Tests Tutorial

introduction ampeducator's testing system allows you to create reusable online tests, assign them to courses, securely deliver assessments to students, and automatically record grades in the gradebook tests are first created in the test bank , where they can be organized and reused across multiple courses once a test is added to a course, you can configure settings such as availability, time limits, grading, question randomization, and proctoring to meet your assessment requirements whether you're creating a short quiz or a comprehensive final exam, ampeducator provides the tools to build, deliver, and manage online assessments from one centralized location objective question types can be graded automatically, providing students with immediate results while saving instructors valuable grading time this guide walks through the complete testing workflow, from creating your first test and building questions to assigning tests to courses, reviewing submissions, and grading results the test bank all tests are created and managed in the test bank navigate to home / tests the test bank is your central repository for creating, organizing, and managing online tests tests created here can be reused across multiple courses, allowing you to build an assessment once and assign it wherever it's needed from the test bank , you can create new tests, edit existing assessments, preview, download, duplicate, and delete tests, organize them using tags, and use the search and filter tools to quickly locate specific assessments tests stored in the test bank are reusable templates students cannot access a test untill it has been assigned to a course creating test tags to create or manage test tags, navigate to home / tests / tags and click new tag enter the following information tag colour choose a colour to visually identify the tag throughout ampeducator tag enter a name for the tag this is the value that will appear in the test tag dropdown when adding a test to a course description optionally, enter a description to provide additional information about the tag once the tag has been created, it can be assigned to assessments when creating or editing a test selecting a test tag while adding a test to a course filters the available tests, making it easier to locate the correct assessment creating a test to create a new test, click new test the add new test modal will open, allowing you to enter the basic information and access settings for your new test complete the following fields name enter an internal name for the test this name is used throughout the test bank to help staff identify the assessment description optionally enter a description to provide additional information about the purpose or contents of the test title enter the title that students will see when taking the test read only access specify which users or roles can view the test without making changes read / update access specify which users or roles can edit the test location access select the location(s) where the test will be available once you've completed the required fields, click add to create the test building your test after creating your test, it will appear in the test bank to begin building your assessment, click the test name or the edit icon the test editor will open, where you can configure your test details, add sections, create questions, and customize your assessment test details the upper portion of the test editor contains the test details and settings some fields were completed when the test was created, while others can be updated at any time you can edit the following fields name update the internal name used to identify the test in the test bank title update the title students will see when taking the test tags assign one or more tags to help organize and quickly locate tests in the test bank description add or update a description for the test read only access specify which users or roles can view the test without making changes read / update access specify which users or roles can edit the test location access select the location(s) where the test is available print page size choose the page size used when printing or downloading the test as a pdf print pdf template select a pdf template to customize the printed appearance of the test with time limit enable or disable a time limit for the test when enabled, enter the number of minutes students will have to complete the test total points displays the total number of points assigned across all questions in the test this value updates automatically as questions are added or modified click save to apply any changes designing your test the design section is where you build the structure of your assessment by creating sections and adding questions each test is organized into one or more sections , and each section contains the questions students will answer adding sections sections allow you to organize questions into logical groups within a test for example, you might create separate sections for multiple choice , short answer , or different course topics or units to create a new section, click new section in the design area a new test section modal will appear complete the following fields section title enter a name for the section instructions optionally provide instructions or information that will be displayed to students at the beginning of the section you can use the rich text editor to format text, add images, insert tables, and more question limit enable this option to randomly display only a specified number of questions from the section questions used enter the number of questions that should be presented to each student from this section question pts specify the number of points each randomly selected question is worth once you've completed the section details, click add tip question limits are useful for creating randomized assessments for example, you can create a section containing 20 questions , but configure it so that only 10 questions are presented to each student each student will receive a different combination of questions from the section adding questions every new test includes a default section, allowing you to begin adding questions right away to add a question, click new question the new test question modal will open from this modal, you can enter the question text, assign points, choose the question type, and configure the answer options ampeducator supports the following question types fill in the blanks students enter short written answers directly into blank spaces within the question matching students match each prompt or premise with the correct response from a list multiple choice students select one correct