The PC-SIG Library 10/The PC-Sig Library - Shareware for the IBM PC and Compatibles (PC-SIG)(Tenth Edition Disks 1-2804)(1991).iso/PC_SIGCD/18/9/DISK1890.ZIP/TUTOR.TXT

Text File | 1990-02-10 | 14KB | 324 lines

                        TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TUTORIAL

        This tutorial refers to Test Management System version 1.08

         copyright (c) 1988 Marshall Woolner.  All rights reserved


    This is a simple tutorial to get you acquainted with TMS.  If you
    have not alread installed TMS, do so before you begin the tutorial.

    The installation procedure is explained in the reference manaul,
    stored on the distribution disk as the file named MANUAL.TMS;  the
    installation procedure is located in Section 7:  INSTALLATION.

    IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY MADE BACKUP COPIES OF TMS, DO SO NOW!

    If you are viewing this on screen, be sure to print it out so you
    will have it in hand for viewing while you run the program.

    Now, for the tutorial:


    Step one:  load TMS

        load TMS by changing the directory to the directory in which
        TMS is installed, then typing "TMS" (without the quotes) and
        pressing the <ENTER> key.  TMS will load in 15 seconds to one
        minute.  The opening screen will say "Welcome to Test Manage-
        ment System" - it will give you a brief status message to show
        how many test items and tests are stored in TMS.

        If any of the files necessary to run TMS are missing, a message
        to that effect will be displayed.  TMS will not run unless all
        the essential files are present, and will terminate with a
        message to allow you to correct the problem.


    Step two:  using a menu

        When the main menu is displayed, scroll through the options using
        the "up" and "down" cursor keys on the numeric keypad on the right
        side of the keyboard.  If nothing happens, you may need to press
        the NUM LOCK key once to make the cursor keys functional.

        Notice as you press the up/down arrows that the magenta highlight
        bar moves up and down, and that the menu choice in the magenta
        highlight bar is displayed in bright white.  Also, notice that
        as you scroll the highlight bar up and down, the message that
        appears in the message area below the menu changes.  This message
        is a simple description of the function invoked by the menu
        choice.f

        Move the highlight bar until it is on "Questions", then press the
        <ENTER> key.  After a second, the "Question" menu will appear.
        In the "Question" menu, move the highlight bar until "Finished" is
        highlighted, and press <ENTER>.  This will return you to the
        main menu.

        Now, in the main menu, highlight any choice EXCEPT "Question",
        and press the 'Q' key.  The "Question" menu appears.  In the
        "Question" menu, highlight any choice other than "Finished", and
        press the 'F' key.  You will return to the main menu.

        This has demonstrated how to use a menu.  You have two ways to
        use the menu;  press the first letter of your selection, or move
        the highlight bar to your selection and press <ENTER>.


    Step three:  adding a question

        From the main menu, select "Question", and from the "Question"
        menu, select "Add".

        The first display will be a scrolling choice screen (in fact, you
        will see a a total of three of them, in succession).  These operate
        somewhat like the menu;  use the cursor up/down keys to move the
        lightbar up and down to your choice, then press <ENTER>.  For now,
        highlight the choice at the top "Choose no AREA, or leave as is"
        This will bring up the next scrolling choice menu - choose the
        same option "Choose no CLASS ...", and the next one also, "Choose
        not AUTHOR...".  We will return to these options in a moment.

        After the three scrolling choice screens, a test item entry screen
        will appear.  At the top you will see L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6 -
        these are for each of the six possible stem lines for your question.
        Type in the following item stem:

        Sodium nitroprusside, once prepared for intravenous admin-
        istration, should be replaced with a fresh bottle no later
        than:

        Notice that you can type no more than 60 characters on each line,
        and that there is no word-wrap.

        Also note that you must use line L1 first, and that there should
        be no blank lines above any line.  When TMS reads your question
        to print it out, it will stop printing at the first blank line -
        so if you leave a blank line within the stem of your question,
        the remaining lines will be ignored.

        Now, move the cursor down to option a:, and type the following:

                4 hours from preparation

        Then move to b: and type:



                8 hours from preparation

        Then move to c: and type:

                16 hours from preparation

        Then move to d: and type:

                24 hours from preparation

        Note that you have left the lines immediately under a: , b: , c: ,
        and d:  blank - this is the right way to enter the options.

        Use the line under a:  only if the a: option requires two lines.
        If you enter the a: option in the line immediately below a: without
        entering anything in a: , TMS will not print that option on a test.

        Now move the cursor down to the Correct: area.  Try to move the
        cursor out of Correct: area.  You can't (or at least, I hope you
        can't).  This is a mandatory field - you can't leave it until you
        enter a letter, A, B, C, D, or E.  This is for the correct answer
        to the item.

        Press the <ENTER> key or use the cursor up/down key to more to the
        next area, which is Level:.  Enter 1.  This is intended for level
        of difficulty;  you can enter only a single number, in the range
        of 1 to 9.  You can use it or leave it blank as you wish.

        The next areas are Ext. Ref.  and Int. Ref., for external reference
        and internal reference, respectivelyh.  Each has a 40-character
        line, and you can enter anything you like.  I use them for infor-
        mation about the questions;  "Ext.Ref" for professional journal
        or book references, "Int. Ref" for program syllabus or outline
        information.

