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REFERENCE MANUAL FOR TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM =========================================== copyright (c) 1989 Marshall Woolner. All rights reserved. This manual refers to TMS version 1.08, dated 2-10-90. TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1 ............................Welcome to TMS Section 2 ............................Licensure and Registration Section 3 ............................Ordering and Updates Section 4 ............................Files on the diskettes Section 5 ............................Making backup copies Section 6 ............................System Requirements Section 7 ............................Installation Section 8 ............................Limitations and work-arounds Section 9 ............................Compatibility with other software Section 10 ...........................Operation of Test Management System Section 11 ...........................Operation of TESTOR Appendix 1 ...........................Technical Information Appendix 2 ...........................Bug Report Appendix 3 ...........................DOS Tips and Tricks for TMS Appendix 4 ...........................Tutorial SECTION 1: WELCOME TO TMS TMS stands for Test Management System, and the name is descriptive. TMS is a software system, or system of programs, which automate many of the routine and tedious chores of administering multiple-choice and true/false tests. Although it is easy to use, there are some things you should know before you begin using TMS. Therefore, I strongly advise that you read the manual from beginning to end before you start using the system for "production" purposes. You may find that reading the manual first will prevent needless frustration later on; however, if you are like me, eager use new software as soon as possible, try the tutorial in Appendix 4. As an overview, here are some of the features of TMS: * you can maintain a test bank of up to 999,999 questions, limited by the size of your disk * you can add new questions, edit existing questions, and delete questions from the test bank * you can browse through the test bank and mark questions at will for inclusion in a test; you can let the program search for the questions by author, by the class or course from which it is de- rived, or by the topic or area of the question * you can print the test directly on a printer, with a face sheet, a coded student answer sheet, and an overlay key template for correcting the student answer sheets * you can save a test in ASCII text form, to load into your favorite word processor for additional editing or special effects such as boldface or italics * you can print a reference key version of the test, which contains all the questions of the regular test, plus a graphic indication of the correct answer, the level of difficulty, area of the question, class, author and bibliographic citations * you can administer the test by computer, by placing the test on a single diskette; the test will be scored automatically, and if you choose, the program will show the student his/her score and even review the test, with the correct answers and the student answers shown. * for each test you administer by computer, you can print a report which contains the name and score of each person who took the test, a tally of the distribution of answers for the test, testing group performance, and individual test performance profiles for one or more of the people who took the test. * you may share test items automatically with other educators who use TMS by using an import/export function - you will not have to key in the test items manually SECTION 2: LICENSURE AND REGISTRATION Test Management System is the intellectual property of Marshall Woolner. Registration and payment of the $ 75.00 registration fee will entitle the payer (licensee) to a non-exclusive single-user license to install and use Test Management System (TMS) on one computer. The licensee may also: 1. Install and use TMS on a second computer, provided that one of the computers is a computer in the home of the licensee, and that TMS will be used exclusively by the licensee. This is intended to make it possible for the licensee to use TMS at work and at home, without cumbersome license restrictions; it is not intended to provide more than one user with a license when only one license fee has been paid. 2. Copy and share TMS with colleagues, provided that the licensee receives no payment of any kind to do so; if the licensee gives a copy of TMS, all the files on the original diskettes must be copied, without any modification or deletion. (see the following information on Shareware) 3. Move TMS from one computer to another, as many times as desired, pro- vided that there is NO WAY THAT TMS CAN BE USED ON MORE THAN ONE COM- PUTER AT THE SAME TIME. It is the responsibility of the licensee to insure that TMS cannot be used on any computer from which it is being removed; this includes deleting the system files of TMS, and taking reasonable precautions that those using the computer later do not "undelete" or "unerase" the files so as to reconstitute TMS. Test Management System is being "marketed" using the Shareware concept. Under the Shareware concept, TMS may be shared freely with colleagues, who have limited permission of the author to use TMS for a reasonable trial period. The trial period, not to exceed 90 days from the first day TMS is installed, allows for a thorough and practical evaluation of TMS in the setting in which it might be employed. If, at the end of the trial period, the user finds that TMS is useful and intends to continue using it, he or she must register and pay the licensing fee. If the user decides that TMS is not suitable for his or her purposes, he or she must discon- tinue use of TMS altogether. The user may retain a copy of the set of TMS files only for the purpose of sharing with other potential users. Obviously, the Shareware concept works on the honor system. I count on the honesty and integrity of those who might use the product. If you find TMS useful and intend to continue to use it, you should register and pay the license fee. It is in your interest, because registration also includes a liberal upgrade ability, and a modest amount of technical support. To register, complete the form below, and mail it with a check or money order for $ 75.00 payable to Marshall Woolner to: Marshall Woolner 6284 Argyle Avenue San Bernardino, CA 92404 REGISTRATION FORM FOR TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (use this form or a reasonable facsimile) Name: ____________________________________________________________ Street: ____________________________________ Apt: ______________ City: __________________________ State: _____ Zip: ___________ Day phone: ( ) _______________________________________________ Type of computer: ________________________________________________ How did you learn about TMS? ___ colleague ___ periodical ___ bulletin board system ___ mail-order catalog ___ other ** If "other", please describe: __________________________________ (above applies if you already have TMS installed on your computer) SECTION 3: ORDERING AND UPDATES To order TMS directly, complete the form below, and mail it with the appropriate fee to: Marshall Woolner 6284 Argyle Avenue San Bearnardino, CA 92404 TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ORDER FORM Name: _________________________________________________________________ Street: ____________________________________ Apt: ___________________ City: _____________________________ State: _____ Zip: _____________ Day phone: ( ) ____________________________________________________ Type of computer: _____________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please indicate diskette type desired: 5 1/4" 360 KB 3.5" 720 KB TMS Trial package $ 25.00 _______ (disk(s) only - no registration - limit 1 set per order) TMS with registration and licensure ______ X $ 75.00 = _______ (disk set with modest number of sets technical support and liberal update/upgrade) Replacement diskette set $ 15.00 for one set _______ (available only to registered TMS users) Sales tax (California mailing address gets nicked 6%) _______ Upgrade to latest version $ 25.00 _______ (applies only to registered licensees) Shipping costs ($ 2.00 for first set, $1.00 each for _______ additional) Total: _______ SECTION 3: FILES ON THE DISKETTES The following are the files on the TMS distribution disk(s). There may be a few additional text files, but these constitute the core of the TMS system. CNF_TEST DBF configuration file to TESTOR CNF_TMS DBF configuration file for TMS MANUAL TMS this manual QNUM NTX index for QNUM SCORES DBF database file for student scores STUD_ANS DBF database file for student answers TESTBANK DBF database file for test items TESTFILE REF sample test reference text file TESTFILE TXT sample test text file TESTHIST DBF database file for test history TESTOR EXE test administration (testing) executable program TEST_SET DBF skeleton database file for test administration GROUPDEX NTX index for test groups T_GROUPS DBF database file for test groups TMS EXE main TMS executable program UNAREA DBF database file for AREA UNAREA NTX index file for AREA UNAUTH DBF database file for AUTHOR UNAUTH NTX index file for AUTHOR UNCLASS DBF database file for CLASS UNCLASS NTX index file for CLASS README 1ST the first file you should read TUTOR TXT TMS tutorial SYSFILES DBF data file containing names of systems files HELPONE TXT text of on-line help SECTION 4: MAKING BACKUP COPIES I strongly recommend that you make two copies of each of the distribution diskettes (the distribution diskettes are the ones which contain all the files which comprise the Test Management System). Make sure that you label the diskettes appropriately as you copy them. One set of copies should be marked with the words "WORKING COPY", and the other set marked with the words "ARCHIVAL COPY". The set marked "ARCHIVAL COPY" should be stored in a secure place, different than that of the original distribution diskettes. Do not use these diskettes for any purpose other than copying to make new working copies. The working copies are for installation of TMS on your computer; if something untoward happens to them, you still have two sets of diskettes which contain the program and supporting files. Lastly, I strongly recommend that you make regular backups of all the test items in the test bank. You can do this conveniently with the backup/restore functions in the Utility