ExamView Newsletter January, 2003

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Newsletter Archive:

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1) Delivering practice tests online - Over the past few years, the number of instructors who publish tests to their own website has increased dramatically. While paper tests are still the predominant delivery method, online delivery is quickly gaining momentum.

As access to computer labs increases, more instructors are using online tests for regularly scheduled tests. However, many schools do not have the computer resources to support this option.

While you may not be able to take advantage of the online testing features in your classroom, you might want to explore another use of this technology-online practice tests. Over the past few years, the availability of the Internet has become almost universal. Students have access in the home and many other locations, such as their school or the public library.

How can you help your students using the World Wide Web? One way is to create practice tests and publish them to the Internet. Students can take these self-graded tests at their convenience as they prepare for a test or quiz. If the student answers incorrectly, you can include a page reference or specific feedback to help them focus their efforts. Students are excited by the technology and benefit from the personalized feedback.

If you have your own website and already post course material there, then publishing an Internet test and making it available from your website is a snap. To publish an online test: (1) create the test, (2) choose the Publish Internet Test option, (3) copy the HTML files to your website, and (4) create a link. It's that simple.

If you do not have your own website, ExamView offers a subscription service that automates the entire process. Simply create a test and click a few buttons.

Try online testing for just one of your classes. You'll soon discover how this technology can help your students achieve at a higher level.

2) Saving paper, saving money - It seems that saving money is on everyone's mind these days. Budget cuts due to lower tax revenue are a fact of life. ExamView can help!

If you deliver paper tests and online testing is not an option, you may want to check out these tips to reduce the amount of paper needed for your tests. Saving just one page per test can add up over a year.

By applying these simple techniques, I reduced a 50-question test (with several types of questions) from 6 pages to 4 pages. For an average class, that's 40-50 pages per test!

Tips for saving paper:

After building a test, press Ctrl+M (or Cmd+M on the Mac). Use the options to change the number of columns used for Multiple Choice questions. By selecting 2 or 4 columns, you can change the amount of vertical space for each question. To save even more space, choose the Test Layout option and set the option to use "No columns" for Multiple Choice questions.
Use the Replace Font option in the File menu to automatically decrease the font size for all questions. Leave the options as is except for the "Replace with" size. For example, you can change the font size to 10 pt. You'll be surprised how much space you can save with a smaller font.
If you plan to deliver the same test to multiple classes, require students to write their answers on a separate sheet of paper. Using the Test Layout option, turn off the space for answers. To reduce cheating, print several different versions of the same test.
Reduce the size of those larger pictures so that they require less space. Simply double-click on a question and then click on an image to resize it.

3) Using the ExamView Player and dynamic (algorithmic) questions -
It seems that there are never enough questions to thoroughly assist students in mastering a particular skill. With ExamView 4.0 you can solve this problem.

Using the dynamic content features, you can create questions that can be "recalculated" to generate any number of questions of the same form. These features can be used for simple math, algebra, calculus, chemistry, etc. and even non-math subjects (social studies, accounting, and so on.)

Here's a simple case…

Consider the question, Calculate 23 + 46. You can set up this question so that the two values are randomly generated within a range (let's say between 10 and 99). Then, duplicate it five times. Now imagine several other questions on this same topic (for example, Mary has 17 oranges and 23 apples. How many pieces of fruit does Mary have?).

Using these dynamic questions you can build an online test for your local area network (LAN) via the ExamView Player. While setting up the online options, you can choose to calculate new values each time a student opens a test. Now, each time a student takes the test, he/she gets a new set of problems. Imagine the possibilities for practice and re-teaching!

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