Glossary

An alphanumeric code provided with the purchase of Cengage textbooks that provides access to online materials. Students submit this code from their CengageBrain accounts as proof of purchase for their course.

Study materials selected from a collection of topics from your textbook providing you with customized review of concepts that gave you trouble in the preliminary quiz.

This label provides global data on the average time for an item take. The time is based on real student interactions with the item listed and is updated by Cengage twice a year. Newer items may not have a time and will instead display Unknown.

A navigation system of links that permit the user to retrace their steps and see how they arrived at the current page.

A software application used to locate and display web pages. Popular browsers include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

Specialized storage on your computer where data transfer from the internet is backed up. This needs to be cleared from time to time to enable refreshed web pages to load properly.

A label applied to a group of assignments and to the individual assignments in the group. Instructors can create custom, weighted categories as a way to prioritize assignments during final grade calculations.

An item on the students' assignment list that contains information or a notification instructors can create or edit within the application.

(1) A component containing materials used in assignments. Content sources can include your eBook or self-authored questions.

(2) An individual resource containing questions that can be used in assignments. These include test banks, homework banks, pre-built assignments, and Study Tools.

Packets of information, usually including usernames, stored on your local computer and used by external websites for identification and tracking purposes.

An option setting that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified.

A character (typically, a comma or tab) used to separate data fields in text files.

To copy a file from a network or other remote system and store it on a computer.

An assignment that is located at a web address rather than in the server database. Students can access the assignment by selecting it on the Assignments page or by going to the web address.

Information that is presented after a student submits an answer. The type of feedback can be determined by several factors, including incorrect, correct, or specific answers.

Graphics Interchange Format: a file format for images used on the internet. GIFs use a lossless compression and only 256 colors. This file format works best for images with only a few distinct colors and no gradients.

To modify individual scores relative to the performance of the class as a whole.

One of several options that can be selected for individual questions to determine how the server evaluates the answer and calculates its score.

A collection of questions and other items that can be used to create a homework assignment.

Hypertext Markup Language: the authoring language used to create web documents. HTML uses a variety of tags and attributes to format the web pages.

Text on a web page that the user can click to view another page or object, such as a video or graphic.

To use information (such as text files, spreadsheets, and graphics) produced by another program. Typical files that can be imported include student data, class rosters, and assignment source material.

International Standard Book Number: the unique 10- or 13-digit code that identifies a book. The ISBN for a Cengage textbook is typically located on the back cover.

Joint Photographic Experts Group (also JPEG): a file format used for creating images. JPG is commonly used for photo-realistic images but does not work well for small text.

Java Runtime Environment: a package of software installed on a computer to run Java applications.

The output of the same values in a question each time it is presented, produced by the use of static values rather than variables.

The program that runs a computer's application programs. Compatible operating systems include Windows and Macintosh.

Settings that control the level of user access for content and program functions.

Portable Data Format: a file type created by Adobe® Acrobat® and viewable in Acrobat Reader®.

Portable Network Graphics: a file format for images compatible for use on the internet. PNGs use a compression method that does not lose quality, but they may not show up on older browsers.

An assignment created from question sets that correspond to textbook chapters and sections.

An evaluation which determines which concepts and materials you need to concentrate on as part of your Adaptive Study Plans.

Rich Text Format: a file type containing formatted text that can be used in a variety of applications.

A remote network containing all the resources and data used in an online Learning Management System.

A Cengage book or product. Students use the Study Tools page to access course materials for ungraded self-study.

A remote scan that runs automatically each time you log in. The system check evaluates your computer to see if it has optimal settings and the appropriate installed applications. You will receive a message on how to resolve any issues if your computer fails the check.

A row of buttons or other graphical controls on a computer screen that represent open applications. You can use the buttons to switch from one application to another.

(authors or superusers only) A file format which is exported and used to create a template course. This file will need to be placed in a textbook's directory structure by a system administrator.

A collection of questions and other items that can be selected individually and used to create a test.

A filename extension used for files that contain plain text. This file type can be opened by most word processors and many other types of applications.

Universal Resource Locator: an address used to view a page on the World Wide Web.

A method of determining the significance of student work in the final grade calculations. This is achieved by applying percentages to categories of assignments and/or applying an additional point value to questions or assignments.

When Homework or Test assignments are created or edited, Weight can be assigned to individual questions by adjusting the point value and then setting a total number of possible points earned for the assignment as a whole (which produces a possible score independent from the total item points).

For example: An assignment can have a possible score of 25 points for the assignment even though the sum of the item points is equal to 20. Also, for difficult questions, the point value can be increased. This provides a way to change the relative importance, or weighting, of an assignment when calculating the course grade.

A group of assignments can also be collectively weighted through the use of custom grading categories.

For example: Assignments grouped into a "Quiz" category can have the weight set to equal 30% of the course grade. This percentage applies regardless of the number of assignments that are categorized as a Quiz.

Extensible Markup Language: the system used to organize and tag documents for use in the World Wide Web and other platforms.

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