Services of TMS. If disaster ever strikes, and your test bank is accidently erased or corrupted, you can restore without having to re-key in test items (saving yourself MUCH unnecessary typeing!!) - consider doing this once a week. Along with this, I heartily recommend three additional program: PC-TOOLS version 5.5, by Central Point Software - a very useful set of DOS utilities, including a "byte editor" and undelete functions. You will find it very useful for all your DOS activites. Disk Technician, by Prime Solutions - a excellent tool for diagnosing and treating hard disk problems and recovering from hard disk dis- asters. dSalvage, by Comtech - the most complete software toolkit for salvaging damaged or corrupted .DBF data files. SECTION 5: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS HOST COMPUTER ============= To use Test Management System effectively, the following are the minimum system requirements for the host computer. [the host computer is the one on which the main executable file, TMS.EXE, and all the system files reside - it is used for entry, editing, and deletion of test bank questions, creation of tests, and other related functions] 1. An IBM PC/XT/AT or 100% compatible computer, with at least 512 KB RAM (with at least 420 KB RAM available for use after the operating system, device drivers and any memory resident utilities or programs are loaded) 2. IBM CGA, EGA or VGA video cards, or 100 % compatible graphics adapter cards, or monochrome adapters from other manufacturers 3. A color or monochrome monitor capable of working with one of the display adapters described in item number 2, above 4. One diskette drive of at least 360 KB capacity, designated as the A: drive 5. One hard disk drive, with at least 1.5 MB of space which can be dedicated for use by TMS 6. PC-DOS or MS-DOS 2.10 or higher, as the operating system 7. If you wish to print tests on a printer directly from TMS, you will need an 80-column printer, with single-sheet or continuous feed of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, connected to LPT1 (parallel port 1) [or have output to LPT1 redirected to the port to which the printer is connected] (NOTE: it is possible to run TMS on a floppy disk if the floppy disk has a capacity of 720 KB or more - unfortunately, if you use a 720 KB disk, you are limited to a testbank with less than 50 questions.) REMOTE COMPUTER =============== The following are the minimum system requirements for operation of a remote computer for test administration [a computer used by the test- taker to take a computer-administered test using the "Disk-Based Testing Service" of TMS] 1. IBM PC/XT/AT or 100 % compatible computer, with at least 256 KB RAM available after the operating sytem, device drivers and any memory-resident utilities or programs are loaded 2. PC-DOS or MS-DOS 2.10 or higher as the operating system 3. IBM CGA, EGA or VGA video cards, or 100 % compatible graphics adapter cards from other manufacturers, or monochrome adapter 4. A color or monochrome monitor capable of working with one of the display adapters described in item number 2, above 5. One diskette drive of at least 360 KB capacity, designated as the A: drive SECTION 6: INSTALLATION FOR EXPERIENCED DOS USERS To install Test Management System on your computer, simply create a directory to be used for TMS, and copy all the files from the distrib- ution diskettes to that directory. I advise that you do NOT include the TMS directory on your DOS PATH, since TMS looks for files only in the current directory. When you use TMS, make sure that the TMS directory is the current dir- ectory. You may wish to automate the procedure to activate TMS by making a batch file. The following is a simple example of a batch file which activates TMS from the TMS directory named TESTING. This example as- sumes that TMS directory is called TESTING. If the batch file is kept in a directory in the DOS PATH, you may invoke TMS from anywhere: ECHO OFF CD\TESTING TMS CD\ FOR LESS EXPERIENCED DOS USERS To install Test Management System, you will need to do the following: 1. Create a directory 2. Copy every file from each distribution diskette into the subdirectory Step 1 - Create a directory A directory is a named divison of a disk. Conceptually, it is somewhat like the file folders in a filing cabinet drawer. Directories can be created and deleted at will, subject to the naming conventions of DOS and a few security considerations built into DOS. (For a more thorough explan- ation of DOS directories, please refer to "Running MS-DOS", 3rd. Ed., by Van Wolverton) To create a directory, first start your computer. From the DOS command line prompt, make the hard disk in which you wish to install TMS the default drive. If the DOS prompt is A> and the hard drive is designated "C", to make the "C" drive the default drive, type the following, then press the ENTER key: C: The DOS prompt will change to C> The following command to create a directory assumes that the name you want for the directory is TESTING; you may substitute any other legal DOS name which is not being used. Type the following at the DOS prompt, then press the ENTER key: MD\TESTING Now that you have made a directory named TESTING, you need to copy all the files on the distribution diskette into that directory. The easiest way is a two-part procedure - a) make TESTING the current directory, and b) copy all the files from the diskette drive into it To make TESTING the current directory, type the following and press the ENTER key: CD\TESTING TESTING is now the current directory. To copy the files from the dis- tribution diskette, place it in the A: drive, and type the following, then press the ENTER key (substitute B if you are using the B: drive): COPY A:\*.* Repeat this last procedure for each distribution diskette; when you have done this for each distribution diskette, the installation process is complete. ACTIVATING TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM There are two approaches to activating Test Management System, manually or by a batch file. With the manual approach and working from the DOS prompt, type C: and press the ENTER key to make the C drive the default drive (substitute the appropriate letter if the hard disk on which TMS is installed is not C). Then type CD\TESTING to make the TESTING directory the current directory. Then type TMS to activate Test Management System. This is a fairly simple process, but must be repeated exactly each time you wish to use TMS. With the batch file approach, you can automate this task so that you have only one word to type at the DOS command line. Creating a batch file for the first time can be a little tricky, so follow along carefully. In the following, the <CR> means to press the ENTER key, otherwise type in the works/letters exactly as given. First, make sure that the default drive is the one which contains the TMS directory. To do so, type the letter of the drive, followed by a colon (:), followed by a <CR>. If C is the drive on which TMS has been installed, type the following: C: <CR> If C is not the drive which holds the TMS files, substitute the letter of the drive which does hold the TMS files. Next, make sure that you are in the root (main) directory, by typing the following: CD\ <CR> Now you are in the root directory. You will now use the COPY CON function of DOS to create the batch file which will automate the activation of TMS. To make the file, simply type in the words as they appear on the left side below, with each line ending in a press of the ENTER key (signified by the <CR>); the words after each <CR> are merely comments to explain what the words of the file will do. COPY CON TMS.BAT <CR> starts creating a batch file named TMS.BAT C: <CR> makes C the default drive CD\TESTING <CR> changes the directory to TESTING TMS <CR> activates TMS CD\ <CR> when you exit TMS, will return to root directory ^Z <CR> you can get the "^Z" by pressing the F6 function key - when you hear the disk drive activate, you will know that TMS.BAT is being created. Once you have created TMS.BAT, all you need to do to activate TMS is to type "TMS" at the DOS command line prompt, press ENTER, and TMS will be activated. SECTION 8: LIMITATIONS AND WORKAROUNDS TMS has the following limitations: 1. Maximum number of questions in the test bank - 999,999 2. Maximum number of questions on a single test - 120 3. No graphics or special formating techniques on tests printed directly from TMS - only plain ASCII text can be printed directly, or saved as an ASCII text file 4. Only multiple-choice and true/false questions 5. The stem of a question may have no more than six 60-character lines 6. There can be only from two (a and b) to five (a through e) one- or two-line answer options 7. The answer options can be one or two 55-character lines Workarounds 1. If you need more than 999,999 questions, make two separate directories for your TMS files (999,999 questions translates into about 1 gigabyte for the testbank file alone, not con- sidering the index files 2. If you need to make a test with more than 120 questions, consider dividing the test into two or more parts, each with up to 120 questions 3. If you need a special format or editing for your test beyond straight ASCII text, save the test to a disk file, then import that file in your word processor or desktop publishing system, and format or edit as needed 4. Again, if you need to include questions other than true/false or multiple-choice, you will have to save the test as an ASCII text file, and add the non-multiple choice questions with your word processor. You might consider grouping the questions so that the multiple-choice and true/false questions form a dis- creet group, and make the test with TMS, the add the other questions 5. If you wish to edit the questions to have a stem longer than six 60-character lines, you may save the questions/tests as an ASCII text file and use your word processor 6. If you wish to have a different number of option answers than the number supported directly by TMS (two thorugh five, each with one or two 55-character lines) you may use a word pro- cessing program as described in number 3 and 4 above. SECTION 9: COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER SOFTWARE WARNING! All the TMS disk files which have the extension .DBF can be directly manipulated with dBASE III+, dBXL, FrontRunner, VP-Info and other software which allows access to standard .DBF format files. You may be tempted to make changes directly to your TMS files with these or similar programs, but RESIST THAT