____________________________________________________________
Testing Center v3
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Thank you
for purchasing
Double-click the Setup.exe file.
Follow the steps in the InstallShield Wizard,
including acceptance of the End User License Agreement (also
available at the end of this document) and selection of the destination folder.
Click Finish to configure
IMPORTANT NOTE: If portions of your hard drive are set as
Read-Only to users of Testing Center,
the following folders need to be set to Read/Write: the installation folder (usually,
C:\Program Files\DDC Testing Center v3), all its subfolders, and the Database folder (see below for more details).
If you are running Office exams, the DDCMyDocs folder in the root of the installation
drive will need to be given Full Control.
Before you begin using
The software will attempt to
validate your activation key. If you have a multiple-seat license, you will see
the number of seats available and how many have been activated.
If the activation key is validated,
the software will automatically restart. If you are using a network version you
will then be taken to Configuration Options.
If the activation key cannot be
validated, a screen will appear with instructions for activating the software
without connecting to the online database. This situation can occur if there is
a technical problem with the online database, if you are not connected to the
Internet, or if your firewall is preventing POST requests at www.ddctraining.com. Please try to resolve the issue and try again. If you cannot resolve
the issue, follow the instructions on the screen to receive your alternate
activation key. You can click the Copy
to Clipboard button to copy the required information to the clipboard to be
pasted in an email.
After clicking Next,
you will need to choose between creating a new network database, mapping to an
existing database, or configuring for standalone use. Standalone use is the
simplest setup, but does not allow you to take advantage of the numerous
administrative tools available to the network installation.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In addition to network
configuration, if you plan to use Outlook tests in the Microsoft Office module
of
Testing Center must be installed locally to each
user’s computer. The network database component is
the only portion that will be installed on the server.
The first time you install
You will now be given the option to
change the administrator password. This password is required to create new
administrator accounts. ITCERT Training Services recommends that you change
this password and keep the new password in a safe location. Click Next when you are finished. This completes the first
installation.
Once the network database files are
in place, you will need to map each additional computer to this location during
installation. Select Map to Existing Network Database and click Next. An Open dialog box will appear; browse to the
network location where you installed the network database files. Select the DDC Database.mdb
file and click Open. An alert box will inform you that the path was
mapped. Verify that it is correct and click OK. This completes a subsequent installation.
If you do not need to store results
from multiple computers in a single database, select Do Not Connect to a
Network Database. You will now be given the option to change the
administrator password. This password is required to create new administrator
accounts. ITCERT Training Services recommends that you change this password and
keep the new password in a safe location. Click Next
when you are finished. This completes the installation.
If you plan to run Outlook tests,
you must configure Outlook using the procedure below.
NOTE: Do not run the Testing Center
Outlook exam on a computer where Outlook is being used. It may destroy personal
data such as e-mail messages and contacts.
1. From
the Start menu, select Settings>Control
Panel and double-click the Mail
icon.
2. The
Mail dialog box will appear. Click Show
Profiles.
3. If
any profiles exist, select each profile and click Remove.
4. Click
the Add button to add a new profile.
5.
6. Select
Add a new e-mail account. Click Next.
7. Select
POP3 and click Next.
8. Enter
the following information:
Your Name: Janice Grisham
E-mail
Address: jgris@plutosoft.com
User
Name: jgris
Password:
abcde
Incoming
mail server: pop.plutosoft.com
Outgoing
mail server: smtp.plutosoft.com
9. Click
Next.
10. Click
Finish.
If Outlook is already set to
Corporate/Workgroup mode, you can skip steps 1-3.
1. Start
Outlook. Click Tools>Options. Click the Mail
Delivery tab.
2. Click
Reconfigure Mail Support. Select Corporate or Workgroup and click
Next.
3. When
prompted, click Yes.
4. From
the Start menu, select Settings>Control Panel and double-click
the Mail icon.
5. The
Mail dialog box will appear. Click Show Profiles.
6. If
any profiles exist, select each profile and click Remove.
7. Click
the Add button to add a new profile.
8. Choose
Manually configure information services and
click Next.
9.
10. The
Testing Center Properties dialog box will appear,
click the Add button. The Add Service to Profile dialog box will
appear. Select Outlook Address Book and click OK. Click Add again, scroll down
and select Personal Folders and click OK.
11. The
Create/Open Personal Folders File dialog box will appear. Replace *.pst with the file name Outlook. If an outlook.pst file already exists in the currently
open folder, navigate to a different folder, such as C:\My Documents.
Click Open.
12. The
Personal Folders dialog box will appear. Accept all defaults by clicking
OK. From the Testing Center Properties
dialog box click OK.
