Frequently Asked Questions: Cisco Packet Tracer Skills Assessments

Last updated January 3, 2012

Cisco Packet Tracer Skills Assessments

Q. What are Cisco Packet Tracer Skills Assessments? A. Cisco Packet Tracer Skills Assessments are innovative, for mative assessments that measure student
performance and know ledge of netw orking concepts and skills using the s imulation and configuration capabilities of the Packet Tracer learning environment. The online, centrally administrated Packet Tracer Skills Assessment environment presents complex and authentic tasks, immediately scores the exams, and provides rich, detailed feedbac k, w hich is also integrated into the course Gradebook.

Q. What types of Packet Tracer Skills Assessments are currently available? A. The first type of Pac ket Tracer Skills Assessments available is practice exams for Cisco CCNA and CCNA
Security courses. There are currently eleven Packet Tracer Pr actice Skills Based Assessments ( PT Practice SBAs) available for CCNA Discovery, CCNA Exploration, and CCNA Security courses. These PT Pr actice SBAs help students prepare for the corresponding final hands-on SBA for each course. The exams are available in English only. Table 1 lists the courses and corresponding practice exams.
Table 1. Course CCNA Discov ery : Networking for Home and Small Businesses Working at a Small-to-Medium Business or ISP Introducing Routing and Switching in the Enterprise Designing and Supporting Computer Networks CCNA Exploration: Network Fundamentals Routing Protocols and Concepts LAN Switching and Wireless Accessing the WAN CCNA Security: CCNA Security CCNAS PT Practice SBA ENetwork PT Practice SBA ERouting PT Practice SBA ERouting PT Practice SBA2 ESwitching PT Practice SBA EWAN PT Practice SBA DHomesb PT Practice SBA DsmbISP PT Practice SBA DRSEnt PT Practice SBA DRSEnt PT Practice SBA2 DCompNtwk Practice SBA PT Practice SBAs Available (English only) PT Practice SBA

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Q. What are some benefits of the PT Practice SBAs for CCNA courses? A. The PT Pr actice SBAs help students and instructors identify areas that need improvement to help increase
student confidence, satisfaction, and success w hen preparing for the final hands-on SBAs at the end of the CCNA Discovery and CCNA Exploration courses.

Q. Will the PT Practice SBAs be translated from English into other languages? A. While there are no plans to translate the exams at this time, the English versions of these exams are available
for use by all CCNA academies, regardless of the course language version being used.

Technical Requirements
Q. What are the local computer requirements for taking a PT Practice SBA? A. The local computer requirements are the same as the recommendations for the Cisco Netw orking Academy
CCNA courses.

Q. What are the softw are requirements for taking a PT Practice SBA? A. To successfully complete a PT Practice SBA, the follow ing software must be installed on your computer:

Cisco Packet Tracer 5.3.2 or above Version 5.3.2 or above are the only versions of Packet Tracer that fully support the current PT Practice SBAs. We recommend dow nloading the latest version of Packet Tracer from the Packet Tracer resource page on Academy Connection. To access this page, log in to Academy Connection and click the Cisco Pac ket Tracer graphic on the left, select Softw are Dow nloads, and then choose the appropriate dow nload package for your needs. Note: If you have just installed Packet Tracer you w ill need to reboot your computer before completing a PT Practice SBA.

Java version 1.6 or higher The latest version of Java can be dow nloaded from www.java.com.

Q. How can I tell if I have the correct softw are on m y local com puter to successfully take the exam ? A. The Pac ket Tracer Skills Assessment Environment Chec ker application w ill deter mine if the necessary
softw are is installed on a computer. A link to the PT Skills Assessment Env ironment Checker is available on the Class homepage for all CCNA courses under View Official Course Material, and on the Assessment resource page in the Course Catalog.

Q. How can I get help w ith issues related to dow nloading or installing Packet Tracer or Java, or w ith
running the PT Skills Assessm ent Environm ent Checker?

A. For general assistance, contact the Netw orking Academy Global Support Desk. To access the Support Desk,
log in to Academy Connection and c lick Help at the top of the page, then select Academ y Support.

