Putting Practice Tests on the Internet

Using WordPerfect Internet Publisher

If you do as I do, and type your own tests in WordPerfect, version 7 or higher, you can put practice tests on your World Wide Web site. I take an old test from a previous semester and load it into WordPerfect. From the File menu, choose Internet Publisher. From the pop-up box that appears, click on Format as a Web Document. This will take your existing test and do the necessary HTML coding to make it into a Web page. A couple of notes to consider:

• By default, the program gives your test a gray background. This is difficult to read. You can get a white background by going to the Format menu and choosing Text/Background Colors. Click on the box for Background Colors and move the little red frame around the white square (or the color of your choice). Note: Most printers will probably not print the background anyway, but it's certainly easier to read from a white background on-screen.
• Some of your formatting will be lost, including tabs and spaces. Most browsers will ignore additional spaces beyond the first one. If you do as I do, and put two or three equations to solve on the same line, you'll need to either insert some Returns (move your cursor right in front of the problem number and press Enter) or put the line in a table (more on that later). Sometimes centering is lost, too, but all you need to do there is highlight the line that needs to be centered and push the button marked Left, changing it to Centered. Unfortunately, this will sometimes center text beyond that line, but you won't be able to tell until you look at your page in a browser.
• If you're using an old test and have work space on the page, you probably don't want all that extra space on a web page. Just use your Delete or Backspace key to get rid of all those extra blank lines.
• If you use the Equation Editor, each equation is converted into a GIF image. The images are saved as img.gif, img1.gif, img2.gif, etc. in a folder with the same name as your file, but with a suffix of .htg. You can add other clip art in the same way you do in regular WordPerfect, and each graphic will also be converted and stored as a GIF file in the same folder; if the clip art already has a file name, that file name will be used in this folder, too.
• You may or may not want to use color to highlight some things. Experiment; play with it!

Once you've finished rearranging your test, save it somewhere. Use the Save As command (usually F3) and change the name if you want. Important: In the upper right, there is a selection marked As Type:; be sure to change the type of the file to an HTML file rather than Word Perfect. Better to do it this way than changing the extension at the bottom. I've forgotten this sometimes and gotten files with names such as Test2.htm.wpd.

The next thing you'll want to do is check out how it looks in a browser. If you use Netscape as your Internet browser, click on the icon at the top of the Word Perfect Internet Publisher that looks like a sheet of paper over a spider web. This will save a temporary copy of your page onto your hard drive and show how it looks in a browser environment. You'll probably want to make some changes after you look at it.

Occasionally WordPerfect will mess up in its HTML coding. You may notice that some of the lines that look left justified in WordPerfect are centered on your browser. The only way I know to take care of that is to save your file, close that document, then use the Notepad program (press StartProgramsAccessoriesNotepad) to open the document and actually change the HTML coding. There's not enough time or space to go into HTML programming, but here's something to look for. At the beginning of the text that should be left justified, insert a "tag" (command) in angle brackets that says <p align="left"> and this should take care of it. If it doesn't, all I can suggest here is that you find someone close by who knows a bit about HTML programming, or get a book or take a course and learn more about it yourself. (At ETSU, we have an instructional technology center that offers such courses to faculty and staff. They're usually one-shot courses lasting 1-2 hours offered several times each semester.)

When you're finished, don't forget to send your test files to your local web server and put in links to the test. I also like to put the answers to the test at the bottom of the page or on another page. I also publish my syllabus online and sometimes put a link from the date of a test to the practice test.

Other Options

Adobe Acrobat

Another way to get a practice test on the Web is to buy Adobe Acrobat. I've seen the academic version in our bookstore for a little under $50, or you might check with your computer services or academic technology lab folks. With Acrobat installed, you can take an existing test, syllabus, or any other document and publish it to the web so that it looks exactly like it does on paper. It requires that anyone looking at it get a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in from http://www.adobe.com/ and viewing it with the Reader. It's then usually possible to print it out on any decent printer. The advantage to you is that you don't have to do lots of extra work. With Acrobat installed, you just bring up the document in your word processor such as WordPerfect or Microsoft Word, and from the File menu, choose Publish to PDF File (or Adobe Acrobat, I can't remember which). You then can save the file in what's called .pdf (Portable Document Format) and send it on to your server.

Letting Students Download the Review

A third option is to put a copy of your test in the regular WordPerfect or Word format on your server and letting students download them. The disadvantage is that they have to have the same word processor you do.

Online Multiple Choice Reviews

I haven't tried this myself, but it's certainly worth looking into. Discovery School has a web site for teachers where you can create your own multiple-choice quiz or review and let students choose it. You can probably use these in lieu of regular testing and have the computer keep track of who's taken the test, their answers, grades, etc. You supply the test, the answer choices, and the correct answers, and the web site does some of the formatting for you. I don't think it would work too well in very many math tests, though, as there's no provision for all the symbols we use (fractions, radicals, etc., and possibly not even exponents). At any rate, it's fascinating to look at. Their URL (web address) is <http://school.discovery.com/quizcenter/quizcenter.html>.

If your school uses Blackboard, WebCT, or a similar program, there are quiz-generating functions available on those as well. Check your local information for more details.

Final Notes

Of course none of this serves any purpose if you don't let your students know about it! After you have a review made up, give your students the URL or let them know how it's linked. I forgot to do this myself this semester, but put this information on your next syllabus. If you don't have access to an account at your school, try putting them on one of the free services such as GeoCities or TheGlobe.Com that give you a free e-mail address and some space for your own home pages. The only drawback to these is that they'll have advertising, perhaps in a separate but annoying pop-up window.

This is just scratching the surface. Go out and play with the computer. That's the best way to learn! Make heavy use of the Help files; in recent computer programs they're usually very good. Before long you'll be considered the expert in your department or division!

If you want to see what I've done, I have a main page that lists all of my test reviews available at http://faculty.etsu.edu/stephen/ that might give you some ideas. Or if you like them really well, feel free to link your page to mine!

Daryl Stephens

Assistant Professor, Math

Division of Developmental Studies

East Tennessee State University

Box 70620

Johnson City, TN 37614-0620

(423) 439-4676

E-mail: stephen@etsu.edu