word for what is in the book. Several of the questions in the SO exam did not do this.

Whole-Heartedly agree with this. If it had been "cover-to-cover" I would have at least read the rulebook again taking the test. Instead, I only used it for the first 30 or so questions and went to the "wing-it" method afterwards.

[theKenny]

Got a 96% in about 37 minutes. Disappointing that I only barely made the GM level of IDPA SO. When you look at my time though I think my hit factor should go up.

ha ha.

I got quite a laugh out of that. Thanks

[CHARLES D]

Maybe if half of us walked away they'd realize they need to fix some things."Bend over and take it" is not a winning strategy if we want to convince them to change.Then again, I renewed my membership 2 weeks ago and took the test too

Just the opposite for me. I donated the yearly due to the MGM junior camp. Will still shoot it locally just for trigger time.

[Jim Watson]

You cannot shoot IDPA locally if not a member... if the club is following the rules.

[ac4wordplay]

A very poor online testing product for an open book exam.

An open book is meant to be a teaching tool.

I have been part of the distance learning world within the military since the late 90s and the method use with this test is referred to as the "Treasure Hunt." It requires searching back and forth through the text without any regard to the flow of the overall concept of the material.

Not a good means to educate....., but a great way to Rat F- - k with the those taking the test.

A better way, especially when the subject matter covers an area where the test subjects are being introduced to new information in a field that they are experienced in is the "Cover to Cover" method. That type of exam starts its questions at the first of the book and finishes on the last page of the book. In other words as you look for and find the answer to the first question you can continue to read and the answer to the next question will appear. At the end of the exam the test taker will have read most of the book cover to cover.

Also, the questions for an open book exam must be Word-For-Word for what is in the book. Several of the questions in the SO exam did not do this.

Well stated.

97% due to obviously stupid mistakes on my part and their poor testing product/questions.

[COF]

A very poor online testing product for an open book exam.

An open book is meant to be a teaching tool.

I have been part of the distance learning world within the military since the late 90s and the method use with this test is referred to as the "Treasure Hunt." It requires searching back and forth through the text without any regard to the flow of the overall concept of the material.

Not a good means to educate....., but a great way to Rat F- - k with the those taking the test.

A better way, especially when the subject matter covers an area where the test subjects are being introduced to new information in a field that they are experienced in is the "Cover to Cover" method. That type of exam starts its questions at the first of the book and finishes on the last page of the book. In other words as you look for and find the answer to the first question you can continue to read and the answer to the next question will appear. At the end of the exam the test taker will have read most of the book cover to cover.

Also, the questions for an open book exam must be Word-For-Word for what is in the book. Several of the questions in the SO exam did not do this.

There you go, expecting that common sense thing again...

[jcc7x7]

You cannot shoot IDPA locally if not a member... if the club is following the rules.

90% of clubs don't follow the rules anyhow! when was the last time an award was given locally. When have you seen the SO's that shoot on friday at bigger matches get a Procedural, FTN, etc etc.

[RePete]

You cannot shoot IDPA locally if not a member... if the club is following the rules.

90% of clubs don't follow the rules anyhow! when was the last time an award was given locally. When have you seen the SO's that shoot on friday at bigger matches get a Procedural, FTN, etc etc.

jcc7x7:

Maybe what you say is true for Texas, but come up to the North East and shoot and work a match. We give PE's FTN's etc to the SO's if they earn it.

I received PE's, cover calls and FTN's, when I've earned them, at matches I work.

[Dacsoft]

You cannot shoot IDPA locally if not a member... if the club is following the rules.

90% of clubs don't follow the rules anyhow! when was the last time an award was given locally. When have you seen the SO's that shoot on friday at bigger matches get a Procedural, FTN, etc etc.

jcc7x7:

Maybe what you say is true for Texas, but come up to the North East and shoot and work a match. We give PE's FTN's etc to the SO's if they earn it.

I received PE's, cover calls and FTN's, when I've earned them, at matches I work.

I am with repete on this. I saw PEs, FTN, and even DQ during the SO shoot for the last sanctioned match I worked here in Florida. Guess you have different experience?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[stick]

You cannot shoot IDPA locally if not a member... if the club is following the rules.