13. Click
the Finish button. Click Close to exit Microsoft Outlook setup.
All
users are required to have an account to access
Only
administrator accounts can access the administrative tools provided with
Fill
in the First Name and Last Name fields; note that these fields
accept punctuation, so “Mr.” or “Mrs.” would be valid entries. Next, enter and
confirm a personal account password. This password will be necessary to access
the account in the future, so keep it in a safe place. Last, select the Administrator
group and enter the Group
Password. By default, this is “padlock” but you are encouraged to
change it upon installation. This password is only needed during the initial
setup of an administrator account; in the future, login with your personal
account password. When all fields
are complete, click the Login button.
Student
accounts do not have access to administrative tools, but can take exams
normally. Create a student account by clicking the Create Account button
on the right half of the login screen. Fill in the First Name and Last
Name fields. Next, select and enter a Password. Write this password
down and keep it safe—it is necessary to login for future sessions. Type the
password again in the Confirm Password field.
The
last thing students must do is choose a group. Select the desired group by
clicking it—the group should become bold. If the group requires a password, the
Group Password field will appear.
For more information on groups, see Manage
Groups. Click Login to finish creating the account.
To
login, a user simply needs to begin typing their Name (first name
followed by last name). Once the database finds a unique account, it will
automatically fill the rest of the field. In the case of duplicate first names,
users will need to type a space and a portion of the last name. Next, the user
must enter their Password, then click the Login
button.
Once logged in, you will see the
Exam Modules screen. This displays what exam modules are currently installed,
as well as additional exam modules that are available for purchase. To see more
information about any of the exam modules, move your mouse over it, and if you
wish, click any of the hyperlinks on the right half to view additional
information online.
To select an installed exam module,
click the icon on the left half and then click Next.
If there is more than one question set installed or if the current user
has Incomplete Exams, the next screen will give the user the choice to either
start a new exam by selecting a question set, or select an incomplete exam to
continue. After making the selection, click Next.
Testing Center offers two exam modes: Training and Testing. By
default, Training Exams are not timed or randomized, and offer hints and
step-by-step instructions to teach the user. Testing Exams are timed and
randomized, and hints are disabled.
Click
either Training Exam or Testing Exam to display a list of
available Domains. As you move the mouse over each item in the list, an
explanation for that item appears below. Click a Domain to select it and
display a list of associated Subdomains. Click a Subdomain to select it, and then click Next to begin the exam.
The
Basic level exams include a fixed set of questions based on fundamental
knowledge. They might be used as pre-tests or early quizzes in A+ or IC3
studies.
The
Advanced level exams are appropriate for a user that has adequately prepared
for certification. They each include a fixed set of questions.
The
Adaptive exams most closely resemble the actual A+ Certification exams. Based
on a 1000 point scale, they deliver questions to the user’s skill level by
adapting as the user answers questions correctly or incorrectly. The questions
delivered are drawn from three different skill levels and weighted
appropriately. When Adaptive exams are used in a classroom setting, it is
recommended the students’ grades are based on a curve, rather than attempting
to assign a fixed correlated percentage to the 1000 point scale.
Designed
to provide practice for the actual IC3 exam, the randomized exam uses questions
from the entire IC3 domain being tested. Questions are of varying difficulty
and are randomly selected and delivered.
Exams
covering individual Office applications, designed to simulate the Microsoft
Office Specialist certification tests. These exams cover the same entire
question set as the corresponding training exams.
A list of tasks appears in a form at
the bottom of the screen, and a live application (e.g. Word, Excel, etc.)
appears above it. Complete the list of tasks to the best of your ability in the
application. Unless otherwise noted, keyboard shortcuts, menu commands, toolbar
commands, and context menus are all valid. The final result is graded, not the
methods used to get there.
Be sure to close any dialog boxes
before clicking Next.
In Excel, if you have started typing in a cell, be sure to press Enter or select another cell before
clicking Next.
In training mode, after you answer a
Live Application question, a
Question Recap screen will display what parts of the question you answered
correctly and incorrectly. You can then choose to Reset Question and simply try the question again, or Reset with Help to reset the question
with step-by-step instructions. You may also choose Skip Question (or Next
Question) to move on to the next question.
Instructions with specific tasks
will appear in the simulation window, such as renaming a file in Windows or
printing an open Microsoft Word Document. As long as you follow steps that
complete the question, the simulation will act normally, displaying dialog
boxes, making changes on the screen, etc. If you make a mistake, however, the
simulation will stop. Regardless of whether the question was completed
correctly or not, there will be the option to Reset
the question. In testing mode, questions can be Reset
twice, giving a total of three attempts to answer the question. In training
mode question can be Reset an unlimited
number of times.
