Creating and Managing Exams
The first step to using the exam module is to create questions or to create an exam. You can create questions while creating an exam, but if you have a large number of existing questions to import, it may be more efficient to import all questions and then create an exam. For more information on importing questions, please see the Exams>Importing Exam Questions help section.
Before you can create an exam, you should first create folders in which to store exams.
How to manage exam folders
Only users with Admin roles can create exam folders. This is by design to limit the duplication of folders and promote consistent methods in storing exams. Note that non- Admin users will be able to add exams to existing folders.
Navigate to Admin>Manage Exams and click 'Exams' from the left sidebar.
If a new folder is needed, click 'Add Folder'.
Complete the required information, noting the following:
Click 'Select Parent Folder' if you want to create a subfolder within an existing folder. The permission settings of the subfolder will automatically match the permission settings of the parent folder. Click on the desired parent folder and click 'Move'. Folder Text: Provide the folder title here. This will display when you click 'Exams' and see a list of folders. Folder Description: You will only see this if you open the folder to edit it. Folder Color: The system requires you to select a colour.
Click 'Save' to create the folder.
To copy, delete, edit and manage folder authors, or move a folder, click the gear icon to the right of the folder name. You will only have the ability to do this if you created the folder or are listed as a folder author.
To add permission for other users to access a folder, select the user type (individual, organisation, or course), begin to type in a name into the search field, and click on the name you want. The selected user will appear in a list below. To remove a permission, click the red x beside a name. If you make a folder accessible to an organisation, anyone in that organisation with access to the Exam module will be able to access the folder. If you make a folder accessible to a course, anyone listed in the course contacts section of the course setup page will be able to access the folder.
Hide the list of exam folders by clicking on the eye icon beside the Add Folder button.
Click on a folder to view its subfolders.
How to create an exam
Navigate to Admin>Manage Exams.
Click on ‘Exams’ from the left sidebar Manage Exams section.
Click ‘Add Exam’ to create a new exam.
Provide an Exam Name, select a folder and click ‘Add Exam’.
You will be directed to the exam question page where you can add questions to the exam.
If you'd like to add permissions to the newly created exam, you can do so under the Information and Settings tab for the exam. Note that an exam will automatically inherit the permission settings of the folder in which it is stored.
How to add questions to an exam
After creating an exam, you'll automatically be redirected to the Questions tab. If you've navigated away from Questions, click on the Questions tab to return.
To add existing questions, click 'Add Individual Question(s)'.
Adjust the question folder settings as desired. You can quickly select all questions within a folder by clicking the checkbox between the eye icon and the Actions dropdown menu. Note that the Advanced Search function is also available to help you locate desired questions.
Choose questions to add to the exam by clicking the checkbox beside each desired question and then clicking 'Attach Selected'. You should see the questions you chose show up in a list beneath the Exam Questions header. Also note that the Exam Data tracker in the bottom corner of the screen will reflect the total questions and points.
To create a new question while creating an exam, click 'Add Individual Question(s)', then click the down arrow beside 'Attach Selected' and choose 'Add and Attach New Question'.
Create your question (see instructions for creating questions in another section) and save it. This will add the new question to the exam and create a new entry in the Questions folders.
How to add existing grouped questions to an exam
When working in the exam module as with an admin role or pcoor role you will be able to add an individual question that is part of a Grouped Q and then replace that question with the entire group.
You can identify a question that is part of a Grouped Q because it will have the small chain or link icon at the far right.
There are two ways to add a Grouped Q to an exam.
Click on the chain icon from the screen you see above and you'll be prompted to add the grouped item to the exam. If a question is part of two different groups you'll be able to preview the questions in each group and select the one you want.
Click on the checkbox beside an individual question to add it to the exam as you normally would. After that individual question has been added to the exam, click on the chain icon and you will be prompted to either click the group title to view additional questions in the group, or click 'Replace with Group' to substitute the full group of questions for the single question already added.
Once a Grouped Q has been added to an exam remember that the questions will appear with a blue border around them.
How to add free text or a page break to an exam
You can add free text space to an exam to provide instructions or additional details.
You can add a page break to an exam and when you create the exam post you'll have choices about how to display questions. One of the display options relies on page breaks.
To add either option, click on the down arrow beside the ‘Add Individual Question(s)’ button.
Select the item you want to add by clicking on it.
Note that any text entered into a free text space must be saved by clicking the Save button withinthe free text card. Find the Save button in the top right of the free text item beside the eye icon.
How to manage questions on an exam (group, reorder, delete and versioning)
When creating an exam, you can group questions which will always keep the items in the group together, even if the question order is randomized. (Note that you can also create Groups Qs when creating questions if you have admin role permissions. Any user can add a previously created grouped question to an exam.)
To create a grouped question from an exam, click the checkbox beside each question you wish to include in the group, and then click on 'Question Actions'. Select 'Group Questions' and provide a group name when prompted and click 'Save'. Note that you can click an additional button in the popup window to add the selected questions to an existing question group. If you choose to do so, select the existing group from the dropdown menu and then click 'Save'. The questions you group together need to be stored in the same folder to successfully group them on the exam.
On an Exam Question page, grouped items will appear together with a blue border. Grouped questions will remain together, and in order, when an exam is posted, even if the other exam questions are randomized.
There are two ways to reorder questions on an exam. In the list view of questions you can also type in the desired question order in the second column, then click ‘Reorder’ to save your choices. In the card view of questions, click on the crossed arrows beside each question to drag and drop it to the desired location. Remember you will have the option to randomize the order of questions when an exam is delivered.
To delete questions from an exam before it has been posted, click the checkbox beside each question you wish to delete and then click on 'Question Actions'. Select 'Delete Questions' and the question(s) will be removed from the list.
Note that you'll have a blue message bar alerting you to whether any questions have been updated and has new versions available. You can choose to Update All questions or look at individual questions via the table or list view and see which have their forward back arrow icon blue. If it is blue it means you are not using the most recent version of a question. Click on the forward back arrow for any question to change which question version you want to use on this exam.
Also note that when viewing a list of exam questions the options available will depend on the question permissions. Not every user will be able to edit every question. Users should be able to see a preview of the question, view any linked questions (e.g., those in a group), move questions and view versions if applicable.
How to copy an existing exam
After an exam is posted and taken by learners it cannot be edited so copying it will be necessary if you want to edit and reuse the exam.
Navigate to Admin>Manage Exams.
Click on ‘Exams’ from the left sidebar Manage Exams section.
Search for and click on the name of the exam you want to copy.
Click on 'Exam Actions' and select Copy Exam.
Confirm your choice by clicking 'Copy'.
Adjust the exam questions as needed.
Click on the Information and Settings tab to adjust the exam title as desired.
How to preview, print, and export a Word version of an exam
Navigate to Admin>Manage Exams.
Click on ‘Exams’ from the left sidebar Manage Exams section.
Search for and click on the name of the exam you want to preview, print, or export.
Click on 'Exam Actions' and select the appropriate action.
If you are previewing the exam you can choose to enable the calculator or self-timer to mimic the learner view.
If you are printing the exam you can customize which fields you include in the printout. Use the selector menu in the left sidebar to select what you want to include and set some other parameters and then click 'Print'.
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