[nabs-l] taking quizzes and tests

Sun Feb 3 22:03:08 UTC 2013

I have a late response that I would like to add, but it's not an
affirmation, so please forgive me for that.

In my time in college as a blind student, the only quizzes I have
taken in class were of two categories: 1) pop quizzes that were given
orally or 2) foreign language quizzes that had an oral component.

In the first example, I would open word while everyone else took out
paper and pencil, and I would type as they wrote. I would then turn in
my saved document on a flash drive designated for that class, and the
professor would return it after grading. In the second instance, the
quiz/test was given to me as a word document as everyone got settled
so I would have it open and ready when she began. I would then
complete the oral section at the same time as everyone else (either at
the beginning, or at a teacher-designated time in the quiz/test). Then
I would complete the rest of the quiz/test and save the document on
the flash drive designated for that class. The professor would take up
the flash drive when she takes up everyone's quiz/test, then return
the flash drive after grading.

I think it is within a professor's right to require a student to take
a quiz at the DSS office if it's not a pop quiz or has an oral
component. For example, last semester's biology class (and this
semester's biology class) require a 10-minute lab quiz every week. Lab
is on Tuesday, so I take this lab quiz on Monday afternoons. I get
double time, so twenty minutes. I don't normally need the full double
time, but last week's quiz, there was an issue with calculators not
working and I had to use a calculator I wasn't familiar with, so it
took me longer to answer those questions I needed the calculator for.
Issues like this can only be dealt with at the disability support
services office. If I had been taking the quiz in the class and my
talking calculator stopped working like that, the teacher could
provide only a regular non-talking calculator, so I would be stuck
without access to a calculator that was an easy solution at the DSS
office.

I don't feel that taking the lab quiz at DSS is too much trouble for
me or for my professor. My professor e-mails the quiz to DSS to be
checked for accessibility, and I get her to fill out a quiz form
during her office hours. I take the quiz after school on Monday and
plug my phone into earbuds and listen to music or play on an app while
everyone else is taking the lab quiz in-class. It's not a big issue,
and it worked last semester and is working just fine this semester.

If your professor insists that you take the short quiz at the
disability support services office, maybe this is something you should
accept as part of requiring specialized equipment. Sure, it's nice to
take the test in class with everyone else, but what happens when your
technology stops working in the middle of the test? DSS isn't there to
see you complete the test on another computer, get another talking
calculator, or have a reader/scribe assist you. And in the class, you
can forget about extra time. That's not fair to the other students if
the professor has something planned for after the quiz. Why should
they have to wait extra time because of your disability? Is that
accommodating or reverse-discrimination?