answer from a list of options multiple select students select more than one correct answer from a list of options open ended students enter a written response, such as a short answer, paragraph, or essay you can also choose between plain text and rich text when entering the question use rich text if you need to include formatting, images, tables, links, or other enhanced content in the question plain text vs rich text every question can be created using either plain text or rich text by default, questions are created using plain text , which allows you to quickly enter text only questions if you need additional formatting, select rich text to access the editor the rich text editor provides additional formatting tools that allow you to create more engaging and visually rich questions, including the ability to format text using different fonts, sizes, bold, italics, and underlining change text and highlight colors create numbered and bulleted lists insert images add hyperlinks insert tables include other rich formatting to enhance your questions the plain text and rich text options are available for all question types question types ampeducator supports a variety of question types, allowing you to create assessments that best suit your learning objectives each question type offers its own configuration options while following the same basic workflow for creating and adding questions the available question types include multiple choice students select one correct answer from a list of options multiple select students select one or more correct answers from a list of options fill in the blanks students enter one or more short answers directly into blank spaces within the question matching students match prompts or terms with the correct responses open ended students provide a written response, making this question type ideal for short answers and essay style questions the following sections explain how to configure and use each question type multiple choice a multiple choice question allows students to select one correct answer from a list of possible responses this question type is ideal when there is only one correct answer and is the default option when creating a new question to create a multiple choice question, select multiple choice as the question type complete the following fields question enter the question students will answer question points enter the number of points the question is worth question type select multiple choice number of choices select the number of answer options to display (up to 10) answer choices enter each possible answer correct answer select the correct answer from the dropdown list once you've completed the question, click add to add it to your test multiple select a multiple select question allows students to select more than one correct answer from a list of possible responses use this question type when a question has multiple correct answers creating a multiple select question follows the same process as creating a multiple choice question enter the question assign the question points select multiple select as the question type choose the number of choices enter each answer choice the difference is the correct answer(s) field instead of selecting a single correct answer, you can select multiple correct answers from the dropdown list once you've completed the question, click add to add it to your test fill in the blanks a fill in the blanks question requires students to enter one or more short answers directly into the question this question type is ideal for testing terminology, definitions, abbreviations, names, dates, or other short responses to create a fill in the blanks question, select fill in the blanks as the question type complete the following fields question enter your question and place a placeholder wherever you want students to provide an answer placeholders are entered as \[answer1] through \[answer10] , depending on the number of blanks in the question question points enter the number of points the question is worth question type select fill in the blanks partial points enable this option to award partial credit when students correctly answer one or more blanks, even if they do not answer every blank correctly number of answers select the total number of answer placeholders used in the question answer(s) enter the correct answer for each placeholder if a placeholder can accept multiple correct answers, separate each acceptable answer using the | (pipe) symbol for example, student information system|student information systems case sensitive enable this option if student responses must exactly match the capitalization of the correct answer 💡 tip you can include a word bank in the question to help students choose the correct answers once you've completed the question, click add to add it to your test matching a matching question requires students to match each premise with the correct response this question type is ideal for matching terms with definitions, abbreviations with their meanings, or concepts with their descriptions to create a matching question, select matching as the question type complete the following fields question enter the instructions or prompt students will follow question points enter the number of points the question is worth question type select matching partial points enable this option to award partial credit when students correctly match one or more premise and response pairs number of premises select the number of matching pairs to include premise(s) enter each item students will be asked to match response(s) enter the corresponding answer for each premise once you've completed the question, click add to add it to your test open ended an open ended question allows students to enter a free form written response this question type is ideal for short answer questions, essays, reflections, or any assessment that requires students to provide their own response to create an open ended question, select open ended as the question type complete the following fields question enter the question or prompt students will respond to question points enter the number of points the question is worth question type select open ended print number of lines specify how many lines should appear for the answer if the test is printed this setting does not affect online tests on screen keyboard enable this option to display an on screen keyboard to students while answering the question text direction rtl enable this option for languages that are read from right to left , such as arabic or hebrew once you've completed the question, click add to add it to your test open ended questions are not graded automatically after students submit the test, you'll need to review their responses and assign a score manually reviewing your test as you add questions, they will appear in the design section of your test this allows you to review your test before assigning it to a course from here you can review all questions in the order they will appear to students edit individual questions reorder questions within a section delete questions that are no longer needed add additional questions using the new question button create additional sections using the new section button preview the preview window displays a read only version of your test so you can confirm that everything is organized and formatted as expected before assigning it to a course the preview window is not the online student experience it is simply a preview of the test you've created if you plan to administer your test on paper, click the download button beside preview to generate a printable pdf downloading a pdf to generate a printable version of your test, click the download icon beside preview the generated pdf will open in an in app viewer, allowing you to review the document before saving or printing it if you'd like to keep a copy, click the download button within the pdf viewer to save the test as a pdf to your computer the downloadable pdf is ideal for paper based assessments or for keeping a printable copy of your test adding a test to a course once your test has been created, it must be added to a course before it can be assigned to students the recommended way to do this is through the course's grading schema , where you can manage both your assessments and the overall grading structure in one place tests can also be added from the course's lms → tests page we'll explore this workflow and it's additional options later in this guide open the course you want to add the test to and scroll down or select the grading schema on the side menu click new course grade to create a new graded activity by default, the grade link type is set to none this creates a standard grade item, allowing instructors to manually enter grades into the gradebook this is ideal for assessments completed outside of ampeducator, such as paper based exams, presentations, or practical evaluations to link an online test created in ampeducator, change the grade link type to test selecting test updates the form with additional options that allow you to choose an existing test and configure how it will be delivered to students, including scheduling, security, availability, and other test specific settings name & description begin by entering a name for the course grade this is the name that will appear throughout the course and in the gradebook, so it should clearly identify the assessment (for example, midterm exam or final exam ) optionally, enter a description to provide additional information about the assessment, such as instructions, expectations, or any other details relevant to students or instructors selecting a test before configuring the test settings, you'll need to select the test you want to add to the course test tags if you've organized your tests using test tags , you can use the test tag dropdown to filter the available tests for example, selecting the acc201 tag displays only the tests assigned to that tag, making it easier to locate the correct assessment test choose the test you want to add to the course from the test dropdown if no tag is selected, all available tests can be selected scheduling & availability once you've selected a test, configure when students can access it and how long they'll have to complete it schedule type choose how students will access the test by date & time limits access to a specific testing window students can only begin the test between the configured start and end dates open allows students to take the test at any time when this option is selected, the test window fields are hidden test window when using by date & time , specify the period during which students can access the test test window start – the date and time students may begin the test test window end – the date and time the testing window closes students will only be able to access the test during this window start cutoff enable with start cutoff to prevent students from starting the test after a specific date and time this is useful when you want students to begin the assessment before a deadline, even if the testing window remains open students who have already started the test before the cutoff can continue their attempt, provided they remain within any configured time limit time limit enable with time limit to restrict how long students have to complete the test when enabled, enter the number of minutes students will have once they begin their attempt the timer starts when the student launches the test, regardless of whether the test is scheduled by date & time or left open test behaviour the following settings control how the test is presented to students and how responses are handled during and after the assessment question randomization question randomization changes the order in which sections and questions are presented to each student, helping reduce the likelihood of students receiving the test in the same sequence the following options are available none – questions and sections appear in the order they were created randomize section order – the order of the test sections is randomized for each student, while the questions within each section remain in their original order randomize question order – the order of questions within each section is randomized, while the sections remain in their original order randomize section & question order – both the order of the sections and the order of the questions within each section are randomized for each student answer randomization enable answer randomization to randomize the order of the answer choices for multiple choice questions only the answer choices are shuffled the question itself remains unchanged, and the correct answer is still recognized regardless of its position auto mark enable auto mark only for assessments that contain exclusively automatically graded question types , such as multiple choice multiple answer matching fill in the blank when enabled, ampeducator automatically grades the assessment as soon as the student submits it and immediately calculates the student's final grade important only enable auto mark for assessments that contain exclusively automatically graded question types (such as multiple choice, multiple answer, matching, and fill in the blank) if an assessment contains any open ended questions , do not enable auto mark doing so will automatically assign a score of 0 to all open ended questions, and those scores will be reflected in the student's final grade until the assessment is manually graded student access & results the student can view setting controls when students are able to view their completed test and results the following options are available never – students cannot view their completed test or results after submitting the assessment when completed – students can view their completed test immediately after submitting it this is useful when you want students to review their responses as soon as they've finished when marked – students can view their completed test only after it has been marked this is particularly useful for assessments containing manually graded question types, such as open ended questions , ensuring students don't see their results until grading has been completed test security the following settings help protect the integrity of online assessments by verifying student identity, monitoring activity during the test, and responding to potential security concerns verify student enable verify student to require students to verify their identity before beginning the test students will be prompted to provide a photo of themselves and their identification before they can start the assessment security level the security level determines how ampeducator responds when a student attempts to leave the test window or switch to another browser tab or application all security events are recorded the following options are available none – no action is taken when a security event occurs warn only – the student receives a warning when a security event is detected warn & end test – the student receives a warning if they ignore the warning, the test is automatically ended screen capture the screen capture setting controls when screenshots of the student's screen are taken during the assessment the following options are available none – no screenshots are captured random – screenshots are captured at random intervals throughout the assessment security events – screenshots are captured whenever a security event is detected screen capture is not supported on mobile devices and will prevent students from taking the test on a mobile device video capture the video capture feature records images from the student's webcam during the assessment the following options are available none – no webcam images are captured random – webcam images are captured at random intervals throughout the assessment anomaly – webcam images are captured when an anomaly is detected, such as no face , multiple faces , or gaze proctor test enable proctor test to require students to complete the assessment using a configured proctoring solution for setup instructions and information about supporter providers, see the proctoring tools docid\ xkbzxgd4zaqqbv91j2p1r guide once enabled, the configured proctoring provider for your institution will be displayed and used for the assessment notify instructors enable notify instructors to automatically notify course instructors when a student completes the test grade configuration the following settings determine how the assessment contributes to the student's final grade and how the grade is calculated within the course grade group if you've created grade groups docid\ zq4lrbwv1nirwxii0 6qc for the course, you can assign the assessment to one of those groups grouping related assessments can help organize the grading structure and apply group level calculations where configured grade type choose how the assessment should be graded the following options are available percentage – grades are recorded as a percentage letter grade – grades are recorded using the course's configured letter grade scale fixed / out of – grades are recorded as a fixed score (for example, 18 out of 20) pass / fail – grades are recorded as either pass or fail complete / incomplete – grades are recorded as complete or incomplete custom – grades use one of your institution's configured custom grading scales grade weight & passing percentage the grade weight % determines how much the assessment contributes to the student's overall course grade use passing % to specify the minimum percentage required for a passing grade on this assessment multiple assessments enable with multiple when the assessment is part of a series of related grades, such as weekly quizzes or recurring assignments when enabled, the following additional options become available multiple group name – a name used to group the related assessments multiple number – the assessment's position within the group with take best – enables the use of only the highest scoring assessments when calculating the final grade take best – specifies how many of the highest scoring assessments should be included in the calculation publish type the publish type determines when students can view their grade for the assessment the following options are available always – grades are published as soon as they become available by date – grades are published on a specified date manually – grades remain hidden until they are manually published by an instructor once you've finished configuring the assessment, click add to create the course grade the assessment will now appear in the course's grading schema , where it contributes to the course grading structure based on the configuration you've selected from the grading schema , you can continue managing the assessment by editing the course grade settings reordering the assessment within the grading schema deleting the assessment if it is no longer required viewing the grade distribution to see how students have performed although the assessment is now part of the course's grading schema, it can also be managed from the course's lms → tests page in the next section, we'll explore the lms → tests page in more detail adding tests to course content tests can also be added directly to your lms content when building course modules and lessons this allows students to launch assessments as part of the learning sequence rather than only from the assessments page for more information, see the lms / content docid 8bgfcv1mffalcldcq7zzs guide student experience once a test has been added to a course, students can access it from the course's assessments tab in the student portal to begin an assessment, students simply click launch test starting the test after completing any required identity verification or proctoring steps, students are taken to the confirm test start page this page displays the assessment status along with any configured testing restrictions, such as the test window and time limit once the student is ready, they can click start to begin the assessment assessment security (optional) depending on the assessment configuration, students may be required to grant camera or screen sharing permissions before they can begin the assessment these security features help verify student identity and maintain the integrity of the assessment identity verification if verify student was enabled when the assessment was configured, students will be prompted to verify their identity before they can begin the test students must capture a photo of themselves using their device's camera capture a photo of a valid photo id, such as a student id card, driver's licence, or passport allow their web browser to access the device's camera once both images have been captured, students can click continue to proceed to the assessment screen & video permissions if screen capture or video capture has been enabled, students will be prompted to grant the required permissions before starting the assessment if video capture is enabled, students must allow camera access and select the camera that will be used to record them during the assessment if screen capture is enabled, students will also be prompted by their browser to select which screen or window they wish to share once selected, click share to begin the assessment the assessment cannot begin until all required permissions have been granted security warnings during the assessment, ampeducator continuously monitors the configured security settings if a student performs an action that violates the configured security rules, a warning message is displayed examples include moving the mouse outside the browser window leaving the assessment window or switching to another application stopping screen sharing leaving the camera's view looking away from the screen for an extended period multiple faces being detected in the camera view interacting with pre filled browser suggestions, such as saved usernames, passwords, or autofill entries depending on the configured security level , these events may simply display a warning or automatically end the assessment proctoring if proctor test was enabled for the assessment, students will be prompted to grant permission to the configured proctoring application before they can continue if permission is denied or the required proctoring service is unavailable, the assessment cannot be started until the issue has been resolved completing the assessment once the assessment has started, students can work through each question at their own pace, subject to any configured time limits or security restrictions questions are organized into sections (if applicable), and students can navigate between questions while saving their responses as they progress depending on the assessment configuration, students may also experience features such as randomized questions or answers, time limits, security warnings, and proctoring when all questions have been answered, students click finish test a confirmation dialog displays the student's completion progress and reminds them that answers can no longer be changed after submission students click confirm to submit the assessment after the assessment has been submitted, a confirmation page is displayed showing that the test has been completed if automatic grading is enabled, the assessment status will update once marking has been completed according to the configured settings marking tests after students submit an test, the grading process depends on the types of questions included in the assessment automatically graded assessments assessments containing only automatically graded question types can be marked automatically using auto mark automatically graded question types include multiple choice multiple answer matching fill in the blank when auto mark is enabled, ampeducator automatically grades the assessment as soon as the student submits it and immediately calculates the student's final grade no instructor action is required grading open ended questions assessments that contain open ended questions require instructor review before the assessment can be finalized although ampeducator automatically grades supported question types, such as multiple choice , multiple answer , matching , and fill in the blank , open ended questions must be graded manually the easiest way to mark multiple student assessments is from the course gradebook from the gradebook , click the assessment title to display the student results for that assessment for each completed assessment, click the mark student test icon beside the student's submission this opens the student's assessment, where you can review each response, assign marks, and finalize the assessment the top of the page provides an overview of the student's assessment, including their submission details, calculated grade, points earned, timing information, and any security or proctoring information collected during the assessment on the bottom half of the modal, use the question dropdown or the navigation arrows to move between questions in the assessment questions that have already been graded automatically display a ✓ or ✕ beside the question number, indicating whether the student's answer was correct or incorrect questions that require manual grading display , allowing you to quickly identify open ended questions without reviewing every question in the assessment for open ended questions, review the student's response, then use the status dropdown to assign a mark if the response deserves full marks , select correct the full point value will be awarded automatically if the response is partially correct or incorrect , select wrong / partial you can then enter any point value in the points field optionally enter comments for the student click save to record the mark for that question continue using the question dropdown or navigation arrows until all open ended questions have been graded after all open ended questions have been reviewed and graded, return to the top of the assessment enable the marked checkbox and click save to finalize the assessment the student's final grade will be recalculated and reflected in the course gradebook tip leave the assessment unmarked if you plan to return and finish grading later only mark the assessment as complete once all open ended questions have been reviewed and the final grade is correct use the previous and next arrows at the top of the window to quickly move between student assessments without returning to the gradebook this allows you to efficiently grade an entire class from a single window reviewing security events if screen capture or video capture was enabled for the assessment, instructors can review any recorded security events while marking the assessment the number beside