1.1.1. Kinds of questions – Technical matters
1.1.3. Frequently Asked Questions
1.2. Frequently Asked Questions
Do not take or peak at any quizzes until you do! Once you “peak at” a quiz, you have to take it!!!
In case they do; you are required to take required quizes.
Quizzes (if they materialize) will be located in the Assignments area.
Each quiz will consists of a certain number of questions. There are four kinds of questions you can be asked:
Note. There are two kinds of multiple-choice questions. It is very important that you learn to distinguish between the two types of questions. This will often help you in figuring out the answer!
· choices are marked by circles (as opposed to squares)
· you may only check one of the circles (the checked circle will move automatically if you try to check a second one)
· (Occasionally, I simulate multiple-multiple choice questions in one-choice questions by adding options such as “all of the above” or “answer #1 and #3” (abbreviated “1 and 3”). In other words, you really need to read all the answers before deciding.)
· graded automatically by WebCT
· choices are marked by squares (as opposed to circles)
· you may check many boxes (the checked box will remain checked unless you click on it again)
· In most of the questions, you are penalized for checking the wrong answer (you actually get negative points) so don’t guess or over-check
· graded automatically by WebCT
· You may be asked to provide a missing word in a definition or a characteristic passage, say.
· Fill the blanks questions are graded automatically by WebCT so you need to be aware that a misspelling or an extra space might be responsible for WebCT not giving you all the credit you deserve. You need to call my attention to this fact (by writing me a MAIL) so that I can give you full credit!
· You will have a couple of concepts on the left hand side that you will need to match with concepts on the right hand side.
· graded automatically by WebCT
There is an appeal procedure. You are strongly encouraged to use it. Read more about it in Appealing Grades (§1.4.).
Required quizzes are graded automatically by WebCT. This is good because you can see the results immediately. This is bad because frequently you may have good reasons for giving a wrong answer. – This is why I strongly encourage you to go through the quiz again and see whether you think the answers marked wrong are marked so fairly (See Appealing Grades, §1.4..)
No. The weight of the questions is not negotiable – it cannot be appealed.
You are given 30 minutes to complete each required quiz.
30 minutes is overgenerous. You will usually need much less time. However, remember that the quiz questions are difficult. So use this time wisely. You should read, each question a couple of times and carefully evaluate the answers! And remember, this is not a (bad) history course, where you just need to know when something happened or how to access the page of a book that records a fact. (Good history courses are not like that either.)
Here is a risky way of thinking about all this. “Oh, great! I don’t need to study. I will just sit down, turn the quiz on, read the question and then find the answer in the book.” I’d call this cheating. As always, sometimes cheating produces immediate gratification. It may actually be that you’d do well on one or two of the quizzes. But I would not bank on it! Some of the questions require subtle thinking and grasp of the whole material. There will be warm-up questions too, but the majority is not easy (unless you really know the material well).
The quizzes are not proctored (to save you money). Theoretically you can use any materials you want. To prevent flagrant abuses of the medium I have set a time limit on all the required quizzes.
I think it would be optimal if you prepared for the quizzes by writing up the answers to all the study questions. You can use those notes at the time of the quiz.
Well, I have provided you with a sample quiz, which gives you an idea of the format and the atmosphere. You might want to experiment with it. The sample quiz is also the only one that you are allowed to take unlimited number of times.
Needless to say, the grade you get on the sample quiz is not going to affect your grade for the course.