Academic English III

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Week 8

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This pages does not contain everything for Week 8, because Week 8 is the Midterm Exam period for our course.

Because it is the Midterm Exam Period, we’re not meeting for class during the entire period. 

Below you can see materials for two “lessons.” The first is marked Lesson 1. This should be completed before the Midterm Exam. There is one task, a video discussing common errors and problems on the Midterm Exam and how to avoid them. 

Paragraph Blog Post for Week 8

There is no Paragraph Blog post necessary for Week 8. However, if you have fallen behind or missed a week, you are allowed to post one paragraph for credit during Week 8, in order to help yourself catch up.

Week 8

There’s only one thing for you to do for Week 8: check out the Non-Textbook-related video directly below. It discusses common mistakes students make on the exam, which cost them marks.

I’m also including a copy of the powerpoint used in that video, for anyone who might want it. It’s been slightly edited since I made the video:

Midterm Exam TipsDownload

The Midterm Exam

You will receive “attendance marks” for Week 8, Lesson 2 by completing and submitting your Midterm Exam. All Midterm Exam Materials are available below. There is also a video that will guide you through the exam process. Please watch the video carefully, read the instructions carefully, and follow them. (Following instructions is part of how you earn your grade on this exam.)

Exam Deadline

For information about the exam deadline, see my Week 6 announcement on the LMS.

Exam Video

Here is a video that will explain some of the important steps for recording your video, as well as the overall exam process. Please make sure you watch the video, as some important exam instructions are contained in it.

I’m also including a copy of the powerpoint used in that video, for anyone who might want it. It’s been slightly edited since I made the video:

Midterm Exam TipsDownload

The Midterm Exam

You will receive “attendance marks” for Week 8, Lesson 2 by completing and submitting your Midterm Exam. All Midterm Exam Materials are available below. There is also a video that will guide you through the exam process. Please watch the video carefully, read the instructions carefully, and follow them. (Following instructions is part of how you earn your grade on this exam.)

Exam Deadline

For information about the exam deadline, see my Week 6 announcement on the LMS.

Exam Video

Here is a video that will explain some of the important steps for recording your video, as well as the overall exam process. Please make sure you watch the video, as some important exam instructions are contained in it.

Before You Begin

For your Midterm Exam, you must record a screencast of you completing the entire exam process onscreen. The method and expectations for your recording have been explained in the video above. In order to record your video, you will need to use Zoom:

https://zoom.us/download

When you are using Zoom alone, should be no time limit for meetings. You should be able to work indefinitely in one meeting. Without a video, I cannot accept your exam for grading, so make sure your Zoom is working. (Test it out before you try the exam.)

If you do not have a webcam on your computer, you can plug your smartphone into it and use the following software to connect your webcam to Zoom and use it as a webcam:

https://reincubate.com/camo/#downloads

(Note that to use Camo, you need both an app on your phone and the program installed on your computer.)

Screen Resolution

Recording your exam will take a lot of time, which can result in a very big video. In order to reduce the size of the video file, you must adjust your screen resolution to a lower setting in your computer’s Display settings before you start recording in Zoom. (As long as I can read the text you’re typing onscreen, the video quality is good enough.)

Here are links explaining how to do that in Windows and Mac computers:

Exam Video Requirements

  • At the beginning of your recording, you must rotate your laptop or webcamera so that I can see that you only have one monitor to work on, and no other screens.
  • Make sure the webcam recording is switched on in Zoom. I must be able to see your face in the webcam stream throughout the exam.
  • The video must be a single uninterrupted video stream: you cannot stop and start the video.

Exam Materials

Here are all the exam materials you need to complete the Midterm Exam. Most of them are PDF files, and should be accessible on Google Drive when you click the link for each file.

The Midterm Exam Document is a PDF that explains all the steps you must follow. It also includes more detailed explanations of instructions for those who need them.

The Random Topic Generator Webpage is where to visit to see your exam topic options. Make sure you follow this link after you have started recording your exam video. It will bring you to a webpage where a set of four random topics will be displayed for you. Choose one of the topics. Do not reload the page: you must choose one of the topics offered to you when you first visit the page. Here is the link:

The Blank Midterm Exam Worksheet is blank .docx file. You should use it as a worksheet for completing the Midterm Exam. The link will make a copy of the blank document to your Google Drive, so you need to be logged into Google Drive to use this link.

