MA 114

I'm still not feeling well enough to hold office hours today so I'm canceling them once again.  To those of you who were hoping to see me today, I'm so sorry.  

As I posted here yesterday, I've not been feeling well.  I'm not better enough today to risk exposing any of you to whatever yucky thing I've got, so I'm forced to cancel office hours today.  I promise to get lots of rest and I'll try to feel well enough tomorrow to have my Thursday hours - but watch the news feed if you plan to come visit me.

I've been very sick today and if I'm not much better by tomorrow I will be canceling my live office hours.  However, I will be available to you as usual via "Ask Your Teacher" and email so if you have any questions please let me know.

On Sept. 25 I warned students in Section 601 that time was running out to schedule a time at DE Proctoring for the final exam. I just learned from the director of DE Proctoring that some students have still not scheduled a time for the 3rd test or the final exam. If you are in this group, your situation is perilous. Very few openings remain, and you run the risk of not being able to find an opening. Act now before it is too late. Very few slots remain.

The test is in place for DE students (Section 601). This test is named "MA 114 Test 2 (DE Proctoring)" and will appear among your current WebAssignments at 8 AM Monday morning. You will take the test at whatever time you have arranged with the DE Proctoring Service.

Students who are in Section 004 will take a different version of the test on Thursday evening in HA G108 at 6:30. If you are in Section 004, you should simply ignore the test named "MA 114 Test 2 (DE Proctoring)".

Test #2 is next week. Make sure you know when and where you will be taking the test. If you are in Section 601, make sure that you have a reservation at DE Proctoring.

The last day to drop the class without a grade is October 16. Keep this date in mind if you're finding yourself struggling or falling behind. Sections 4 and 5 are generally thought by students to be the most challenging part of the course. So it's time to buckle down and work hard if you've been coasting.

All test dates have been set, including the final exam. All students should check the dates on the Test Info Page. Students in Section 004 who take tests in Harrelson Hall should put the dates on your calendars NOW.

The following message to DE students is from John Pugh, the Director of the DE Proctoring Service. He emphasizes that NOW is the time to schedule any tests or exams this semester that have not yet been scheduled.

Here is the link to the Local Proctoring Page. This page has all the info you will need to schedule your exam, office hours, directions, and parking instructions. For security purposes, no appointments are made by phone message or email. Students must make all appointments in advance using the online appointment system.

http://distance.ncsu.edu/testing-services/local-testing.php

To schedule your exam, follow the link on the page entitled “Click here to schedule your appointment online.” You will be prompted to create a login name and password, and then you can use the system to schedule, reschedule, or cancel your exams from home. You are strongly encouraged to schedule all your exams, including your final exam, as early on as possible.

Parking

As a courtesy to students using the DELTA Testing Center, students may park in the lower level of the Venture Deck. The lower entrance is accessed from Varsity Drive. It is the second right as you drive down from Avent Ferry (just past the information booth.) The access code for the lower gate is 5000#. The pound button must be pressed for the gate to open. 

For all students who have completed Test #1, the Grades link in WebAssign now displays an approximation to your current grade. The estimate is based 50% on your homework average and 50% on the result of Test #1. When you click on the grades link at the top of your list of current assignments, you'll get a grade report that looks something like the picture here.

The picture would represent data on a student who made 82 on Test #1 and who has an overall homework average of 97.73.

Altogether, 81 students have taken the test and the class average is 81.5. This is the worst class average for Test #1 that I've seen in many years. This is the easy test. If you are not satisfied with your test score for this test, that would suggest that you need to look for more effective study habits. 

Because of WebAssign slowdowns during evening hours, I am moving the Thursday evening test time in HA G108 to 6:15. We have the room reserved at 6 PM, so arrive as soon after 6:00 as possible. We'll have a brief discussion about the test, and then hopefully most of you can be started on the test by 6:15 so you'll finish by 7:30.

Students taking the test at DE Proctoring or other locations are encouraged NOT to schedule your test during evening hours this week. Avoid evening hours to minimize the chances having your test affected by slow response from WebAssign. 

WebAssign has released a statement this morning indicating that service is expected to return to normal within the next week. Slowdowns are expected to continue for several more days this week. Students in Section 601 who schedule your own tests should not schedule tests in the evening. (DE Proctoring offers limited evening hours anyway, so this shouldn't be an issue.) If we stick with daytime hours for the test, there's a good chance we can make it through the test without major problems.

Everybody takes a similar test. (See the box labeled "Does Everyone Take the Same Tests?" on the Test Info page.) However, in your list of WebAssignments you will see multiple tests. How do you know which one is for you?

Everybody will see a test named "MA 114 Test 1 (DE Proctoring)" in your current WebAssignments this week. That test is for students in Section 601. This is the test you will take at the DE Proctoring Service. This test cannot be accessed at any other location. Students in Section 004 should ignore it.

Everyone on Thursday evening will see a test named "MA 114 Test 1 (HA G108)". This is the test that students in Section 004 will take in the computer room under Harrelson Hall at 6:30 PM on Thursday. Students in Section 601 should ignore this test. This test cannot be accessed except in HA G108.

The pattern that has emerged the past few days is that WebAssign currently can't handle the load during mid-evening hours (8-11 PM). Only once in the previous history of WebAssign has this happened. In that instance the fix required an upgrade of hardware and software and took several days to implement. So the bottom line is that this mess could continue for several more days.

About all I can do as a temporary patch is to shift due dates and encourage students to try to find alternate times to work on WebAssign. We'll monitor the situation closely, but at present your guess as to when things will return to normal is as good as mine. Feel free to write to Jenn or me if you have special issues related to the WebAssign outages. We'll try to help you out.

I'll make a detailed statement about where things stand regarding WebAssign tomorrow morning when presumably I'll have access to WebAssign. I understand your frustration. We'll work something out. I've worked with WebAssign for 10 years and this sort of thing has never happened before. WebAssign has a history of being very reliable. Clearly they've got serious problems at the moment.

I'm using Twitter for getting quick news bulletins out to the class. For example, last night when WebAssign was experiencing problems, I used Twitter updates to keep students informed on what was going on. If you're missing out on this, keep an eye on the Class Chat page (particularly the Twitter widget on that page). Or use Twitter itself and do a Twitter search on "#ma114ncsu".