2/1/2005 -- Today the Microsoft Learning Group announced what it calls a "dramatic change in the testing protocol," with the planned delivery of newly developed simulation questions to its exams. The new question types will begin to appear in exams in late March.

Performance-based questions, which test candidates' hands-on skills, will slowly be substituted for some of the questions on exams already available, first with exams 70-290, Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment, and 70-291, Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure. The last day that candidates can take these two exams sans performance-based questions is March 31.

Al Valvano, group product manager for the Microsoft Learning Group, said that while the company has been interested in using simulation questions for quite some time."We have always wanted to better mimic the real-world tasks that someone would have to accomplish using Microsoft software in the real world," he said. "This capability allows us to better measure those things that are better measured through a task-based simulated environment."

The reason Microsoft hasn't rolled out simulation questions earlier, Valvano said, is that only recently has the technology on both the testing side and the exam delivery side have come together. “The technology is incredibly complex,” he explained, “particularly if you want to develop it and roll it out on a scale of the size of the Microsoft certification program.”

Both Pearson Vue and Prometric have worked with Microsoft to deliver the new questions, which -- unlike Cisco's Flash-based simulations -- use a proprietary software developed by a China-based company known as ATA.

Valvano said while that the number of simulation questions present on a particular exam will vary, “our desired goal is that a significant portion of the exams [will be simulations] where it makes sense.” The company will continue to use other question types it considers to be performance-based, including hot area questions, case studies and drag-and-drop.

At this point, the company is announcing only that the questions will appear on the MCSA/MCSE core exams, but Valvano said that the company will evaluate adding simulations to exams for other titles on a case-by-case basis.

Candidates who have already achieved certification or passed exams that have or will incorporate simulations do not need to retake exams. Microsoft does allow candidates to retest on exams that have been updated with simulations if they choose, although Valvano said he doesn't expect the number to be significant, as Microsoft will not distinguish between MCPs who have taken exams with simulation questions and those who have not. “That was an issue of concern for us,” he explained. “We ultimately decided that it was best if we do not differentiate those individuals.”

Microsoft said it will post examples of the simulation questions on its Web site in early March.

CertCities.com will continue to keep you updated on this story. In the meantime, read Microsoft's FAQ about the new simulation questions here. - Mike Domingo and Becky Nagel