My two cents,
Jewel

On 2/3/13, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Kaiti,
> thanks. I will chat with her again and we will see.
> I agree its easier to hand me the quiz electronically rather than me going
> way to the testing center and having her send it there and pick it up
> there.
>
> Hopefully, she will change her mind and I won't be inconvenienced andshe
> will see its not a big deal.
> Ashley
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kaiti Shelton
> Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2013 5:45 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] taking quizzes and tests
>
> Hi,
>
> Good idea beating your prof to the punch by telling the counselor
> first.  I thought about mentioning that in a previous email but didn't
> want to get too into it without knowing all the details.
>
> Sounds to me like your teacher is just uncomfortable, although I don't
> really see the reason why.  It's really odd because giving you a
> microsoft word file on a flashdrive would probably be easier than
> sending her test to the testing center and filling out paperwork or
> whatever for it, especially as most professors make up their tests and
> quizzes in word anyway.
>
> I would keep trying to nicely convince the prof to let you take the
> quiz in class.  Probably all she'll need is one time to see that it's
> really not a big deal at all and then you won't really have an issue
> like this with her again.
>
> HTH
>
> On 2/2/13, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Kaiti,
>>
>> Thanks. I feel the same way; it’s a hastle and silly to go out of my way
>> to
>>
>> a testing center in another building when I could just take the quiz
>> there.
>> I'm afraid though I won't be able to. When I asked my professor about
>> taking
>>
>> class quizzes, she was hesistant. She said the quiz was not online;
>> I explained it did not have to be and that if she put it on a flash drive,
>>
>> I
>>
>> could read it.
>> Then she said, "I think I'll get guidance from the disability office."
>> Gee!
>>
>> If she involves them, they will say that I take quizzes and tests in the
>> darn testhing center.
>>
>> I also want to take quizzes my way because I can ask her questions about
>> questions if it does not make sense just as other students do.
>> I think this may be helpful as I've seen her practice quizzes online so I
>> know how they are worded.
>>
>> Well, then, I'm glad my idea isn't an unheard one. I proposed taking the
>> quiz after class because I need extra time for the quiz. However, I might
>> need only five or six minutes more so if there is no class after ours, I
>> could just take it in class. I could check on that. I'll note that I read
>>
>> my
>>
>> memo of accomodations. Under testing accomodations, it says that I can
>> make
>>
>> other arrangements. Yay.
>> It says
>> Systems include:
>> Use of testing center  or disability facilities, double time, oral
>> administration,  , computer, typed answers as opposed to scantron sheet.
>>
>> The clause "Includes" means these accomodations are included; I reread it
>> and therefore its broad. It does not say these are the only accomodations
>>
>> I
>>
>> can use. So IMO, its open to interpretation and other arrangements. So, I
>> think this sheet is on my side.
>>
>> My counselor wrote me when we were discussing class quiz accomodations; I
>> had to give her a heads up as the professor indicated she'd go to the
>> counselor and I wanted to tell the counselor first.She said, I assume
>> you're
>>
>> going to the testing center? I replied that actually I wished to take
>> these
>>
>> short quizzes in her office and explained why. I said that it would take
>> longer to walk to the testing center and turn on jaws and the pc than
>> simply
>>
>> taking the short quiz in the building.
>>
>> So, we will see what they decide; I hope in my favor. I've  been to the
>> professor's office and she has extra room and plenty of chairs for me to
>> sit
>>
>> down and take it. So space won't be an issue as it is i in some offices.
>> That is great some professors let you use your own equipment in class.
>> IMO,
>>
>> it makes it
>> easier on both parties. You don' have to go to a separate place for
>> quizzes
>>
>> then which can be a hastle.
>>
>> Ashley
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kaiti Shelton
>> Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2013 1:26 AM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] taking quizzes and tests
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Absolutely, it wouldn't make sense to go through the hassle for
>> something that small.  I typically take all my quizzes in class except
>> for midterms, finals, and anything math related because that's a
>> different matter entirely.
>> Your testing rooms and procedures sound pretty similar to the ones at
>> my university in that you're on your own unless you request a scribe
>> or reader and they provide a computer with JAWS for you.  However, I
>> agree that using these things for a quiz would be silly.
>>
>> My only question is why not take the quiz at the same time as everyone
>> else?  If you do get your teacher to put the quiz on a flashdrive to
>> put on your BrailleNote why not just take it in class at the regular
>> time and give her back the flashdrive when you're done?  It will save
>> you time after class.
>>
>> On 2/1/13, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> How do you go about taking quizzes and tests?
>>> Every school seems a bit different in rules to administer tests to
>>> disabled
>>> students.
>>>
>>> At Marymount university, MU, I went to the learning center where
>>> students
>>> got tutored and took either make up or regular tests.
>>> I signed the honor code pledge and then completed the test with a reader
>>> usually, a student reader they provided. I could use the pc as well if
>>> it
>>> was an essay exam.
>>>
>>> At nova, community college, they have a testing center. you take it
>>> there
>>>
>>> in
>>> a room alone. You can get a reader as well if you need that.
>>> They have jaws on a pc at the testing center,so I can use it there if I
>>> opt
>>> to read it on the pc.
>>>
>>> Do you go through the formal disability office procedure and take exams
>>> in
>>>
>>> a
>>> separate building and whatever place for test takers with disabilities?
>>> I usually have done it unless my professor wants to work something else
>>> out;
>>> for instance, giving me short quizzes orally after class.
>>>
>>> Have you taken exams or quizzes in professor’s offices using your own
>>> equipment or in class? Do you work out other arrangements out with
>>> professors such as this rather than going to the designated testing
>>> office.
>>>
>>> I ask because I want to do this for a short quiz. Why go over to the
>>> testing
>>> center on the other side of campus when I feel I can take the quiz right
>>> there in the building? I’d either read the quiz via my notetaker or
>>> bring
>>>
>>> a
>>> laptop. My professor seemed unsure about this idea. She said, I’ll ask
>>> the
>>> disability counseling center about this.
>>> I said, if you do, they will just say I take them in the testing center;
>>> this is the default arrangement unless we work out something else. I get
>>> the
>>> sense she is uncomfortable with me taking the quiz after class. Note
>>> that
>>> that her office hours are right after class and her office is in that
>>> building. Its so much more convenient to take the quiz there rather than
>>> walk way to the testing center for a 10 question quiz.
>>>
>>>
>>> She said its not online; I explained that I could read it in Word format
>>> electronically on a flash drive; so it did not need to be online for me
>>> to
>>> take it on a electronic device.
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyway, just wondered what others have done. Hope my idea also sounds
>>> reasonable. to me it seems fair. I’d still be supervised while taking
>>> the
>>> quiz and would not have to go to the testing center.
>>>
>>> Ashley
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Kaiti
>>
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>
>
> --
> Kaiti
>
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