Bryan Wong asked:


When pursuing an online degree, you likely want to complete it as quickly as possible, being that you have other demands and responsibilities in your life, including providing an income for yourself at least, if not also for your family.

One way to speed up the process of earning your online degree is by taking equivalency tests. These tests allow you to complete your online degree efficiently and affordably. They will require some studying, but many colleges will grant credit and/or advanced standing for successful completion of equivalency exams.

The three most common equivalency tests are the following tests:

1. The College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) - This test provides students of any age with the opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of exams in undergraduate college courses.

You can gain college credit for what you already know via independent study, noncredit adult courses, and/or professional development.

You can save considerable money as the CLEP costs just $60, much less than hundreds or thousands for an online course.

If you’re just a few credits short of earning that degree, CLEPs could make all the difference in obtaining that degree.

CLEPs are available in 34 college-level introductory subjects.

Over 2,900 colleges grant undergraduate credit for CLEP, between 3-12 college credits for each CLEP exam taken.

Over 1,300 colleges administer the exam.

The test is administered on computer and is available all year-long. They are timed and 90 minutes long. With the exception of the English Composition with Essay section, all the rest of the exam is composed of multiple-choice questions, though the mathematics section can also have some fill-in-the-blank type questions.

All CLEP exams are scored on a scale of 20 to 80; you need to score 50+ (equivalent to a C grade) in order to earn the credit.

2. The DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST) - These tests enable people to use their knowledge acquired outside the classroom to accomplish their educational and professional goals.

The current cost of these tests is $70 each and subject tests include such diverse subjects from business and math to health and social sciences to the humanities.

These tests are currently accepted or administered at over 1,900 colleges and universities nationwide and are approved by the American Council on Education (ACE.)

3. Excelsior College Examinations - These exams allow you to complete your degree efficiently and affordably, earn the credit you need for promotion or certification, and demonstrate what you know for college admission or placement. They are accepted by Excelsior College and other universities around the nation.

Subject Tests include subjects in the arts and sciences, business, education, and nursing. Overall, there are 40 different subject tests to choose from. Many of these tests offer upper-level credit to those who score well enough on them. To take these tests, you need to go to your nearby Pearson Professional Centers, which are open up to six days a week. The tests are multiple-choice.

Some universities will also have their own type of equivalent tests, specifically for those students who have been out of school for a while, to better determine what level a person is at in regards to placement in college courses.

Occasionally, some universities will require you to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) if you never have before. This test consists of a Reasoning Test that has three main components: a Critical Reading section, a Mathematics section, and a Writing section.

There are also SAT Subject Tests, which fall into five general subject categories: English, History & Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, and Foreign Languages. These are not always required by colleges, but can give them a better idea of how advanced you are in your education and where you should be placed in regards to your courses.

For those applying to graduate school, the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) are usually prerequisites as the university will use these in part to help determine your qualifications for graduate study.

There are two types of GRE: A general reasoning test and subject tests.

The GRE General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study. This test is being administered on computers in most areas of the world, whereas a few places still use a paper-based version of the test. It is administered year-round.

The GRE Subject Tests gauge undergraduate achievement in these eight disciplines:

Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology Chemistry Computer Science Literature in English Mathematics Physics Psychology

These are intended for students who have majored in or have extensive background in that specific area. They are administered in November, December, and April at paper-based test centres worldwide.

Knowing what tests you either need to take or should take should help you enter the online degree program you want and even reduce the amount of time it takes for you to earn that degree.



Sarah

pink_angel asked:


The Bush administration is looking at standardized testing in state colleges and universities to measure learning, and making the data available for prospective employees, future students and parents.

Georgia

Brian Stocker asked:


Preparing for a test can be an agonizing experience. There are just so many things you have to remember, so many things to memorize and so many things to read. One way of making preparation for a test easier is to understand the type of the test that will be taking. How to prepare for a test can be much easier to answer when you know what type of test to prepare for.

If you are taking a standardized test, there will most likely be multiple choice as well as an essay question. Here are some tips on how to study for these two types of questions.

General Tips:

Identify key ideas. By identifying key ideas you are able to assign headings or keywords for important information. Key ideas are literally, the key to understanding and recalling the main thrust of the course. You can think of the key idea as the thesis statement or the summary.

Understand important information. By understanding, we mean rereading your notes to fill in the gaps in the information. After that, expound on the main idea in your mind. Articulate as much information about the key ideas as you can.

Organize main ideas as headings and include supporting information. This will help you quickly absorb the main ideas and the supporting information by keeping them short and easy to recall.

Tips for Preparing for Multiple-Choice Type of Questions:

The most important thing to do in preparing for a multiple choice exam is by acquainting yourself to this test type. The best way to do this is by finding sample tests and taking them.

Develop a device that will help you save time when you take the test. The one check, two check system can be useful. One check is placed before the questions that you can’t seem to remember the answer to, two checks for questions that are quite long and that will take much of your time. Mark an answer on the answer sheet, then after the time allotted, you can go back to these questions. Developing a device such as the one check, two check system will prevent you from wasting precious time during the test.

