Course Completion

Progress Evaluations

Progress evaluations follow many, but not necessarily all, lessons. They are open-book assignments that test your knowledge and understanding of the course material and allow you to earn points toward your course grade. In some courses, progress evaluations consist of multiple-choice, true/false, or matching questions that are computer-evaluated; in others, the progress evaluations involve essays or other kinds of activities that are evaluated by an instructor.

Although you may use your textbook and lessons to help answer the questions, it is in your best interest to answer the progress evaluation questions on your own first. This will give realistic practice for the exams, which in most courses are closed-book. After completing a progress evaluation, you should use your textbook, lessons, and notes to check your answers before submitting them to the Center for grading.

Progress evaluations must be submitted in numerical order. You will receive the greatest educational benefit from a course if you submit one progress evaluation at a time and wait until you receive feedback and your score before you submit the next progress evaluation.

Each course states the maximum rate of progress evaluation submissions, and may require that certain lessons not be completed until after a previous assignment has been graded and returned to you. Unless your course indicates otherwise, three is the maximum number of progress evaluations you may submit in any seven-day period.

Submitting Computer-Evaluated Progress Evaluations

If you are in an online course, you submit computer-evaluated progress evaluations answers online. Note: You will want to write down all of your answers before submitting them because once you click on submit, your answers are no longer accessible. Also, please be aware that you have only a (20) minute window in which to enter all of the answers for your progress evaluations. After twenty minutes has elapsed, you will be logged out automatically and you will have to submit your entire progress evaluation over again.

If you are enrolled in a print version of a course, you may submit progress evaluation answers in two ways:

1. You can submit answers via the Center's Web site. If you live in the Columbia, Missouri, area and do not have access to a computer, you may use one at the Center to submit your answers. To submit progress evaluations online, you need to know your six-digit CDIS ID number and your password (receipt number), which are recorded on the shipping receipt you received with your course materials. When answers are submitted online, a printable progress evaluation report is generated. This report gives your score and feedback on any responses that were counted as wrong.
2. You can mail or deliver to the Center completed answer cards bound in the back of your course. Your course contains instructions for using the answer cards. Computer-evaluated progress evaluations submitted by mail or in person are usually graded the same day they are received at the Center, and your score and feedback on any responses that were counted as wrong are then mailed to you.

Submitting Instructor-Evaluated Progress Evaluations

Instructor-evaluated progress evaluations can be submitted in person, by mail, by fax or e-mail. Some courses allow you to submit assignments online by uploading them to the Center's Web site. If your course includes instructor-evaluated progress evaluations, your course provides complete instructions for submitting them to the Center.

Instructor-evaluated progress evaluations are forwarded to the course instructor for grading, which generally takes from three to ten days. You will receive your score and feedback after the instructor has graded the assignment. The Center is open throughout the year (except on national holidays), but instructor-evaluated lessons may be returned more slowly during those times of the year when university or high school classes are not in session. Similar slowdowns can occur at the end of a semester or a school year.

Examinations

Most independent study courses require a midterm and a final examination. Each course states the number of exams required for the course, the maximum time allowed for each exam, and other important information regarding the exams.

Proctored examinations are a vital part of most independent study courses. These exams are generally closed-book and therefore a good measure of student achievement. You cannot pass a course without passing the examinations, regardless of your grades for other parts of the course. The course grading scale provides the minimum number of exam points you must earn in order to pass the course.

You will not be allowed to use notes, textbooks, or other study aids when taking an exam unless otherwise indicated in your course. Each course also includes instructions about examination procedures, supervisors, schedules, and locations. Note: Most courses for grades 3-6 do not include exams.

The Center has set the following general policies relating to examinations:

1. Examinations must be taken in sequence, and there must be at least a one-week interval between each exam in a course.
2. All progress evaluations preceding an exam must be received by the Center before the exam can be mailed to an exam proctor or taken at the Center. If the progress evaluation preceding an exam is computer-evaluated, it must be received by the Center and returned to you before you may take the exam. If the progress evaluation preceding an exam is instructor-evaluated, you are required to wait either for your score or for five working days after the progress evaluation was received by the Center before you may take the exam. All progress evaluations must be submitted in sequential order. All lessons preceding exams must be returned before exams will be mailed.
3. It is recommended that you do not submit progress evaluations following a midterm exam until you have received a grade report for that exam.
4. You may not complete a university-level course in less than six weeks. A minimum of six weeks must elapse between the submission of the first progress evaluation and the scheduling of the final exam. The minimum completion time for all other courses is four weeks.

Scheduling Exams

You may request an exam only after completing all of the lessons preceding that exam. If you live in Columbia or if you wish to take an exam at the Center for Distance and Independent Study, you do not need an appointment if you come during regular office hours. You will, however, need to arrive at least two hours before the Center is scheduled to close.

If you live outside of Columbia, you will need to select one of the other exam sites listed below and contact someone at that location for the name, address, and phone number of a potential proctor in order to schedule your exam at a time that is mutually acceptable to you and the proctor. Any proctor fees incurred are your responsibility.

University

• The University of Missouri—Center for Distance and Independent Study (Columbia residents must take exams at CDIS);
• Any university of Missouri Extension Center or Telecommunication Community Resource Center (TCRC) in the state (Missouri residents);
• Any accredited university, college, or community college testing center — Look for a College Testing Center near you: www.ncta-testing.org/cctc;
• The independent study offices of institutions that are members of the University Continuing Education Association;
• Any library, under the supervision of a certified professional librarian.

High School/Middle School

• Your school, under the supervision of your principal, counselor, or other approved school administrator;
• The University of Missouri—Center for Distance and Independent Study;
• Any university of Missouri Extension Center or Telecommunication Community Resource Center (TCRC) in the state (Missouri residents);
• Any accredited university, college, or community college testing center (non-Missouri residents) — Look for a College Testing Center near you: www.ncta-testing.org/cctc;
• The independent study offices of institutions that are members of the University Continuing Education Association (non-Missouri residents);
• Any public library; or, the library of any accredited university, college, or community college, under the supervision of a certified professional librarian (non-Missouri residents).

Note: Courses for students in Grades 3-6 do not have proctored exams.

Military personnel and their dependents may use any location listed above, or they may ask a base education or training officer to proctor an exam.

After obtaining the name of the exam proctor and scheduling the exam, you must notify the Center. You may submit your exam request online, by e-mail, by fax, or mail. The Center reserves the right to approve or reject proposed exam proctors. Relatives may not proctor an exam, regardless of their academic qualifications. Exams will be mailed to the proctor's office address. Because the Center does not give your address or phone number to exam proctors, you should provide this information to the proctor if you want that person to notify you when the exam arrives. When you take your exam, be prepared to provide your proctor with picture identification.

Exams in Columbia, Missouri

• Fall and winter semesters: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
• Summer term (usually from early May to mid-August): Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Evening exams at the Center can be scheduled on the first and third Tuesdays of each month (holidays excluded). Appointments are required for evening exams, and they must be scheduled at least one business day in advance.

© 2005 University of Missouri
Editor: Tim Pingelton
Questions/Comments? Contact the Center for Distance and Independent Study, a division of MU Extension
The University of Missouri is an Equal Opportunity/ADA Institution.