The Sample Completed Exam Document is a PDF that contains an example of what your finished exam document should look like, including all the sections it should contain. Please compare your document to this one.

When you have completed the exam, you can close the meeting. Zoom should automatically convert your video for you. (If it does not, see “Zoom Problems?” below.)

After the video has converted, you should be able to submit your exam materials to the Midterm Exam assignment link on the LMS. See my announcement for more details.

Submitting Your Completed Exam

You can submit your exam by following the instructions in my Week 7 Announcement on the LMS. Please see there.

Note: I do not accept exam submissions by email. You must submit your exam on the LMS in order for it to be accepted for grading.

Zoom Problems?

Uh oh. Looks like you’re having some problems with Zoom.

Okay, well, first of all, don’t panic. Some students have had problems with recording videos of their exams. Here’s a FAQ (Frequently Answered Questions).

1. My Zoom Video didn’t convert!

Here are some videos that provide instructions for different versions of Zoom, when your video recording doesn’t convert correctly:

2. My video file is huge!

This is why I asked you to reduce your screen resolution!

3. Okay, I didn’t follow instructions. Now what do I do?

First: start following instructions in the future, okay? Seriously. I mentioned screen resolution a few times. I emphasized it for a reason!

Second: I recommend using the free software Handbrake. There is help documentation online, and also some instruction videos on Youtube about how to use it. You should be able to find a help video, depending on when you need to reduce the resolution (overall size) of your video, change the video’s dimensions, or more.

In most cases, you can reduce a file’s overall size by about 40–50% just by compressing the video using Handbrake.

Always remember to make a backup copy of the file you’re working on, just in case something happens to it. (It’s a good idea to upload a copy of the video to your Google Drive space before you start editing it, just to. be sure you have a backup copy.)

4. Handbrake is a little complicated. Is there another way?

Handbrake really is the best solution, but some students who didn’t feel comfortable using it had good results uploading their files as Unlisted videos to Youtube, and then downloading a copy of the video using one of the many Youtube downloader sites that exist. (If you search “Youtube Downloader” you will find many options online.)

Since Youtube automatically compresses videos, the version you download will be smaller than the original. Many Youtube downloader sites even offer the ability to choose which video quality you want to download. 720p—or even 480p, if your video is very long—should be good enough.

5. My computer keeps crashing when I try to run Zoom and record video!

Did you test recording on Zoom before today? Did you clear our space in your hard drive?

Other tips: try to turn off plugins in your browser, close unnecessary tabs and windows, close all unnecessary programs, and see if that helps.

Rebooting your computer might also help.

And, again, reducing screen resolution often helps reduce this problem, especially on older or badly-maintained computers.

After this exam, consider getting a new internal hard drive (especially an SSD) or learning how to boot your computer from an external SSD, if possible. It can save you a lot of headaches.

6. Even with screen resolution set very low, my Zoom video is huge!

I’ve had this issue on my Mac occasionally. Rebooting and closing unnecessary apps and browser windows seems to help. I’m not sure why this problem happens. You should be able to resize the video using Handbrake or Youtube. (See questions 3 and 4 above.)

7. My computer is ancient and useless and horrible, and none of the software on it runs properly.

Sorry, but I really cannot provide general technical support. However, the internet is full of advice about how to solve those problems. If you’re using an older computer, it can be a challenge, I know: I’ve been using a decade-old Mac desktop computer to do all my teaching work. But obviously it’s up to you to make it work, or to get a computer on which you can write the exam. You can, for example, borrow a laptop computer from a friend for a few hours.

8. Nothing is working, I’m losing my mind, I think I need to leave my house to solve this problem. Am I going to get F in this class? I need to graduate, this is a disaster, help!!!!!!!!!!

First: remember what I said above? Don’t panic! Please stay calm.

If you’re having serious problems with Zoom or Google Docs or your computer, please let me know by email.