Specifics

• The on-line midterm exam will be available in ETUDES from Wednesday February 21 at 1:30 PM through Sunday February 25, 2007 at 10:00 PM
• The exam consists of 40 questions and is worth a total of 60 points. All questions are multiple choice and True/False.
• The questions cover the material from weeks 1 - 5, though there are a couple of general positioning questions covered in week 6... but no floating details.
• You will have 3 hours to complete the exam.
• The exam is "single-entry", meaning that you will be given only one opportunity to take the exam... more on this below.
• The exam is open-book, meaning that you are free to refer to your notes, the lecture pages, and you can use your browser and the Internet to figure out the answer(s).

How Do I Take the Exam?

• Log-in to the ETUDES classroom, click on the "Test" link in the left sidebar menu, and then click on the "Midterm" link.
• Read, and follow carefully the instructions which are presented.

Tests in ETUDES

I realize that some of you may be unfamiliar with taking on-line tests in ETUDES. This section is meant to inform of you of factors which may affect you when taking the exam... read carefully!

• The exam is timed - You have three hours to complete the 40 questions. This should be plenty of time, and an hour more than is usual.
   
  Just because the exam is open-book, do not feel as though you have to lookup and research every answer. This can be time-consuming and you may run out of time by doing so. Instead, answer the questions, then research those which you may not be sure of. It turns out that initial responses are often more accurate than when you spend time agonizing over a question :-)
• The exam is single-entry, meaning that once you start the exam you will not be allowed to re-enter or re-take the exam. Do not start until you are ready to go!
• Do NOT SUBMIT until you are done - Once you "Submit" the exam, it is over. Do not click the "Submit" button until you have looked-over and completed the exam!
   
  You obviously need a stable Internet connection to take the exam. Connection failures in the middle of the exam will prevent you from completing or re-taking the exam... let me know if you have problems with this.

The font-size for this is exam is SMALL!

In previewing the exam, the font-size is really small and difficult to read. I suspect this is a problem with having questions inserted using XHTML and CSS code, and somehow the page is being rendered in a smaller font-size than normal. There is nothing I can do to make this work properly.

Sooooo, you may need to increase the font-size of the page in your browser... a factor we always think a user might have to do if we design our font sizes too small :-)

In Firefox, you do this by choosing the View Menu/Text Size menu command and adjusting to taste. The keyboard shortcut is Control + or Control - on a PC and CommandKey +/- on a Mac.

Some Resources which may HELP you for the Exam

If you need to lookup or research a question, think first about using the Topics Outline provided for this class. You should be able to zero in on a page relating to any specific question. Use your browser's FIND command to quickly locate what you are looking for.

Another resource I would highly recommend is the CSS Cheat Sheet created by Dave Child at iLoveJackDaniels.com.

I find this VERY useful and have a printout on my bulletin board above my desk. It's easy to lookup selectors, a listing of most properties, pseudo-elements, and more... take a look... I think you will appreciate this!

The ETUDES Test Window and Clock

When you click on the Midterm link under "Tests" you will see an opening gateway screen. This informs you of the same basic details as I am explaining here. Note that the exam does not start until you click the "Yes, I'll begin the test now" button.

When you click this button, the exam begins and you should not close the exam window or click the "Submit" button until you have completed the exam and are ready to actually submit it. If you close the window, the exam will end !!

This means that if you are using your browser for other purposes (researching a question), it is your responsibility to manage multiple windows or tabs in your environment.

Once the exam window opens, you will also see a "Clock" window. This can be moved to the side or even closed. Its purpose is to allow you to sync up the Clock window with the ETUDES server so that you can find out exactly how much time you have left on the exam. Clicking the Synchronize button in the clock window will communicate with ETUDES and accurately display the amount of time you have left.

If you have Issues or Problems

Please communicate with me directly at greg@mcilhiney.com

Have fun, and relax (smile)