Recent News about Online Testing
(updated August 27)


This fall we are continuing to use an online testing system called PHGradeAssist. As with all software, there are a few aspects that don't work as they should, and consequently there may be occasional updates.

If you notice any other problems with the testing system, please let me know.

Supported browsers and operating systems:

  1. According to the makers of PHGradeAssist, the following configurations are supported
    (other configurations may or may not work):
  2. Make sure that Java and Javascript are enabled on the browser. If you need
    to upgrade a Windows computer to the current version of Java, go to
    http://java.sun.com and download and install "JavaVM"; for Macintosh, use
    Software Update.

  3. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) must provide a single IP address that stays constant during each session. Most ISP's are set up this way, but AOL is one that is not - the IP address is changed frequently during the session. Thus, if you are using AOL as your ISP, then the testing system will probably NOT work well.

Problems and solutions:

  1. Problem: Exam timer does not appear in upper right corner of testing window.
    Solution: Update your Java Plugin to version 1.4.2 on Windows or 1.4.1 on Macintosh. If you are using a Windows computer, go to java.sun.com and download "JavaVM"; for Macintosh, use Software Update.

  2. Problem: "Preview" does not work.
    Solution: Update your Java Plugin to version 1.4.2 on Windows or 1.4.1 on Macintosh. If you are using a Windows computer, go to java.sun.com and download "JavaVM"; for Macintosh, use Software Update.

  3. There was a minor yet annoying problem that sometimes occurred while using the old version of the online testing system. I do not yet know if it occurs with the new version. The problem is that occasionally when you hit the "Grade" button after completing your exam, you might get the disturbing message "There is no currently active test in your record file". However, in all cases we have ever seen when this occurs, your exam has actually been saved and graded. You can use the "View Past Results" link (on the testing web site) to see the results of your exam. The lesson here is to not panic, your exam has actually been saved and graded. I suspect that sometimes it occurs when a student hits "Grade", doesn't see an immediate response, and then hits it again while waiting. So make sure that you don't hit the "Grade" button twice (or at least wait a little while before trying again).

  4. Problem: Computer or browser crashes, network error occurs, etc.
    Solutions:
    1. If a problem such as this occurs and you lose your connection to the testing system, don't panic. In almost all cases, all of your work will have been saved. You should restart your computer or browser and login to take the exam again. You will be given a choice: continue with old exam, or abandon the old exam and start a new one, or grade the old exam. Make the appropriate choice, get your proctor's authorization, and you should be able to proceed. If you are continuing the old exam, then you should be able to pick up where you left off.
    2. If you continue to have problems with the computer you are working on, you may decide to switch computers. Here's where it gets tricky. You are supposed to be able to switch computers with your proctor's authorization. However, a bug has been introduced in the new version of PHGradeAssist which currently prevents this. For the time being, here are a few possible workarounds to this bug:
      1. Wait until time has expired on the exam. Then you should be able to re-enter the exam (as in item (a) above) and continue where you left off. Your time will be reset. This option is probably what you will want to choose if you were almost done with the exam and you don't want to lose all your work.
      2. Login to take one of the pretests. Then you will be given a choice on how to proceed, as in item (a) above. If you choose to abandon the old exam, you can then just quit the pretest and start up a new exam. However, note that in this case you will lose all your previous work. This option might be a good one if you just started an exam when the problem occurred. You could also choose to grade the exam instead if you want.
      3. You can send me an email and I can grade the active exam. However, there would probably be a substantial delay in this case before you could proceed with another exam, so I suggest using one of the first two options if possible.