Study.com exams

[Mamasaphire]

gremlinbrawler, I was wondering if you could tell me how the finals compare to the quizzes. Same or close to same questions?

SuzanneD, I have taken 2 finals so far. The quizzes were helpful, but I really found the chapter tests and practice final to be the most helpful with preparing for the proctored final. The questions I remember were not the same ones as practice questions, but they were written in a very similar manner.

[Laura27282]

I have an older, but in good condition, laptop. For the online proctoring you have to scan your room or office with the webcam. I was nervous about this. I picked up the laptop and just went all around the room, up and down, for the maximum amount of time. I took everything off the walls before the test- no pictures, art, signs, etc... I put everything in my nightstand away. Closed the closet door. Just made my room as plain as possible. I just want to make sure that there is no question of me having any 'contraband ' while I take the test. My camera lighting wasn't great either and I was worried the results my get rejected for that. You have to take a picture of your state ID and yourself. I did open the curtain to get natural light in. I made sure, when scanning the room, that the window was in the video. (So they can see nothing is there) That part was the most nerve racking for me. But everything was fine.

Oh also, the microphone has to be working decently. A mic check is one of the first things you do.

[dfrecore]

I have an older, but in good condition, laptop. For the online proctoring you have to scan your room or office with the webcam. I was nervous about this. I picked up the laptop and just went all around the room, up and down, for the maximum amount of time. I took everything off the walls before the test- no pictures, art, signs, etc... I put everything in my nightstand away. Closed the closet door. Just made my room as plain as possible. I just want to make sure that there is no question of me having any 'contraband ' while I take the test. My camera lighting wasn't great either and I was worried the results my get rejected for that. You have to take a picture of your state ID and yourself. I did open the curtain to get natural light in. I made sure, when scanning the room, that the window was in the video. (So they can see nothing is there) That part was the most nerve racking for me. But everything was fine.

Oh also, the microphone has to be working decently. A mic check is one of the first things you do.

That's funny. I just stood up, spun slowly in a circle, showed that I was in my kitchen and that the counter was completely cleared of itesm, and started my test (this was for TECEP's but same proctoring rules). At various times people in my family walked in and out, getting things out of the refrigerator, sitting down on the couch to watch TV, etc. The proctor just asked "Is that your son?" or "Is that your husband?", I said yes, and that was it. They are not THAT picky that I can see.

[topdog98]

I think it is a good idea to clear your desk of books and papers, but I do not think you have to go so far as to remove pictures from the walls.

[Laura27282]

I think it is a good idea to clear your desk of books and papers, but I do not think you have to go so far as to remove pictures from the walls.

They probably aren't that strict, it is unrealistic for students to have completely bare rooms. This was my first time taking the test, I was just thinking better safe than sorry. And I was thinking about the $ I'd be out if something was rejected.

Nobody was actually watching in real time for this, they review them later.

[dfrecore]

I think it is a good idea to clear your desk of books and papers, but I do not think you have to go so far as to remove pictures from the walls.

Yes, the counter was completely clear. My phone had to be out of sight, nothing else within reach. They were very strict about that. I even moved the fruit basket off the counter ahead of time!

[HeadsCarolina144]

Hi gremlinbrawler,

My son (who has dyslexia and is a horrible test-taker because of it) is using Study.com College Accelerator. May I ask what strategies you can offer?

[gremlinbrawler]

Hi gremlinbrawler,

My son (who has dyslexia and is a horrible test-taker because of it) is using Study.com College Accelerator. May I ask what strategies you can offer?

Well honestly my strategy is to kind of rush through the course because I find them very easy - especially compared to CLEP and DSST tests. Although I'm sure your son would prefer to go slower. Study.com could be really nice for him for a couple of reasons though.
You may have read on here that Study.com just changed their grading policy. Now most courses (except for ones with extra assignments like essays which is rare) only require you to get 55% on the final IF you scored 100% on all of the quizzes. This is pretty great for timid test takers. The quizzes are also great practice for improving your test taking skills in general because you spend so much time answering multiple choice questions you really get a feel for it and by the time you are taking the final it feels a lot like just doing more quizzes. Also as you've probably noticed you can take those quizzes as many times as you want. Taking them over and over again would take longer but it might really help. The practice test is also a great option and I have found that the practice tests are usually more difficult than the actual test, although I don't have hardly any test taking anxiety anymore so your son might not necessarily do better on the real test as he did on the practice test.
Another cool thing about study.com is that from what I remember you have a lot of time to take the test and the questions are usually (in my experience) short and to the point unlike some lengthy DSST and CLEP questions. I'm sorry that I don't remember how long exactly they give you to take the exam though.

I don't know a lot about dyslexia but I assume it slows him down with reading a lot so another good strategy might be to watch the videos and then scroll through the transcript really quick and read the bolded words and their definitions. I do this a lot myself and it really helps set those terms in stone. That way when one of those words comes up in a question he could hopefully quickly figure out what they are looking for and then go from there without meticulously reading the question. Study.com is pretty consistent in asking questions that can easily be answered if you did their material. Of course they aren't exactly the same as on the quizzes and practice test but there are definitely no surprises.

In my experience the quizzes are a very good indicator of how well you know the info in any given lesson. So if you're usually getting 80%-100% on the quizzes then don't fret, you're getting it and you'll be fine. If you don't do well on the quizzes just go through the lesson again until you really get it and then do the quiz again until you are getting 100%. The end of chapter quizzes are also great indicators of how you are doing. I have really found that with all of their quizzes and practice tests you quickly get a feel for how they are asking the questions and what kind of answers they are looking for. You just sort of learn their "style" if that makes sense.
Hopefully your son can gain some more test taking skills and confidence with all of the quizzes and practice tests that they have and then easily make the 55% on the final!
That's all I can think of for now but let me know if you have any more questions.

[gremlinbrawler]

gremlinbrawler, I was wondering if you could tell me how the finals compare to the quizzes. Same or close to same questions?

Sorry for the late reply, just saw this.
Pretty close to the quizzes! Especially as far as length and complexity of the questions goes, they are about the same. You can pick up themes pretty quick. For example if they ask you a ton about Gandhi in the quizzes then that lesson is important and they really want you to know about him. So the exact question about Gandhi won't be the same but you'll have an idea of what they want you to have gathered from the lesson. If i'm doing well on the quizzes I know I will do fine on the final. I think the reason being is that if you are doing well on the quizzes it means you paid attention and understood the lesson. If you understood all of the lessons then you can't go wrong on the final because study.com doesn't give you any surprises on the final, it's all stuff you will know if you did the lessons. I have also found the final practice test to be a bit easier than the proctored final but that's just my experience. Definitely don't freak out, you only need 55% on the final if you get 100% on the quizzes.

Good luck!