Q. Do I need to open any special netw ork ports to comm unicate w ith the Netw orking Academ y
assessment servers?

A. No, special ports are not required.

Instructor Exam Administration

Q. How do I activate a PT Practice SBA? A. The PT Pr actice SBAs are activated from the course Assessment Home page using the nor mal assessment activation process. Instructors can use the default activation settings or modify them as needed. Q. What exam settings are available w hen activating a PT Practice SBA? A. The default exam login activation period is one hour, but you can activate the exam for up to 14 days. The
default number of exam attempts is 20 to allow students to take the exam as many times as needed to gain

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proficiency, but instructors can reduce this number during activation. The default exam duration is 2 hours, which can also be adjusted as needed up to a maximum of 10 hours.

Q. Can PT Practice SBAs be used to replace the final hands-on skill exams? A. No. The PT Practice SBAs w ere not designed to be a replacement for the final hands-on skill exams.
Netw orking Academy recommends the use of physical equipment for hands-on learning and for the final hands-on skills based assessment. The opportunity to gain hands-on experience is a key Netw orking Academy differentiator relative to other programs. The PT Pr actice SBAs are designed to provide additional learning and practice opportunities to help students prepare for the hands-on SBA and support student success. Certain hands-on skills can only be validated by configuring and connecting real equipment.

Q. Why do the PT Practice SBAs appear in the course Gradebook w ith a default grade weighting if they
are meant for practice purposes only?

A. Currently, all assessments that are scored and appear in the course Gradebook display a default w eighting,
including optional exams such as chapter exams, practice final exams, and PT Practice SBAs. Instructors can adjust the grade w eighting as needed.

Q. Can I m ake modifications to the PT Practice SBA scoring rules? A. No, exam modifications are not available at this time. Q. Where can I find inform ation about the topics covered on each exam ? A. Des ign documents are available for all PT Practice SBAs These documents are located on the Instructor Class
Home Page for each course, in the View Official Course Material section, and also on the Tools page.

Q. Can students take a PT Practice SBA outside of the classroom ? A. Instructors can deter mine the best use for their classes. The practice exams w ere designed to be offered either
in the classroom or instructors may make them available outs ide of class for additional practice.

Q. Can I print the PT Practice SBA activity instructions for m y students? A. Yes, instructors can print the PT Pr actice SBA activity instructions for their students. After submitting a PT
Pr actice SBA, select Launch Student's PKA from the instructor IIP. Once the activ ity is open in Packet Tracer, select Print from the File Menu. Select Activity Instructions and then choose Pr int or Print to a File.

Q. What kind of instructor feedback is available after a student has completed a PT Practice SBA? A. In addition to proficiency estimates and detailed scoring feedback, the Item Information Page ( IIP) for
instructors also includes the Packet Tracer initial topology and instructions and the answ er topology and scripts for the proposed solution. Instructors can also view and dow nload the actual .pka activity files submitted by students, exam timing statistics, the students final running configuration, and a time stamped activ ity log of every IOS command entered by the student dur ing the exam.

Q. How can I view the IIP for a student? A. You can view the IIP for a student by selecting the exam name from the course Gradebook, and then clic king
the students score on the Exam Details page. The detailed feedback helps identify areas w here the student may need additional study and practice. See Appendix B for more information on view ing the IIP.

Q. Do PT Practice SBAs help students prepare only for the final hands-on skill exam s? A. While the PT Practice SBAs for CCNA courses w ere designed to help students prepare for the final hands-on
SBA at the end of each course, they also provide useful practice and performance feedbac k that may help students prepare for the final exam, Cisco certification exams, and entry-level jobs.

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Student Exam Experience

Q. What level of Packet Tracer experience is needed to com plete a PT Practice SBA? A. Since the PT Practice SBAs are des igned to be used at the end of a course to help students prepare for the
final hands-on SBA, students should have gained the necessary level of experience w ith the softw are by working on the Packet Tracer activities embedded in each CCNA course.

Q. How can a student initiate a PT Practice SBA? A. Students w ill use the same process to launch a PT Pr actice SBA as any other online Netw orking Academy
assessment. Go to the Class homepage and click Take Assessm ent in the Assessm ents and Grades section.