TEMPTATION!! The relationships of the data files, their associated index files, and the system config- uration files is somewhat complex. If you disrupt or corrupt these relationships, TMS may not function properly. This could mean any- thing from a little inconvenience in operation to a complete crash and non-function of the system! Please do not take that chance; use only TMS to add, change or delete TMS data. Remember, if you use TMS in a way in which it was not designed to work, and it breaks, you get to keep both halves. PLEASE NOTE: Certain TMS files were designed specifically to be manipulated with other software: these are the files with the extension of .TXT and .REF. Files with the extension of TXT/REF are "pure" ASCII text files, and can be manipulated with any text editor and almost any word proces- sing program. These were intended to provide you with the ability to modify the files in ways that TMS cannot do directly. SECTION 10: OPERATION OF TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GENERAL INFORMATION Before you run TMS, make sure that the date and time of your system have been set. If you have a built-in clock/calendar, this may be done automatically. TMS dates some of the information you enter so you can keep track of it. TMS takes the date from the computer, so if system date is off, the TMS dates will be off, too. For more information about date and time, see the DATE and TIME commands in the DOS reference manual, or the documentation that accompanies the date/time functions of the clock/calendar hardware. Pressing the ESC (escape) key terminates most procedures; if you find yourself in the middle of some process and you want to be somewhere else, ESC will usually get you out. Most of the functions require confirmation before they will execute. When you see a prompt that asks you to confirm, enter your response and then press the <ENTER> key. Remember, press the <ENTER> key to accept and confirm your response to the prompts. Although I advise you to read this manual completely before you use TMS on a regular basis, you can get a quick start by going through the tutorial. The tutorial is listed in this manual as Appendix 4, and as a separate text file called "TUTOR.TXT". You might want to go through the tutorial first, to get a hands-on feel of what TMS is like, then finish reading the operational instructions here. To run or execute TMS, change the default drive and directory to the one which contains the TMS files (see SECTION 6: INSTALLATION), then type the letters "TMS" (without quotes, upper case or lower case) and press the <ENTER> key. TMS will take from 15 seconds to 1 minute to load, depending on the speed of the computer system. The first screen to appear is the welcome screen; in a few seconds, there will be a system report telling you how many test items and tests are present in the system. If any essential files are missing, there will be a message that files are missing, and it will offer you the opportunity to view the names of the missing files on screen, save the names in a text file on disk, or print the names on the printer. If all the essential system files are present, press a key and the main menu will appear (or if you simply wait ten seconds). MAIN MENU The main menu is the platform from which you will operate TMS. The options listed are: Questions Test Disk Print Score Info (tech) Utilities Configuration HELP! End You will notice that when you come to the main menu for the first time, the option "Questions" is highlighted; the letters are bright white with a magenta highlight bar. There are two ways to activate the options: 1. Use the up and down cursor keys (usually found on the 8 and 2 keys of the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard) to move the highlight bar to your selection, then press the <ENTER> key. This has the advantage of displaying a prompt in the message box under the main menu. The message box will display a brief message which describes the functions associated with the highlighted option. 2. Press the first letter of your choice to activate the options. For instance, to choose the "Questions" option, simply press the "Q" key. This has the advantage of being faster than moving the high- light bar. All of the menus in TMS work the same way; highlight your choice, then press <ENTER>, or press the first letter of your choice. The following are the messages associated with each of the main menu options: "Questions" Add, change or delete test bank questions "Test" Create or delete a test "Disk" Select a test and prepare it for administration by computer "Print" Select a test and print it, with answer sheet and key template "Score" Score a computer-administered test, and print the results "Info (tech)" Display technical programming information about this Program "Utilities" Access TMS utilities "Configuration" Set or change default path, drives, port, other "HELP!" Gain Access to the general help system "End" Exit this program to the DOS command line Now, for a detailed explanation of the operation of each of the TMS main menu options. **** MAIN MENU ITEM: QUESTIONS Choosing this option will bring up the question menu. The question menu operates in the same manner as the main menu - you make selections by using the cursor keys to highlight your choice, then press the <ENTER> key, or you press the first letter of your choice. Here are the options: Add a question Change a question Delete a question Eliminate keys Finished And here is how you operate the options, and what they do: "Add a question" Select this option when you wish to add a new question (test item) to the test bank. When you select this option, you will be presented with three scrolling choice screen, one screen each for items labeled AREA, CLASS and AUTHOR. AREA, CLASS and AUTHOR are index keys, and provide information about the test item which allows you search the test bank for other questions with similar or identical index keys. The index key information is always entered in upper case letters. You can use these to enter any information about the test item you wish; however, their names are suggestive of the type of information intended. For instance, you might enter "NSG 101" for key CLASS information, or "TRAUMA" for key AREA information. To make a selection from a scrolling choice screen, you use the cursor key to move the highlight bar to the item you wish to select, then press the <ENTER> key. Each of the three scrolling choice screens operates in the same manner; the following is a description of the scrolling choice screen operation for AREA. Substitute the words CLASS or AUTHOR for AREA to understand how the other two operate. The first item highlighted is "Leave the AREA blank for now, or as it is". If you select this item, you will immediately leave the AREA scrolling choice screen without choosing AREA information. This would be most appropriate if you do now want to enter AREA information. The next line down is "Enter a new and unique AREA". Select this if the AREA information displayed below it is not appropriate for the test item you are entering. If you select this item, you will be presented with an information entry window, prompting you to enter a unique code for AREA. The AREA information is limited to a code of eight characters, to conserve disk storage space. There is also a description line, to allow you to enter up to fourty characters of text to describe the AREA entry. There is a prompt asking you if the entry is complete - this must be answered Y or N; if N is entered, you will have another chance to enter the information. If you enter Y, the entry will be checked for uniqueness. If it is not unique, another window will appear, in red, to prompt you that the code is not unique. Enter T to try again, or X to exit without entering new AREA information. The third and subsequent lines contain AREA information that has already been entered. The section to the left contains the codes (from one to eight letters, all upper case) and the section to the right contains the descriptions (up to fourty characters). If there are more codes than can be displayed on one screen, the label "--more--" will appear in the lower screen; move the highlight bar down to the last item displayed, and continue pressing the cursor key and the additional codes will scroll in the window until the last item is displayed. To select one of these, highlight your choice and press <ENTER>. Once you have finished with the three scrolling choice screens, the item entry screen will be displayed. In the top 1/3 third, you will see L1, L2, L3, L4, L5 and L6 displayed to the left hand side, with blank lines bounded by colons. This is the area in which to enter the text of the item stem. Type each line in, one at a time. Do not leave L1 blank, or leave a blank line between any lines which contain text. If you do this, the question will not print properly. You can move be- tween lines by using the cursor keys, or move from one line down to the next by pressing the <ENTER> key. Each line can contain up to 60 char- acters of text. There is no word wrap, so when you are at the end of one line, you will need to press <ENTER> or a down-arrow cursor key to move down to the next line. No special graphics or editing characters are supported (italics, underlining, etc.) so if there is a word you wish to emphasize, you might want to make it all upper case, e.g. All of the following are synonymous, EXCEPT: There are five option answers supported, each with one or two fifty-five character lines. You must enter at least two (a and b) or up to five (a through e). If you enter only one line in an option answer, make sure that it is the upper of the two lines available. If you do not, the TMS will not read the option answer or print it correctly on a test, e.g. Acceptable: a. :the first step to take is to evaluate airway patency : or a. :pH 7.54, PaCO2 88, PaO2 54, HCO3 28, RR 24, O2 CT 11.2 :on FiO2 1.00, TV 900 SIMV 12 Will not read correctly: a. : :the first step to take is to evaluate airway patency When you enter the last option answer, press the <ENTER> key until the cursor moves to the "Correct: " space. This is a mandatory entry area; you cannot move on until you enter the correct answer to the question. The next area is the level (you will bypass the AREA, AUTHOR and CLASS entry area - you can enter information in these spaces only by the scrolling choice screens described above). You can enter the numbers 1 through 9; this is intended for level of difficulty of the question. I use a 1 through 3 scale only: 1 for