User manual MAPLESOFT PLACEMENT TEST PROGRAM V7

[. . . ] The Mathematical Association of America Placement Test Program User's Guide 1529 Eighteenth Street, NW · Washington, DC 20036 ·1-800-341-9415 · www. maa. org Seventh Edition © 2010 The Mathematical Association of America, Inc. College Placement Testing in Mathematics Educational accomplishments in mathematics often exert a strong influence on career accomplishments. College-level mathematics study must build on and extend prior experiences. Students entering higher education have diverse preparations for college mathematics due to many factors including academic background, time since high school graduation, age, and work experience. As a result, mathematics departments in colleges and universities have difficulty in placing students in their first college mathematics courses by using only data such as high school rank-in-class, grade point average, or record of high school mathematics courses. [. . . ] When making placement decisions based on test scores, therefore, it is best to use multiple indices of students' mathematics preparation and to recognize that tests are fallible and may need to be tempered by human judgments. It is important to note that there is no single best way to set cutoff scores and that the cutoff scores that are obtained will depend in part upon the method(s) used to set them. Further, reconciling results from the different methods is not likely to be an easy task. Finally, adjustments in whatever initial cutoff scores are used will invariably need to be made based on subsequent experience. Administering a Mathematics Placement Test Program Use of the Placement Test Users should carefully consider when and where the placement test will be administered and how the results will be used. Some questions to consider: Will the results be advisory or enforced (mandatory placement according to score)?If results are enforced, will students be allowed a second attempt after a recommended review, is there a waiver process that recognizes other supporting information, and is there a well-planned appeal process?And in either case, will the test score be used to waive degree requirements or grant credit?Finally, there needs to be a plan for administering the test to students who have special needs (more time, large print, quiet environment, etc. ). Notifying Campus Personnel Users should consider notifying those colleagues on campus who advise or administer students. Depending on the campus, this may include other advisers, new student enrollment personnel, deans, and registration supervisors. These are the stakeholders involved with recruitment, retention, and registration of students. They will get asked about the placement test program by students and parents. In many cases, it is a good idea to explain the purpose and use of the placement test at several of the "all adviser" meetings. Notifying High Schools about the Program Users should consider notifying high school mathematics departments about their program. The existence of a placement test program is a recognition of a shared educational responsibility between high school and college. Most high school mathematics teachers will welcome a placement test program that they understand, since it demonstrates to their students that learning mathematics in high school does have long-term benefits. However, a placement test program, the content and goals of which are unknown, may have a somewhat ominous appearance. The sample tests that are supplied to PTS subscribers may help communicate appropriate information to high schools. For more information, see the section below entitled "Sample Tests. " Notifying Students about the Program All students should be informed in advance about the testing procedure: when they will be tested, the nature of the test questions, and how the results will be used. Some students have to be convinced that proper placement is to their advantage, and this requires careful thought and communication. Users may wish to suggest that students who have not recently taken a mathematics course review briefly before taking the test. It is certainly appropriate that students receive credit on the test for material that they can relearn quickly. Material that they can relearn only slowly is best redone in a course. Many students are retrospectively optimistic about the amount of material they could have relearned if asked. [. . . ] It does not cover the content of a typical precalculus course but instead emphasizes word problems, graphing and graphical interpretation, numerical awareness, the formation of new concepts, and the application of formulas to new situations. Part II contains five elementary trigonometry questions designed only to indicate whether a student has a minimal grasp of trigonometry. If the five trigonometry questions are omitted, the recommended time limit is reduced to 25 minutes. Test CR covers the following topics: Topic Number of Test Questions Geometry and Measurement. [. . . ]