Practice Test (PT) Instructions

Practice testing has shown to be a particularly effective learning technique for skill acquisition. The idea is that a learner tries to perform the skill under as realistic conditions as possible. Practice tests are meant to have low stakes and emphasis practicing a skill, unlike other sorts of tests that aim for assessment, like exams. Also important in practice testing is quick feedback, so a learner can quickly resolve any misunderstanding they might have.

Practicing testing in this course will be conducted as follows:

• Task oriented. Each practice test will involve completing a development task similar to the ones demonstrated in the demos required for the skills assignment.
• Performed during lecture. Practice tests will be administered during the lecture period.
• Work individually. All students will work individually on the test up to a specified time limit.
• Instructor demo follows. Once time expires, the instructor will demonstrate performing the task, so as to show students how it was supposed to be done and to clarify any misunderstandings students have.
• Ask questions! Students are encouraged to ask questions during the instructor’s demonstration to ensure they have a thorough understanding of the material.
• Time to correct mistakes. Students will have an additional window of time following the class in which they can submit the correctly completed test. Thus, even if they weren’t completely successful during the timed portion of the test, they will have time to fix anything that needs fixing.
• Name screenshots with the exact names specified. Each practice test will have specific instructions regarding what to submit—often including screenshots of your work. Each required screenshot for an practice test has a required label (e.g., sa2-pt-03). For each screenshot, the name of the screenshot should match the specified label exactly.
  • Important! All screenshots must include your computer’s desktop in the background so that it is recognizable as your desktop. Also, all screenshots of web pages must display the entire URL of the page in the browser’s location bar. (Watch out, as some browsers like to hide parts of the URL unless you click on it.)

How to Start Each Practice Test

Each time you start a practice test, follow these steps:

1. Access the GitHub organization’s repositories page.
   • Log into GitHub.
   • Open the comp-7012-s25 repositories page.
2. Create a new repository from the template.
   • Click the New repository button at the top-right of the page.
   • Fill out the Create a new repository form as follows:
     • Repository template: Select the template for the practice test (e.g., template-sa2-pt).
     • Owner: Select comp-7012-s25.
     • Repository name: Use the form in the practice test instructions to generate the name for your repository.
       • It is required that your repository’s name precisely follow the format produced by the form.
     • Select Private, so that only you and your instructors can access your repository.
   • Click the Create repository button at the bottom right of the page.
3. cd into your workspace folder.
4. git clone the repo you created above.
5. cd into the new working tree.
6. Open the working directory in VS Code, bundle install/rails db:migrate && rails db:seed, and begin the practice test.