[CTSARA] Technician to General: Test Subject Needed

[Jon Perelstein]

We are looking for a willing test subject to work with us on a
Technician to General upgrade program we are trying to develop.

Instead of the classic fixed classroom approach, we are planning on a
structured, supervised self-study program.  That means that you will
be assigned someone (a mentor) who will lay out weekly goals with you
and review your progress. YOU will be expected to study the material
and take practice exams that will be used to evaluate your progress
and strengths/weaknesses.  Your mentor (and others) will be available
help you with areas that are giving you trouble, but the mentor will
not be a teacher in the sense of someone standing at the front of a
classroom lecturing to you.

We intend to use the KB6UN material
(http://kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/2011-No-Nonsense-General-Class-License-Study-Guide.pdf)
which has a very different organization than either the ARRL or Gordon
West material, and strips away a lot of the material that is not on
the test (e.g., calculation of logarithms).  You will be expected to
take tests using either QRZ or eHam's on-line tests (free), or Ham
Test Online ($25 for a 2 year subscription).  If you prefer the ARRL
or Gordon West study guides, we'll work with you using those guides
instead.

We're really just starting to figure out how to do this, so you really
are going to be a test subject/guinea pig/car crash dummy.  However,
we're far enough along with the thinking that we are confident that we
can make it work; you'll just have to be flexible and roll with the
punches if we find that something isn't working out for you.  We
expect that we won't actually start until mid-December.

Why are we doing this?  We believe that there are a lot of technician
class hams out there who want to upgrade but who don't have the time
available to attend regularly scheduled classes (often miles and miles
away during rush hour) but need a structure that will help them make
studying enough of a priority that it will get done.  We're trying to
come up with a solution that will work for those people.  If this
approach works, we are going to try the same approach for technician
licensing.

Sooo ... in the words of the great Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton:

"MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG
MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL.
HONOR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS."

Actually, we'll accept either men or women.

73s
Jon, WB2RYV

P.S.  Yes Fred, we know that there's no proof that Shackleton actually
ran that ad.