How do I create an Assessment (i.e. Test or Quiz)?
The Tests & Quizzes tool allows you to create online assessments (i.e., tests, quizzes, exams and surveys) for your students or other groups. It was designed primarily to administer tests, but you may also create assessments to gather survey information or informal course feedback. Most grading is done automatically, and grades can be posted automatically to an online gradebook.
This lesson will show you how to create a simple assessment. For more information about Tests & Quizzes, refer to the Instructor Guide for additional topics.
Go to the Tests Quizzes tool.
First, select the Tests & Quizzes tool from the Tool Menu of your course.
Create a new assessment.
Give your new assessment a title and click the Create button.
Note: You cannot have more than one assessment with the same title.
Add a question.
There are several different types of questions you can add. Most of these can be auto-graded. (Short Answer/Essay, Audio Recording, and File Upload must be graded manually.)
Let's add one of the more common question types. Select Multiple Choice from the drop-down menu.
Set the point value for the question.
Enter the point value for this question. Questions may be worth any point value you choose. In this example, the question is worth 10 points.
Tip: Keep in mind that the point value of all the questions in the assessment will equal the point value of the assessment in the Gradebook. So, if you want your assessment to be worth a total of 100 points, you should assign point values to your questions accordingly.
Display points?
Do you want students to see the point value as they are taking the test? If so, leave the default setting of Yes. If you prefer that students do not see the point value for the question, select No.
Choose number of correct responses.
You can choose to have a Single Correct response, Multiple Correct, Single Selection, or Multiple Correct, Multiple Selection.
If you select Single Correct (the default) you also have the option to Enable Negative Marking or Enable Partial Credit if desired. Negative marking deducts points from the student's score if the student selects the wrong answer. Partial credit allows you to specify a percentage of the question points to be awarded for selecting an incorrect but still partially acceptable answer.
Choose the radio button for the correct response option you would like to use. For this example, we will keep the default.
Enter the question text.
Enter the text of your question into the text box provided. You may also click on the Show/Hide Rich-Text Editor link in the top right corner of the text box to load the WYSIWYG html editor. The rich text editor allows you to format your question text and/or add images, links, or other resources.
Add attachments.
If you would like to attach a file to the question, you may click on the Add Attachments button to browse for and upload a file. Most multiple choice questions do not contain file attachments; however, in some cases you may want to provide students with a file in order to answer the question. For example, you could attach an audio file, a reference document, or other resource.
Enter the answer choices.
Enter all of the possible answer choices for this question. (Notice that the rich text editor is also available for the answers. You may use the editor to format your answer choices or add images, links, etc. if desired.)
There are four answer choices provided by default. If you need more choices, use the Insert Additional Answers drop-down menu to indicate the number of additional answer choices needed.
Be sure to indicate the correct answer by selecting the radio button for the correct response.
Randomize answers.
The default setting is No for randomizing answers. If you would like the answer choices to appear in a random order each time a student takes the assessment, select Yes.
Tip: Remember that if you answer choices contain items like "all of the above" or "A and B are correct" randomizing the order could cause confusion with the answer key.
Require rationale.
The default setting is No for requiring a rationale. If you would like students to be required to enter a reason for selecting a given response, select Yes.
Assign to part.
You may have more than one part in an assessment if you choose. If you have more than one part, and you would like to assign this question to a different part, you may do so using the Assign to Part drop-down menu.
Assign to question pool.
If you would like to add this question to a question pool, you may do so using the Assign to Question Pool drop-down menu. Adding a question to a pool places a copy of the question in the pool, but leaves a copy of the question in the current assessment. Question pools can be used to create assessments from a pool of questions and can be shared among courses and instructors. (You may also copy an entire set of questions into a question pool, as opposed to copying it individually as shown here.)
Add feedback.
You may optionally add feedback to this question which the student will receive when the question is graded. Feedback may be different based on if the student answered correctly or not. The rich text editor is also available here if you would like to format your feedback.
Save your question.
Once you have entered all of your question information, click Save to return to the edit assessment screen.
Continue adding questions.
Repeat the steps above to add additional questions to your assessment. (For more information on adding other question types, refer to the Instructor Guide.) As you add questions, note the following:
- The total number of questions in the assessment, as well as the total points will be displayed in the upper right corner of the content area.
- You may view your questions the assessment editing screen, along with the answer key shown below each question.
- If you would like to delete a question, click the Remove link to the right of the question.
- If you need to make a change to an existing question, click the Edit link to the right of the question.
Tip: An assessment must have at least one question, and the question must be worth greater than zero in order to add the assessment to the gradebook.
