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FIT Exemption Exam

FIT Home Exemption Exam Tutorials Web Book

Foundations of Information Technology Options and Exemption Exam

Next Exemption Exam:
Friday, August 30, 4-5:30 p.m.
Location: SB 372 (Science Building)

Fulfilling the Requirement:

This can be fulfilled by taking IDIS 110, a one credit class, having received A+ certification, AP Credit or the exemption exam. You may also meet this requirement by taking one of two introductory computing courses: CS 106 and CS 108. Engineering students meet this requirement with ENGR101. A brief description of the courses and the exemption exam follows:

IDIS110 (FIT): Foundations of Information Technology is an introductory course that discusses skills such as operating systems, spreadsheets, web authoring and general use of campus technology resources. It also covers computing history, computer anatomy, modeling concepts in a digital world (software), networking and societal issues such as copyright and privacy laws.

CS108 and CS106: These two courses provide a more in-depth understanding of computing, which can be beneficial in almost every discipline. Software development and information systems management are two of the fastest-growing career fields, for which either of these courses provides the necessary foundation. These courses also count towards a minor in one of the computing disciplines as well as fulfilling FIT. If you are considering taking the exemption exam discussed below, you should seriously consider either CS108 or CS106, since you probably have the ability to do well in either course.

Exemption Exam: For a registration fee of $25.00, you can fulfill the requirement through an exam. The next exam will be held two weeks prior to Spring ’13 Advising. The date, time, and location are listed above. Please contact the FIT coordinator (fit@calvin.edu) with any questions.

The exam has two parts: an objective section (multiple choice, true/false, multiple answer) and a practical section (manipulating a spreadsheet, creating a webpage, and writing a short essay using a word processor). Reviewing the material on the exam preparation page can increase your chances for passing the exam.

Students will receive a grade of “pass” or “fail” and will be notified via e-mail; no credit for the course will be given. A $25.00 fee will be charged to the student’s account.

The exam will be administered online, within Moodle, and students must be able to log in to both their Novell and Moodle accounts before coming to the exam session. The exam is given using Office 2010.

Material Covered on the Exemption Exam: IDIS 110 is not exclusively a skills course. A partial list of potential topics that may appear on the exemption exam follows:

Skills involving Windows, Moodle, Word, Excel, Dreamweaver/Web-authoring, etc. Concepts such as the history of computing, computer anatomy, network architecture, etc. Issues such as copyright and digital works, privacy, the digital divide, etc.

An overview of all the potential topics for the exemption exam can be found in the FIT Web book and the tutorials. In addition, required objectives of and prerequisites for IDIS 110 include familiarity with Moodle, Web browsing, operating systems, and related skills. Because the exam will be administered entirely online and time is limited, examinees must be able to access their Novell account before coming to the exam.

How can I prepare for the IDIS 110 Exemption Exam?

The following suggestions are not comprehensive, but they will considerably increase your chances of passing the exam:

  • Read chapters 1–3 and 5–7 of the Web book
    • Be familiar with basic Word skills
    • Can you set margins, tabs, line spacing, etc.?
    • Can you manipulate page headers and footers?
  • Be familiar with basic Excel skills
    • Can you use a function to find the greatest or smallest value or to compute sums and averages?
    • Can you create formulas that use absolute and relative addresses?
    • Can you create a graph with customized labels and titles?
  • Be familiar with creating basic webpages using either Dreamweaver or a text editor such as Windows Notepad
    • Can you create links to e-mail addresses and URLs?
    • Can you create a list of items?
    • Can you create a table?
    • Can you change the title or background color of a page? (The title is the text that displays in the title bar of the Web browser when a site is viewed)
    • Do you know the function of (and how to create) alternate text for an image?
  • Be aware of current issues in information technology; can you write a one-page critical essay that examines both sides of an issue from a Reformed or generally Christian viewpoint?

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the FIT coordinator at fit@calvin.edu.