Practice - Student Help
 
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Practice is a test covering the Study part of the lesson. But this test does not count in your class grade. It is a practice test to show how well you understood the lesson. After you answer each question, you will find out if you got it right or wrong. Practice questions are randomly selected and the potential answers also appear in random order. So no two tests are alike, but they all cover the same lesson material.

When you have completed the Practice test, a message box will open. You are told that you have finished the activity. You should click on OK to return to the Select an activity screen.

This help page covers:

How Do I Answer the Practice Questions?

The first thing you need to figure out is what kind of question is being asked. There are four common types: multiple choice, fill-in the blank, math fill-in with a calculator, and math fill-in with formulas. You can get help for each by clicking on their underlined names listed below.

Hint - Sometimes the computer says your answer was wrong, but you are sure it was right. You need to carefully reread the question and instructions. Also, think about what you were studying on the pages before the practice problem, then answer the problem again.


Multiple Choice - You are usually given three or four choices and you pick the right answer. Sometimes the answers are words or phrases, other times they are pictures or drawings. You select the answer and the computer checks it. The computer then tells you if the answer was right or wrong.


Fill-in the Blank - Fill-in questions need you to type in your answer, so they give you a box to type it in. The computer will have a list of answers that are correct and your answer must match one of them exactly to be graded as right. The computer can't guess what you meant to say, it can only grade you on what you typed in the answer box. This means that you need to follow the instructions carefully and spell words correctly.


Math Fill-in with Calculator - This type of problem works just like the normal fill-in question, but it also provides a calculator to help with the math. The Calculator button looks like a small box with rows of small buttons.


Math Fill-in with Formulas - Math formulas sometimes require specialized numbers, such as fractions and exponents. These characters aren't available on a computer's keyboard. The A+LS math lessons that require formulas provide you with special commands that let you create the necessary numbers. To make it easy, every formula page has instructions on how to create a formula.



What Kinds of Things Can I Do on a Practice Screen?

Expanding Images - Some lesson pages have pictures, drawings, charts and maps. To fit on the page with the text, sometimes they are reduced in size. When you see one that you want to take a closer look at, just select it. Many will open in their own window and expand to their full size. Select anywhere on the picture's window to close it.


Scrolling Images and Lists - When creating a lesson, a teacher may want to include a list or a very large picture, drawing, chart or map that can't fit on the screen. Instead of expanding these images, you look at them using scroll bars. A window with scroll bars lets you look at a small part of a larger object. Just like you use the scroll bar to look down your A+LS assignment list, you could use a scroll bar to work your way down and across a large map.


Internet Links - Your teacher may add Internet links to some of your lessons. Web sites on the Internet can provide you with more information to go with your A+LS Study. Select the underlined text (for example www.amered.com) and a separate browser window will open for the Web site. When you close the Web site's window you will find your A+LS Study screen underneath, waiting for you.


Web pages may also be built into the lessons themselves. There they may open a browser or they may display the content within the lesson page itself.


Hint - If you try an Internet link and it doesn't work, then you should immediately report the problem to your teacher or system administrator. They will need to know what screen you were on, so you should write down the question and the Internet link (the underlined text, for example www.amered.com). Reporting the problem is important because you may not be able to answer the question without the info from the web.



Why am I Back in This Lesson? I Thought I had Exited It.

If you saw the message "Resuming your previous A+LS session" when you logged on, you were returned to your previously saved session and the last assignment you worked on. These stateless sessions are normally saved when you abruptly lose your connection to the A+LS server. They are also saved if you shut down the browser without exiting the software properly.

You should never close your browser when exiting a lesson until after you've returned to the select an activity or other menu screen, then logged out. If you shutdown the browser too soon, it will save the session and later return you to the lesson you thought you had exited. This will also happen if you try to refresh the browser ([F5] in Windows systems).


How Do I Quit from Practice?

Select X on the toolbar to exit and return to the select an activity page. But normally you should wait until you have completed the test and it is graded.


What Does the Toolbar Do?

toolbarpractice.gif

All lesson related student help pages also include a section on the lesson activity toolbar. It describes each button and its functionality.

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