Create a test (🎥with video)

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Steps to creating a new test

Step 1: Source

Step 2: Select exercises

Step 3: Language

Step 4: Date & time

Step 5: Name

Step 6: Settings

Where can you find your test?

Two ways of creating a test

There are two ways for teachers to schedule a test. The first is via clicking on the '+' icon next to "Tests" on the home page.

The second method is via the "Teacher" environment. Go to the "Teacher" tab, and then to Tests. You can select the correct class using a drop-down menu in the top-right of the screen.

Steps to creating a new test

Click on the "New test" button to start scheduling a test.

Step 1: Source

Tests can be created from multiple sources. As a source, you can choose:

Test: Users with an author account can create a package of exercises of type test. They can link this to a chapter. Only classes that use this chapter can schedule this test. This is useful for larger institutions with a centralized content creation team. 
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Exam: Users with an author account can create a package of exercises of type exam. They can link this to one or more classes that can then schedule this exam. This is useful for larger institutions with a centralized content creation team.
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Course material: This source allows you to pick your own exercises for the test from the course material. You do not need to have an author account for this. 
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For this article, we will be showing how to create a test from course materials.

Step 2: Select exercises

Adding exercises

You can select exercises, or entire packages of exercises, on the left side of the screen. You will see them get added to your test on the right side of the screen.

Open up a chapter, subchapter, or a package, by clicking on the plus symbol next to its name.

Preview the exercise by clicking on the magnifying glass next to it.

Sections

On the right column, you can create and manage sections. Click on the text "Section 1" to rename it.

You can use sections to divide your exam into different parts. Perhaps you want to create different sections for different topics. After submitting the test, the student can see their score per section as well. This can also be disabled in the test settings with the option "View results by section".

If you are working with multiple sections, you can select the one where you want the exercises to be added.

Once the exercises are added to sections, you can rearrange them with a drag-and-drop function.

Click on the Filter symbol to choose how many exercises from the section will be pulled for the test. This allows you to create a larger pool of exercises of which each student will only receive a limited number on their version of the exam.

Click on the arrow to shuffle the order of exercises. Students will get this section in a different order.

Click on the trash can to delete the whole section. 
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To preview an exercise, click on the arrow in the upper right corner of the exercise.
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To assign different points to exercises, choose a number in the field "Points".

Checks

You can enable checks by clicking on the "Show checks" button above the sections.

If an exercise allows a check, students will be able to check that exercise before submitting it. You can decide how many checks they will have under test Settings. For more information, please visit the article here.

Step 3: Language

In this step, you can choose the language in which the test can be taken. If the user has a profile language that is not selected here, then the questions in the test will be displayed in the default language.

Step 4: Date & time settings

After you are done selecting the exercises the exam should consist of, you can click the 'next' button to continue. On the next screen, you can choose:
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​Start from- this is the moment when the test will become visible on the home page. Students can start the test from this moment. 
​Start before- at this moment the test won't be visible on the home page anymore. Students won't be able to start the test after this point.

Deadline (optional)- this is the set moment when all the tests will be submitted, no matter when they were started. Important: the tests will only be submitted if the student has the test window still open. If the student leaves the window (closes the browser) before submitting the test, the test will keep running even after the deadline.

The "Start from" and "Start before" times determine the period in which the test can be started. The test can still be submitted after the end time; if so, it will appear highlighted in red in the results list. To choose how long the test will last, go to Test Settings and then Scheduling, Duration in minutes.

You can also change the timezone, if relevant. When you have selected a time, click the 'Next' button to continue.

What happens if the deadline/test duration is reached while a student is still doing the test?

The test will be submitted.

What happens if the student clicks away and exits the browser before the end time is reached?

The test will keep running. Students have to click the "Submit" button if they want to leave the browser before the end time is reached.

Step 5: Name

On this screen, you can give your test a name (this is a mandatory step), and write an instruction your students will get to see before, during and/or after the test. You can write several messages for after the test, depending on the student's score.

It's also possible to make it mandatory for the students to confirm they have read the test instructions (read more about this setting here).

Step 6: Settings

The last step is changing the settings of your created test. You can hover your mouse cursor over the grey ‘i’ icons to learn more about what the settings mean. When you’re done, you can click the ‘save’ button to save your test! You will automatically go back to the test overview screen, where you will find your newly created test.

​The test is available to the students- make sure to make the test available, otherwise, it won't be shown on the home page, even if the "Start from" time is reached.

​Practice mode- if you choose practice mode, your students will be able to check their test before submitting. Make sure this is set to "test mode" (which is the default) if you don't want your students to check their work before submitting it.

Students can upload files during the test- this feature allows your students to upload files (usually photos of their work) into the test. If you enable this setting with "Students are allowed to use an external devise to upload a file" they will be able to scan a bar code with their phones and upload their files into their test. Please see the article here for more information.

Students can use Text-to-Speech support- make this feature available for your students who need the support. More information on this feature can be found here.

During the test, the course is available- if you make the course available, your students will be able to pause the test. In case of formal testing, you might want to set this to "course unavailable". See the article here for more information.

The test runs in fullscreen mode- this option will disable some other test features (file upload and the course will be unavailable), so keep this in mind when activating it.

Where can you find your test?

In the test overview, you can click on the name of the test to edit the general settings.

You can now see your scheduled test on the home screen under "Tests". This is also how your students in the class see it!

Next to the general test settings, you can set up exceptions for some students. Read the article here to learn how to do this.

Watch "Sowiso Webinar: Tests" here: