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                     TRUE STUDY SKILLS                 0/10
                           INDEX
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     TRUE STUDY SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     FILE LOCATIONS AND MANAGEMENT . . . . . . . . .  2
     WRITE QUESTIONS AND SAVE IN A FILE  . . . . . .  3
     SELECT QUESTIONS FOR A TEST . . . . . . . . . .  4
     FORMAT AND PRINT A TEST . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     CONVERT OLD TEST FILES 
      TO TRUE MULTIPLE-CHOICE FILES  . . . . . . . .  6
     CONVERT STUDENT LECTURE NOTES
      TO REVIEW QUESTIONS  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     CONVERT REVIEW QUESTION FILES INTO
      INSTRUCTIONAL QUESTION FILES (AND TESTS) . . .  8
     CLASS AND GROUP WRITING . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     SCORING TESTS AND ASSIGNING GRADES
      True Score and True Competency Test  . . . . . 10

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              Copyright 2000 Richard A. Hart                          
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                     TRUE STUDY SKILLS                  1/10

True Study Skills does the clerical work when writing
questions, tutoring and testing.  It includes related 
activities for students.  They demystify testing, develop
critical study skills, and provide practice at several
levels of thinking when reporting and answering questions.
Several of the activities generate high quality questions 
for class and regional tests.

                        Major Parts

A. Write, Edit and Print
    
  1. Create and Enter Questions
 
     Enter question stem, two right answers and 4 wrong 
     answers (stem and one right answer required).
     Flash card review with normal and BIG TYPE.

  2. Select and Edit Questions
 
     Pool questions from several data files.
     Select randomly or manually.

  3. Print Files and Cram Notes

     Print files in condensed form for test reference.
     Print cram notes with just right answer or full text.

  4. Format and Print Tests

     Format automatically or manually.
     Edit data bank and the formatted question.

B. Review, Tutor and Test

  1. Cram

     A sequential, error repeating, review with three levels 
     of thinking. 
    
  2. Practice

     A random, error repeating, review with five levels of 
     thinking.

  3. Test 

     A random presentation with four levels of thinking.
     Score by knowledge (traditional) or by knowledge and 
     judgment.  Diagnostic record of answers and quality.    




               FILE LOCATIONS AND MANAGEMENT            2/10

True Study Skills creates three folders:

TESTS:    Holds the latest version of all new and edited 
          question files.  This prevents overwriting 
          permanent versions held elsewhere.

PRINTOUT: Holds all text files ready for printing (Font: 
          Courier; Pitch 10; Size 12 or equivalent)

SCORES:   Holds individual and summary test results.  These 
          can be viewed from within TrueSS or with Windows  
          text editor or word processors.

TASK BAR (Windows 95) and TASK LIST (Windows 3.1):  

Open programs or applications are listed on the TASK BAR at 
the bottom of the screen or in the TASK LIST (press 
Ctrl-Esc to view the TASK LIST window).  Press the F1 key 
to get help on the current application window.

SELECT, COPY, and MOVE FILES:

After selecting and opening the Windows Explorer or the File
Manager, press the F1 key for help.  Then enter, in the Find
or Search box, the following items:  selecting files, 
copying files, or moving files to learn quick ways to copy 
and move files in and out of TRUESS folders.  TRUESS always 
stores the latest version of new and edited question files 
in the TESTS folder.  This prevents an accidental overwrite 
of a file stored elsewhere.


ASSOCIATE and WORD PROCESSORS:

Also learn to use Associate.  Select a file.  Click File 
and then Associate.  You will see a list of applications 
including word processors.  The idea is that all files with 
a certain extension, say .FIL, can be associated with a 
certain word processor.  Then when you double click the file
presented by Windows Explorer or the File Manager, the word 
processor will load the file and be ready for you to work.

CREATE FOLDERS:

Click File | New | Folder or use Create Directory (click File
in the File Manager) to create folders for permanent storage 
of question files and old tests.  These can be set as folders 
in the folder TRUESS, the one in which TRUESS.EXE is 
installed, or elsewhere.



            WRITE QUESTIONS AND SAVE IN A FILE          3/10

1.  Start True Study Skills by clicking its icon or, in the 
    Windows Explorer, click TrueSS.EXE.

2.  Click Create and Enter.

3.  Enter a (new) file name for the questions you plan to 
    write or enter and click OK.

4.  Complete the new file information (all or part):

    Title:    A short description.
    Author:   The person or group writing the file.
    Comment:  Other information including citations to the 
              source material used for the questions.

5.  Enter questions in two to seven parts following the 
    instructions at the bottom of the screen.

6.  Save the file every 5 questions.

7.  Click End Editing when finished with this session.

8.  Click Exit to quit the program.



               SELECT QUESTIONS FOR A TEST              4/10  

1.  Start True Study Skills by clicking its icon or, in the
    Windows Explorer, click TrueSS.EXE.

2.  Click Select and Edit.

3.  Click, in the File Selection Menu selection box, a
    source file name. 
    
4.  Set selection conditions.  File order must be used when 
    a file consists of a Situation, or paragraph, as part of 
    the first question to retain the question order.  Unless 
    you plan to edit, automatic selection speeds the 
    process.

5.  All questions go to Pool1.fil unless you rename the 
    file, such as, Pool2.fil.  A new name prevents 
    overwriting an older unformatted question file with a 
    newer one in the TESTS folder.  All pooled files show 
    in the File Selection Menu selection box.

6.  Use the command buttons to make selections:

    Pass      Scroll through the file.
    Select    Pool the question.
    Reject    Prevent the question from showing again.
    Create    Write a new question or leave a note on
              the note pad.
    Edit      Make a permanent change in the question.
    Find      Search for questions.
    Move      Resequence questions (before selecting).
    End       Release the source question file.

7.  The Selected Question Tally provides a count and the 
    number of questions pooled from each source file.

Source question files and pooled question files are 
unformatted question files saved to the TESTS folder. 
The answer options are always randomized (unless 
specifically restricted as shown on page 6).

Questions can be added to pooled files by selecting the 
file, set for automatic selection, and select all.  Then 
proceed to add questions from other unformatted files.

A pooled file can be formatted automatically into a finished 
test file with an answer key at the end.  The same can be 
done with any unformatted question file.






                  FORMAT AND PRINT A TEST               5/10

1.  Start True Study Skills by clicking its icon or, in the
    Windows Explorer, click TrueSS.EXE.

2.  Click Format and Print.

3.  Click, in the File Selection Menu selection box, a
    source file name. 
    
4.  Set selection conditions.  File order must be used when 
    a file consists of a Situation, or paragraph, as part of 
    the first question to retain the question order.  Set 
    automatic selection to speed formatting of pooled files.  
    Five answer options uses all available.  Set the line 
    length to the same as, or one less than, the word 
    processor you will use to print the test to avoid 
    unwanted word wrapping.

5.  All text goes to Test1.fil unless you rename the file, 
    such as, Test2.fil.  A new name prevents adding a 
    new test to an older test in the PRINTOUT folder.
 
6.  Edit, use or skip the sample Test Heading.  The changes 
    are saved.

7.  Click Select to select a question for formatting.

8.  Click Select again to select the formatted question.
    Click File to make a permanent change in the question.
    Click Item to edit the formatted question only.

7.  The Formatted Question Tally provides a count and the 
    number of questions pooled from each source file.

The finished test text file (heading, questions, and answer 
key) is printed with the available word processors.  These 
can add space for graphics, margins and pagination.  The 
Courier font, 10 characters per inch and size 12 is a close 
match to the ASCII text in which the file is stored.  You 
can print the test yourself or copy it to a disk to be 
printed by support personnel (the original way before 
personal computers).










                     CONVERT OLD TEST                   6/10
                 TO TRUE STUDY SKILLS FILES

A.  Obtain a test (answer key is optional).

B.  Create name(s) for the new test file(s).
  
    1.  All questions can be left in ONE file if no 
        descriptive situations followed by a set of 
        questions are found.

    2.  Each situation must be in its OWN file.  The 
        situation and the first question can be combined.

C.  Run True Study Skills and select Task (1) Create and
    Enter.

D.  If you have permission to copy the test, edit each 
    question as you enter it.

E.  If you do not have permission to copy the test, you
    can still use it as a study guide:

    1.  Classify what the question is about.
    2.  Write a question that includes your understanding
        of the topic.  A second example.

F.  Print out a sample copy.  It is often easier to note
    edits on paper than to see the need for them on the
    computer screen.

G.   "All of the above" and "none of the above" are answer 
    options that print properly (at the end) even when the
    other options are randomized.  

H.  To prevent answer options from being randomized, enter 
    the correct answer letter (as **C, for example) in 
    position R1.  Then list all (2-5) answer options in the
    following positions (R2, W1, W2, W3, W4), consecutively.
    In this example, **C would mark the option in W2 (the
    third option) as the right answer.


                CONVERT STUDENT LECTURE NOTES           7/10
                     TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

By entering your class and lecture notes you can produce a 
dynamic review.  You have two review options:  (1) Flash 
cards, directly from the entered questions.  (2) A review 
that passes through five levels of thinking. 

The secret of quickly entering review questions is to write 
what you know (a description) first.  Then the label for 
that description.  With the exception of the diagnostic 
question (D.), you do not need to think up wrong answers.   
Easy sources for wrong answers are the right answers from 
related questions and the assignment key term list.

A. Short Answer:

   Enter a statement in two parts:

   <Q1>  The primary care giver in the hospital is:
   <R1>  the nurse

B. Fill-in-the-Blank:

   Enter a statement with a part missing:

   <Q1>  The (___) in the hospital is the nurse.
   <R1>  primary care giver

C. All of the Above:

   Enter a statement and list all the related information:

   <Q1>  Surgery is performed in many settings:
   <R1>  All of the above
   <W1>  hospital operating rooms
   <W2>  free-standing surgical centers
   <W3>  physician's offices

D. Diagnostic or Like/Not Like:

   Enter a statement or question and then related right and 
   wrong information that is closely related or easily 
   confused with the right answers.

