University hosts computerized testing site on campus
GRE, GMATand TOEFL
tests on computer are
offered by Testing Services
By Tricia Schwennesen
Oregon Daily Emerald
Standardized testing is chang
ing all overthe world.
What was once a challenge of
rising early to attend a mass test
ing at a preordained site with two
No. 2 pencils in hand is no more.
Students can schedule individ
ual appointments to take the Grad
uate Record Exam, the Graduate
Management Admission Test or
the Test of English as a Foreign
Language by computer.
The University Testing Office
got the OK from Educational Test
ing Services, a national company
that devises standardized tests, to
be an institutional testing site for
computer-based testing. Testing
began about three weeks ago.
“There was a long-standing tra
dition of a cooperative effort be
tween Educational Testing Ser
vice and colleges and
universities,” David Espinoza, a
psychometrist in the testing office.
“When ETS converted to the com
puter-based test, it chose to enter
into an agreement with Sylvan
Learning Systems to administer
the tests.”
Sylvan Learning System’s test
ing centers are independently
owned franchises located
throughout the United States.
“Sylvan is the sole commercial
provider for computer-based test
ing,” said Kevin Gonzalez,
spokesman forETS. “They still are
— exclusively.”
Colleges and universities have
always been part of the testing pro
gram but on a smaller scale, Gon
zalez said.
Jill Noland, owner of the Eu
gene Sylvan Learning Center, said
the University testing site isn’t re
ally competition and will proba
bly have no effect on the number
of people who take the standard
ized tests through Sylvan.
“Sylvan gives 700 different
tests,” Noland said. “We deliver a
lot more professional exams than
the University will.”
Too few test sites drove ETS to
form a task force.
“The task force decided on 100
institutional sites," Espinoza said.
"It created an opening for schools
to become centers.”
Espinoza said the University
applied to become one of the insti
tutional test sites and was ap
proved in March.
"We think it’s a great thing, and
when you look at it, there’s not
many schools involved,” he said.
Having a test site on campus is
more convenient for students,
Noland said.
"I think it gives more students
an opportunity, and it gives any
body their own date and time to
take the test,” she said.
About 60 colleges and universi
ties are new sites, and there were
about 40 campus sites established
as part ofthe pilot program.
In January, the TOEFL became
exclusively a computer-based test
while the GRE has slowly phased
in computer-based testing while
phasing out paper-and-pencil test
ing.
“The idea was to be on-line by
September,” Espinoza said. “We
weren’t able to meet that deadline
but we came pretty close.”
Educational Testing Services, a
national company that devises
standardized tests, began piloting
the GRE computer test in 1993.
“Before that everyone took the
test with paper and pencil," Es
pinoza said. “As they became
more successful they cut back on
the number of paper and pencil
dates and added more computer
dates.”
There are still limited dates on
which students can take the GRE
with paper and pencil instead of
the computer.
Some students may feel greater
anxiety about taking a test on the
computer, Espinoza said.
“The way the testing is done is
completely different than any
thing they’ve ever done,” he said.
There is a tutorial available for
students who are concerned about
testing on the computer, he said.
“The computer skills involved
are no more than pointing and
clicking,” he said. “The current
generation of students is much
more confident with testing on the
computer.”
Espinoza said the one disadvan
tage to testing on the computer is
the test-takers’ inability to go back
to a previously answered ques
tion.
“ Y ou’re sitting there in front of a
computer system and then boom,
it's gone,” he said. “You don’t get
to reconsider the question.”
Greater convenience, immedi
ate test results and adaptive ques
tioning are advantages to testing
on the computer.
The test begins with questions
from a large pool that are in the
middle range of difficulty. De
pending on the test-taker’s an
swers, the computer adapts to the
test-taker's skill level.
Students also have the ability to
retest promptly.
“It does cost you every time you
take the test, but with paper and
Computerized testing
Even though the new computer
based standardized tests are elimi
nating paper, proctors, and the
need to rent rooms the cost for the
tests has gone up. Some people
would say test costs cover the ex
pense of the new network and sur
veillance systems.
THE COSTS:
GMAT- as of Jan 1997 $85 up to
$150
GRE-priorto 1998 about $60 up
to $96
TOEFL-$55 up to $100
Previous costs are for tests taken
with paper and pencil.
pencil you have to test only on the
days that it’s offered," Espinoza
said.
The test site is a remodeled
room in the Student Health Cen
ter. The five computer work sta
tions are sectioned offinto private
cubicles, hut the surveillance
cameras and three parabolic mir
rors help keep test-takers honest.
Students can make appoint
ments to take the GRE, GMAT or
the TOEFL by calling the testing
center at 346-2772.
