Subject: Digest for the period 1/14/2004 - 1/15/2004 Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 01:02:32 -0500 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. BJCP Exam Heresy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dion Hollenbeck Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 07:56:47 -0800 Subject: BJCP Exam Heresy Can anyone give me a valid reason for requiring rote memorization of the BJCP Style Guidelines in order to pass the exam? To me, this seems unrealistic. Since at every judging we are given the complete style guidelines, what is the benefit of having to memorize them? It seems to me that we should be allowed to have a copy of the guidelines while taking the test, putting us in the same environment that we would have while judging. IMHO, the only thing that not having the guidelines present does is test whether we are good at memorization. It does not test whether we are good judges. I grant that one must know all the information "behind" the guidelines, like how to produce a particular style, why it became a style, etc., but having to memorize the guidelines to do well on the test has nothing to do with my competency as a judge. You can ask people with whom I have judged that I am a good judge, but because I don't memorize large volumes of numbers well, I am stuck at Certified while having enough points for National loooooong ago. I know many other people in the same position who have just given up on re-taking the exam because it is pointless. This causes a large pool of *really* good judges who are only Certified, which does not reflect their judging skill at all, but only their test taking ability. Off my soapbox now. regards, dion -- Dion Hollenbeck Email: hollen`at`woodsprite.com Home Page: http://www.woodsprite.com Brewing Page: http://hbd.org/hollen [1359.5,263.7] Rennerian ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * ********************************************************************** Subject: Digest for the period 1/14/2004 - 1/15/2004 Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 01:02:32 -0500 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. BJCP Exam Heresy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dion Hollenbeck Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 07:56:47 -0800 Subject: BJCP Exam Heresy Can anyone give me a valid reason for requiring rote memorization of the BJCP Style Guidelines in order to pass the exam? To me, this seems unrealistic. Since at every judging we are given the complete style guidelines, what is the benefit of having to memorize them? It seems to me that we should be allowed to have a copy of the guidelines while taking the test, putting us in the same environment that we would have while judging. IMHO, the only thing that not having the guidelines present does is test whether we are good at memorization. It does not test whether we are good judges. I grant that one must know all the information "behind" the guidelines, like how to produce a particular style, why it became a style, etc., but having to memorize the guidelines to do well on the test has nothing to do with my competency as a judge. You can ask people with whom I have judged that I am a good judge, but because I don't memorize large volumes of numbers well, I am stuck at Certified while having enough points for National loooooong ago. I know many other people in the same position who have just given up on re-taking the exam because it is pointless. This causes a large pool of *really* good judges who are only Certified, which does not reflect their judging skill at all, but only their test taking ability. Off my soapbox now. regards, dion -- Dion Hollenbeck Email: hollen`at`woodsprite.com Home Page: http://www.woodsprite.com Brewing Page: http://hbd.org/hollen [1359.5,263.7] Rennerian ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * **********************************************************************