xix

What’s on the CCNA Exams

Ever since I was in grade school, whenever the teacher announced that we were having a test soon, someone would always ask, “What’s on the test?”. Even in college, people would try to get more information about what would be on the exams. The goal is to know what to study a lot, what to study a little, and what to not study at all.

Cisco wants you to know what topics to study, and it wants you to be well-prepared for your exams. However, Cisco does not want to be so specific that you can just memorize a very specific set of facts and pass the exams. In short, Cisco wants you to pass the exams because you know your stuff, not because you memorized a set of questions that someone (possibly illegally) posted on an Internet site.

What can be said about the content of the exams? First, Cisco posts exam topics for each exam. This official posting is the basis of what Cisco intends to put on the exams, so you should pay close attention to this list. Also, the breadth and depth of topics on the exams tend to match the Cisco Authorized courses with which they are associated, so it is useful to know the outlines for those courses. Finally, Cisco designs the Cisco Networking Academy Program (CNAP) course materials with CCNA in mind. Looking at all these sources can give you insight into CCNA.

ICND Exam Topics

Carefully consider the exam topics Cisco posts on its website as you study, particularly for clues as to how thoroughly you should know each topic. The exam topics use action words that follow a quasi-standard called “Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain.” Bloom’s Taxonomy defines a standard for word usage for when educators create objectives for courses. Objectives written according to Bloom’s Taxonomy define what the student should be able to accomplish after taking the class. So, when you look at an exam topic, look for the action word. It gives you a good hint about the level of knowledge and skill you will need before taking the exam. (If you want to see a description of Bloom’s Taxonomy, search the Internet. My favorite quick list of terms is at http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/ bloom.html.)

The action word in the exam topic gives you a good hint about the level of knowledge and skill you will need to have before taking the exam. For instance, a course objective that uses the word list as the action word means that you should be able to list the features. An action word such as configure means that you should know all the related configuration commands and how to use them. Troubleshoot might mean that you need to know what all the show and debug commands do for a particular topic.

xx

What does Bloom’s Taxonomy mean in terms of how you study for the exam? It means that you should focus on the action words in the exam topics and make sure you can do those things for the stated topics. For instance, if an exam topic says something like “Configure RIP...,” don’t just study RIP concepts. Also study the configuration details, because the exam topic specifically tells you that you need to know how to perform configuration.

Cisco adds a disclaimer that the posted exam topics for all its certification exams are guidelines. Cisco tries to keep the exam questions within the confines of the stated exam objectives, but doing this for every question and every exam is difficult. Thus, you could see questions that fall outside both the scope and depth implied by the exam topics. However, if you follow the Cisco exam topic guidelines, you should have a good understanding of the breadth and depth of topics on the exam.

Table I-2 lists the exam topics for the ICND exam. You can find these topics in the Introduction to the CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide and on www.cisco.com. Note that although Cisco’s posted exam topics are not numbered, they are numbered in the Exam Certification Guide series for easier reference. Also note that Cisco has historically changed exam topics without changing the exam number, so do not be alarmed if small changes in the exam topics occur over time. When in doubt, go to www.cisco.com, click Learning & Events, and select Career Certifications and Paths.

Table I-2 ICND Exam Topics

xxi

Table I-2 ICND Exam Topics (Continued)