Q. What steps are involved in taking a PT Practice SBA? A. Taking a PT Practice SBA is a seamless experience that uses Packet Tracer softw are and the online exam
environment that students are already familiar w ith: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The student selects and launches an exam. Packet Tracer and the exam launch on the students desktop. The student w orks through the activity instructions to take the exam. Students may submit their w ork w hen finished, or save it and resume the exam at a later time. Submitted exams are immediately scored and integrated into the course Gradebook. Students should go to the course Gradebook, click on the name of the exam first and then click on their score to view detailed feedback about their performance on the Item Infor mation Page and identify areas where they need additional study and practice. See Appendix A for more information. 7. Instructors can also view this feedback from the course Gradebook and w ork w ith students as needed to reinforce concepts. See Appendix B for more information.

Q. After completing an exam , how do I subm it m y w ork for scoring? A. After you launch the exam, your w eb brow ser will remain open in the bac kground w ith a submission page
w indow . Sw itch to that w indow and click Subm it Assessment. The PT Skills Assessment environment w ill keep Pac ket Tracer open prior to submitting your assessment. Do not turn off your computer or force your web brow ser or Packet Tracer to close pr ior to submitting your assessment, or your exam w ill not be scored and w ork may be lost.

Q. Can I pause the exam and com e back to finish it at a later time? A. Yes. When you reach a point w here youd like to pause, sw itch to the submission page w indow and click Save
Assessm ent and Continue Later. You should make note of w here you stopped w orking in the activity instructions to make it eas ier to resume w here you left off at a later time. The amount of time left to complete the exam w ill depend on the amount of time used prior to saving the assessment.

Q. How long does it take to com plete a PT Practice SBA? A. The time it takes to complete a PT Practice SBA depends mostly on the skill level of the student. The elapsed
time needed to complete an exam may range from approximately 1 to 2 hours. Students have the option of saving the exam and returning to finish it at a later time.

Q. Can I print the PT Practice SBA activity instructions? A. Yes, once the activ ity is open in Pac ket Tracer, select Print from the File Menu, or select the Pr int icon in the
activity.

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Q. How do I resume w orking on a previously saved assessment? A. To resume w orking on a previously saved assessment, go to the Class homepage, click Take Assessment in
the Assessments and Grades section, and select the assessment again. Packet Tracer and the exam w ill launch on your des ktop w ith your saved activity file containing all the w ork you had previously completed. Resume w orking on the activity instructions from the point w here you had stopped. The amount of time remaining to complete the exam w ill be displayed w hen you resume, as show n in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Time remaining is displayed when resuming a saved assessment

Q. Do I need to start Packet Tracer before taking the exam ? A. No, Pac ket Tracer should not be running on your computer prior to taking the exam. Packet Tracer w ill
automatically open on your computer w hen the exam is launched.

Q. What happens to the work Ive already com pleted on the exam if m y com puter experiences a system or
softw are crash?

A. The PT Pr actice SBA assessment environment periodically saves your w ork to the Netw orking Academy
servers. If a system or softw are crash occurs, the most recent w ork you completed w ill most likely be lost and need to be reentered.

Q. Do I need to close Packet Tracer before subm itting m y work for scoring? A. No, do not close Pac ket Tracer manually w hen taking a PT Practice SBA. Packet Tracer w ill automatically
close w hen you click either Subm it Assessment or Save Assessment and Continue Later. If Pac ket Tracer is closed prior to submitting or saving your w ork, you w ill need to launch the assessment again to resume working on it. The most recent w ork you completed w ill most likely be lost and need to be reentered.

Q. How can I m anage the m ultiple w indows that appear after launching the exam ? A. You can move and arrange your w indow s to show the activity instructions and the Packet Tracer application to
make it easier to perform the exam tas ks.

Q. Do I need to pay attention to the correct case when entering m y w ork in a PT Practice SBA? A. Yes. In situations w here the instructions specify a particular mixture of upper case and low er case characters,
that format should be follow ed for your w ork to be scored correctly. For example, you w ould need to enter Router1_LAN if that is the correct name of the device instead of router1_lan.

Q. What kind of student feedback is available for a PT Practice SBA? A. Feedback includes proficiency estimates for the performance components tested on the exam and the
maximum score possible and the score earned for each task and sub-task. This feedbac k is des igned to help students identify their strengths and w eaknesses and areas that need improvement. See Appendix A for more information.

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Q. How can I report bugs in the PT Practice SBA exam s or assessment environm ent? A. Students should report bugs and errors directly to their instructors. Instructors should then follow the nor mal
procedures outlined in the Support section of this document to report the issues through the Curriculum and Assessm ent Quality Support site on Academy Connection.

