Using SAM Assessment and Training for Office 2003

This presentation will demonstrate the uses of SAM 2003 from Course Technology as a skills assessment and training software that is used via the Internet. Historically, testing in computer education has taken the form of pencil and paper or standardized testing. The actual computer skills of the student have not been properly assessed. With SAM, the testing strategy is to place a student in front of a computer with the relevant software and see if he can complete the required tasks in a limited time. The student will receive the task to be completed, with the application software running live on the computer. The computer contains all of the files needed to perform each task. The student stores his answers on the computer to be graded, and the exam is then graded based on the instructor's criteria. Since the exams are task-based, this method of testing has a high degree of validity. Presenter Biography: Gary Whittle is an Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems at St. Catharine College in Springfield, KY. He has a B.S. Degree from Campbellsville University and a M.Ed. Degree from the University of Louisville. In addition, he has postgraduate work in computer science at Eastern Ky. University. Introduction/Background St. Catharine College is an independent Catholic college that provides quality undergraduate education and offers degrees in a variety of academic areas and professional programs. Consistent with the Dominican tradition upon which it was founded, St. Catharine College fosters education grounded in the liberal arts values and is committed to the free pursuit of truth. The College embraces Christian principles while respecting individuals of all religious traditions. Computer literacy classes are a requirement for most degree and certificate programs on most college campuses. This requirement also makes the computer literacy class one of the most demanded classes on campus. With a class size usually limited due to computer lab space, several sections are needed to accommodate the student demand. With a growing enrollment, the general education requirement of computer literacy has placed a more diverse student population in the classroom and computer labs. To ensure that basic computer skills are demonstrated, Skills Assessment Manager, or SAM, has been used in all sections of CIS 110 at St. Catharine College, our general education required course. As we look to the future of distance learning, or Internetbased course, SAM will be a valuable tool in evaluating students in those courses as well. Proceedings of the 2005 ASCUE Conference, www.ascue. org June 12-16, 2005, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 257 For more than five years, SAM Assessment and Training has helped hundreds of thousands of educators and students assess and improve their skills in the Microsoft Office suite and other computer concepts. The 2003 version of SAM is the most powerful and user-friendly solution yet, with dozens of brand new features including. • Open Simulations: Hands-on, skill-based Microsoft Office, Windows and Internet tasks are so life-like; your students will have trouble distinguishing them from the real thing! • Custom Scheduled Training: Integrated SAM Training and enhanced scheduling tools allow you to build an exam and automatically create a custom training assignment. • Tighter Security: Better security options, including a unique exam location function, allow you to lock SAM tests to specific computers. • Enhanced Reporting: Numerous additional instructor reports enable you to track your students' testing and learning progress more closely than ever before. • WebCT and Blackboard Integration: You can now export SAM result reports into your grade book using WebCT® and Blackboard®-ready formats. 1 Traditional Skills Assessment Skills assessment has been a difficult and time consuming task for computer instructors. Opening files, looking at reveal codes, formulas, or other details for 100 or more students with 15-20 assignments and 3 or more tests often takes up instructor time, or is passed on to teaching assistants. With SAM, the student has the benefit of working real-time in the software, at their own pace, while the instructor is free to spend more time actually teaching and working with the students. SAM Assessment and Training As the diversity of the students enrolling in computer literacy classes continues to grow, using SAM as a pre-assessment for incoming students has given the students a chance to see where they really stand as far as computer literacy. Too often, students seem to deem themselves as being “computer literate,” when all they really know is how to turn the computer on, surf the Web, and type a paper and print it. An early pre-assessment can also help to identify the student that may truly be ready to take a challenge test and bypass the course. Using SAM as a postassessment tool can also be a tool for the instructor to document class outcomes, and provide a valuable portfolio piece for students. As the instructor moves to using SAM in the classroom, SAM assessment and training allows for instructor flexibility. The instructor has control of all practices, training, exams, times, and locations. One of the most popular “paths” used by instructors is to allow the student to take a pretest or practice, go through SAM training, then take the exam. The flexibility of SAM can allow the instructor to let the student work on pre-tests and training at home, in the office, or in the classroom or lab. The exams can then be scheduled during supervised lab times if desired. All SAM tests can be customized by the instructor the fit the curriculum. Instructors also set pass rates, time constraints, and can even assign weights to specific tasks/questions. Security can also 1 From “SAM 2003 Assessment & Training” http://samcentral.course. com/sam_2003. cfm Proceedings of the 2005 ASCUE Conference, www.ascue. org June 12-16, 2005, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 258 be set up by the instructor, who can decide on test passwords, time and location restrictions. For example, an instructor may allow practice and training at various times and locations, but set the exam to be only available at 9:00 a.m. on April 20, 2005 in Lab 232.