Tutorial overview

This tutorial will allow you to create various question and answer tests on WebCT.

This tutorial is rated as -

You'll need the following software - Internet explorer, firefox - any web browser

You'll need the following hardware - A modern PC connected to the internet

The other factors might help - A WebCT course already set up, some a set of questions prepared

You'll need to work through the following steps:-

There are three assessment types available in WebCT. They are quizzes, self-tests and surveys.

• A self-test allows students to informally test their knowledge of a particular topic; a score is neither given nor retained.
• A quiz is a more formal test, and can be used for either self-assessment or graded assessment.
• A survey allows anonymous collation of statistics and opinions.

Quizzes

• Quizzes and surveys can be created by you, and marked by WebCT. You can choose whether or not to grade your quiz, and whether or not you want the grade to be automatically released to students.
• You can set a duration time for the quiz, specify the number of times students will be allowed to access it, and the times/dates between which you would like it to be available.
• There are a variety of question types: Calculated, Combination, Fill in the Blank, Jumbled Sentence, Matching, Multiple Choice, Paragraph, Short Answer and True/False.

Creating a quiz

1. Click on the Build tab from the top left of your course homepage
2. Click on Assessments from the left-hand Course Tools
3. Click on Create Assessment
4. Enter a Title for your quiz
5. Enter a Description for your quiz
6. By default, the radio button beside Quiz is selected as the assessment Type
7. Click on Save and Add Questions
8. Click on Create Questions and you are presented with a drop-down list of question types available
9. Click on the question type required

Question types

Calculated

Calculated questions require students to enter a mathematical formula as their answer. Questions are created using variables. Based on a specified range, random values are automatically generated for each variable, making questions unique for each student.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Calculated
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text (this must contain all formula variables for value substitution)
4. Question formulae can be created using the Equation Editor - click on the green arrow beneath the Question text box in order to activate this
5. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
6. Enter your formula (you can View a list of supported formulas)
7. Enter Units for the answer value
8. Click on Analyse Variables
9. Enter the Minimum and Maximum values and the number of decimal places to calculate too (if appropriate) from the Variables boxes supplied
10. Specify the number of answer sets required. If required, specify the whole numbers or decimal places you wish to calculate the answer sets to, and specify answer tolerance in the Answers boxes provided
11. Click on Generate Answer Set
12. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
13. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
14. Click on Save

Combination
With this type of question, students are first presented with a list of answers. Students are then asked to choose the correct answer from a list containing various combinations of these answers.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Combination
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Enter your answers (a combination of correct and incorrect answers) in the answer boxes provided beneath Single Answers. If you require more answer boxes than are provided by default, click on Create Additional Single Answers
6. Under Create Answer Combinations select as many different combinations of answers as you require by clicking on the letters which correspond with your answers. One of these must be the correct combination of letters - click on the button beside Correct response for this combination. If you wish to create more combinations than are available by default, click on the Create Additional Combinations button, and fill in appropriately
7. Feedback for individual responses can be entered in the Feedback button below each combination of possible responses
8. Feedback for the whole question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
9. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
10. Click on Save

Fill in the Blank
Students are given a question containing blank spaces, for which they must provide the missing text. You can include one or several blanks and you can specify one or several values for each.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Fill in the Blank
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text enclosing the text that is to appear as blanks within square brackets
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Click on Generate Answers
6. The text you have specified as answers appears in a table
7. Specify a percentage value for each answer (these must total 100%) in the box provided and from the drop-down menu to the right of this enter the appropriate Grading scheme (by default this is Equals, so the student's answer must equal that specified)
8. If there is more than one possible answer click on Create Alternative to the right of the appropriate answer and enter the alternative text in the text box provided
9. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
10. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
11. Click on Save

Jumbled Sentence
Students are given a question consisting of a partially completed sentence. They are expected to select and order the missing text from the drop-down lists provided.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Jumbled sentence
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text, enclosing the text that is to appear in the list of words or phrases to be selected and ordered by the student, in square brackets
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Click on Generate Answer
   • In order to create an alternative answer that uses the same jumbled words but in a different order click on Create Alternate
   • Select the alternative order by choosing the appropriate words or phrases from the drop-down lists
   • Enter a value for the selection
6. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
7. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
8. Click on Save

Matching
With this type of question, students are presented with two lists and are expected to match data in one with the data in the other.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Matching
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Enter the text for your matching pairs beside each other Matching pairs grid (eg The Battle of Hastings matches 1066)
6. If you require more text boxes than are available by default, click on Create Additional Pairs and fill the boxes with the appropriate information
7. By default, all answers have equal value, if you wish to change this click on the radio button beside the appropriate option listed under Grading scheme. These options are:
   • Equally weighted / All answers have equal value
   • All or nothing / The student must complete all matches correctly to receive full value for the question
   • Right minus wrong / The total value is derived from the number of correct matches minus the number of incorrect matches
8. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox.
9. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
10. Click on Save

Multiple Choice
With this type of question, you can require students to select either one correct answer, or multiple answers from a given list
Multiple choice - with one correct answer

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Multiple choice
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. As you only require one correct answer leave the button checked beside Select mode, One answer under Answers
6. Type your answers in the text boxes marked Answer#. By default, there are five answers boxes. Should you require more than this, click on the Create Additional Answers button towards the bottom of the screen
7. Click in the box to the left of Correct response by the side of the correct answer
8. You do not need to enter a value in the value text box as this will set itself to 100% by default
9. Feedback can be entered for individual answers in the Feedback text boxes beneath each answer box
10. Under Settings you can select various options by clicking on the radio button by the side of your preference. Answer layout can be set as Horizontal or Vertical; Answer labels can be set as Numbers or Letters; Randomised answer ordering can be activated; the Grading scheme can be set as Cumulative or All or nothing, and Negative scoring can be activated
11. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
12. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
13. Click on Save

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Multiple choice
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Click on the Multiple answers button under Answers, Select mode
6. Type your answers in the text boxes marked Answer#. By default, there are five answers boxes. Should you require more than this, click on the Create Additional Answers button towards the bottom of the screen
7. Click in the boxes to the left of Correct response by the side of the correct answers
8. If you wish to prescribe a percentage value for each correct answer enter these values in the text box by the side of Value. If you do not enter anything in the Value text boxes, each will be given the same value (which will total 100%)
9. Feedback can be entered for individual answers in the Feedback text boxes beneath each answer box
10. Under Settings you can select various options by clicking on the radio button by the side of your preference. Answer layout can be set as Horizontal or Vertical; Answer labels can be set as Numbers or Letters; Randomised answer ordering can be activated; the Grading scheme can be set as Cumulative or All or nothing, and Negative scoring can be activated
11. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
12. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
13. Click on Save

Paragraph
Questions set with this question type require students to respond in a paragraph format. Answers to paragraph questions must be marked manually once students have submitted their responses.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Paragraph
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. If you wish to provide information for students concerning their response, type this in the text box below Pre-fill answer box with:
6. For your own use, or to aid fellow instructors or teaching assistants when marking the question, you might want to include a model answer in the text box below Correct response
7. You can adjust the size of the answer box under Settings, by clicking on the drop-down menus beside Answer box height and Answer box width
8. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox.
9. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
11. Click on Save

Short Answer
With this question type students must enter text for their answer, in the form of a word of a phrase. You can allow for variations in spelling and higher marks for better answers (eg fewer marks for incorrect spellings)

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on Paragraph
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Enter your Answer text in the boxes provided
6. Enter the Value of each answer in the box to the right of the appropriate text
7. Should you require more answer boxes, click on Create Additional Answers and fill in the boxes accordingly
8. You can select the size of the answer box by clicking on the box to the right of Answer box width
9. You can allow for case sensitivity by clicking on Yes beside Answers are case sensitive (by default this is set to No)
10. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox.
11. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
12. Click on Save

Note: The above illustrates how to use the Short Answer question option in its simplest format. There are several variations for this question type (i) one correct answer (ii) several correct answers in any order (iii) several correct answers, with bonus marks for the correct (iv) several correct answers, which must be in the correct order. For a full explanation of how to make use of all of these variations please see the context sensitive help within your WebCT course. To do this, click on the top right-hand Help button when creating your question.

True/False
Students must decide whether the question presented is either true or false. They must then click on the radio button beside either True or False.

1. From the drop-down list of question types available click on True False
2. Enter a Title
3. Enter your Question text
4. If you wish to insert an image click on the Browse button to the right of Image, locate the image file you require and click on Open
5. Click on the radio button beside either True or False
6. Feedback for the question can be generated by clicking on More Options and entering the appropriate text in the General Feedback textbox
7. If you wish to see what the question will look like or try it out before you save it click on Preview, then Close
8. Click on Save

Scoring questions

1. Click on the text box under Points, to the right of each question, and enter a points value for each
2. Click on Update Total and a new total with appear to the right of Total Points

Removing questions

1. Click in the left-hand box beside the question you want to remove
2. Click on the Remove button towards the centre bottom of the screen

Making assessments available

1. Click on the Action links icon beside your quiz title
2. Click on Show Item

Edit assessment properties and settings

1. Click on the Action links icon beside your quiz title
2. Click on Edit Properties
3. Under Question delivery you can you can choose whether to
• Deliver questions all at once
• Deliver questions one at a time and allow questions to be revised
• Deliver questions one at a time and do not allow questions to be revisited
• Display question titles
4. Under Display Assessment you can display the assessment
   • In the same browser window
   • In a new browser window
5. Under Duration you can set time as Unlimited or specify a time limit. You can also Disallow answer submission if time has expired
6. Under Attempts you can allow students to attempt the assessments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or an unlimited number of times
7. Under Student score you can
   • Release the score once the assessment has been submitted
   • Release the score once the assessment has been submitted and all of the questions have been graded
   • Do not release score
   • If multiple attempts are allowed you can choose whether the first, last, highest or average score is displayed as student grade
8. Under Statistics release you can choose to release assessment statistics to students after releasing their score
   There are various other settings under More Options
9. Under Dates Available you can select a start and end time for your assessment
10. Under Results Settings you can select what will be displayed to the students with their results
11. Under Submission Settings you can enter a submission message, and select and email address to send submission to, if required
12. Under Security Settings you can enter a Proctor password, which your students must enter to access your assessment. You can restrict machine access to your assessment by specifying ip addresses
13. Click on Save to effect any changes

Making your assessment available from a page within your course

1. Click on the box to the left of your assessment title
2. From the drop-down box to the left of Create Link on click on the location of your choice and click on the green arrow button to the right of this
3. Click on Student View to check that your assessment is available to your students

Testing out your assessment

1. You can Preview your assessment by clicking on the Action links icon beside your quiz title and clicking on Preview
2. You can also test out your assessment in Student View. Results of your student test can be seen in the Grade Book, but will not be included in course statistics

Set Release Criteria
You can release your assessment to specific students based a number of different criteria. To do this:

1. Click on the Action links icon beside your quiz title
2. Click on Set Release Criteria
3. Click on the criterion required:
   • Add Data Criteria
   • Add Member Criteria
   • Add Group Criteria
   • Add Grade Book Criteria
4. Fill in the appropriate values for the criterion selected
5. Click on Save

Surveys
Surveys are anonymous online tests, for which no grades are assigned. WebCT anonymises responses to surveys. Although you will be able to see who responds, you won't see names associated with submissions.
To create a survey, follow the procedure outlined above for creating an assessment, clicking on Create Survey rather than Create Assessment in stage 3 of Creating an assessment

Self Tests
Self tests are assessments for which students receive grades and feedback. However, these grades are not recorded in the Grade Book, as self-tests are intended for the benefit of students only, in order to keep them aware and informed of their progress.
To create a self test, follow the procedure outlined above for creating an assessment, clicking on Self Test rather than Create Assessment in stage 3 of Creating an assessment

Possible benefits - You can set up any number of quizzes to help test your students