Leave the answer blank or have a guess?

[Jydo]

Guys, would I be right in thinking that one of the tests at the first assessment stage has the unusual scenario where its better to have an answer guessed rather than leaving a blank answer? Im not sure if it's the memory test but Im pretty sure that I read something on this very forum once but I cant for the life of me find it? Maybe Ive got my wires completely crossed but here is the hypothetical situation thats in my head........

Lets just say you have 18 questions with multiple choice answers to a memory test, you have answered 15 that you believe are correct, you are stuck at the last 3 questions so would you either A) leave it blank and risk the test being marked as 'incomplete' or do you B) have a guess? 15 correct answers out of 15 attempted is better than 15 correct out of 18 attempted but like I have said the TOC might mark the test as a fail due to it being incomplete....

 

[Aivilo]

I'm of the opinion that 15 out of 15 is better than 15 out of 18 as you've described

 

[EM2]

I'm of the opinion that 15 out of 15 is better than 15 out of 18 as you've described

But if you guess, you have a chance of getting it right. If you leave it blank, you definitely won't.

 

[Aivilo]

Quite possibly but from what I know and have been told that's what they look for. Although that's it's more based on timed exercises wheybthey want consistency over rash guessing so I could be wrong

 

[Nic nic]

forgive me if this sounds a little blunt but...
Before each test starts the accessor will stop and ask "any questions" try asking if you get penalties for incorrect answers. Pretty sure if they are allowed to tell you they will, infact I think they told us without us having to have to ask them.

 

[GingerRH]

Pretty sure the tests are done on accuracy rather than gross score. So 15/15 is better than 15/18 as such.

 

[455driver]

Pretty sure the tests are done on accuracy rather than gross score. So 15/15 is better than 15/18 as such.

So just answer the first question and leave all the others blank and you think you will get 100% and a pass do you?

It is a combination of speed and accuracy not one or the other!

 

[GingerRH]

So just answer the first question and leave all the others blank and you think you will get 100% and a pass do you?

It is a combination of speed and accuracy not one or the other!

Yeah sorry my wording wasn't exactly the best.

In the example given by the OP.

15 answers you're certain on is better than 15 and 3 guesses.

Saying that, when you ask they will never give you your scores.

 

[hiall]

Ask before the test starts. I'm sure they will advise you without the need to ask. In the mechanical always have a guess if you are not certain. The memory test is ok. You listen to the passage, read it and take notes. When the test begins you answer the questions with your notes taken away.

The only way you will find out what you scored is with your manager during your training. A long time after you have sat it

 

[RedZed]

I really don't understand this fascination with the test scoring system. Should it not be enough to know that you passed instead of trying to second guess the scoring system?
Some years ago when I was seeking IT certification, Microsoft had a standard bank of questions that you had to answer a certain percentage correctly to be given a pass. However, info sharing was rife and the answers to the test soon became common knowledge, became easy to memorise and therefore degrade the quality of the test. Cisco introduced a new system of testing in which an algorithm was used to ask questions which were progressively more difficult to answer. If you answer one wrong the algorithm backed off and asked you an easier question, answer that correctly and then you would be asked another more difficult question. The beauty of this system was that if you continually couldn't answer the easier questions, the algorithm detected this and failed you after a set amount of questions had been asked, the rationale being if you can't answer the easy questions you ain't got a hope in hell of answering the more difficult ones. A lot of people cried 'foul' because they insisted they hadn't been asked ALL of the questions in the pot and therefore may have answered some correctly and passed. From Cisco point of view they maintained that their adaptive certification was better because they didn't want to see how many people could pass a test, they were looking for candidates who had a good knowledge of the industry and could answer questions of varying degrees of difficulty to prove their worth of being 'certified'. FWIW I passed on my 2nd attempt.

 

[TDK]

I answered this question a while back. If you are not penalised for an incorrect answer and it is multiple choice go through the paper and mark all the questions you are 100% confident with the answers, go through it again and mark the answers you think may be correct and guess the rest. This got me through and many others. I had 40 questions to answer. I answered all 40, the pass mark was 60% I believe and I got that with the first run.