CRI Student Assessment & Mentoring 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When establishing mentoring goals with a new student, a CRI should use the SMART framework. The 'M' in SMART stands for:
- Motivational
- Measurable (Correct answer)
- Mandatory
- Multimodal
Correct answer: Measurable
Measurable goals allow both the mentor and student to objectively track progress and determine when the goal has been achieved.
Question 2: A student passes a 180 wpm Q&A test but consistently fails 200 wpm. The mentor should recommend:
- Permanently capping the student at 180 wpm
- Systematic exposure to 185 and 190 wpm material before attempting 200 wpm again (Correct answer)
- Immediate retesting at 200 wpm repeatedly until passed
- Switching the student to a different steno theory
Correct answer: Systematic exposure to 185 and 190 wpm material before attempting 200 wpm again
Intermediate speed steps build the neural pathways and stroke fluency needed to close the gap to the next target speed.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST describes the role of error analysis in court reporting instruction?
- Identifying mistakes solely for the purpose of assigning grades
- Categorizing and interpreting error patterns to guide targeted remediation (Correct answer)
- Counting total errors to rank students in the class
- Documenting errors to support student dismissal from the program
Correct answer: Categorizing and interpreting error patterns to guide targeted remediation
Error analysis reveals the underlying causes of inaccuracy, allowing instructors to prescribe the most effective corrective strategies.
Question 4: A CRI observes that a student becomes significantly less accurate when dictation material involves medical testimony. This MOST likely indicates:
- The student needs a new steno machine
- A vocabulary gap in medical terminology requiring targeted dictionary building (Correct answer)
- General burnout unrelated to content type
- A problem with the audio quality of the dictation files
Correct answer: A vocabulary gap in medical terminology requiring targeted dictionary building
Content-specific accuracy drops are a reliable indicator of vocabulary deficits in that domain, pointing to targeted dictionary development.
Question 5: Confidentiality in a mentoring relationship requires the CRI to:
- Share student progress reports with all faculty without restriction
- Keep student performance information private except where disclosure is required by institutional policy (Correct answer)
- Discuss student weaknesses openly in group settings to create accountability
- Post student grades publicly to motivate the cohort
Correct answer: Keep student performance information private except where disclosure is required by institutional policy
Mentors must protect student privacy, sharing performance data only as permitted or required by institutional policies.
Question 6: A student repeatedly passes timed tests in a quiet lab but fails in a simulated courtroom with ambient noise. The instructor should:
- Certify the student based on lab performance alone
- Introduce ambient noise and distraction into regular practice sessions progressively (Correct answer)
- Diagnose the student with a hearing impairment
- Permanently exclude the student from deposition work
Correct answer: Introduce ambient noise and distraction into regular practice sessions progressively
Progressively introducing environmental noise trains the student to maintain accuracy under real-world conditions, closing the performance gap.
Question 7: A mentor who notices a student showing signs of test anxiety should FIRST:
- Remove all timed assessments from the student's curriculum
- Acknowledge the anxiety, explore its triggers, and introduce systematic desensitization through practice testing (Correct answer)
- Refer the student out of the program immediately
- Ignore the issue since anxiety is the student's personal responsibility
Correct answer: Acknowledge the anxiety, explore its triggers, and introduce systematic desensitization through practice testing
Acknowledging the issue and using systematic desensitization through graduated practice testing is an evidence-based approach to reducing test anxiety.
CRI Student Assessment & Mentoring 5
When establishing mentoring goals with a new student, a CRI should use the SMART framework.
The 'M' in SMART stands for: