Tips on How to take tests and complete assignments
i. Directions for Taking Quizzes and
Exams
To take a quiz (or exam) you click on the "Assessments" link on
the
homepage. Then you click on the exact Quiz or Exam that you
need to
take. When taking a
quiz or exam, once you have selected an answer
to a specific question, you must then click the “save answer”
button at
the bottom of the question box – that will lock in your chosen
question.
If you do not save your
answer by clicking the “save answer” button,
when you get around to submitting your quiz or exam and click
the “finish”
button, those answers that were not saved are not tallied, as if
you never
answered the question in the first place.
Note that each quiz and exam has a specific
date-time window that you
are allowed access to
take it. Those specific dates are shown next to
each listed quiz and exam in the "Assessments" link. As a general rule,
the quizzes and exam are made available about a week before
they are due.
There is a big
difference in the amount of time that you are allowed to take
for completing a quiz versus an exam. You have several days to take the
quiz – they are not timed.
The midterm and final exams are timed, however,
you have 3 hours from when the time you officially start the
test. If you fail to
finish the exam in four hours, then Blackboard will force-submit
the incomplete
exam for you. It is your responsibility to know the time windows
and due dates
for each quiz and exam.
To make things more simple, quizzes are always due
on Sundays. Research
assignments are also due on Sundays. The
midterm
is due on a Sunday and the final is due on a Saturday. Note that I do not allow
make-ups for quizzes and
exams.
Once that you take the quiz or exam and
submit it, it will be graded at the
test’s closing date. The
student can then review her/his graded test.
Correct
answers will listed for your review, and your score will posted to
your grade
sheet, which can be accessed at the “My Grades” on the Homepage.
You can only take a quiz
or exam once – no retakes.
ii. Directions for Completing the
Research Assignments
To begin an assignment you click on the
"Assignment" link on the homepage.
Then you click on the
exact Assignment that you need to take. There will be a
highlighted file listed with the name of the assignment that must be
downloaded –
it contains the detailed directions and information needed to
complete the
assignment. Note that each assignment has a specific time window
that you are
allowed access it, complete it, and submit it. Those specific
dates are shown
next to each assignment in the "Assignment"
page. You have roughly three weeks
to complete and submit each assignment, except for the first
personal greeting
assignment. It is your
responsibility to know the time window for each assignment.
The research writing
assignments are due on a Sunday by 11:55 pm.
The
two research writing assignments are designed to force you, the
student, into
carefully studying and mastering the required oceanography curriculum,
which, in turn,
will make it much easier for the student to successfully complete the
corresponding
quizzes and exams, and walk away from this course with well-retained
knowledge.
The procedure for creating the correct
written format and proper submitting of your
research papers should go as follows:
Download the research assignment document
into a word processor program.
Then, working in the document, insert your response
to each subtopic question (a. through e.) directly beneath the
stated subtopic question
within the topic. Therefore,
your written responses will be found in between each of
the stated questions - down
through the entire worksheet. You submit
your assignment
(as
an attached file). I prefer that your
file is a Word.doc using Microsoft Word
(filename.doc), but
WordPerfect file (filename.wps) or rich text file (filename.rtf) are “OK”
too. The completed assignment
name must include two bits of information: 1) the
ASSIGNMENT NAME and 2) YOUR LAST
NAME. An example is
“Assign1_Smith.doc”.
An actual example of a
student’s completed research assignment worksheet – with
instructor’s grading comments - is found on the professor’s classroom webpage.
http://www.oceansci.com/miramar_online_assign_example.htm
Please
study this example and use it like a template for your own assignments.
Submit the assignment by loading your
completed assignment at the specific
assignment page found in the “Assignment” box – the place where you originally
retrieved the assignment instructions file. Once you complete and submit the
assignment, MAKE SURE that your document actually uploaded into your
assignment box. It will take me
about a week to manually grade it and post it to
your grade sheet, which can be accessed at the “My Grades”
portal on the
Homepage. Note that I do not accept late assignments nor do I allow
make-ups
for assignments.
As a final note of importance, I what to make
it perfectly clear here that you MUST
write your research assignments
in YOUR OWN WORDS. First, DO NOT copy or
paraphrase, word-for-word, out of the textbook or off a web site. DO NOT use
massive quoting of information from other sources; and DO NOT use
word-for-word
information shared with your fellow students.
Any one of the above instances will
get you zero earned points for your effort, or lack of.