simple recall/rote memorization; 2 for synthesis of information, and 3 for application of theory in a practical situation. The total questions area is simply a counter of the total number of test items in the test bank. The next two sections, Ext. Ref (external reference) and Int. Ref. (in- ternal reference) or free text entry areas. You may enter anything you wish - up to fourty characters each line. I use the Ext. Ref. to enter bibliographic citations, usually from text books or current professional publications. The Int. Ref. I use for information from the handouts given for the classes I coordinate, usually the objective number and a page number for the content of the question. All this information is printed in the reference copy of the test, so it makes reviewing the test with students easier for me. The last items is "Is this entry complete? (Y/N)". If you enter N, then the cursor will move to the top of the screen, and you will have the op- portunity to edit your item. If you enter Y, a line will appear at the bottom of the screen: S)tore A)bandon R)esure editing? [select your choice, then press ENTER] If you press S, then <ENTER>, the question will be stored in the test bank. If you press A, then <ENTER>, you will be prompted "Are you sure?" - you must type YES and press <ENTER> to abandon the question. (the question will then 'evaporate') If you press R, then <ENTER>, the cursor will move to the top of the screen, and you will be able to resume editing the question. If you choose S or A, you will then be prompted "Do you want to CONTINUE adding questions? (Y/N)". If you answer Y, then press <ENTER>, you will repeat the question entry process again, beginning with the scrolling choice screens for AREA, CLASS and AUTHOR. If you chose N, then press <ENTER>, you will go back to the "Question" menu. "Change a question" When you select this option, the first item in the test bank will be displayed in "index card" format. "Index card" format means that one question (test item) will be displayed at a time, with additional in- formation displayed with it on screen. This is the way that the test items will be displayed in the "Create a test" mode from the "Test" menu. The test item will be displayed with the stem followed by the option answers. The correct answer will be highlighted, with an arrow to the left of the answer pointing to it. At the top of the screen, the question number, index and order messages will be displayed. Question number is the unique number assigned to the question when it was created. If the question is ever deleted from the test bank, the number is deleted also, and will never be used for any other question. The index shows whether the index is off or on, and if it is on, which index is in use. The index choices are AUTHOR, CLASS and AREA. The order shows the pattern or path that will be fol- lowed through the test bank as you browse through the items. Natural order means that you will move through the test bank in the order in which the items were entered into the test bank. Alphabetic order means alphabetically, based on the index key that is active. At the bottom of the screen, you will find the CLASS, AREA and AUTHOR of the question listed, as well as the test bank record number. The record number is the ordinal number of the position of the test item in the test bank. Unlike the question number, the record number will change as items are added and deleted. The next to the last row is a horizontal version of a menu. These provide you with a variety of ways to browse through the test bank, in order to find the question(s) you wish to change. The options are: NEXT BACK GOTO CHANGE SEARCH EDIT QUIT/EXIT Like other TMS menus, you can move the lightbar to each of the options, then press <ENTER>, or you can press the first letter of your choice. Here is what each of them will do: NEXT will move forward to the next question. If the index is off, it will move to the next item, in the order in which the test items were originally entered. If an index is on, it will move to the next item in the order in which the items are indexed. If the last test item is already being displayed, it will give you a "last item" message. BACK will move back to the previous question. If the index is off, it will move to the previous item, in the order in which the test items were originally entered. If an index is on, it will move back to the previous item in the order in which the items are indexed. If the first test item is already being displayed, it will give you a "no items before this one" message. GOTO Means "go to" a question number which you select. You will be prompted to enter a question number, and TMS will search for it. If it is found, it will be displayed; if not, it will give you an "item not found" message. CHANGE This will pop up a scrolling choice screen, to allow you to SEARCH choose the index key to use, and allow you an opportunity to find a specific item. The index you select will remain active until you turn it off using the CHANGE SEARCH option. EDIT Edit will invoke the editing screen, which operates in the same manner as the "Add a question" option above, except that the item will be displayed. QUIT/EXIT This will send you back to the "Question" menu "Delete a question" When you select this, a warning screen will be displayed. If you elect to continue, you will be able to browse through the test bank in a way similar to the "Change a question" option, except that you will have a "DELETE" option, which will allow you to delete an item permanently from the test bank. "Eliminate Keys" This option will present you with three scrolling choice screens, one each for AREA, CLASS and AUTHOR. To use these, simply scroll the light bar to your selection and press <ENTER> to delete a key from the index. "Finished" Select this items to return to the main menu. **** MAIN MENU ITEM: TEST Selecting this item will bring up the "Test Service" menu, which has the following options: "Create a test" "Delete a test" "Finished" "Create a test" When you select this item, you will see the first question in the test bank displayed in "index card" format. It is the same format described above (in the "Change a question" option of the "Question" menu), with the following differences. In addition to CLASS, AREA and AUTHOR, Level, Marked, Correct and Total Marked information will be displayed. Level indicated the level of difficulty, from 1 through 9. Marked indicates if the question has been marked by you for inclusion in the test you are creating. If you have not "marked" the question, it will display "Marked: No"; if you have "marked" the question, it will display "Marked: Yes", highlighted in magenta. The horizontal menu appears this way: NEXT BACK GOTO SEARCH MARK UNMARK EDIT QUIT/SAVE NEXT, BACK, GOTO and EDIT operate in the same manner as described above in the "Change a question" option of the "Question" menu. SEARCH operates the same as CHANGE SEARCH. MARK will "mark" the question being displayed so that it will be in- cluded in the test you are building. MARK will also increment the "Total Marked" counter by one. If you attempt to MARK more than 120 questions, you will see a message that you have tried to mark too many questions. UNMARK will remove the "mark" from a "marked" question; if the question was marked, it will also decrement the "Total Marked" counter by one. QUIT/SAVE will offer you the opportunity to quit selecting test items or continue selecting test items. If you choose to quit, it will ask you what to do - save the test or abandon it. You must confirm all your selections by pressing the <ENTER> key. If you choose to save the test, you will be presented with a "NEW TEST INFORMATION" entry screen. You will be asked for a test name (up to 40 characters), comments (up to 40 characters), and a test code (8 characters). The test code is the only mandatory entry item. The test code must be a unique code, and will be used to identify the test among other tests you create. As a suggestion, you might wish to make the code two letter, followed by a six-character date; however, you are free to make the code anything you like. Finally, you are asked if the in- formation is complete. If you answer N, you have the opportunity to correct or add information again. If you answer Y, the test will be stored in the test history database and you will return to the main menu. "Delete a test" When you choose this selection, you will be presented with a scrolling choice screen. The first choice will be "CANCEL PROCESS - DELETE NO TEST"; the rest of the choices will be the tests stored in the test history database. Scroll the light bar up/down to highlight your choice, then press <ENTER>. You will be asked to confirm you choice, and if you confirm that you want to delete the test, it will be deleted permanently from the test history database. "Finished" This option returns you immediately to the main menu. ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: DISK When you select this item from the main menu, you will be presented first with a scrolling choice screen, containing the tests stored in the test history database. To select the test you wish to administer by computer, scroll the light bar up/down to your choice of tests, then press the <ENTER> key. Next, you will be presented with the "TEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - DISK BASED TESTING SERVICE" information entry screen. You will be prompted to enter a test group code, and information on how you wish the test to be administered. Auto score, auto review and auto retest can each be enabled by a Y and disabled by an N. Auto score will auto- matically score and display the results to the person taking the test; auto score will be enabled automatically if the auto retest function is enabled. Auto review gives the test taker the option of reviewing the test with his/her answer and the correct answer displayed with each question (there is no possibility of changing the answer after the test has been scored). Auto retest allowsthe test taker the option of retaking the test if he/she scores below the established minimum passing score. Minimum passing score is used to establish pass/fail when you select auto score and auto retest; you can set it from 1 to 100 %. When you have entered this information and confirmed it, you will be prompted to place a disk in the A: drive. The disk must be formatted (see you DOS manual for formatting instructions under FORMAT, and the additional information on preparing a "self-booting" disk below) and have at least 320 KB free