90% of clubs don't follow the rules anyhow! when was the last time an award was given locally. When have you seen the SO's that shoot on friday at bigger matches get a Procedural, FTN, etc etc.

jcc7x7:

Maybe what you say is true for Texas, but come up to the North East and shoot and work a match. We give PE's FTN's etc to the SO's if they earn it.

I received PE's, cover calls and FTN's, when I've earned them, at matches I work.

What's fair is fair! I've called PE's, cover calls, etc. And I received them from fellow SO's that I was teamed with running the same squad.

[RePete]

You cannot shoot IDPA locally if not a member... if the club is following the rules.

90% of clubs don't follow the rules anyhow! when was the last time an award was given locally. When have you seen the SO's that shoot on friday at bigger matches get a Procedural, FTN, etc etc.

jcc7x7:

Maybe what you say is true for Texas, but come up to the North East and shoot and work a match. We give PE's FTN's etc to the SO's if they earn it.

I received PE's, cover calls and FTN's, when I've earned them, at matches I work.

What's fair is fair! I've called PE's, cover calls, etc. And I received them from fellow SO's that I was teamed with running the same squad.

Exactly! As it should be.

[blind bat]

There should be no doubt SO's are being consistent. If I shoot a CoF as an SO and the other SO misses a call I give it to myself. If I'm just shooting (not officiating) I keep my mouth shut.

[Trail3]

Saw someone post on another forum that today is the last day to take the test online. Is this true?

Only 2 weeks to take the test? It is summer and people do have a lot going on due this time of year.

If the rules don't start until Oct 1st, what is the rush?

[stick]

Saw someone post on another forum that today is the last day to take the test online. Is this true?

Only 2 weeks to take the test? It is summer and people do have a lot going on due this time of year.

If the rules don't start until Oct 1st, what is the rush?

Only 2 weeks per section to complete the test. For example, my area for testing was July 15th.

[RePete]

Saw someone post on another forum that today is the last day to take the test online. Is this true?

Only 2 weeks to take the test? It is summer and people do have a lot going on due this time of year.

If the rules don't start until Oct 1st, what is the rush?

Saw someone post on another forum that today is the last day to take the test online. Is this true?

Only 2 weeks to take the test? It is summer and people do have a lot going on due this time of year.

If the rules don't start until Oct 1st, what is the rush?

Only 2 weeks per section to complete the test. For example, my area for testing was July 15th.

It's been extended to the 29th Sept.

[Lynyrd]

Only My 2 cents; I get tested at work for my qualifications on a 2 year cycle, with 3 separate written tests and many practical exams. In the middle of that time I get retention exams, audits by my customer and accredited by outside organization. at any time I can be asked to perform many operations. If I have any failures or errors it could be an upgrade or another test, I don't need another job, this is a sport I'd like too Enjoy!!!! once it becomes another job I will stop shooting it.

[Sac Law Man]

I thought it was a good test. It took me about an hour.. 97 and change..

[Pete Whyte]

I think Hq. could afford to print a book. I also think they extended the date to the end of Sept. because quite a few of the S Os are not going to bother taking the test. I hope there will be a real book printed & new people will step up to be a S.O. Without them there won't be an IDPA. Pete

[GOF]

I think IDPA has discovered that the re-certification procedures they used did not meet with the approval of a significant percentage of the 'volunteers SOs' who actually make the sport function, and that a number of them decided to 'unvolunteer' and just return to being a competitor.

I think they lost a fair number of veteran SOs and extending the testing period over their rather dictatorial initial time frame was an attempt to lure some back in. Only time will tell that was successful or not.

Re-certification is an excellent idea. I think it was just poorly implemented.

[Mike21STI]

I was on the fence of taking the test (took it last night). My main reason was because I don't know how involved I will be in this sport in the future. I've worked a bunch of major matches in the past with a great crew of guys. I will help out at matches if the need arises but I got bit by the bug from the other game so the limited time that I do have will probably be spent slinging more rounds down range

[waktasz]

The most important reason to take it is so you don't have to take the in person class again. I wasn't planning on even renewing my membership until next year for a sanctioned match but the SO rules made me do it.