Computerized Reading Comprehension

[WoodyJI]

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I have a few questions about annotation/strategic approach to taking a reading comprehension test on a computer screen. I like to be able to mark up the passage that I’m reading/cross out answers I'm eliminating, but this seems like it will be impossible to do on the OAT as it is now. 👎

For those of you who took the computerized test at a prometric center, how did you handle the reading comprehension section? Can you use the mouse to select or highlight things in any way? Can you use ctrl+f to find words in the passage? I’m sure the computers there aren’t your normal standard. They’ve probably disabled all sorts of features to keep people from cheating (i.e. being able to launch the calculator, etc.). I understand there will be scrap paper provided, but I’m sure there are lots of ways to use it. I wonder if any of you could offer up some tips on this section?

Also, is there a timer always visible during the test, or do you need to use your own watch?

 

[pre_opt_sku]

I have a few questions about annotation/strategic approach to taking a reading comprehension test on a computer screen. I like to be able to mark up the passage that I’m reading/cross out answers I'm eliminating, but this seems like it will be impossible to do on the OAT as it is now. 👎

For those of you who took the computerized test at a prometric center, how did you handle the reading comprehension section? Can you use the mouse to select or highlight things in any way? Can you use ctrl+f to find words in the passage? I’m sure the computers there aren’t your normal standard. They’ve probably disabled all sorts of features to keep people from cheating (i.e. being able to launch the calculator, etc.). I understand there will be scrap paper provided, but I’m sure there are lots of ways to use it. I wonder if any of you could offer up some tips on this section?

Also, is there a timer always visible during the test, or do you need to use your own watch?

I'm not sure if you can do those functions on the computers, but you can always see how much time you have. It shows up in the corner of the screen for all the sections, not just reading comp.

 

[shedsy]

I just wrote the computerized OAT on monday so maybe I can help you out a bit. The reading comprehension section starts off with a full-page scroll-through version of the first article. Clicking the "next" button takes you to the first question, and you are still able to easily access the entire article as it appears at the bottom of every page for all questions pertaining to that article. You can't highlight anything, or use ctrl-f to find anything, so what I started to do for the last two articles was just jot down a highlight or the important point of each paragraph on scrap paper. This made for quicker, easier referencing when trying to find some of the answers later on. Since there are 3 articles, I tried limiting myself to 20 minutes spent on each one. Try not to let that friggin timer in top right corner rattle you too much and you should be fine. Hope this helps, and good luck!