Set goals and time allotments. Ask your teacher the weight of the questions and allot your time based on that weight. Give more time to questions that have the greater influence on your grade.

Practice identifying key words in the questions. Practice makes perfect and multiple-choice type questions requires you to be critical in identifying key words in the questions. Accustom yourself to locating these key words and marking them.

Many, but not all tests, will have more multiple choice questions than anyone can answer in the time alloted. The best strategy for this is to go through and answer all the questions that you positively know the answer. Then go back and answer all the questions you are fairly sure of. Then all the questions you are less sure of. Continue going through the entire test in this way.

Preparing for Essay Type of Test

Essay questions require viewing the course in a wider perspective. Being able to effectively answer essay questions requires a clear knowledge of the relationships between the key ideas in the course. To achieve this, you must review the key ideas on a broader level and establish their interconnectedness. The emphasis is on the relationships between ideas rather than details.

Create diagrams, maps and visual representations of the relationships between ideas. This will help you recall the concepts and relationships more easily. Acquaint yourself with the keywords. Keywords in the question are composed of several action words. These words must not be mistaken as interchangeable because one is not the same as the other. Each keyword also requires certain answers that cannot full satisfy another keyword. Such keywords as identify, compare, argue, explain and assess.

Identify different ways of connecting the answer to the question. Here are a few different ways to connect the question and the answer. Compare the two by illustrating the differences and similarities between ideas. Argue by passing judgment on a particular topic and then justifying your position. Most often, this also requires stating the two opposing sides. Explain by going beyond repeating to a more detailed discussion of the idea. Finally, assess the idea by evaluating the idea and interpreting it.

Finally, PRACTICE. Practice, practice, practice. Though there are some that are comfortable in taking essay types of questions, there will always be those who find it hard. Practice can make you more at ease with this type of question.

Knowing what type of test you will be taking can be crucial on how you will do on the test. Certain types of tests also have certain ways of approaching it. Multiple-choice tests require a more recall-based approach. It requires both strategy, critical thinking and memory. Essay tests on the other hand require viewing ideas from a big-picture perspective, rather than on details. Despite their differences, both require practice — a lot of practice.



Oscar

Michael Fleischner asked:


Scoring well on popular college and graduate program admissions tests are essential for getting into your top choice college. If you are planning to take the SAT, ACT, GRE, or GMAT, consider your testing date very carefully. Believe it or not, choosing the right testing date can make or break your top score. As with any standardized test, strategy is everything. Here are some ideas for making the most of your testing date.

Preparation is everything. If you know how your particular test is structured, and the types of questions you are going to face, than you certainly have an advantage over those that don’t. Make sure that you budget time to adequately prepare for this all important exam. Some students choose to study during the school year and take their test in the spring. Yet others prefer to study during the summer and take the test in the fall. Either preparation method is fine as long as you’re ready to do your best by your scheduled test date. Be realistic about the amount of time you are willing to spend preparing and see it through.

Wait until you’re ready. Each standardized tests measures the same aptitude and skills in the same way every time. Although questions themselves may be different, the content you need to know will be the same. There’s really no point in taking a standardized test if you aren’t prepared. If you’re not ready, you won’t do your best, and you’ll probably want to take the test again anyway.

Coordinate your testing and application dates. Submitting your college or graduate program application is great, but most admission offices won’t look at an application until it’s complete. This means that your application has to include all required test scores. Getting your test scores in early is best. Taking the test in the fall is certainly one option, but there will be less risk of missing any deadlines if you take your test in the spring before you begin submitting applications.

Have a contingency plan. On the day of your exam, you might get sick. Or your car might break down. There are a lot of things that have nothing to do with your ability that could affect your test score. If your bad day happens on the last possible test date, you’re out of luck, you have miss some important application deadlines or simply have to live with a bad test score. However, if you give yourself plenty of time and have another test date ahead of you, you will have another chance to prove your abilities. That’s why it’s best to take the test early rather than last minute.

One of the most frequently asked questions is whether or not you should take the test again if you get a bad score. Unless you earned the hard to attain, “perfect score”, the possibility exists that you could do a little better next time. However, wanting a better score isn’t necessarily a good basis for retaking the test. Consider the pros and cons associated with taking the test again. Factors to consider would be the added preparation time, new testing fee, and so on. Consider whether or not these factors are outweighed by a higher score before making your decision.

Achieving a good score on your standardized test of choice is important in the overall application process. Follow the tips outlined above to make sure you have chosen the best testing date to score your best.



Debbie

Reena Vidyarthi asked:


What is a standardized test?

Standardized tests (e.g., SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT etc.) are aptitude tests to assess the proficiency of students for a given course of study. The scores obtained in standardized tests are supposed to predict individual success in job or profession after completing the course. For example, research shows that the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a valid predictor of students’ performance in the MBA program. Studies also support the proposition of post-MBA career successes with GMAT test scores.

Most standardized tests consist of some form of evaluation for two subjects:English and Math. The first part of English, often called verbal ability test, assesses test-takers ability to read and write grammatically correctEnglish. Several years of reading text-books, writing papers, speaking in front of the class at elementary and high schools allows standardized testtakers to score well without much effort.