        Press <ENTER> and you move down to the "Is this entry complete
        (Y/N) ? area.  It will only accept Y or N;  if you press N, then
        <ENTER>, you will have another opportunity to edit the item.

        If you press Y, then <ENTER>, you will see a red bar with

        S)tore   A)bandon  R)esume editing   [select your choice .....

        Press S, then <ENTER>.  This will store the question in the
        testbank.  If you pressed A, you would be prompted to confirm
        your choice to abandon the question.  If you pressed R, you
        would resume editing.

        After you pressed S and <ENTER>, a black bar appeared which
        said:

        Do you want to CONTINUE adding questions (Y/N) ?

        At this prompt, press N, then <ENTER>.  You will return to
        the "Questions" main menu.  If you had pressed Y, you would
        go through the question adding routine again, starting with
        the scrolling choice screens for AREA, CLASS and AUTHOR.




    Step four:  making a test

        At the main menu, select "Test".

        The first display will be question 1 in the test bank.  You will
        also see a horizontal menu at the bottom of the screen.  This
        works the same as the vertical menus you have already seen, except
        that you use the right and left cursor keys to move the light
        bar, and the message appears on the very last line.  The menu
        reads:

        NEXT   BACK   GOTO   SEARCH   MARK   UNMARK   EDIT  QUIT/SAVE

        Select NEXT to move forward to the next question

        Select BACK to move backward one question

        Select GOTO to enter a question number, then jump to it

        Select SEARCH to set a search path for your questions

        Select MARK to mark a question for inclusion in the test

                notice how the "Marked" area is highlighted and the
                "Total marked" counter is incremented by one

        Select UNMARK to un-select a question for inclusion in a test

                notice how the "Marked" area is no longer highlighted,
                and the "Total marked" counter is decremented by one

        Don't select EDIT at this time - it is used for editing a question,
        and follows the same process as adding a question.

        Now mark a couple of questions, then select QUIT/SAVE.

        If you had selected no question, you would go immediately back to
        the main menu.

        Since you had marked several questions for inclusion in a test, you
        are asked what you want to do with the test - S)ave it or A)bandon
        it.  Enter S to save the test.

        You are now presented with an information entry screen.  Use it to
        enter information about the test, which will be used in administer-
        ing the test.  Test Name and Comments are optional, but very help-
        ful.  Test Code is mandatory entry.  Make sure that the test code
        has some meaning to you - it is only eight characters long.

        When the information is complete and correct, enter Y at the
        "Is the information as complete as you want? (Y/N)" prompt.

        You have just created a test.  To view it, select the "Print"
        option at the main menu - you will see a scrolling choice
        screen with the test you created and three other tests listed -
        the demo tests.




    Step five:  printing a test

        From the main menu, select "Print".

        The first display will be the scrolling choice screen with the
        tests identified.  Select a test.

        The next screen is for information about the printing of the
        test.  To choose where you want to send the test, select P for
        printer only, D for disk only, and B for both.  P will print
        the test directly on a printer, D will save the test as an
        ASCII text file, and B with do both.

        Also select the T if you want to print only the test, or R if
        you want to print the test and a reference key verion of the
        test.

        When you print the test, you will also get a face sheet with
        test information on it, an answer sheet suitable for photo
        copying, and a key template, to overlay an anwer sheet for
        rapid test scoring of paper and pencil tests.  You will, un-
        fortunately, have to cut out the holes on the correct answers
        to make the template usable.

        Once you have selected where to "print" the test and whether you
        want a reference key version, the next screen will ask for in-
        formation to be printed with the test;  simple header and footer
        information, date and instructor.  Once you have entered this,
        the test will print.

        If you selected D or B, the first to be saved is the disk file.
        After it is saved, there will be a message about renaming the
        file(s) so you will not overwrite them the next time you save
        a test to a disk file.


    Step six:  disk-based testing


        Before you make a disk-based test, you will need one formatted
        disk for each test disk you want.  The test disk you create will
        contain a program to administer the test, score the test, and
        save the test.  The test disk can be used in any computer that
        meets the requirements listed under "Remote Computer" in the
        manual.  You can make the disk a system disk (self-booting -
        see the DOS manual) and add an AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the
        single command "TESTOR" on it to make the disk self-running.

        Select "Disk" from the main menu, then select the test you want
        from the scrolling choice screen.

        Once you have selected a test, you will be presented with an in-
        formation entry screen for disk-based testing, including the
        name/description of the test group (make it whatever you like)
        and how you want to administer the test.  The options are:

                Auto score - will display the score to the test taker

                Auto review - will allow the test taker to review the
                              test, with his/her own answers and the
                              correct answers shown.  There is no
                              possibility that the test -taker can
                              change his/her answers during the review

                Auto retest - if the test taker scores below the minimum
                              passing score (which you enter on this
                              screen), will allow one retake.

        Enter the information as you like, and follow the prompts to
        create the test disk.

        You might like to try taking the test yourself.  To do so, just
        exit TMS, make A: the default drive, place the test disk in A:
        and type "TESTOR", then press <ENTER>.  The TESTOR program has
        help screens and is almost fool-proof.  To see how each of the
        options (above) work, when you are in TMS select Y for each of
        them - then you will see your score displayed, review, and re-
        test if your score is lower than the minimum passing score.


    Step eight:  experiment

        Try TMS out - experiment.  By this time, you have a pretty good
        feel for how it works.  Good Luck!