If you cannot ascertain the next
step of a Simulation question in training mode, you can use the Hint
button. Clicking Hint causes a green highlight to appear in the area of
the screen on which you need to click. If the next step requires the use of a
pull-down menu, that menu will open. The Hint button can be used at
almost any step in a question, and can be used any number of times in a
question. Note, however, that once the Hint button is used in a
question, that question is scored as incorrect, even if you answer the question
correctly.
This
is the most basic type of question. The text of the question will be at the top
of the screen, and choices will be listed below. Blue underlined text between
them will state how many choices should be selected. Usually only one answer is
required, but not always. When you move the mouse over an answer, it will be
highlighted in yellow. To select the answer, click the mouse button. To change
an answer, just click another one, or click the currently selected answer to
deselect it. When satisfied with your answer, click the Next button in
the lower right corner of the screen.
If
you answer a Multiple Choice question incorrectly in training mode, a
dark blue box with white text will appear on the right side of the screen. This
box contains supplemental information about the question and why answers listed
are correct or incorrect.
In Picture-Click
questions, you are asked to identify an object by clicking on it. To see all
available objects, move the mouse off the picture entirely. When the mouse
pointer is over an object, it will be highlighted in green. Click on an object
to select it. Click it again to deselect it.
Like
Multiple Choice questions, if you miss a Picture-Click question,
a blue training text box will appear with supplemental information about the
question.
Instructions at the top of the screen will provide the context for the
question, such as “match the animals on the left with the sounds they make on
the right.” There will be yellow puzzle pieces on the left,
and blue puzzle pieces on the right. You must then click and drag each of the
items on the left to the best match on the right. Once the item is in place,
release the mouse button. When all items are in place, click the Next
button.
If the item moves back to the left side of the screen when the mouse
button is released, it was not close enough to a specific item on the right.
This does not, however, mean that the wrong match was selected; try again but
move the first piece closer to the second.
If you answer a Matching question incorrectly in training mode,
the puzzle pieces will reorganize themselves to show you the correct answer.
Some questions will look like simulation questions, but present the user
with either a series of checkboxes or blank text fields. These questions will
contain individual instructions as to how they should be completed, but
generally require you to think critically about the information displayed in
the simulation field.
To quit an exam before finishing, click the Close (x) button in the
upper-right corner of the screen or question form. You may then choose to Continue Exam Later or Skip to
End of Exam.
Choosing Continue Exam Later will save the current
status of your exam. The next time you login, and select the same exam module,
you will see the unfinished exam under the Incomplete
Exams heading. If you have a network database set up, the state of the
incomplete exam is saved to the network database, which means that it can be
continued from any computer.
Choosing Skip to End of Exam
will mark the remaining questions as incorrect
and display the exam results.
After
completing an exam (or using the Skip to End option) you will see the Exam Results screen. The top of the screen includes a description
of the exam that was taken. In the left portion of the screen, there is a
percentage score bar, and a summary of correct and incorrect questions.
On
the right side of the screen are the Detailed Results for the exam. Each
question in the exam will be listed, with a minus (–) sign if the question was answered
incorrectly.
If
you want to take another test, click Return to Main Menu.
Click
Quit to close
In
the lower-left portion of the screen is a list of options. The first option, Retake
Missed Questions, starts a new test composed only of questions that the
user missed on the previous test. Retakes are not recorded in the database, and
are not available for A+ Adaptive Exams.
The
Print Results option will open a printing dialog box so that a hard copy
version of your exam results can be created.
Only
administrators have access to Administrative Tools. To open them, click Tools
on the Exam Modules screen.
To view past exam results, click View
Exam Results on the Tools screen and click Next. If you have multiple exam modules installed, select an exam module and
click Next.
The
main database screen displays a list of all exam results. Exam information is
displayed in columns showing the first and last name of the user who took the
exam; the type of exam; the set, domain, and subdomain
of the exam; their score; and the date they took the exam. By clicking the
labels at the top of the list, the administrator can sort this information in
ascending or descending order.
Click
on any single line to display detailed results for that exam. To close the
detailed results, click the Close
Details button at the bottom of the detailed results pane.
Clicking this button will open a printing dialog box. Note that only the
currently displayed results will be printed, so any desired filters should be
set before printing (see Filter Data below). Since the database can
become quite large, it is often desirable to only print a selection of filtered
results.
To view a summary of student
achievement, click the Student Averages button on the main database menu. This
will open a list of student averages that can be sorted and filtered by group.
An overall average is also provided at the bottom of the list.