Math in Standardized Tests

The standardized test on Math, on the other hand, is not as natural or easy as the English part. Students often receive less than satisfactory trainingin developing their mathematical abilities and the format of the questions does not help either. For example, how often does one have to figure out theprobability of a number to be odd when a two-digit number is chosen at random. Or what is average speed of Jack in total, when Jack drove one way atrate of 40 mph, and returned at rate of 50 mph?

The standardized exam may be composed of its own format of math questions.The Math section, sometimes called Quantitative section, can have questionsof the following types: Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency, Data Comparison,Graphical Problems, and Grid-Ins. Despite quantitative problems appearing innumerous forms, they test a limited number of concepts. The concepts can be categorized in 3 broad sections of Math: Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry.

? Arithmetic section

Most standardized tests give considerable importance to the arithmetic concepts such as Percent, Ratio, Average, and Numbers. The arithmetic section often makes for 50% or over part of the Quantitative section of the test. The number of arithmetic problems in the GMAT or GRE Math is about 55% to 60% of the total number of questions. In the SAT and ACT exam, the arithmetic portion of the Math section is about 50%.

? Algebra section

In terms of the number of questions asked in the test, Algebra is not as important. The areas tested in the Algebra are: Solving Simple Equations, Binomial Theorem & Quadratic Equations, and Advance Algebra with Inequalities. About 15% to 25% of problems are from Algebra section of Math.The percentage distribution may vary for different exams.

? Geometry section

Test-makers prefer to make questions in Geometry in many different forms and flavors. The basic concepts tested in this area come from: Angles & Triangles, Squares & Rectangles, Circles, Co-ordinate, and Solid Geometry.Even though advance questions require knowledge and practice with importantconcepts, the easier problems are often intuitive and aptitude based. In anygiven standardized Math test, about 20% to 40% of all questions are from theGeometry section. In SAT exam, about 35% pf questions are from the Geometry.In the GMAT exam only 20% of all questions are Geometry problems.

Miscellaneous Problems

Makers of standardized tests have a special liking for oddball questions.These questions are derived from concepts of more than one topic and oftenrequire common sense besides basic section concepts. It is not uncommon tofind a problem on a geometrical figure, which can be resolved into an algebraic expression with some simple common sense method. In the world ofGMAT and GRE, the category of miscellaneous problems is called Word Problems.The key to do well in this section is two-fold: (1) Know the basics ofArithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry; (2) Apply common sense to translate the given information and the question in the form of mathematical equations.

FORMAT OF MATH PROBLEMS

Math problems in standardized tests are almost always in the objectivemultiple choice question form. The Grid-in questions in the SAT exam are anexception. The usual format includes a description of problem with one ormore useful piece of information. A question statement follows the given information. Then the problem is followed by 4 or 5 answer choices.

Students taking the test are required to utilize the given information in answering the question statement. The answer thus found is one among many options. There is no single strategy to solve a multiple-choice math problem.Experts usually recommend one or more of the following methods,

? Plugging numbers: Helps avoid complex algebraic calculations

? Back solving: Taking the help of answer choices to eliminate wrong options

? Eye-balling & approximating: Helpful in simple geometrical problems

? Intelligent guessing: Eliminating unlikely answers to decrease options.

The strategies described above work best when test-takers are equipped with basic concepts of Arithmetic, Algebra, & Geometry, and invest time & effortin practicing sample questions in actual exam like format.

Other formats of Math problems (e.g., Data sufficiency in GMAT, Grid-in in SAT, Graph in GRE & SAT) form a small percentage of all questions in the test. Students are advised to develop their own strategy for such questions.Once again, knowing the basics and practicing with such problems is the key for doing well in such problems.

Sample Example Problems:

1. After 20% discount, due to Christmas sale, the price of a book is $40. What is the total saving than usual price, for Jim, when he purchases two volumes of the book in discount sale?

A. 100

B. 50

C. 40

D. 20

E. 10

2. In the year 2000, Mary was twice as old as her sister Sally. In the year 2008, Mary will be 5 yeas older than Sally. What is the age of Mary now (in year 2007)?

A. 6

B. 10

C. 17

D. 18

E. 20

3. The numerical value of the ratio of area and circumference of a circle is 2. What is the diameter of the circle?

A. 4

B. 8

C. 16

D. 18

E. 32

Answers:

1. D

2. C

3. B



Shannon

musicluvr8523 asked:


Hey everyone! I’m writing a paper for my Sociology of Education class and just wanted to know your opinions concerning standardized testing. Is it good or bad? How effective is it? And anything else you want to add would be great.

Thanks

Nancy

drpratt asked:

Describes the research associated with standardized testing. …

Debbie

CBS asked:

The No Child Left Behind Act is up for renewal this year, so Katie Couric wonders whether standardized tests truly measure how kids do in school and life. …

Samuel

francesg2188 asked:

Students that have difficulty are asked to give their opinion on the FCAT. …

Aaron

Suzana asked:


Well im doing a project for school and its a debate thing where we debate about a math related issue and i did do alot of research on some cons of Standardized testing but i would like to know the opinions of other people. So like what are some things that you think are cons of standardized testing?

Sylvia