security flags indicates how many events were recorded during the student's assessment to review the events, click the magnifying glass beside security flags this opens the security log , which provides a detailed timeline of the student's assessment, including security events, screen captures, and video captures that were recorded during the attempt the security log includes a chronological list of recorded events screen captures taken during security events video captures recorded during anomalies timestamps for each event the affected assessment question, where applicable security events provide additional context for instructors when reviewing an assessment and can help identify situations that may require further review override the final grade if needed, you can manually override a student's calculated final grade enable override final , enter the desired override final % , and provide an override reason once saved, the override grade will be used instead of the calculated assessment score this option is available for both automatically marked and manually marked assessments managing tests (lms / tests) once a test has been added to a course, instructors can monitor overall assessment progress from the lms > tests page the list displays summary information for each assessment, including the number of completed and marked attempts, average points earned, average percentage, and average completion time this allows you to quickly monitor how students are performing without opening each assessment individually each test also includes a set of action icons that allow you to manage the assessment directly from the list edit ✏️ – update the assessment settings email ✉️ – send students a direct link to the assessment statistics 📊 – view overall assessment results and performance analytics print 🖨️ – generate a printable version of the assessment the following sections explain each of these actions in more detail edit a test click the edit icon to modify an existing assessment you can update many of the same settings available when the test was first created, including scheduling, time limits, question randomization, student viewing options, security settings, proctoring, and instructor notifications changes will apply to future attempts and any student tests that have not yet been completed where applicable email test links click the email test links icon to send enrolled students a direct link to the assessment the email subject can be customized, and you may include an optional message before sending this provides students with quick access to the assessment without requiring them to navigate through the student portal view test statistics click the view test statistics icon to view overall assessment results the statistics page provides a summary of test performance, including completion rates, average scores, score distributions, average completion time, and question by question performance these reports can help identify trends and determine which questions students found most challenging print a test click the print test icon to generate a printable version of the assessment this can be useful for paper based exams, classroom testing, or keeping a physical copy of the assessment for your records managing individual student tests to manage student attempts, click the + icon beside a test to expand the student list the expanded view displays every student's assessment, including its current status, score, security flags, and available actions from here, you can review completed tests, mark assessments, reschedule attempts, view security logs, print completed tests, and perform bulk marking actions from this page, instructors can manage individual student attempts using the available actions mark student tests click the mark student test icon to review and grade an individual student's assessment from the marking screen you can review student responses mark open ended questions review automatically graded questions override the final grade if necessary review any recorded security events reschedule student tests if a student requires another opportunity to complete an assessment, click the reschedule student test icon the reschedule student test window provides several options depending on the student's current attempt reschedule test updates the assessment schedule or availability window while preserving the student's existing answers and marks reset & reschedule removes the student's current attempt, answers, and marks, allowing them to start the assessment again additional options include changing the schedule type applying or removing a time limit clearing previously recorded security events view security logs if security monitoring was enabled for the assessment, click the view security log icon the security log displays a complete record of the student's assessment session, including security events screen captures video captures event timestamps the question being answered when each event occurred this information can help instructors review unusual activity and determine whether additional investigation is required print student tests to generate a printable copy of a student's completed assessment, click the print student test icon a pdf version of the completed assessment opens in a new window and includes student responses marks awarded question totals overall score bulk marking status multiple student attempts can be selected using the checkboxes beside each student's name after selecting one or more students, use the buttons above the student list to update their marking status in bulk update selected as marked marks the selected assessments as marked , making the results available according to your assessment settings this is useful when you have finished grading multiple assessments and want to release the results to all students at the same time update selected as unmarked returns the selected assessments to an unmarked status this can be useful if additional review or grading is required before releasing results to students congratulations! you've completed the ampeducator tests tutorial you should now be comfortable creating assessments, configuring grading and security options, delivering tests to students, reviewing submissions, and managing results as you become more familiar with the feature, you can explore advanced capabilities such as randomized assessments, security monitoring, automated grading, and proctoring to further enhance the assessment experience for more information on related features, visit the rest of the ampeducator documentation, or feel free to email us with specific questions at support\@ampeducator com mailto\ support\@ampeducator com