Georgia Highlands College part of pilot program to try out computerized Regents' Test; student volunteers needed
By Rusty Causey
[email protected]
Staff Writer
For ten years the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has been trying to get the Regents' Test computerized, and after a semester of contract problems and logistics issues, the new test is finally here as a pilot program.
Kathleen Burk, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, reports that the new on-line test will be piloted across the state at participating institutions this semester.
That means that up to 50 Georgia Highlands College students will have the chance to take the on-line test this semester.
The students will be required to take both parts of the test (essay and reading) on-line at one sitting, according to Burke. If a student has already met the reading requirement, he or she will only have to take the writing part of the test.
Burk says, �For the pilot, it would probably be best to use the on-line test for students accustomed to writing with a word processor rather than teaching students to use a word processor for the test.�
The on-line test will use a word processing program on PCs (not Macs) on a downloaded program that will allow the student to use basic editing features and an electronic spell check.
LaNelle Daniel, FC English coordinator, feels that the new test will be better for the students because English classes are taught in the computer classrooms and she feels that students write better on computers.
Further information from Burk says that the on-line test will be given in a closed environment and the students taking the on-line test will not be able to use a dictionary.
The on-line test will count for the students who volunteer to take the test, and if the student should fail the on-line test, he or she will not be allowed to retake the test until next semester.
A small sample of the volunteer students can also volunteer to take both the on-line test and the paper-and-pencil test. In this case the students' highest test scores out of the two will count.
Volunteers are needed to take the computerized Regents' Test.
To volunteer; contact Phyllis Chunn at 706-806-5318 or by email at [email protected].
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