Getting Started with the TTC Computer-based Testing Facility (CBTF)
The TTC's Computer-Based Testing Facility (CBTF) launched in Fall 2024 to provide asynchronous and secure computer-based testing services to entire courses outside of class time.
Like many other universities (e.g., University of Illinois, UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, University of British Columbia), we do this on a versatile assessment platform called PrairieLearn, which facilitates customizable assessments, immediate feedback and auto grading, scalability, and differentiated questions. We have administered assessments for courses in
- Cognitive Science.
- Computer Science & Engineering
- Data Science, Rady School of Management
- Physics
- Political Science.
Why use the CBTF?
If you’d like to employ frequent mastery-based assessments in your classes, give students second chances (i.e., retakes), and/or use class time for more instruction or review, then the CBTF might be a good partner to you.
For each assessment, students will schedule their test-taking sessions during a specified window (e.g., week 4, 6 and 8) on a day and at a time convenient for them. The CBTF is open Monday through Friday, 8 am - 8 pm and most Saturdays (as needed) from 8 am - 4 pm.
All assessments are proctored by professionally trained staff, and the computers are locked down and secure, meaning no unauthorized aids can be accessed. And, because PrairieLearn enables individualized assessments, students can’t unfairly benefit from sharing questions even though they are taking the assessments asynchronously.
Why PrairieLearn?
Unlike CANVAS and other LMS systems, PrairieLearn was intentionally designed by University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne professors to create tailor-made, rigorous computer-based assessments that can be easily individualized to each test-taker. Through PrairieLearn, we are able to provide secure asynchronous assessments and mastery-based assessments.
Is PrairieLearn Right for my Class?
If you already administer multiple versions of the same test, and your tests include multiple-choice, matching, ordering, labeling, fill-in-the-blank, short-answer or essay questions, then PrairieLearn can be used to enhance your assessments!
Join the CBTF
Contact us at tritontesting@ucsd.edu to get started. Please keep in mind that joining the CBTF depends on the number of courses we have for the quarter and their test schedules.
Please keep in mind, to optimize our space, tests administered in the CBTF will be limited to 45 minutes or less during Weeks 1 – Week 10.
For Finals Week, tests will be limited to 110 minutes or less.