In this “Ask an Advisor” series, we answer questions regularly received by the different teams responsible for CPA course and module administration. This week, we focus on a question received by the CPA preparatory courses Student Experience team.
Dear Advisor,
I’m enrolled in a re-designed course and I’m not sure how to figure out if I’ll qualify to write the final exam. How do I check the progress of my course requirements?
Thank you,
CPA preparatory courses student
Dear CPA preparatory courses student,
Each CPA preparatory course has specific deadlines. You are responsible for ensuring you meet each requirement before its specified deadline. You must achieve a minimum 75 percent course completion grade* to be eligible to write the final exam. If you do not reach the minimum 75 percent course completion grade you will be charged a course attempt and fail the course.
| Task | Minimum Cumulative Course Grade to Maintain Exam Eligibility * | Contribution to Final Grade |
| Unit 1 | – | – |
| Unit 2 | 7.31% | – |
| Unit 3 | 23.46% | – |
| Unit 4 | 39.62% | – |
| Unit 5 | 55.77% | – |
| Unit 6 | 75.00% | – |
| Final Exam | – | 100% |
Your overall exam eligibility grade is called the “course completion grade” you see on Brightspace (D2L). Therefore, at the start of your course, the beginning overall exam eligibility grade on the course activities is zero percent. As course activities are completed and grades are earned, your overall exam eligibility grade will increase proportionately, weighted based on the type of activity listed below. You may view your accumulated overall exam eligibility grade in Brightspace (D2L) at any time.
Each course contains six units, and for each unit, you will need to complete the following weighted course activities:
SmartBook & Adaptive Assignments
You will be assigned specific chapters to read in the SmartBook. Each chapter has been carefully designed to include detailed explanations and examples of technical material.
Throughout each chapter, you will complete a set of diagnostic questions. Based on your performance on the diagnostic questions and your self-declared level of confidence, the SmartBook will adapt and highlight knowledge gaps you need to improve upon. You can improve your knowledge gaps by further studying in the SmartBook.
Additionally, as you work through the chapters, you will have the opportunity to complete e-lessons on key topics. These e-lessons are interactive short lectures with example walk-throughs.
- The SmartBook Adaptive Assignments will make up 20 percent of your overall exam eligibility grade:
- Your mark on each SmartBook adaptive assignment is based on your actual performance of the assignment before the submission deadline. For example, if you achieve 75 percent mastery at the deadline, then 75 percent is pushed to the Brightspace (D2L) Gradebook within 24 hours of the deadline.
- The collection of assignments within a unit will be averaged together for the adaptive assignment grade for that unit. Each assignment is weighted evenly within a unit.
- Each unit’s SmartBook grade is weighted equally.
Practice Problems
You will be assigned a series of short practice problems that are from the unit’s SmartBook readings and are meant to resemble exam constructive response questions. Practice problems also provide good preparation for the multiple-choice unit quiz and course exam questions.
The Practice Problems will make up 20 percent of your overall exam eligibility grade:
Each unit has a set of practice problems and must be submitted to Dropbox. You are assessed automatically for completion. If you attempt the practice problems and submit it, you will get 100 percent; even if you attempt one out of five practice problems, you will get 100 percent. Please note if you submit a blank file, you will receive a zero.
Each unit’s Practice Problem grade is weighted equally.
Task-Based Simulations
You will be assigned a set of task-based simulations (TBSs). The TBSs are a set of objective-style questions that provide further practice of the concepts covered in the SmartBook and Practice Problems.
The Task-Based Simulations will make up 20 percent of your overall exam eligibility grade:
- Each unit has a set of TBSs and must be submitted to Dropbox. You are assessed automatically for completion. If you attempt and submit the TBSs, you will get 100 percent; even if you attempt and submit one out of three TBSs, you will get 100 percent. Please note if you submit a blank file, you will receive a zero
- Each unit’s TBS grade is weighted equally.
Quizzes
At the end of each unit, you will need to complete a quiz. Each unit quiz consists of 25 multiple-choice questions.
The Quizzes will make up 40 percent of your overall exam eligibility grade:
- The course survey is classified as a “quiz”
- Your quiz mark for each unit quiz is equally weighted as 50 percent for completion and performance. For example, if you score 75% on the unit quiz, your calculated grade will be 87.5%
- Each Unit Quiz grade is weighted equally.
At this time, you must complete all course activities within six weeks of the course start date. The completion of these activities will count towards the 75 percent exam eligibility requirement (as described above) to write the final exam. Upon meeting the 75 percent eligibility requirement, you have one year from the course start date to write the exam.
If you do not achieve a minimum exam eligibility grade of at least 75 percent on course learning activities within the six instructional weeks you will not be eligible to write the course exam and will be charged with a failed course attempt. You will be required to retake the course to qualify for the exam.
As such, to avoid falling behind, we strongly encourage you complete the units assigned each week.
We’re here to answer any questions or review any concerns, please contact us at [email protected].
CPA Preparatory Courses Student Experience Team