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Internship information available at center
The Career Center helps
students find internships
through counseling and
an updated database
By Cindy Lundeen
lor Ihe Emerald
Just ask the staff at the Universi
ty Career Center, and they will tell
you everything you need to know
about pursuing an internship.
They will also tell you the time to
begin pursuing one is now.
Deadlines will vary for intern
ships, but many are due soon for
the next two terms. Also, the dead
line for proposing an alternative
internship for winter term is Nov.
20.
The Career Center, 244 Hen
dricks, offers career-related ser
vices to all University students.
And to help students prepare for
internships, the staff is holding
several orientation meetings in the
coming weeks. Orientations pro
vide specific internship descrip
tions and a chance for students to
sign up for interviews.
The center carries updated in
formation on internships from the
local to international level. Tina
Songer, career information spe
cialist, maintains volumes of hard
copy and Web page versions of in
ternship notices.
"If students are unsure how to
begin their search, I could be one
of the first staff members they are
directed to,” Songersaid.
Students may review notices
during the center’s hours from
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday. The Web site is
available to anyone at uocareer.
uoregon.edu.
If the internships posted
through the center aren’t appeal
ing, staff will help students devel
op their own internship. The stu
dent will work closely with an
advisor to create a proposal for an
alternative internship.
“We try to give students the
tools and resources to come up
with their own internship if
they’re not finding anything in our
listings,” Songer said.
Students can get both academic
credit and job experience through
internships, said Beth Pfeiffer, as
sistant director of internships at
the center. The center can grant
some upper-division elective
credit, but upper-division credit
specific to a major must be ap
proved through that department.
Pfeiffer said the process can be
confusing, and students need to be
sure they understand what kind of
credit they will end up with at the
Meetings
All orientation sessions will be
held in 12 Hendricks. For more in
formation, contact the Career Cen
ter at 346-3235.
■Thursday, Nov. 5,3:30-4:30
p.m.
■Tuesday, Nov. 10,2-3 p.m.
■Thursday, Nov. 13,1-2 p.m.
end ofthe internship.
“Students need to be resource
ful and informed in gathering in
formation from the departments
and the Career Center,” Pfeiffer
said.
But the experience is worth it.
Pfeiffer said internships make stu
dents more competitive in the job
market because employers are
looking for graduates with some
kind of experience. Regardless of
grade point average, an internship
or two on a resume may mean the
difference between getting a job or
not.
Internship orientation meetings
will be held 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Thursday: 2 to 3 p.m. on Nov. 10;
and 1 to 2 p.m. on Nov. 13. All
meetings will be held in 12 Hen
dricks. For more information, con
tact the Career Center at 346-3235.
Astronauts retrieve satellite with pictures of sun
By Marcia Dunn
The Associated Press
SPACE CENTER, Houston —
Two days after setting it free,
space shuttle Discovery’s astro
nauts retrieved a satellite brim
ming with hundreds of blazing
images of the sun Tuesday.
The smooth capture was a vin
dication of sorts for NASA, which
botched an earlier attempt to use
the satellite, Spartan, during a
flight last year.
Shuttle commander Curtis
Brown Jr. pulled up alongside
Spartan, and Stephen Robinson
slowly latched onto the 1 1/2-ton
satellite with the shuttle robot
arm as the spacecraft soared some
340 miles above South America.
“Got a good grapple of Spar
tan,” Robinson reported.
“Great job,” Mission Control
replied.
There was no immediate word
from Discovery on whether John
Glenn broke away from his geri
atric research to watch the cap
ture. On Sunday, he peered over
his crewmates’ shoulders with
delight when Spartan was re
leased from the shuttle.
“To be up here and see a satel
lite launched from a satellite is
quite an experience,” the 77-year
old senator said.
Back on Earth, Ohio voters
elected Gov. George Voinovich to
the Senate seat Glenn vacated.
The last time Spartan flew, last
November, it tumbled out of con
trol because of crew errors, and
two spacewalking astronauts had
to go out and haul it in. Not a sin
gle solar observation was ob
tained. Engineers revamped Spar
tan’s software and improved crew
training.
“I think today we really saw the
flight program hit the ball out of
the park,” mission manager Craig
Tooley said. “I don’t think it
could have gone any better.”
NASA expects some 1,400 im
ages of the sun’s outer atmos
phere, or corona, and the charged
particles streaming off the sun’s
surface. About 500 images al
ready have been beamed down to
ground controllers, including
high-quality pictures of at least
one solar eruption.
A jubilant Richard Fisher, the
mission scientist, said the erup
tion involved 1 billion tons of
charged particles — enough to fill
10.000 super oil tankers —
hurtling out into space at nearly
700.000 mph.