NAAP – Student Assessment Guide
For EDU Assessments – Nebraska Astronomy Animation Project
All of the information below is available in more convenient forms from these links.
Each NAAP Animation and instructional materials are sandwiched between a pre-test and post-test. By comparing the post-test and pre-test scores for a large number of students, we can judge how effective NAAP materials are at teaching astronomy.
You may either take assessments in the shared NAAP account or in your instructor's personal account. Each instructor's account has access to the same NAAP assessments plus their own unique electronic gradebook to record student scores. All NAAP assessments are randomized – meaning that each student will get a slightly different, but very comparable version.
These assessments are given in EDU – a web-based assessment engine marketed by Brownstone Learning. This document spells out everything students need to know to take advantage of these capabilities.
The first time you use EDU (and only the first time) you need to create a user account in the system. This tells EDU who you are and how to list your scores in the instructor gradebook.
To create a user account navigate to the Create Student Assessment Account page from the Assessment Menu. You will be provided with more information about the registration process from that page.
Throughout the NAAP site you will be presented with boxes to enter your instructor's account name. This account name is a combination of the instructor's name and school. Your instructor should provide you with this account name.
If you wish to explore the NAAP modules independently and anonymously take the tests you don't have to register with the EDU system. Simply leave the box for the test blank and click the button to take the test anonymously.
Forms are provided on the NAAP pages to access the assessments. You simply need to fill out the box and click the button. If your instructor has told you to register with the Shared NAAP EDU account, remember to type 'astro' as your instructor's account name.
It's really very simple since all of the forms in NAAP are preprogrammed to take you directly to the correct assessment in your instructor's EDU account. You will then be asked for your Login Name and password before beginning the assessment.
Always use the BACK and NEXT buttons in EDU to move between pages of an assignment. You don't want to use your browser's back and forward buttons once you have begun an EDU assignment.
Make sure you click GRADE when finished. This corrects your assessment and places a score in your instructor's electronic gradebook. If you have accidentally left any questions blank, EDU will ask you to answer them before grading.
All NAAP assessments have time limits. It is a very generous limit - typically 30 minutes - but you will be logged out if you haven't graded your assignment by then. EDU also has logouts for inactivity - typically 15 minutes.
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Viewing past results is useful for checking your scores on previous assessments as well as your progress. If you are ever in doubt about whether you have taken an assignment, you can check to make sure it was recorded by using the box below.
- If you have more questions about how to use EDU, you may go to http://scimath.unl.edu/EDU/ for tutorials and support contact information.