Support
Q. Where can I get help w ith questions regarding the PT Practice SBAs? A. For more information regarding the PT Practice SBAs, please review the follow ing resources on the
Assessment resource page in the Course Catalog:

PT Skills Assessments Overview Presentation PT Skills Assessments FAQ PT Skills Assessments At A Glance

If you have questions after review ing these resources, please contact the Netw orking Academy Global Support Des k for assistance.

Q. How can I report issues, errors, or bugs in the PT Practice SBAs or assessm ent environment? A. Instructors should report issues, errors, or bugs through the Curriculum and Assessment Quality Support site.
To access this site, log in to Academy Connection and click Help at the top of the page, then select Curriculum and Assessment Quality Support. Select the Contact Curriculum Team tab, provide as much detail as possible, and then c lick Subm it.

Q. Where can I discuss the PT Practice SBAs w ith other instructors? A. To collaborate w ith other instructors, join the Cisco Packet Tracer Skills Assessments community discussion.
To access the discussion board, log in to Academy Connection and click Forum s & Chat under Resources, then select Instructor Comm unity > Online Assessm ent > Cisco Packet Tracer Skills Assessments.

Q. I participated in the PT Skills Assessment Beta Program . Can I still use the classes I set up during the
beta period?

A. While the beta program has ended, all classes that w ere opened dur ing the beta period w ill remain open until
December 31, 2010. You can continue activating exams in those classes for your students until that time.

Q. Are PT Practice SBAs com patible w ith the accessible versions of the curricula? A. PT Practice SBAs are completely compatible w ith the accessible versions of the CCNA courses. Note that in
the accessible course versions, the Ex am Results page and the IIP currently display links at the top of the page that are not needed, and w ill be removed in a future release. Please ignore this know n issue.

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Appendix A: Student View of PT Practice SBA Feedback

After submitting a PT Pr actice SBA, students should go to the course Gradebook and follow the steps outlined below to see their scores and v iew the Item Infor mation Page ( IIP). The IIP provides detailed feedback about their performance and identifies areas w here they need additional study and practice. 1. 2. Go to the course Gradebook. Click on the name of the exam.

3.

Click on the numerical grade to view your results.

4.

The first section called Feedback gives a visual overview of how you performed on the assessment.

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5.

The next section, called Scoring, provides details on the maximum points and points you received for each portion of the activity. Each portion of the submitted logs and configurations, know n as a w ork product feature, is evaluated. Points are assigned w hen all features for a task are marked as Correct in the Student Result column. For example, in the scoring report below , the student correctly activated the interface and configured the IP address and subnet mas k on the Router1 Fa0/0 interface. They received 8 points for the Router 1 Fa0/0 Addressing task. The student received 0 points on the Sw itch VLAN Interface Addressing task as the features w ere marked Incorrect in the Student Result column.

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Appendix B: Instructor View of PT Practice SBA Feedback

In addition to proficiency estimates and detailed scoring feedback, the Item Information Page ( IIP) for instructors also includes the Packet Tracer initial topology and instructions and the answ er topology and scripts for the proposed solution. Instructors can also view and dow nload the actual .pka activity files submitted by students, exam timing statistics, the students final running configuration, and a time stamped activity log of every IOS command entered by the student during the exam. 1. To view the IIP page for a student, go to the course Gradebook and click on the name of the exam, then click on the numerical grade for a student to view the students results. See Appendix A as a reference for view ing proficiency estimates and detailed scoring feedback for a student. 2. The Proposed Solution section on the Instructor IIP contains the Answ er Topology and the Answ er Scripts (running configurations) for all Cisco IOS devices the student w as required to alter.

3.

As a quick verification, the instructor can compare the Proposed Solution Answer Script to the Student Final Running Configuration. Both configurations are located in the Students Work Product section.

4.

For more details on the correct configuration for all devices, the instructor can dow nload the student PKA file and rev iew the Answ er Netw ork. a. b. Dow nload the student PKA by clicking on Launch Student PKA from the Instructor IIP page. Open the Activity Wizard. This can be done by typing CTRL + W or by selecting the Activity Wizard Icon.

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c.

Select Answ er Netw ork.

d.

Click through the various dev ices to see the answ ers for the activity.

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