Recent News about Online Testing

This summer we are using a new version of the online testing software, called Enterprise Diploma. As with all new software, there are a few aspects that don't work as they should, and consequently there will be occasional updates.

Remember that I may occasionally have to restart the testing server to install upgrades. Whenever possible, I'll try to do this after midnight to minimize any possibility of interruption. However, if you do happen to be interrupted while taking a pretest, you can simply log in again to the same exam after the server restarts and continue with the exam.

If you notice any other problems with the testing web site, please let me know.

Notes and bugs:

1. When you first start your assignment, you may get a message asking if you want to download some software. I would suggest that you do NOT do this. When I tried it, the Preview feature no longer worked correctly. I will contact the authors to see if this can be fixed. At any rate, the software is not needed (it's only designed to save some time), and it also only works with Internet Explorer on Windows computers.
   
   
2. Questions which have a formula-type answer look a bit different than other questions. Under the answer box there are three links: Help, Change Math Entry Mode, and Preview.
   • If you enter a formula in the answer box, you can press Preview to see how your answer looks as a typeset formula. This makes it easier to check your answer (in particular, problems with parentheses will usually be easy to spot if you use the Preview link).
     • The first time you press Preview on a Windows computer, your browser will need to download a java applet, which may take a minute or two, depending on your connection speed. But every subsequent use of Preview will be very fast.
   • The Change Math Entry Mode link will change the entry box from the usual "Text Mode" to a new "Symbol Mode", which is a more visual type of math editor. If you like Symbol Mode better, you can change it once and it will stay on until you change it back. Note that you must move to a new question for it to take effect (you can then move back to the original question if you want). My own opinion is that the usual "Text Mode" is much simpler to use.
     • Symbol Mode is NOT working on the Macintosh, so stick to Text Mode.
   • The Help link will explain how to enter formulas in both Text and Symbol Modes.
     
     
3. When you finish your exam and use the "View Details" button to look at your graded exam, there is a [PRINT] button near the upper right corner of the page. On a Windows computer, this button will give you a printout of your exam. However, it is not working on Macintosh computers. I have reported the bug, and I hope it will be fixed soon.
        If you took your exam on a Macintosh, you can still get a printout by going to a Windows computer and looking up your old exam using the "View Past Results" on your EDU Class Homepage.