In Full - Re: Best math book for me

[Guest guest]

I'd like to clarify the difference between the two posts, and why I made a

suggestion which turned out to be controversial.

Background: PTCB sells 4 practice exams. Two are 50-question exams which are

presented like the national exam, and give you a summary and score at the end

which you can save. The other two are 25-question exams which give explanations,

and are sold somewhat like study aids (not just exams, but explanations of the

answers).

I posted that PTCB's practice math exam *might* be a good value for someone

struggling with math because it gives an explanation of how each problem is

solved. (The explanation's a bit terse. That might reduce the value for someone

struggling with math. It's not *that* explanatory.).

However, PTCB doesn't give you the exam results (with explanations) at the end,

in a saveable format. PTCB displays the explanation after each question. You're

given 60 minutes to answer 25 questions and view the explanations. That's 2.4

minutes to comprehend a question, perform the calculation, *AND* digest PTCB's

explanation (which was the selling point for the exam).

Anyone who can do that, doesn't need to buy that exam. (ha).

Therefore, I interpreted this as a deficiency, not an intentional limitation. If

it were intentional, it would create an absurdity.

I said: anyone purchasing the test should be prepared to overcome that

deficiency by capturing the screens. I suggested a freeware tool[1] because it

can be configured to do it automatically. (If you use Windows PrtScrn, you have

to interact with a Word document, paste the image, return to the exam.... adding

to the stress of working " while the meter runs. " ).

Jeanetta felt I encouraged inappropriate behavior. Unfortunately, removing my

suggestion made it sound like I was more supportive of the PTCB practice exam

than I really was.

Just to be clear: There's two issues. 1) Copyright provides the purchaser of

intellectual property (IP) to make a copy for personal use. The seller of IP

can't deny the buyer of their rights under " fair use. " However, 2) copyright

doesn't prevent a seller from restricting the use of the data by contractual

agreement, and enforcing those limitations through contractual consequences. For

example, " if we catch you making a copy... we'll discontinue your access to our

services. "

Therefore, what I suggested wasn't _illegal_ in the sense of copyright

infringement. But, it is possible PTCB doesn't permit what I suggested. It's

possible they really expect " no copying " in the strictest, literal sense.

To me, that would create such an absurd condition that it would be laughable.

But, ultimately that's just my interpretation. I don't want my interpretation to

become an urban legend that " it's ok to capture PTCB's practice exams, someone

said so. " Technically, PTCB's never been asked. Despite how laughable it would

be if they prohibited it, stranger things have occurred.

To summarize:

1) I wouldn't recommend PTCB's math practice exam without qualifying that its

delivery is deficient, and the purchaser should be prepared to ameliorate that

deficiency.

2) Technically, it may not be merely a " deficiency. " It could be intentional. In

which case, I wouldn't recommend the exam under any circumstance. Anyone

contemplating a purchase should verify for themselves that using screen captures

to enhance the value they receive from their purchase is acceptable to PTCB.

Yeeesh! I don't think I'll ever recommend PTCB's products again due to all this

explanatory, legally-nuanced overhead. This topic prepared people to be a

paralegal more than a pharmacy technician. I regret saying anything in the first

place.

With the above in mind, I'll add my view about all 4 exams:

All 4 PTCB practice exams are of dubious value largely due to the same

deficiency: an inability to refer to the purchased material after " your time is

up. "

That's more pronounced with the math and medicine exams which are sold as

explanatory learning materials.

The two practice exams aren't quite as bad. It's plausible they're just intended

to be an exam experience. And, you get a score and summary at the end which you

can keep.

But, even those two practice exams are of questionable value. You can buy

practice exams for $10-$20. Books like Reifman's ($50), contain ~700

questions[2]. That's 6-12 cents per question. These materials allow you to

freely reference them over months. And, you can sell them on eBay when you're

done, recouping half their cost.

PTCB's two practice exams are 78 cents per question. And, the way they're

delivered, you can't even refer to them the next day. On the surface, that's a

remarkably poor value.

However, to me, the value is in the 650-800 score which you receive at the end.

That gives you an idea of how well you'll do on the real exam. I think that can

have a lot of value for people who want to do more than " just pass. "

It's really the two 25-question practice exams (math and meds) that are

problematic, creating a need to use screen captures, or (if that's not

permitted) then a ridiculous transfer of value.

[1] ScreenGrab http://www.no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/

[2] Reifman's questions aren't entirely unique. Quite a few appear many times. I

only refer to it as an example.