disk space. If it is not formatted, or if it has less that 320 KB free disk space, you will be prompted to correct the situation, and given the opportunity to make the correction or terminate the process. If the disk is formatted and has at least 320 KB of space, the test and test administration program will be copied onto the disk. After each disk is prepared, you will be prompted if you want to prepare another disk. If you do, then remove the prepared testing disk, and insert another formatted disk with at least 320 KB of free disk space. SPECIAL NOTE: as you prepare each TMS testing diskette, be sure to label it, including the name and/or code for the test; without this, one diskette looks pretty much like another, and it could be very frustrating not to know which disk contains which test. There is a batch file named AUTODISK.BAT on the distribution disk which can help automate the process of making testing disks that are "self- booting". A self-booting disk is one that contains DOS system files, and can be used in the A: drive of a computer to load the operating system into the computer memory. For TMS, this means that the test taker or test proctor need only insert the test disk into the A: drive of the computer, and turn the computer on. The operating system will load, and the testing program will load and run automatically. To use AUTODISK.BAT, perform the following steps: 1. make the TMS directory the default directory (this is usually done by typing "CD\TMS", if \TMS is the directory in which you keep the TMS program) 2. type AUTODISK at the DOS prompt 3. place a diskette in the A: drive, and follow the on-screen instructions 4. you will see that the diskette is formatted with the /S option (this includes the DOS system files during formatting) 5. the file AUTOEXEC.BAT will be copied to the diskette; this will allow the disk to load and run the testing program automatically without the need to issue any commands After you have created a "self-booting" disk, be sure to label it as such so you will be able to identify it easily when you use it when preparing a TMS testing diskette ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: PRINT This option prepares for printing a test. The first display is the scrolling choice screen. You choose a test to print by moving the light bar up/down with the cursor keys to select your choice, then you press the <ENTER> key. The next screen is the "Preparation for Printing" information entry screen. The name and code of the test are displayed at the top of the screen, and you are prompted to enter where to print. Where to print has three options, P, D and B. P indicates printer only - the test will be printed on the printer that is connected to LPT1, the parallel printer port. D indicates that the test is to be "printed" to a disk file; actually, the text of the test will be saved as an ASCII disk file. This is a text file, saved on disk, which you can load into almost any word processing program, and modify as you desire. The third option, B, means both - save as a text file and print on the LPT1 printer. The next option is reference key. If you enter T for test only, the test will print, with a blank answer sheet, a key template with the correct answers indicated (an overlay template to facilitate scoring of paper/pencil tests), and a test report. The test report is a half page printout of information about the test. If you enter R, you will get the above, and a reference key version of the test; this has the questions printed, along with the correct answers and the additional information about the test item (as displayed on the "Add a question" test item entry screen). Once you have confirmed the information on the "Preparation for Printing" screen, you will be presented with the "Test Printing In- formation" screen. You will be prompted to enter optional infor- mation that will be included in the printing - heading, footers, date, title and instructor. These may be omitted if you choose. Once you complete and confirm the "Test Printing Information" screen, the printing will begin. If you selected D or B, the test (and ref- erence key, if selected) will be saved to disk. After a disk save, an caution screen will display, giving you some information about the test that was saved. If you selected B, after the save you will be prompted to prepare the printer for printing. The program is designed to work with an 80-column Epson/IBM-compatible printer, with a con- tiuous tractor feed. If the printer is not ready, a warning message will be displayed. When the printer is ready, the program will print the test, and, if selected, the reference key. When complete, it will return to the main menu. ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: SCORE When you select this item, you will be presented with the "Scoring Service Menu". The menu options are: "Quit" "Load" "Tally" "Report" "Student" "Manual" "Delete" "Quit" When you select "Quit", you return immediately to the main menu. "Load" When you select this item, you will be prompted to place the testing disk(s) in the A: drive. If you place a disk that does not contain the file of student scores on it, a message will appear to prompt you to make the correction. When you place the disk with the proper student scores on it in the A: drive, the student test answers and scores will be loaded into the master student score database on the hard disk. When that has been done, you will prompted whether you want to delete the student answers from the testing disk. If you choose Y, the scores will be deleted from the test disk. When you are done with one test disk, you will be asked if you have another to load. Repeat the process until all test disks are done. "Tally" The tally option will display a scrolling list of the test groups; select one by moving the light bar to the desired test group and pressing <ENTER>. When you select a test group, the scores of the group will be analyzed and a report printed. The report will contain a table of the question numbers, and a tally of the distribution of the test answers, e.g., for question 1, "a." was marked 3 time; "b." was marked 12 times; "c." was marked 9 times; "d." was marked 0 times; "e." was marked 0 times; and "?" (the indicator that the question was left unanswered) was marked 1 time. The report also includes the percentage each question was marked correctly. Any question that was marked less than 50% correctly is flagged with a "*"; any that were answered correctly less than 25% are marked with a "**". Each page of the report contains a header that includes arithmetic mean, median, algebraic mode, standard deviation, high and low scores and the number who took the test. "Report" When you select this option, you will be presented with a scrolling choice screen, displaying the test groups stored in the master student score database. Make your selection by scrolling the light bar up/down to highlight your choice, then press <ENTER>. Press ESC to abort the process, or prepare the printer and press any other key. The report option produces an alphabetical list of all who took the test, their SSAN's and their scores. The heading of each page of the report will contain test information, including arithmetic mean, median, algebraic mode, standard deviation, high and low scores, and number who took the test. "Student" The "Student" option allows you to print out an individual profile of test performance on a student. When selected, this option first displays a scrolling list of test groups. When you select a test group, the next display is a scrolling list of people in the test group you selected. If you select a person from the group, his/her test information will be retrieved, and the information from the test will be compared with it. A report will be printed which includes the name and SSAN of the person, and a listing of each question marked incorrectly, with the answer that the individual marked, and the question identification number, and the area from which the test question was drawn. This may prove to be useful as a basis for review and remediation. "Manual" The "Manual" option gives you the ability to enter test performance information for those people who did not take the test on computer. The option manual will ask you to select a test group; if you select a test group, it will prompt for manual entry of the name of the person, the SSAN and the score of the person. When you verify that the infor- mation is correct, it will present you with a scrolling list of the correct answers. You need enter only the questions that were answered incorrectly. You may continue the process for as many as you wish. When entered and confirmed, the data is stored in the same manner and form as the data of a computer-administered test. "Delete" This option produces a scrolling choice screen, displaying the test groups. Make your selection by scrolling the light bar up/down to highlight your choice, then press <ENTER>. You will be prompted to confirm you choice; if you confirm your choice, all the student scores and answers for that test group will be deleted from the master student score database. ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: INFO (TECH) When you select this item, the screen will display the text of some technical information about TMS. It may be interesting if you have some fondness for programming, otherwise it is a monumental bore. ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: UTILITIES The utility services menu contains the following entries: Quit Update Indexes New Numbers Import Export Backup Restore Test Items Key Info "Quit" Selecting "Quit" will take you back to the main menu "Update Indexes" Select "Update Indexes" if you feel that there may be a problem with the indexes - they are the supplementary files which allow quick location of test items. It is unlikey that the indexes will need it often, at the most once a month. If system performance bogs down, or if you get erroneous items on tests - ones that you know were not selected for a test, perform this function. "New Numbers" Select "New Numbers" if there has been a catastrophe and you are not able to get any tests to print out correctly. This function will pro- vide a new set of unique test item identification numbers, but will void any tests previously stored in the test history database. "Import" Select "Import" when you wish to add test items to the test bank that were produced by on another computer using TMS (using the "Export" function, listed below). To use it, place the diskette containing the test items (stored in the data file TRANSPORT.DBF) in the A: drive, and begin. The items will be imported to the test bank, the indexes will be updated, and the test items renumbered with unique item iden- tification numbers (DO NOT USE THE NEW NUMBERS UTILITY WITH THIS - IT IS NOT NECESSARY). "Export" Select "Export" when you wish to select test items to transfer to diskette for subsequent importing to a separate test bank of test items. Before useing this feature, it is important that you have a formatted diskette ready for use. When "Export" is selected, you will be presented with a test item display screen similar to that for the test creation function; you may browse the test bank, mark or un- mark test items, search for specific test items. When you have marked all the test items you wish, select the "Quit" option from the menu, and you will be asked to confirm that you wish to export items. If you do confirm, the items will be loaded on to the diskette in drive A:, in a file called TRANSFER.DBF. The diskette can then be taken to another computer on which TMS is operating, and the test items loaded into the test bank using the "Import" function listed above. "Backup" Select "Backup" when you wish to make a security backup copy of the test bank. I strongly encourage you to do this on a regular basis, preferbly once a week. If anything ever happens to the testbank (a power failure during a save, a "head crash" or any other accident that corrupts the test bank) you can restore test items without having to re-key all the entries. When selected, this function will present you with a listing of the number of diskettes you will need to make the backup; you will need these disks ready before the backup process begins. Place the first diskette in the A: drive, then follow the screen instructions until all test items are copied. Make sure to label the diskettes in the order in which they are used. "Restore" Select "Restore" to reconstruct a testbank that has been corrupted or deleted. Use of this function will void any tests which have been created previous to using the function, so do not use it unless there has been unrecoverable damage to the testbank. When selected, the function will prompt you to insert the diskettes containing the backup test items; it is important to insert the disks in the order in which the test items were backed up (e.g., disk 1 first, disk 2 second, etc.). "Test Items" Select "Test Items" if you wish to print some or all test items which match a certain key value; author, topic or class. When you select this function, you will be offered the opportunity to chose the selection criteria, then prepare the printer. The test items will be printed. "Key Info" Select "Key Info" if you wish to print lists of information about the various data files in the TMS database. You will be presented with the options of printing any of the following: 1. List of tests created with TMS, with associated informatin 2. List of files required by the system and their descriptions 3. List of test groups, with associated information 4. List of authors of test items with their codes 5. List of classes from which test items are taken, with their codes 6. list of topic areas or areas of focus from which test items are taken 7. The data structure designs of each of the data files in the system ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: CONFIGURATION Select "Configuration from the main menu when you wish to select or change the monitor type or whether the printer will be single-sheet or continuous forms. For monitor type, enter C for color monitor, or M for monochrome monitor. Use of the C in a system with a monochrome monitor will ususally result in some screens that are hard to read For printer, use S for single-sheet feed (one sheet at a time, placed manually, then press a key to print) or C for continuous forms (either fan-fold paper, or a printer with an automatic single-sheet/cut sheet feeder) ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: HELP! This item will produce a scrolling screen with general help informa- tion about TMS. Use the up and down cursor keys to scroll the text up and down, and press the escape key (ESC) to exit the help screen. ***** MAIN MENU ITEM: END Select this item to terminate TMS, and return to the DOS command-line prompt. SECTION 11: OPERATION OF TESTOR This section describes how to administer a test using TESTOR.EXE, the stand-alone test administration program that is part of TMS. The first part of this section deals with preparation of a diskette for TESTOR, and is a little technical and heavy on aspects of DOS. The second part describes the operation of the TESTOR program, from the point of view of someone taking the test. DISKETTE PREPARATION If you are already familiar with DOS, and know how to format a diskette and how to prepare a system diskette, you may comfortably skip the remainder of this section, except the REMINDER immediately below. REMINDER - the AUTODISK.BAT file on the original distribution diskette will help automate the preparation of "self-booting" diskettes; it is explained in detail under the "Disk" menu option above, which explains the preparation of tests for administration by computer. There are two ways to prepare a diskette for use with TESTOR. One is to make a system diskette, and the other is to make a plain formatted diskette. The following is a basic explanation of the process; for more detailed information, refer to your DOS manual or other DOS ref- erence work. If you are very familiar and comfortable working with DOS, you can skip to the area "ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES". To make a plain formatted diskette, place the diskette to be formatted in the diskette drive, and enter the DOS command to format the diskette. If you are using drive A:, then the command is "FORMAT A:", followed by a press of the <ENTER> key. A prompt will appear on screen and guide you through the process. One word of caution: formatting a diskette erases any data (programs, files, etc.) that might be on the diskette. After formatting is complete, a message will appear stating the number of bytes usable on the diskette, and asking you if you wish to format another diskette, with the (Y/N)? prompt. Press the "Y" key if you wish to format another diskette, "N" if you do not want to format another diskette, then press the <ENTER> key. To make a system diskette, place the diskette in the drive and enter the DOS command "FORMAT A:/S", then press the <ENTER> key (this command is for formatting the diskette in drive A: - substitute the appropriate drive letter if you are not using the A: drive). When formatting is complete, a message will appear on screen stating the diskette space in bytes, and the amount of space occupied by the system. You will also be asked if you want to format another. Choose "Y" or "N" as needed, and press the <ENTER> key. The diskette that has just been formatted is called a system diskette because it has enough of operating system copied to it to be "self-booting". "Self-booting" means that you can place the diskette in the A: drive of a compatible computer, turn the computer on, and the operating system will load itself, giving the familiar "A>" prompt on the screen. To make the system diskette more useful for test administration, you will need to add two additional files, "AUTOEXEC.BAT" and "CONFIG.SYS". The "CONFIG.SYS" file will make a slight change to the internal environment of the computer to make diskette access a little faster and smoother. The "AUTOEXEC.BAT" file will automatically run the testing programming when the computer starts up. (Refer to the "DOS Tricks and Tips for TMS" in appendix 3). To create CONFIG.SYS: Place the system diskette in the drive (A: will be used for the example) and make that drive the default drive by typing "A:" (without the quo- tation marks) and then pressing the <ENTER> key. Then type the what appears in the left-hand column exactly as it appears, following each line with a press of the <ENTER> key: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS <then press the <ENTER> key> BUFFERS=22 <press the <ENTER> key> FILES=8 <press the <ENTER> key> Now press the F6 function key (it will make a "^Z" mark on the screen) and press the <ENTER> key. You will see the diskette drivel light to on, hear some diskette drive activity. You have just created your own CONFIG.SYS file. To make sure, display the contents of the file using the "TYPE" command, as indicated below: TYPE CONFIG.SYS <then press the <ENTER> key> The contents of the CONFIG.SYS file should display on screen as: BUFFERS=22 FILES=8 To create AUTOEXEC.BAT: Place the system diskette in the drive, and make it the default drive, as explained above. Then type: COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT <press the <ENTER> key> TESTOR <press the <ENTER> key> Now press the F6 function key (again, it will make the "^Z" mark on the screen) then press the <ENTER> key. Again, use the "TYPE" command to display the contents of the file, as indicated below: TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT <then press the <ENTER> key> And you should see the contents displayed on screen: TESTOR ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES The system diskette is a little more time consuming in preparation than a plain formatted diskette, but may be worth your time since it makes using TESTOR a little more "automatic" in operation. With a system diskette prepared as described above, all the person taking the test has to do is place the diskette in the A: drive of the computer, and turn the computer on. The testing program will run automatically. If you use a plain formatted diskette, then the someone will have to prepare the computer for testing by loading the operating system first, then placing the test diskette in drive A:, then typing "TESTOR" at the DOS prompt, then pressing the <ENTER> key. OPERATION OF TESTOR When TESTOR is run, the first screen is a welcome screen, bearing the copyright. The next screen is for information entry - the first name, last name and SSAN. After the information is complete, the tester is asked to "Press A to ABORT testing, or any other key to continue". This is a way to allow the tester to back out of the system without having any information recorded or score generated. During testing, TESTOR will display each question in the upper 2/3 of the screen, with the command line and system information in the bottom 1/3. The command line works the same for TESTOR as for TMS; you may use the arrow keys to