Image of Monitor and KeyboardNorth Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills

Frequently Asked Questions And Comments...
on Test Design

Q:
 Will the items be delivered randomly? OR During the actual test, will the questions come up in random order in each section for each student/workstation so that cheating is discouraged?
A:
 Items (questions) in this test are delivered to students inline/sequentially. However, there are many forms which may make it appear to be randomly delivered.

Q:
 Is there a breakdown of percentages for the different components of the test, i.e. 20% spreadsheet, 15% database?
A:
 See Strand Percentages

Q:
 We don't recall seeing multimedia questions at all from the Test Simulation. Will there will be multimedia questions and/or activities on the actual test?
A:
 It is possible to have multimedia questions appear on the test.

Q:
 The test activities must be scored on key strokes. For the test, if a student tries several ways to do something and NCDesk only wants one response, if the student finally gets that one response, will the question be scored correctly?
A:
 Performance items in the test are not scored based on key strokes. The last result of each performance item will be used to score. Students should only do the requested action(s) in order for items to receive a correct score.

Q:
 If a student does MORE than is requested in a question will they be penalized? For example - when asked to center the title and the student finds a sentence they think is grammatically awkard and fix it or also italize the title.
A:
 Due to the rubric anaysis routines that have to be applied to each performance item, students should do exactly what is asked for -- no more, no less. They risk losing credit if they do anything extra.

Q:
 How do I get the secure files for the test?
A:
 You don't need them. There are no files to get, manage, distribute, purge, etc. given the design of the online test.

Q:
 Why is there NO break? Our folks had concerns that 120 minutes is a little long for not having a 3 minute break. This is correct - No breaks?
A:
 There is a required 3-minute break after 60 minutes of testing.

Q:
 How will students with the same form be prevented from sitting beside each other?
A:
 The online test has multiple forms, therefore students with the same form sitting beside each other should happen less frequently. Also, students will begin on survey questions and two sample items before beginning the test -- this should create an environment where the students will not be synchronized. However, if this is presents a problem during the administration, a student can be moved to another computer.

Q:
 In the feasibility study in fall 2004, some students were kicked out of the system and had to start over. What are you going to do to keep this from happening?
A:
 We have made adjustments to lower the bandwidth requirements and to not let NCDesk be run on unsupported client computers. Hopefully, this will significantly reduce the number of computers locking up.

Q:
 Many locations had a problem with graphs that continued to pop-up during the test once they had pasted that item.
A:
 This issue was fixed with the spring 2005 version and later versions of the NCDesk software.

This file was modified on Wednesday, August 29, 2007; at 2:48:06 PM