[CW] no code- little code

[N7DC@cs.com]

Exactly the point of giving the test questions and answers out.  Anyone can 
pass the test, who has a good memory.  Some people have said you should never 
teach a course of any kind, by using the questions you know will be asked, and 
teaching just toward them.  I contend that it is an excellent way to teach.  
Make the test cover every subject which you want to student to know, then teach 
them how to get the answers using math and good sense.  
   I would write up my lesson plans, using those questions as the target for 
my final results.  Dont teach that a dipole for 7.220 is 64.8 feet long.  
Teach how to find the formula for a half wave dipole, then make them plug in the 
figures to make a dipole for every band they will be allowed if they pass the 
test they are working on.  Yes, that takes some memorization (the band edges), 
but makes them THINK.  

One day, around 1986, I sat down at work and made up a Novice test, from the 
test question list, and then I and another ham who I worked with, gave the 
test to some 12 of our fellow employees, without any prior notifications, and of 
course no chance for them to study.  These were all professional 
communications personnel, who in years past had all taken electronics in military or 
civilian life, and each of whom was a qualified Morse operator.  None of them had 
ever studied for ham radio, thus had no idea about the ham assignments, power 
requirements, rules or regulations.  After each took the test and returned it to 
us, we graded them.  Results:  11 new Novice operators qualified that day.  
The one that didn't, missed 1 too many questions.  Why did we get such good 
results from a blind test like that?  Knowledge.  They had worked with 
transmitters and receivers, could figure out the simple Ohms law problem and used common 
sense to figure out some of the questions which they had never dealt with 
before.  They missed the rules and regulations, band edges etc.  Given 30 minutes 
of study on those subjects, most would have maxed out the test.

Now we shouldn't require hams to have professional qualifications, but we 
sure should be able to require them to KNOW of what they speak.  Quit giving out 
the test questions.  Give out a list of knowledge bases required, and make new 
people actually think about what they are doing.  Thats what makes for 
knowledge, not memorization and forgetting.  


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