On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 15:21:06 GMT, Dee D. Flint wrote:

My wife only had 50 questions on the exams to pass her international law
class recently (two 20 question exams and one 10 question exam). You're
asking for much more from people preparing for what is fundamentally a
recreational activity. That, in my opinion, is a little ridiculous, Dee.


How many questions has she had to pass to get her law degree and to pass her
bar exam?

Pending Dwight's reply, I can add from my own experience.

Minimum accredited law school requirements for a JD were 80 units of
classwork, in which 60 units required written tests of six essay
questions (3 midterm, 3 final) per unit, one hour per essay. Rarely
did we have a multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank exam. The other
20 units were performance subjects where every day was, in effect,
an exam.

The Bar Exam is something different. Each state has slightly
different requirements, one or two days' worth of written "essay"
exams and the one-day Multistate Bar Exam (MBE). The MBE is a
national requirement, a 200-question multiple-choice exam,
100 in the morning, 100 in the afternoon, with three hours per
session. The time for each question comes out to 1.8 minutes each.
Half of the questions come from a published 500 question-and-answer
pool. Of course there's a hitch - two or more choices are close to
the expected answer and it's the applicant's job to pick the right one.

In the year that I took the Bar Exam, most states required a minimum
of 130 correct answers (65%) to even be considered for admission,
and the average nationwide was 132 including the superstars from
places like Harvard and Yale Law Schools. California - the toughest
of the states - granted admission to anyone who scored 152 (76%) or
more, regardless of his/her performance on the written portion.

Not quite the same as the FCC license tests.....

Fifty to 100 multiple choice questions on the FCC rules is simple as the
rules are very simple.

50 seems to be a reasonable number for the average applicant. This
isn't, and shouldn't be, a Bar Exam because folks who pass the rules
exam are not expected to be qualified to do interpretation and
analysis to the level and precision that an attorney does.

Another radical idea: The (commercial) radiotelephone operator's
exam has two elements that all classes must pass: Element 1 dealing
with Rules and Regulations, and Element 2 dealing with operating
practices and procedures.

As this is a requirement even for a charter boat skipper operating
in tidal waters who isn't even allowed to do anything with the
transmitter except to operate the external channel and volume knobs,
I can see having a counterpart of perhaps another 50 questions in
the Amateur exam dealing with operating practices in all modes.

Like the Rules exam, pass it once, never have to pass it again
unless the license lapses beyond the grace period for renewal or the
licensee's conduct is found to be so egregious that a re-exam under
FCC supervision is necessary - "all or nothing".

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane