Creating assessments

Once questions have been created in the repository, assessments that include them can be created. Before you start creating assessments, however, you will need to create the assessment folder structure in which they will be stored.

This section is divided into:

• Creating an assessment folder
• Choosing an assessment type
• Creating an assessment
• Trying out an assessment

Creating an assessment folder

Just as questions are organized into topics, so assessments are organized into assessment folders. And like roots topics, access by authors to different root assessment folders can be controlled.

To create an assessment folder:

1. Open Authoring Manager and connect to your repository
2. Right-click Assessments in the navigation pane and select Add Assessment Folder...
3. Enter the assessment folder name and a description and click OK

   

Choosing an assessment type

There are four different types of assessment, and before you create an assessment you should consider which type is the most appropriate.

The following types of assessment can be created.

Assessment type		Description
	Exam	Summative assessment that does not give feedback, and is secured against unauthorized access Typical use might be for a formal exam delivered by an awarding body
	Test	Formative assessment that is mid-way between a quiz and an exam, and feedback may be given Typical use might be for a post-course test of the participant's learning
	Quiz	Diagnostic assessment used for self-assessment, usually gives feedback, and is open to all Typical use might be for a pre-course quiz that provides a measure of participant knowledge
	Survey	Reaction assessment that asks the participant questions, does not give feedback, and has no right or wrong answers Typical use might be for a course evaluation or employee attitude survey

Creating an assessment

Once you have decided what type of assessment is most appropriate, you can create your assessment. To do so:

1. Open Authoring Manager and connect to your repository
2. In the navigation pane, right-click the assessment folder in which you want to create your assessment and select Add Assessment... to open the Assessment Wizard. Click Next to begin
3. Enter a name and a description for the assessment, and then specify the assessment type

   

   Note that some Assessment Wizard screens vary depending on the type of assessment you create. In the following procedure, we will create a quiz.

   Once you have specified the assessment details, click Next to continue

4. Specify the control features for the assessment and click Next

   

   The control features are described in the following table.

   Control feature	Specifies...
   Record answers in the answer database	Whether to record the performance of participants in the repository. If answers are not recorded, reporting will not be possible
   Display feedback	Whether to display feedback on the participant's performance
   Allow open access	Whether to allow participants to take the assessment without having to enter a valid username and password. If this option is ticked, the assessment can be taken by anyone at any time
   Assessment time limit	Whether to include a time limit in which participants must complete the assessment
   Require Questionmark Secure	Whether to require participants to take the assessment using Questionmark Secure, a secure browser that can be downloaded free-of-charge from the Downloads area of the Questionmark web site
   Anonymous result	Whether to store the performance of participants anonymously
   Template to use when presenting assessment	The template used to display the assessment. This determines how the assessment is presented. Refer to Finding more information for more information on templates

   Note that, depending on the type of assessment you are creating, certain control features may be unavailable.

   For more information on setting the control features for assessments, see the Perception Version 5 Authoring Guide.

5. Enter the message that will be displayed at the beginning of the assessment and click Next

   

6. Specify the questions you wish to include in the assessment. Click Add to open the Select Questions window, where you can insert all the questions in particular topics, individual questions within topics, or randomly select questions from topics. Once you have inserted all the questions required, click OK
7. Check that all the topics and questions you want to include in your assessment are listed. If they are, click Next

   

8. Specify a pass mark and enter any Pass or Fail feedback you would like to display. Pass feedback will be displayed if they achieve the Pass mark, and Fail feedback will be displayed if they do not.

   

   You can also enter a URL into the Go to URL when done box. This will direct participants to the specified URL at the end of the assessment

   If you would like to have an email sent to participants at the end of the assessment, for example to confirm that the assessment has been successfully completed or to inform the participant of their score, click Set outcome email. This opens the Outcome email settings window, where you can specify the details of the email you want to send.

   

   To include information on participants and their performance in the assessment, click Insert Field on the toolbar and select the field you wish to add from the drop-down list. For example, in the above screenshot we have included the %SESSION.USER% field and the %SESSION.PERCENT% field. When the assessment is completed and the email is sent, these fields will be replaced with the participant's name and assessment percentage score.

9. Click Next to create the assessment, and Finish to close the Assessment Wizard. The assessment will appear in the assessment folder in which it was created.

   

Once an assessment has been created, it can be copied, relocated, renamed or deleted from the repository. To perform these operations, right-click the assessment and select the appropriate option. You can also relocate an assessment by dragging and dropping it.

Trying out an assessment

Once an assessment has been created, you can try it out. To do so, right-click the assessment you want to try out and select Tryout. The assessment will open in a new window, and can be tried out as may times as you wish.