Published on September 21, 2007

Penn State's new Testing Center will open in September in the Pollock Building. The first of its kind in the Big Ten, the Center is a collaboration of Information Technology Services (ITS) and Undergraduate Education. The new Center is designed to combine an e-testing lab and the University's Scanning Operations facility - and will be jointly operated by ITS Teaching and Learning with Technology and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence.

Scanning Operations moved from 301 Rider II Building September 5 and is now fully functional in its new location in the Center. Scanning Operations processes paper scan sheets used to capture responses on tests, surveys, or other course assessments. All of the services available at the Rider II Building prior to the move will be available in the new Testing Center at the Pollock Building.The e-testing lab (which is in pilot phase this fall) is scheduled to open for all faculty in Spring 2008 in a newly renovated space with new computers, furniture, and décor. The lab will feature more than 160 Windows machines, laser printers, and staff to answer students' questions about hardware and software.

According to developers, the facility will offer many benefits to faculty and students. The Center meets a need identified by faculty for a facility dedicated to computer-based classroom testing. Also, it is conveniently located in the Pollock Building in the heart of Penn State's student housing area and close to bus lines and the HUB-Robeson Center's parking deck. An additional advantage is the Center's layout, which has been carefully designed to provide a quiet area with no physical and environmental distractions to disrupt concentration during tests.

Scheduling flexibility is an added benefit for both faculty and students. Students have the option to take a test at any time within a schedule set by their instructor. Faculty can set testing outside their normal instructional schedule, which frees up classroom time for more instruction.
Faculty will also appreciate the level of security offered at the facility, designed with academic integrity in mind. When entering the e-testing lab, students will swipe their Penn State ID card. This automatically brings up a photo from the database, which the Center staff will compare to the individual. Other security features include cameras that monitor and record activity in the e-testing lab; preventing access of any outside Web sites and instant messaging services on testing stations; and proctoring by facility staff, instructors, and teaching assistants.

The Center is unique to the Big Ten because it is the largest testing lab in the conference, and the only one to offer computer-based classroom testing. In addition, it is the only one to offer three testing platforms: ANGEL Quiz, Questionmark Perception, and TestPilot. ANGEL is Penn State’s course management system. Questionmark Perception is a program that allows instructors to use advanced technology to create sophisticated tests that better assess student’s knowledge of subject matter. TestPilot is a computer-based testing program similar to the Quizzing Tool in ANGEL.

The hours for testing at the facility will be Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Center will be open to students as another computer lab beginning this fall Monday through Thursday, 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., and during weekend hours from 5:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 a.m. Monday.

“Outside of testing hours, the lab will provide a clean, quiet environment where students can spend late nights studying or completing projects,” said Dave Hollen, director, Classroom and Lab Computing, a unit of ITS. Upstairs from the Testing Center, the Pollock Building’s second floor now features a newly-renovated computer lab and Digital Commons, a university-wide initiative to help enrich students’ educations by creating digital content for their coursework. Digital Commons is comprised of Studio 204, the digital video production studio for students, and the Faculty Multimedia Center (FMC), which is relocating from Rider Building II.

The second-floor computer lab will offer a new feature for Penn State student computer facilities known as learning spaces. These are collaborative work areas where groups of students can work together on projects. Learning spaces include wireless access, a variety of both semi-private and open settings for collaboration, and various enhanced technology such as large flat-screen monitors and interactive electronic white boards.

To help the Penn State community learn more about the new facility, the Testing Center and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence are planning several events. Faculty, students, and staff will get a first look at the new facility and its state-of-the-art features during three Testing Center Open House events. These are scheduled for September 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., October 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and November 13 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They will include demonstrations on how to schedule an exam; how to use the three testing software products; and the process for checking into the center, logging on to the stations, and taking the exam.

Scanning Operations will also offer an “Introduction to Scanning Operations” orientation for faculty who are interested in using this service. The orientations will introduce faculty to the services available, and cover user-related issues such as how to set up scan jobs for processing. The orientations will be held September 19 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and September 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Center.

The Center will make student assessment more effective, said Will Kerr, manager of testing and scanning services with the Schreyer Institute of Teaching Excellence. “I am very excited about this endeavor. It is the only computer based testing lab of its kind in the Big Ten and it puts Penn State in the spotlight,” Kerr said. “The facility will allow us to assess student learning in new and better ways.”

To learn more about the Testing Center, please go to http://testing.psu.edu/.

For more information, please contact Derick Burns.