move the light bar to highlight your selection, then press the <ENTER> key to activate, or you may press the first letter of the command to activate. The command line appears this way: A B C D E Next Reverse Find Mark Unanswered Help Quit/Save Pressing any of the A-E keys will answer the question with the respective letter. If one of the letters C through E are not optional answers in the test, then pressing the letter on the keyboard has no effect. Selecting Next will advance to the next question in line (except when the next question is the last question, in which case it will give you a message that there are no more questions). Selecting Reverse will move backward one question (except when the first question is displayed, in which case it will give you a message that there are no questions before the first question). Selecting Find will allow you to enter the number of a question, then display that question. Selecting Mark will replace the answer to the question with a "?"; this will make it easier to find unanswered questions later. It is a good technique to use this when there is a question you are unsure of and want to flag so that you may return to it later. Any questions marked with a "?" will also alert the program to remind the test taker that there are unanswered questions when the test taker attempts to quit. Selecting Unanswered will cause the program to display the next question that has not been answered or has been Marked. Selecting Help will display a series of help screens to explain the operation of TESTOR. Quit/Save will allow the user the opportunity to end the test and have the test scored. When this option is selected, a window will appear prompting the user to press "Y" to end the session. If the user presses any key other than "Y", testing will resume. If the user pressed "Y", a second message will appear in the window, asking the user to confirm by pressing "Y" again. Pressing any key other than "Y" will cause testing to resume. If the user confirms by pressing "Y", the testing program will review the answers to see if there are any that have not been marked. If all the questions have been answered, testing will end, the test will be scored, and the personal identification information, answers and score will be stored on disk. If there are questions which have not been answered, the user will be prompted in another window that questions have not been answered, and he/she will be prompted to press Q to quit or any other key to resume testing. If the user presses any key other than Q, testing will resume. If the user presses Q, testing will end, the test will be scored, and the the personal identification information, answers and score will be stored on disk. If the AUTO SCORE option was enabled by the educator, the test score will be displayed, along with the score code. The score code is an encrypted form of the test takers name, social security number and score. The first three characters are the first three characters of the test takers last name, reversed. The first two or three numerals of the score code are the percentage score, transposed. The last two numerals of the score code are the first two numerals of the social security number. If the AUTO REVIEW option was enabled by the educator, the test taker will have the option of reviewing the test, with his/her own answers and the correct answers displayed. If the AUTO RETEST option was enabled by the educator, and the test taker scored below the minimum passing score, the test taker will have the option of retaking the test, with the better of the two scores stored on disk. APPENDIX 1: TECHNICAL INFORMATION Test Management System is comprised of TMS.EXE, TESTOR.EXE and several data and index files. TMS was developed using the Clipper compiler (the Summer 1987 release) by Nantucket Corporation. In addition, several of the functions from Tom Rettigs Advanced Extended Library for Clipper were used. Clipper is a compiler, which is a special program that translates a human-readable program (a text file, termed "source code") into a computer-executable, stand-alone program. The executable programs (TMS.EXE and TESTOR.EXE) can run on any suitable computer without the need of a run-time system or other support program - you do not need to have dBASE III+ or any other similar database management system in order to run TMS. The data files for TMS all have the extension .DBF, and are compatible with dBASE III+ and all the other .DBF-file compatible programs. APPENDIX 2: BUG REPORT If TMS fails to perform as the technical manual specifies, please let me know; I want to make sure that TMS does what it is supposed to do. You can help me by completing the following bug report form and sending it to: Marshall Woolner 6284 Argyle Avenue San Bernardino, CA 92404 The more fully and precisely you complete the form, the faster I will be able to determine the problem and correct it. Name: ____________________________________________________________ Street address: __________________________________________________ City: ____________________________________ State: ______________ Zip: _______________ Your day phone: ( ) ____________________ TMS version (from opening screen) ________________________________ "Last Revised" date (from opening screen) _________________________ Operating system and version (e.g. MS-DOS 2.11) __________________ Computer used (brand and model) ___________________________________ Do you have any RAM-resident utilities loaded automatically when you start your computer? (also known as TSR's, e.g. SideKick) yes no (circle one) Amount of random-access memory (RAM) _____________________________ On which drive is TMS installed? _________________________________ In which directory is TMS installed? _____________________________ Do you activate TMS by a batch file? yes no (circle one) (If you circled "yes", please include a copy of the batch file) If you activate TMS directly, do you change the default directory to the TMS directory first? yes no (circle one) Is the directory containing TMS in the DOS PATH? yes no (circle one) When does the problem occur? (during which procedure, function or service?) ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ Please describe as exactly as possible what happens, for example, the screen freezes and does not respond to keyboard activity, or tests do not print directly. If there was any kind of message that appeared on-screen when the problem occured, please write it below (e.g., PROC TESTFIRST, line 3209 Undefined ID) _____________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX 3: DOS Tips and Tricks for TMS TMS makes frequent access to disk files. Any time a program access a mechanical device, the program will have to slow down to the speed of that mechanical device. This has the effect of slowing execution of the program, which is inconvenient for the user. Here are three ways to improve the performance of TMS; if you are using a computer with an 80286 or 80386 microprocessor, you may not need them. If you are using a computer with the 8088 microprocessor, TMS perform- ance will benefit most from these technicques. DISK CACHE PROGRAM There are several disk cache program available, both commercially and as shareware. The function of the program is to set aside a portion of RAM (random access memory) as a temporary storage space for the data moving between the disk and the program in memory. As soon as data moving from the program to disk is moved into the cache, the program can resume, instead of having to wait for disk access. When a program reads data from the disk, the cache also stores data from the areas around where the data was stored; since most disk accesses involve data that is near the most recently accessed data, the cache can often (> 60-70% of the time) provide the data without the need of an actual disk access. Since RAM operates at electronic speed, the process is almost instantaneous. Some of the new IBM PS/2 computers have a disk cache program included with the operating system. A disk cache provides a real improvement in performance for any program that requires frequent access to disk drives. BUFFERS IN THE CONFIG.SYS FILE BUFFERS are part of the operating system environment, and act some- what like a disk cache. You can modify BUFFERS by adding or changing the 'BUFFERS=XX' statement in your CONFIG.SYS file (where XX repre- sents a number between 3 and 32). For most systems without a disk cache installed, a number about 20 or 22 will probably work best; however, only experimentation or the use of a system diagnostic pro- gram can show what the optimum number for BUFFERS is for an individ- ual computer. To use it, simply include the following in your CONFIG. SYS file: BUFFERS=20 If there is no CONFIG.SYS file, create one with a text editor, or a word processing progam that can create a "pure ASCII" file. If the BUFFERS parameter already exists in you CONFIG.SYS file, change the number to 20 or 22. Make sure the CONFIG.SYS file is in the root directory of the disk that you use to load the operating system. One last note about BUFFERS. Some disk cache systems "fight" the BUFFERS, and as a result, it is better to set the BUFFERS to a lower number (3 to 8). If you leave the BUFFERS number high, the system will still work, but not as efficiently. FASTOPEN DOS 3.30 (and higher) includes a utility, FASTOPEN. The DOS manual gives a good explanation of its use. It works by allowing you to identify the files that you access most frequently, then storing the names of the files in memory, so that when you (or any application program, like TMS) requests a file to be opened to obtain data or store data, the file will be accessed much more quickly. APPENDIX 4: TUTORIAL (NOTE: this tutorial also exists as the file TUTOR.TXT on the distribution disk. It is there so it will be easier for you to print out. This is a simple tutorial to get you acquainted with TMS. If you have not alread installed TMS, do so before you begin the tutorial. The installation procedure is explained in Section 7: INSTALLATION. IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY MADE BACKUP COPIES OF TMS, DO SO IMMEDIATELY! If you are viewing this on screen, be sure to print it out so you will have it in hand for viewing while you run the program. Now, for the tutorial: Step one: load TMS load TMS by changing the directory to the directory in which TMS is installed, then typing "TMS" (without the quotes) and pressing the <ENTER> key. TMS will load in 15 seconds to one minute. The opening screen will say "Welcome to Test