Students working at computers

Picture for IDPlease bring a picture ID with you when you come to take a test or exam. This is required. You will not be permitted to take the test unless you have a picture ID.


How Tests Are Administered

The tests are 75 minutes in length (final exam 135 minutes), and WebAssign will time you automatically from the moment you download the test. So bring a watch with you and pay careful attention to the time you start the test.

Location for Tests and Exam

The DE Proctoring Service provides two locations for students to take tests and the final exam. These locations are described at the DE Proctoring Service web site. The recommended location is the one on Centennial Campus because this location has more experience with handling WebAssign tests (like the ones used in this class). All our tests have about a week-long window during which you can take the test. You have the option of reserving a seat in the testing center of your choice at a specific time, or simply walking into the Centennial Campus facility at any time during their hours of operation during test week and taking the test on a first come, first served basis. See the DE Proctoring Service web site for more details.

If you live more than 50 miles from campus, you may attempt to negotiate special arrangements for taking tests without coming to campus. If you wish to pursue this option you should see the remote testing page at DE Proctoring the first week of class. That page will give you a deadline for submitting a remote proctor for the approval of the DE Proctoring Service. Once your remote proctor has been arranged, you will need to inform Dr. Page that you will be taking your tests with a remote proctor.

Bring whatever you like to the test (books, notes, calculator, scrap paper, etc.). There are no restricted web sites. (Use of the row operations tool is essential for the first and second tests, and the matrix tool is optional for the first test and very helpful for the final exam.) Keep in mind, however, that we can't guarantee that tools you you might pick will work properly for you during the test. The only "official" tools supported in this class are the matrix tool and the row operations tool. Whatever other things such as calculators or websites you may choose to use are used at your own risk.

Make a note of your score on the test (the grade of your final submission) before you leave the test room. You will not be able to see your test after your time has expired.

Test Dates

Test Dates

All tests are taken at the DE Proctoring Service in Venture II on Centennial Campus. DE students may optionally schedule tests via the DE Proctoring Service web site. WebAssign allows 75 minutes to complete each test and 135 minutes for the final exam.

First Test: Take your test anytime during the period February 3-9.

Second Test: Take your test anytime during the period March 13-19.

Third Test: Take your test anytime during the period November April 13-19.

Final Exam : Take your exam anytime during the period April 30 - May 8.

Note: All exams must be completed by May 8. Final grades will be determined based on work completed by 8 PM on May 8.

The computers at DE Proctoring the computers are Windows desktop computers. You will want some time to get accustomed to your computer and to get logged into the NCSU Unity computing environment. When you report to the DE Proctoring Service for a test, allow time to find parking.

Whereas you are allowed up to 50 submissions on WebAssign homework, you are allowed only 3 submissions on the tests. (This means that you can submit each question up to 3 times.) These submissions must be used BEFORE time expires for the test. Make sure you know when your deadline is for finishing the test, and make sure your watch is accurate. (When you go to your list of current WebAssignments, you can see the WebAssign timestamp inserted at the bottom of the page. Check your watch against this. But remember to do it immediately when the page is downloaded so the time check will be accurate.)

WebAssign does not warn you when time is running out. If you wait too late to attempt your submission, your submission will be rejected,

The tests are just like the homework

All assignments, tests, and final exam are done using WebAssign. The homework assignments may be done at home or anywhere you choose. The tests and final exam will be on the NCSU campus at designated times. On homework assignments you are allowed up to 50 submissions for each question, and on tests and the final exam each question can be submitted up to 3 times.

The format of the tests will be similar to the WebAssignments used for homework except that you will have limited time (usually 75 minutes) and you will be limited to 3 submissions for each question.

The final exam will have the same format as the tests, will be 135 minutes in length, and will cover the entire course with special emphasis on the final week or two which was not covered on Test #3.

Many of the questions on the tests and exam will be very similar to problems you have encountered previously in the WebAssignments.

Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities that require special arrangements for assignments or tests should contact me as early as possible in the semester to discuss such arrangements. NCSU has established policies on disabilities.

You should always bring your calculator to tests. All tests are "open book and open notes", so you may also bring along any notes or other printed material that might be useful to you.

Tests and the Honor Code

During tests, the following activities are prohibited. Any of these activities is considered a violation of the NCSU Honor Code and will be fully prosecuted.

  • sharing of notes between students (Bring your own notes, but don't loan or borrow notes from another student.)
  • discussing the test with another student
  • communication via computer or telephone with anyone inside or outside the test room. Specifically, all uses of e-mail, instant messaging, or other computer or telephone based communications with another person are prohibited unless specifically authorized by the instructor.

Where do test questions come from?

There is great similarity between lots of problems that appear on tests and the homework problems that you have already encountered. One of the most sophisticated features of WebAssign is its ability to "randomize" questions, i.e. to create different versions of the question by varying the numbers or other features that appear in the question. So each of you gets your own "personalized" homework assignment that is different from the assignment of any other student in the class.

Does Everyone Take
the Same Tests?

The answer to this is "yes" and "no". Yes, in the sense that everyone takes a test that is generated from the same pools of questions. No, in the sense that each student gets questions randomly selected from those question pools. So if you talk to a student who has taken the test at an earlier time, don't infer that you'll have the same questions on your test. In fact, it's very unlikely that two different students in the class will have tests with more than a couple of questions in common, and even when two students do get a common question, the numbers in the question will be randomized.

Many of the questions used on tests are recycled homework questions, i.e. identical to homework questions you've already seen but having different numbers appearing in the question. Sometimes you won't even recognize this.

Other test questions, however, might not ring a bell with you because they include wording that you haven't seen before. And occasionally I'll have a student complain that I've thrown them a curve ball on the test because of some questions that were "new" and "unlike" any homework problem.

The truth is that virtually every test is a mix of new and recycled problems. Sometimes you won't recognize a new problem as new because there is little to distinguish it from problems you've already done. And sometimes you won't recognize a recycled problem as recycled because there may be some randomized wording as well as numbering in the problem.

The reason I'm telling you all this is to simply lead up to this advice: Don't worry about this too much. Instead just be prepared. Bring your printouts of homework with you to the test (if you wish), but don't rely on the printouts as a total crutch. When you encounter a problem on the test that you don't immediately see how to do, ask yourself, "Have I done this problem before?" If so, then browse through your homework to see if you can locate a clue as to how you did it. But don't waste a large amount of time looking for it in your homework if it's not certain that you will find something relevant. Instead, ask yourself what you have done in the homework that is relevant to this one, i.e. what techniques do I know that I can apply here. Familiarity with the homework is of great important. But it's not the whole ball game.

Are the tests long?

Almost every time I give a test, there are some students who finish the test in half the allotted time, and others who complain that there is insufficient time allowed for the test. The reason is pretty obvious. If you can zip right through the test without making mistakes and without having to spend a lot of time figuring out how to do a problem, you'll have time to spare. But if you get stuck and spend half an hour on a single problem, you're not going to finish the test.

The best advice I can give is to prepare well ahead of time and organize your notes well before the test. Many students waste large amounts of time on tests thumbing through their notes trying to find something related to a test question. You don't have that luxury on the test. There simply isn't enough time for that. So before you spend a lot of time on any question, scan your test to see if there are other problems that you can do quickly.

But my most important advice is to not get "burned" by the fact that the test allows use of notes. You simply won't have time to rely on your notes for every question. You need to be just as well prepared ahead of time as you would be if notes weren't allowed at all