1. Why should I use on-line testing?
   1. Pedagogical benefits
      • Multiple choice exams are automatically graded and the scores entered into a grade book within the learning management system.
      • Students get instantaneous access to their grades on exams.
      • Students can get immediate feedback which increases the teaching value of the exams.
      • Provides more flexibility for students in terms of when they take the exams
      • Frees up class time that would normally be used for testing.
   2. Course administration benefits
      • Exam scores are automatically entered and easily integrated with other assignment scores in the WebCT grade book.
      • Virtually eliminates the problem of make up tests.

How on-line testing works.

Typically what is done is to create a test bank for each exam. For example, for a test with 25 questions one might have 4 alternates for each question. These alternates are randomly selected by the testing software when a student accesses the exam. Thus there are an enormous number (4²⁵) of possible exams that can be generated with a test bank.

Exams are taken in the testing facility and monitored by a proctor. This person checks student ID's and compares it with the appropriate class list to be sure that are actually enrolled in the class. The exams are password protected. The proctor knows the password, but the students do not. The proctors monitor the students during the exam to be sure that it is taken under the appropriate conditions.

Rather than having the exam scheduled for a particular time and day, students are allowed to take an exam during a window of time (typically 5-7 days) during times when the there is a proctor in the facility.

The Testing Facility, located in room 60 Carver Hall, has 48 Dell Optiplex GX270 terminals running Windows XP. The machines are configured to work well with ISU's current version of WebCT (Supported Browsers for Windows). Proctoring is available during most hours that the facility is open. Additional proctors and hours can be added on an "as needed" basis. Refer to test security for more information on the steps taken to discourage academic dishonesty.

Testing Facility hours of operation.

If you are interested in using this facility please contact Doug Bull (ddbull@iastate.edu) - 294-7255 and have the following information available.

1. Course ID and Section
2. Contact person and phone number
3. Anticipated number of enrolled students
4. Number of exams to be given
5. Any special requirements or instructions (e.g.. open book exams, students can use scratch paper, etc.)
6. Number of days exams will be available
7. Testing schedule (e.g.. Test 1 available 2/11 thru 2/18) Note: Not surprisingly students tend to wait until the last day that a test is available to take their exams. Since there are currently only 48 terminals and the facility supports a number of courses we may ask to adjust the testing schedule in order to balance the load on the facility.