Five CD-ROMs are provided, one for each of the five courses in the program. Each of the CD-ROMs include four to five interactive tests, one for each lesson within a course. Each CD-ROM includes the installation files needed to place the course management files on a computer.
The Testing Process: Each test includes an average of 30 questions, however, some questions include a number of steps that must all be completed correctly for it to be judged as correct. The questions a student sees during a test are determined to some degree by selections made during their registration in the computer. Four machine type categories are offered. Two for various models of Fanuc controls and one each for Mazak and Okuma. If some of your students will be operating machines with Fanuc 0T controls, for example, you can select just 0T for those students. If others might be running Fanuc 0T and Okuma lathes, you can select each of those categories. If you want others operators to be fully knowledgeable on all the machine and control combinations, all categories are selected. A large percentage of the questions in each test are general in nature and all students will receive them. Questions that are specific to a control type will only be presented to students which have had that control type selected during registration.
Learner Control: The student can stop the interactive test at any time. When they return to the test, they will first be asked any questions they missed on their previous attempt. Then they will then see any remaining unanswered questions. This process will continue as long as the test remains active, or until they have answered all questions correctly. The instructor can deactivate a test at any time to conclude testing on a lesson. A record of each attempt at the test is added to the student's file. It includes the date, the time spent, and a listing of the questions which were missed. This can guide the instructor to those individuals needing more attention.
Question Types: The goal of each test is to simulate the actual job tasks as closely as possible. Eight types of interactive questions are used. Some require the recall of information, others demand the performance of a number of steps in the correct order. For example, students will be required to display specific pages on the computer screen, locate codes and coordinates within programs, perform calculations to determine correction values, and enter those values on a keypad just as they would when solving a quality problem at their machines. A tutorial is provided on each CD-ROM for your students. It explains how the CD-ROM testing process works, shows them the typical screen displays and buttons, and provides sample questions.
Course Installation: During installation of a course on a computer, a complete course management system is provided. The system tracks student progress including the number of attempts at each test, the time taken during each attempt and which questions were not answered correctly. The instructor can control the learning process on an individual basis by reviewing student records and turning tests one or off. Management files as well as instructor and student passwords can be stored on the local computer drive or on a server over a network. To learn more about these features, click on Management System in the index on the left.
The FREE "Mastering CNC Lathes" sample CD-ROM includes sample questions which correspond to the video segments found on the sample videocassette. This gives you a mini-version of the course to try out. In addition, the complete tutorial and course management system are included on the disk for your review. To order, return to the "Mastering CNC Lathes" page and click on FREE SAMPLES .