To help instructors identify what
topics should be reviewed more thoroughly, administrators can access a summary
of Weak Areas. Once open, the weak areas view displays a list of all
exams that have been taken, along with the number of times each has been
attempted and the average score achieved. Click one of the exams to open a
summary detailing how many times each question has been missed. To close the
detailed results, click the Close
Details button at the bottom of the detailed results pane.
Administrators
can view records more efficiently by filtering out unwanted data. Click the Filter
Data button below the exam results. Using this menu, administrators can set
filters for names, scores, dates, exam, or group. Filters can be set for just
one of these categories, or as many as are necessary. When the filters are
correctly configured, click the Filter Data button.
Exam
results can be filtered by first name, last name, or both by entering the text
in the appropriate boxes. For example, to view only students with the last name
“Allehandro” you would type “Allehandro”
in the Last Name box. Partial matches also work, for instance you could
find all students with a last name that started with the letter “A” by typing
“A” into the Last Name box.
Score
filters are fairly simple. Set the low range in the top box,
and the high range in the bottom box. Only exams between or equal to these
settings will be displayed. For example, if you only wanted to view scores
between 70% and 80%, type “70” in the top box and “80” in the bottom box. For
most modules, the default in the bottom box will be 100. Because of the 1000
point scale for A+ Adaptive Exams, the default of the bottom box is 1000 for A+
exams.
To
view only results in a recent timeframe, use a date filter. Results can be
limited to exams taken today, in the last 3 days, this week, this month, the
past 3 months, the past 6 months, and in the last year. Note that “this week”
equals 7 days, this month equals 30 days, etc. Click
on the date filter you wish to enforce. Note that an easy way to remove old and
unneeded results from the database entirely is to archive them (see Archive Data below).
Select
from the Type, Set, Domain, or Subdomain lists
as desired to include those items in the filter.
Group
filters are an easy way to look at only the exams of particular teacher, hour,
or other division. Groups can be defined by the administrator, and new users
select a group when creating accounts. For more information about groups, see Manage Groups below.
Using
multiple filters can help narrow down results to a very specific data set. For
instance, you could set filters so that you only viewed exams taken by a single
class (a group filter) in the last 3 months (a date filter) that scored higher
than 90% (a score filter). Once all the
filters are in place, click the Filter Data button. If no results
match the current filters, a message will be displayed stating this. The
message will also indicate the current filters in place, so you can modify them
in case you made an error.
Click
the Clear Filters button to remove all filters in place and display all
results currently stored in the database.
If
your database becomes so large that it is difficult to search effectively, or
you notice a significant slow-down in sorting the database, you may want to
archive records. Archiving the database moves older records into a storage file
that is not accessed when filtering and sorting normally. These records are not
deleted, however, and should you need to access them at a later date, you can
restore the archived records to the main database.
From
the Archive Data menu, the first step is to select which records you wish to
archive. Records older than 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years can be
archived. Note that “3 months” equals 90 days, “6
months” equals 180 days, etc. Click your selection and then click the Archive
Data button.
If
at some point you need to access information that has been archived, you simply
need to click the Retrieve Archive button from the Archive Data screen.
This will return all archived information into the main database.
An
alternative to archiving data is to create an entirely new Network Database.
For more information, see Create New Network Database below.
To delete users, view or change user
passwords, or reassign users to another group, click Manage Users on the Tools screen and click Next. Changes made here do not
affect exam results. All changes are automatically saved whenever you select a
new user or click the Back button.
To sort the users in the list, click the First,
Last, or Group buttons at the top. Click again to sort in descending order.
To delete a user, select a user from
the list at left and click Delete User.
If you are sure about deleting, click Delete
User again, otherwise click another user in the list or click Back. This does
not delete the exam results of that user, but will prevent that user from
logging in again.
Administrators are able to view and
change other users’ passwords. Simply select a user from the list at left, and
that user’s current password will appear in the Old Password box. To change the password, type the new password in
the New Password box.
To move a user from one group to
another, first select the user from the list. Then select the new group from
the New Group list.
To create or delete groups, change group passwords, or view all members
of a group, select Manage Groups. After making changes on this screen,
click the Back button to save your settings.
Groups are used to easily sort students in the database. For instance, a
teacher might create different groups for each hour of the day she has
students. Or several teachers might create groups for each of their classes.
When a teacher wants to examine results for just one class, she can set a group
filter in the database and only the results she wants will be displayed. Note
that students can only belong to one group, and Administrators must belong to
the Administrator group.
Click the Create New Group
button, then enter a name for the new group in the box
that appears. It is a good idea to give groups logical descriptive names, such
as “Mrs. Rocker 2nd Hour.” To confirm, click the Create New Group button again.
