Scirion Institute of Exercise Physiology????

[Amica]

Hey everyone! I have a quick question. I have my degree in Exercise Science and I am certified through ACE as a personal trainer. I have the oppurtunity to work for a company- Scirion Institute of Exercise Physiology.

They are a company that offers national certification in Personal training and Group Exercise Instruction. The problem is that I have never heard anything about them- good or bad and can not find any info on the net other than their website.

Has anyone heard any information on this company to help me decided if I want to work fro them becasue I do not want to work for an unreputable company?

 

[Sassy69]

Can't say I've heard of them. Are they listed with Dunn & Bradstreet? Better Business Bureau?

 

[Amica]

I haven't checked- didn't think about that though! I'll definately look into it thoguh. I hope I found out some info on them. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Skillz1988]

They have an A rating from the Better Business Better. Their program is unique and is only offered to professionals.

 

[Amica]

Yes I took the test to become an instructor for them. It was the worst test format ever. I passsed the test but decided not to become an instructor/proctor because I thought the format of the test would be setting people up for failure. Basically they give you a word like Water, then four other words associated with it and you have to first figure out what they are talking about and then decided which word doesn't belong- As a teacher, with my degree in Educational Assessment I could not give that test to others. Yes it is a hard test, primarily because they don't even give you a question to answer

 

[Skillz1988]

If you are an educator without a degree in ex phys, yet you passed the exam, it proves the exam doesn't set people up for failure. What it seems to prove is that you have to know your stuff to pass. It really bothers me to hear an educator express her unwilliness to provide an exam that is challenging to students. You would rather provide an easy exam? Everyone knows how the Scirion exam is, it's no secret. The point of the exam is so that ONLY smart people can pass it; not just any clown who memorizes a bunch of definitions.

You are certainly in the wrong industry if you don't understand the importance of an exam such as Scirions. The industry already has plenty of easy online exams. What is the point of yet another "memorization test"?!?!

 

[Amica]

Actually Skillz honey I have a dual undergrad degree in Kinesiology and Education and my M.S in Exer Phys.

My point is why would I want to give someone a test that doesn't even have questions??? The test gives you five words, you then need to figure out what the question is about and then from there decided what word does not fit. If you have an educators degree or have taken any type of education assesment classes that you would realize that the format of the test in no way trully asesses what the testee knows.

If they provided normal questions such as, "Explain the reactions that occur in the Kreb Cycle that are responsible for energy production.", then I would more than love to promote and proctor these tests. However the questions they provide you with are: (taken from a sample test)

1.ATP
Kreb Cycle
Lactic Acid
Phosphate
Water

For your information I'm not saying there exam should be made easier at all. Yes it is a hard exam not becasue of the content, but because of the format. The test is meant to asess based on its's content, not wether the testee can figure out the riddle of what the question is in the first place. They can very easily asess someone's knowledge by asking application type of questions such as the one I quoted above. Just becasue your good at testing in a certain format does not make you smart.

The second part of their test is T/F. Your telling me a format like True and False is so challenging that it can only be passed by the super smart people??

Lastly before you insult me anymore I suggest you enroll in an assesment class or come and take one of the college classes I teach about assesment.

Just because you have a PT certificate doesn't mean you know everything, so get rid of the all- knowing additude, or at least learn how to express yourself and your opinions with respect to other people.

 

[Sassy69]

I think I have to agree with you that this test is not going to prove that the person taking the test is kinesially capable (aka qualified to teach here). But it rather seems to beg the question what exactly were they trying to quantify with this test? It sounds more like an exercise in associations, etc. I mean this sounds like stuff you see on the SAT and things like that that are geared more towards assessing understanding of the English language....

Weird.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I agree with Sassy and Amica.

As an educator who has taken graduate classes in assessment and test design, this test sounds like a bunch of hooey.

 

[Amica]

Exactly Sassy and Daisy...I was having bad flashbacks to the SAT's when I was taking this test!

Don't get me wrong the test was much more involved in Physiology than any other I've seen and has the ability to be one of the better tests out there, bu the format has to be reworked. Remeber just because the tests fomat is harder does not necessarily make it better at testing a person's actual knowledge.