To me, it seems like these questions could not possibly reflect the reality of a test. That being said, I have not taken a Dantes test in about 23 years. Still, the problem I see is that the fill-in-the-blank questions don't put the blank where a specific term or label should be, but rather many times where a generic adjective is.

For example, using the sentence, "The Basketball Players Act of 1999 allows players to dunk the ball," I might rephrase it to say, "The _____ ______ Act of 1999 allows players to dunk the ball." It is clear there is a SPECIFIC title or words required to be correct. Close won't cut it.

However, if I rephrase a statement like, "The orange house is ugly," to say, "The orange house is _____," you might say homely, unattractive, or some other adjective synonymous with ugly and you would be correct. No title or proper noun is involved here. The test here would say you are wrong if you don't nail the particular word exactly.

I think the test could be rewritten to include, where appropriate, other suitable adjectives so that a person doesn't get dinged for no good reason.

Keep in mind that the flashcards are not intended to reflect the exact form of the actaul exam. Rather, they are constructed to help you retain information that you will need on the actual test. The actual test will likely not have any fill in the blank type questions. In fact, for the exam you are taking a lot of the questions will be yes or no questions. I used the flashcards to study for Ethics and I got a 66...pass was a 46. Needless to say...the flashcards work...keep truckin'

__________________
Excelsior BS - General Business - 2008
Enrolled at Jacksonville State University - MBA - complete in 2010 (60% complete)

121 credits...ALL DONE BABY!!!

54 credits transfered in from prior college
54 credits by examination
6 credits from community college
3 credits from CSU-Pueblo (Operations Management)
4 credits for Information Literacy and Business Strategy from Excelsior

CLEP:
Principles of Macroeconomics (64)
Principles of Microeconomics (61)
Principles of Marketing (66)
Principles of Management (72)
Info Systems and Comp Applications (57)
Introductory Business Law (65)
Social Sciences & History (61)
DSST:
Principles of Supervision (58)
Principles of Statistics (67)
Introduction to Computing (60)
Principles of Financial Accounting (56)
Principles of Finance (55)
Money and Banking (52)
Ethics in America (66)
Management Information Systems (58)
ECE:
Ethics: Theory and Practice (B)
Organizational Behavior (C)

GMAT: 600

That is right. The flashcards are meant to help you learn what's on the tests, not only through the answers, but the explanations as well. Instantcert WILL help you on Ethics.

__________________
Jesse
BA, Thomas Edison State College

Instantcert + common sense = 80 for me.

__________________
Associate in Applied Science/Criminal Justice - Community College of the Air Force
DSST
History of Vietnam War......51
Astronomy.......................61
Org. Behavior...................63
Intro to Computing............64
Criminal Justice.................64
Intro to World Religions......62
Principles of Sup. .............63
Money and Banking...........60
Intro to Law Enf. .............63
Princ. of Stat. .................56
Enviro & Humanity.............61
Ethics in Amer..................80
Drug & Alcohol Abuse.........65
Rise/Fall Soviet Union........55
Principles of Pub Speak......63 (Failed oral)
Principles of Pub Speak (2).64 (Passed oral)
CLEP
Fresh. Col. Comp. (71) (Essay Passed TESC)
Principles of Man. (73)
Analy. & Int. Lit. (71)
Prin. of Microecon. (64)
Prin. of Macroecon. (60)
Intro to Soc (66)
American Gov't (63)
Hist of US I (66)
Hist of US II (63)
FEMA
-LOTS-

Even though I'm sure you all are right, it just seems they could have worded the questions better, specifically putting the blanks in different areas or allowing for synonyms to count appropriately. Ah, I'll stop whining now and do my homework! I just missed a ton of them up front.

Well, this time I got 29 of 50. Still not great, but for not writing anything down the first time and getting under 50%, I guess I'm going in the right direction.

From any of you who have taken the Ethics test, do you remember anything that was simply missed altogether by these study guides and practice tests?

Strategizer,
If you were going to a professional baseball camp for the first time, you may find that there are practice methods and drills that simply wouldn't make sense to you. You might say, "What does this have to do with baseball...I just came here to hit homeruns?" The short answer would be that certain methods have been found to aid in the retention of material, and in this case it applies to Instacert's method of using Flashcards. You can fight it or ignore the fact that thousands have successfully used them ....or you can take all your time and energy and actually use them. Most subjects I studied intensively for at least 4-5 hours a day for between four days to two weeks, meaning I would go through the flashcards sometimes 20 to 30 times. BTW Make sure that you use the random question feature as well.