Manage- ment System" - press any key, and the the system status screen is displayed. If the system status screen shows that any of essential files are missing, you will need reinstall TMS (you did make backups, didn't you?). Otherwise, you will go to the main menu. Step two: using a menu When the main menu is displayed, scroll through the options using the "up" and "down" cursor keys on the numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard. If nothing happens, you may need to press the NUM LOCK key once to make the cursor keys functional. Notice as you press the up/down arrows that the magenta highlight bar moves up and down, and that the menu choice in the magenta highlight bar is displayed in bright white. Also, notice that as you scroll the highlight bar up and down, the message that appears in the message area below the menu changes. This message is a simple description of the function invoked by the menu choice.f Move the highlight bar until it is on "Questions", then press the <ENTER> key. After a second, the "Question" menu will appear. In the "Question" menu, move the highlight bar until "Finished" is highlighted, and press <ENTER>. This will return you to the main menu. Now, in the main menu, highlight any choice EXCEPT "Question", and press the 'Q' key. The "Question" menu appears. In the "Question" menu, highlight any choice other than "Finished", and press the 'F' key. You will return to the main menu. This has demonstrated how to use a menu. You have two ways to use the menu; press the first letter of your selection, or move the highlight bar to your selection and press <ENTER>. Step three: adding a question From the main menu, select "Question", and from the "Question" menu, select "Add". The first display will be a scrolling choice screen (in fact, you will see a a total of three of them, in succession). These operate somewhat like the menu; use the cursor up/down keys to move the lightbar up and down to your choice, then press <ENTER>. For now, highlight the choice at the top "Choose no AREA, or leave as is" This will bring up the next scrolling choice menu - choose the same option "Choose no CLASS ...", and the next one also, "Choose not AUTHOR...". We will return to these options in a moment. After the three scrolling choice screens, a test item entry screen will appear. At the top you will see L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6 - these are for each of the six possible stem lines for your question. Type in the following item stem: Sodium nitroprusside, once prepared for intravenous admin- istration, should be replaced with a fresh bottle no later than: Notice that you can type no more than 60 characters on each line, and that there is no word-wrap. Also note that you must use line L1 first, and that there should be no blank lines above any line. When TMS reads your question to print it out, it will stop printing at the first blank line - so if you leave a blank line within the stem of your question, the remaining lines will be ignored. Now, move the cursor down to option a:, and type the following: 4 hours from preparation Then move to b: and type: 8 hours from preparation Then move to c: and type: 16 hours from preparation Then move to d: and type: 24 hours from preparation Note that you have left the lines immediately under a: , b: , c: , and d: blank - this is the right way to enter the options. Use the line under a: only if the a: option requires two lines. If you enter the a: option in the line immediately below a: without entering anything in a: , TMS will not print that option on a test. Now move the cursor down to the Correct: area. Try to move the cursor out of Correct: area. You can't (or at least, I hope you can't). This is a mandatory field - you can't leave it until you enter a letter, A, B, C, D, or E. This is for the correct answer to the item. Press the <ENTER> key or use the cursor up/down key to more to the next area, which is Level:. Enter 1. This is intended for level of difficulty; you can enter only a single number, in the range of 1 to 9. You can use it or leave it blank as you wish. The next areas are Ext. Ref. and Int. Ref., for external reference and internal reference, respectivelyh. Each has a 40-character line, and you can enter anything you like. I use them for infor- mation about the questions; "Ext.Ref" for professional journal or book references, "Int. Ref" for program syllabus or outline information. Press <ENTER> and you move down to the "Is this entry complete (Y/N) ? area. It will only accept Y or N; if you press N, then <ENTER>, you will have another opportunity to edit the item. If you press Y, then <ENTER>, you will see a red bar with S)tore A)bandon R)esume editing [select your choice ..... Press S, then <ENTER>. This will store the question in the testbank. If you pressed A, you would be prompted to confirm your choice to abandon the question. If you pressed R, you would resume editing. After you pressed S and <ENTER>, a black bar appeared which said: Do you want to CONTINUE adding questions (Y/N) ? At this prompt, press N, then <ENTER>. You will return to the "Questions" main menu. If you had pressed Y, you would go through the question adding routine again, starting with the scrolling choice screens for AREA, CLASS and AUTHOR. Step four: making a test At the main menu, select "Test". The first display will be question 1 in the test bank. You will also see a horizontal menu at the bottom of the screen. This works the same as the vertical menus you have already seen, except that you use the right and left cursor keys to move the light bar, and the message appears on the very last line. The menu reads: NEXT BACK GOTO SEARCH MARK UNMARK EDIT QUIT/SAVE Select NEXT to move forward to the next question Select BACK to move backward one question Select GOTO to enter a question number, then jump to it Select SEARCH to set a search path for your questions Select MARK to mark a question for inclusion in the test notice how the "Marked" area is highlighted and the "Total marked" counter is incremented by one Select UNMARK to un-select a question for inclusion in a test notice how the "Marked" area is no longer highlighted, and the "Total marked" counter is decremented by one Don't select EDIT at this time - it is used for editing a question, and follows the same process as adding a question. Now mark a couple of questions, then select QUIT/SAVE. If you had selected no question, you would go immediately back to the main menu. Since you had marked several questions for inclusion in a test, you are asked what you want to do with the test - S)ave it or A)bandon it. Enter S to save the test. You are now presented with an information entry screen. Use it to enter information about the test, which will be used in administer- ing the test. Test Name and Comments are optional, but very help- ful. Test Code is mandatory entry. Make sure that the test code has some meaning to you - it is only eight characters long. When the information is complete and correct, enter Y at the "Is the information as complete as you want? (Y/N)" prompt. You have just created a test. To view it, select the "Print" option at the main menu - you will see a scrolling choice screen with the test you created and three other tests listed - the demo tests. Step five: printing a test From the main menu, select "Print". The first display will be the scrolling choice screen with the tests identified. Select a test. The next screen is for information about the printing of the test. To choose where you want to send the test, select P for printer only, D for disk only, and B for both. P will print the test directly on a printer, D will save the test as an ASCII text file, and B with do both. Also select the T if you want to print only the test, or R if you want to print the test and a reference key verion of the test. When you print the test, you will also get a face sheet with test information on it, an answer sheet suitable for photo copying, and a key template, to overlay an anwer sheet for rapid test scoring of paper and pencil tests. You will, un- fortunately, have to cut out the holes on the correct answers to make the template usable. Once you have selected where to "print" the test and whether you want a reference key version, the next screen will ask for in- formation to be printed with the test; simple header and footer information, date and instructor. Once you have entered this, the test will print. If you selected D or B, the first to be saved is the disk file. After it is saved, there will be a message about renaming the file(s) so you will not overwrite them the next time you save a test to a disk file. Step six: disk-based testing Before you make a disk-based test, you will need one formatted disk for each test disk you want. The test disk you create will contain a program to administer the test, score the test, and save the test. The test disk can be used in any computer that meets the requirements listed under "Remote Computer" in the manual. You can make the disk a system disk (self-booting - see the DOS manual) and add an AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the single command "TESTOR" on it to make the disk self-running. Select "Disk" from the main menu, then select the test you want from the scrolling choice screen. Once you have selected a test, you will be presented with an in- formation entry screen for disk-based testing, including the name/description of the test group (make it whatever you like) and how you want to administer the test. The options are: Auto score - will display the score to the test taker Auto review - will allow the test taker to review the test, with his/her own answers and the correct answers shown. There is no possibility that the test -taker can change his/her answers during the review Auto retest - if the test taker scores below the minimum passing score (which you enter on this screen), will allow one retake. Enter the information as you like, and follow the prompts to create the test disk. You might like to try taking the test yourself. To do so, just exit TMS, make A: the default drive, place the test disk in A: and type "TESTOR", then press <ENTER>. The TESTOR program has help screens and is almost fool-proof. To see how each of the options (above) work, when you are in TMS select Y for each of them - then you will see your score displayed, review, and re- test if your score is lower than the minimum passing score. Step eight: experiment Try TMS out - experiment. By this time, you have a pretty good feel for how it works. Good Luck!