From: anthony.sequeira@thomson.com
Date: Thu Jan 25 2007 - 01:24:53 ART
"Proctor, Proctor, give me the news, I got a bad case of router blues!"
R. Palmer
This is one of my favorite areas of Lab discussion. In fact, I had
planned on doing a post about this subject soon...
Here are some quick tips off the top of my head that I want you to
consider, please let me know your questions/ideas on the subject:
- Be as friendly and as calm as possible when approaching the proctor.
If you have any kind of attitude - good chance they might too.
- If your site has several individuals that are proctoring - try
approaching them all at various times to get a feel for which seem to be
more helpful. Once you figure that out - only approach the more helpful
proctor.
- I know time is a critical issue - but try and take some of your time
to rehearse your question a bit before you actually approach the
proctor.
- Make it very clear to the proctor in your question that you are
"expert-level" with your knowledge of the subject matter - and that you
just need clarification on the ambiguity that you PERCEIVE in the
question. One example of accomplishing this is as follows. You might end
up explaining to the proctor the exact three different methods you are
considering for accomplishment of the task - and then explain to the
proctor how you see some ambiguity in the question as to which would be
more correct.
- While you want to seem expert-level - do no let this come across as
arrogance.
- Do not ever frame the question so that the proctor must give you an
exact answer. You should not say - "Hey - I can do Option A, Option B,
or Option C - which do you want?" Instead - I would frame it more like -
"I think I can do Option A, Option B, or Option C to accomplish this
task. I am leaning toward Option A because - BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, do you
agree with my reasoning here....I only ask because I see some ambiguity
in the second sentence of this task...."
In RTP - I got a sense for the two proctors that were there for most of
my attempts. I learned which I could ask which types of questions
of.....and I found them critical ingredients in my eventual recipe for
success.
One of my friends and colleagues passed on his first try not so long
ago....he said what put him over the top was that early in the day a
proctor helped him interpret a diagram correctly. He indicated if that
had not happened - he would have had NO CHANCE TO PASS.
Proctors can be invaluable. And at the same time - many first-time
passers never said ONE WORD to the proctors. The lab is indeed a very
personal experience.
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Alex De Gruiter
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 9:42 PM
To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Proctor questions
Hello,
I am looking for the best advice on how to approach the proctor.
I tried 2 completely different approaches for each of my labs. In the
1st I asked a lot of questions and received persistent negative
feedback. So I posted a similar question to this one after the 1st lab,
and I was torn down in flames by certain people who stated that I
"obviously knew nothing"; if I had asked clear, reasonable questions, I
would receive a response.
So I spent time between lab attempts better learning the technologies,
and in the 2nd lab asked very few questions. I basically ignored the
proctor - on the few occassions that I did ask questions, I was met with
a similar response to my 1st attempt.
I am now faced with a dilemma. Due to locality there is one location
that proves particularly practical in my endeavour to sit my next, and
hopefully last, exam. The trouble is that if there are any areas of
ambiguity... And lets face it, there are going to be at least 1 or 2
areas of ambiguity, even small areas, in the lab... I honestly am lost
when it comes to getting clarification from the proctor.
So my question is: how can I structure a question in such a way that the
response is useful? And, perhaps, should I simply not bother asking any
questions at all?
Advice appreciated.
Alex
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