FAQs

What is iDeaL?

iDeaL is Deakin University’s English language enrichment program. It consists of online diagnostic activities and language resources. The diagnostic activities ask you to use academic or professional language in specific ways. When you finish the activities, you get immediate feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. The feedback also tells you what resources you can use to improve any identified weaknesses.

Who is iDeaL for?

iDeaL is for all Deakin students. Due to the highly contextualised nature of language, it is important for students to understand that while their everyday English may be perfectly adequate, that does not mean that they have the language skills required for academic study or for specific professional contexts.

What happens if I fail iDeaL?

You cannot fail iDeaL. It is not a test, exam or assessment. Although you will get results that tell you what percentage you got right from a number of activities, these results only identify your relative language strengths and weaknesses. The results are not used to compare you to other students or to determine your academic or professional language level.

How will I benefit from iDeaL?

Over your study time at Deakin, you will have unlimited access to your iDeaL site. You can use iDeaL at any time to re-diagnose your language skills, check out the different resources or to practise different activities using academic or professional language versions. Each time you complete a set of diagnostic activities your percentage is recorded on your personal report. Your report is your record of how many times you have completed the diagnostic activities and what percentage you received each time. Keeping track of your language skills and using the recommended resources can help you to improve your communication skills for both university and employment.

Why doesnt iDeaL tell me which questions I missed and show me what the correct answers are?

Each question in iDeaL relates to one of 10 skill areas, eg making inferences, editing, listening to extended speech. It is important to focus on the skill areas wherre you show the most weakness (not the specific question) and work to improve the skill area. Be sure to click on the link for each skill area to see an explanation of the skill and to find resources to help you improve.

Will any iDeaL information be used by anyone else?

General results can be shown to academics or may be used in research. However, this data never ever identifies any individual or matches any percentages with any person. For example, a lecturer may ask for a cohort report, which would indicate the percentage of students in a group within different iDeaL percentage ranges, for example:

Percentage   Number of students 
0%--30%     15
31-70          250
71-100        50

What is meant by "timed" and "untimed"?

iDeaL uses timed and untimed to distinguish between sections that must be completed within a set time and sections which have no set time limit. The only two sections which have a time limit are the vocabulary and reading which are completed the first time on iDeaL. All other sections are timed "behind the scenes," and the time taken to complete each section is recorded on the student home page along with the score. This is to allow for more meaningful comparisons among different attempts.

Why is my time recorded?

Your time is shown along with your score for each section so that you can more meaningully compare your results over different attempts. When you compare your scores for a section you have taken more than once, look at the time as well as the score--it is assumed that as speed increases, accuracy will decrease, and you need to consider this when you are trying to make sense of your scores.

Who will see my iDeaL results?

No one except you will see your iDeaL results unless you show them. For example, you may want to print out your report to show a Language and Learning Adviser so that you can get more personal assistance to improve your language.

If your diagnostic results indicate that you might need extra help with your language, the computer will generate an automatic email to you. The email will ask you to make an appointment to discuss your results. As the email is automatically generated (to all students whose percentages are below a set level), only you will know that you have been emailed. You will need to act on this email yourself.