To remove a group, select it in the list (it should become bold) and click
the Delete Group button. Confirm your choice by clicking Delete Group a second time.
Administrators can access the password for any group simply by selecting
the group in the far left list. The password should appear in the Old Group
Password box. Note: a blank box means that no password is assigned to the
group. To change a password, type whatever new password you desire in the New
Group Password box. New passwords are saved automatically.
Administrators
can lock certain features of the software to meet their specific needs. Each
option will display help text in the lower-right of the screen when the mouse
is hovered over it. A check icon indicates that the feature is Permitted, an “x” icon indicates that a
feature is Restricted. Toggle
options by clicking the icons; clicking an “x” will change it to a check, and
vice versa. Settings are saved automatically after each change made by the
user. By default all features are set to Yes.
This
setting controls the availability of training exams. If you do not want users
to have access to training exams, set this feature to Restricted.
This
feature controls the availability of hints during training exams. Users
normally have access to hints while taking training exams. These hints provide
clues to help solve simulation questions, give background information about
multiple choice questions, or step by step instructions for live application
questions.
At
the end of a training exam, users normally have the option to take another test
composed of only the questions they missed. If you do not want users to have
this option, set this feature to Restricted.
This
setting controls the availability of testing exams. If you do not want students
to have access to testing exams, set this feature to Restricted.
Testing
exams are normally timed. The time allowed varies for each exam. If you do not
wish to time your exams, or need to disable the timer for a user with special
needs, set this feature to Restricted.
At
the end of a testing exam, users normally have the option to take another test
composed of only the questions they missed. This second test does not affect
their original score. If you do not want users to have this option, set this
feature to Restricted.
After
completing an exam, users can normally see their score and a list of the
questions they missed. If you do not want users to see their exam results, set
this feature to Restricted. Note that results will still be recorded in
the database. At the end of the exam, users will be immediately brought back to
the main menu.
Users
can normally print the results of any exam. If you do not have a printer
connected to your network, or have problems with accidental printings, set this
feature to Restricted. Note that results can still be printed from
the database.
After choosing to Create Custom
Exams, you will need to select which exam you wish to use as a base. If you
have multiple exam modules installed, select an exam module and click Next.
You will now need to select the Domain
and Subdomain
of the test you wish to use as a base, just as if you were selected an exam to
take normally. When you have the exam selected, click Next.
The questions from the selected base exam will be listed by category on
the left side of the screen. Click individual questions to toggle their state
between bold (selected) and normal (not selected) font. Clicking a category
heading will toggle the state of all questions contained in that category. The Clear All and Select All buttons at the bottom of the screen can also be used to
toggle the state of all questions listed.
On the right-hand portion of the screen information about the base test
is displayed, along with some additional information and options. The Number of
Questions entry provides a quick reference based on the questions you have
selected so far. If you wish to prevent students from accessing this specific
custom exam as either a Training or Testing Exam, select No is the appropriate field. You can change the amount of time
allowed in the Minutes Allotted field.
By default custom exams allow two minutes per question. Last, you must enter a
name in the Name of Custom Exam field.
Click Next to save your exam.
After choosing to Create Custom
Exams, select Custom Exam as the
domain. Select the custom exam you wish to edit. Click Next. Make the changes you would like, and enter a new name for the
custom exam. Then click Next.
You may want to delete the original custom exam.
After choosing to Create Custom
Exams, select Custom Exam as the
domain. Select the custom exam you wish to delete. Click Delete Custom Exam.
If
the path to the network database was mapped incorrectly during installation, or
its location changes, use this feature to reconnect a machine to the network
database.
After
selecting this feature, an alert box with instructions will open. You then
should navigate to the network location of the network files. Note: client
machines must have read/write access privileges to the location where the
network database files are stored. Browse to the location of the network
database files, select the DDC Database.mdb file, and click Open.
If
the network database was not correctly installed, or is accidentally erased,
use this feature to reinstall it.
After
selecting this feature, an alert box with instructions will open. You then
should navigate into the folder/location where you want to install the network
files and click Save. Note: client machines must have read/write
access privileges to the location where the network database files are
stored. Although you only appear to
save a file called DDC Database.mdb, many files will be created; it is
recommended that you create a new folder specifically for them.
To
view the user guide, check for software updates, or contact our technical
support department, select the appropriate option and click the Next
button. A browser window will open with the information you requested. Note
that the URLs are also printed below each option.
You
can access troubleshooting information for a wide variety of common problems
at:
http://www.ddctraining.com/testing/updates/v3support.htm
The
email address for technical support is: testingcenter@trainteachers.com