   <Q1>  The central character in the book, Moby Dick, is a:  
   <R1>  blue whale
   <R2>  mammal
   <W1>  fish
   <W2>  dolphin
   <W3>  porpoise
   <W4>  fin whale

E. True/False:

   <Q1>  The U.S. Senate holds 100 senators, two from each state.
   <R1>  true
   <W1>  false




            CONVERT REVIEW QUESTION FILES INTO          8/10
         INSTRUCTIONAL QUESTION FILES (AND TESTS)

The real pain in writing machine scored tests is coming up 
with the wrong answers.  The best way to obtain them is by 
asking students.  This process usually requires using short 
answer and essay questions to obtain the needed student 
responses.  It is time consuming.

Another method is to use the right answers of other 
questions as the wrong answers to the one in hand.  This 
produces, in effect, a huge matching test.  Students know 
that every question option is important, in its place.  This 
is one basis for an instructional question file.  It also 
generates many good test questions.

A. Count the Number of Questions by Type:

  1. Short answer
  2. Fill-in-the-blank
  3. True/false
  4. Diagnostic or like/not like
  5. All of the above
  6. None of the above

B. Short Cut Conversion Steps:

  1. Short answer and fill-in-the-blank with only right 
     answers can be left as is or further developed with 
     additional options.

  2. Balance the number of true with the number of false.

  3. Diagnostic questions can be left as is or further 
     developed.  Edit and spell check.  At lower levels of 
     thinking, simple changes make questions 
     unrecognizable and unanswerable by their authors.

  4. Balance the number of "all of the above" with "none of 
     the above".  Do this by adding the "none of the above"
     option to questions just prior to or following the "all 
     of the above" questions.

  5. A question can also have both "all of the above" and 
     "none of the above".  That only leaves room for three 
     other options.

  6. Use right answers for wrong answers in related 
     questions.







                  CLASS AND GROUP WRITING               9/10

A teacher or a student can direct the activity.  A teacher 
can develop a record of a lesson.  A student group can 
report their understanding of an assignment or lecture.

A. Class Writing:

  1. Present a lesson or make an assignment that is completed 
     prior to writing.

  2. Start a discussion.  Enter a question stem for the 
     class to respond to or have the class supply the stem.

  3. Develop the question (See page 8, Converting Student
     Lecture Notes to Review Questions).

     a. Short answer.
     b. Fill-in-the-blank.
     c. All of the above (and none of the above).
     d. Diagnostic or like/not like.
     e. True/False

  4. If more than two right or four wrong answers develop,
     Click New Question and continue.  Bring the question 
     stem forward for the new question.  A "none of the 
     above" question can easily follow an "all of the above" 
     question.

B. Group Writing:

  1. Get all of your notes, books and people together.

  2. Follow the instructions above in developing questions.

  3. The value of a group is that a group can operate at all 
     levels of thinking even though each member may only be 
     trying to record at the concrete level (what you see is 
     what you get).

     The group can supply all kinds of "right" answers (that 
     are not acceptable, wrong) that, neither you or your 
     teacher could ever think up.  It is the group's 
     responsibility to list these correctly: R1, R2 or W1, 
     W2, W3, W4.  This is a powerful learning environment.

     It can generate a very high quality report for your 
     teacher to examine and comment.  Your teacher can see 
     what questions were asked and the right and wrong 
     answers proposed when making sense of the assignment.






            SCORING TESTS AND ASSIGNING GRADES         10/10
           True Score and True Competency Test


Traditional:

The student must write or mark an answer even if it means 
random guessing.  The raw score distribution ranks the 
students.  The rank is assigned a grade by a variety of 
methods.  All score distributions can result in the same 
grade distribution.  The probability that a student actually 
knew the answer or understood a correctly answered question 
is related to the raw score rank.

This method of scoring and grading is acceptable based on 
long use rather than on the quality of instruction and 
learning.  It is an easy way to rank and grade students.


CAT:

Computer Assisted Testing presents a bank of items ranked by 
difficulty.  A student must answer each item presented.  If 
the answer is correct, a more difficult item is presented.  
If the answer is incorrect a less difficult item is 
presented.  The result is a rank obtained from the minimum 
number of items.  Random guessing is reduced by adjusting 
the difficulty of items to the skill of the student.

This method assumes that each student is a representative 
sample of the standardizing pool.  It is expensive to 
produce but requires a short test period to rank students.


Knowledge and Judgment:

Students select questions they can answer with confidence to 
report what they know or can reason.  This yields two 
scores: (1) The number of questions that were answered 
(knowledge) and (2) the number of times the answer was 
acceptable (judgment).  The student is responsible for 
reporting (is free to report) what is meaningful, real, or 
authentic.  You can actually know what the student knows.

This method assumes it is the student who can best determine 
the value of each question to report what he/she knows.  It 
indicates both quantity (rank) and quality (judgment). 


True Score and True Competency Test score both by
knowledge alone and by knowledge and judgment.





   