__________________
Excelsior - BS Business


CLEP's: Macroeconomics 58, Microeconomics 51, Principles of Accounting 59, Intro to Marketing 71, Intro to Mgmt 70 Business Law 55, Humanities 61, Analyzing & Interpreting Literature 68, Social Sciences & History 62
DANTES: MIS 65, Intro to Business 68, Money & Banking 48 , Intro to Computing 61, Statistics 61, Ethics in America 67
ECE: Org. Behavior C, Ethics C
PENN F: Technical Math I C, Fin Mgmt. B, Info Lit A
TECEP: Ops Mgmt, Bus Policy

The problem with trying to answer the flashcards is something as small as the wrong tense or a misspelling will count as wrong. Then you look at your score and get discouraged.

Before I found Instantcert I took a couple of test and studied long and hard from textbooks and studyguides. I did fine, but it was more effort then was needed. Now I just go through the flashcards just answering in my head, then when I see the answer and the explanation it either confirms I knew the concept or I now do. When I come to something that I am still not clear on I then go to a textbook to clarify.

When I am taking time off from testing I quit IC, but I rejoin when I am ready to test again.

Between May 9 and June 12 I took and passed 12 credits of CLEP using mostly IC, you just need to learn to not worry about your score on the 1st pass through the flashcards.

__________________
Linda
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” Buddhist Proverb
EXAMS TAKEN
1/07 TECEP Psyc. of Women (Needed/acheived) 60/74
1/08 DSST Tech. Writing 46/64
4/07 TECEP Word Processing Fund 65/75
4/07 CLEP Info Syst & Comp App. 50/64
3/07 DSST History of the Vietnam War 44/66
11/07 DSST Intro to World Religions 48/65
5/08 CLEP Analyzing & Interp. Lit. 50/69
5/29/08 CLEP Intro to Psych. 50/65
6/12/08 CLEP Intro to Sociology 50/69
1/27/09 CLEP Social Science & History 50/66
05/09 3 FEMA
1/15/10 DSST Environment & Humanity 46/67
2/5/10 DSST Foundations Of Education 46/68

Planned Organizational Behavior DSST; Natural Science CLEP; Intro to Education Psychology CLEP; Literacy Instruct in the Elementary School ECE; 2-3 FEMA credits; ALEKS Begining Algebra
+ 43 B&M CC credits and 9 TESC credits. AA Degree 9/08
Eventually a BA in Natural Science/Mathmatics:97credits down 23 to go

I think a few people are focusing on the wrong aspect. I felt the same way when I read the first flashcard (IT was for Civil War). I knew the info inside out, but kept on missing many IC questions becasue I used synonymous terms, used the singualr form instead of plural, or made a spellign error. It was annoying and I felt like the "answer" for the blnk spot made no sense to me.

Then I realized that it's the explanation the is helful. Not all the actual 1 or 2 word "answer" wil be necessary information that you'l need. The explanation is the key, because it helps you get a thourough understanding of the subject matter or principle behind it. I don't even pay attention to my IC score. I just click continue without entering anything. I focus on reading the question and undestandign the explanation. I know I'm ready for an exam when I get to the point where I can read the question, and before i see the answer, I can give my own summary of the points at hand.

Just my 2cents....

Side Note: I'm taking the Ethics Exam tomorrow morning (9am) and just began studying IC flashcards tonight ..... I'll let you know how it goes.....

__________________

Oficially a Graduate!!
COSC B.S. Independent/Liberal Studies (Business Admin & Healthcare Admin)
Exams Passed:
- DSST: Technical Writing 64
- DSST: Principles of Supervision 58
- CLEP: A&I Literature 74
- DSST: Intro to Business 66
- DSST: Ethics in America 63
- DSST: Intro to World Religions 67
ALL DONE!!

I saw you took the A&I CLEP. How difficult was it? How hard did you have to study to get 71%? I am taking it in 1 week, but still juggling my final University of Phoenix class (if I pass the Lit test and Natural Science of course). I wasn't sure if I needed to split up the little time I had between studying for both or how intensly I neded to prepare.