NOTE.
References to HTML (HyperText Markup Language) apply only to quizzes that
are to be placed on the internet as a webpage. Otherwise most of the
information in this section applies to quizzes placed on a personal computer.
However it will still be a good idea to read this section even if you are
making an HTML internet quiz.
IMPORTANT.
When you make a quiz, the questions you select are written to a new file,
independent from your question list. The good news is that no matter what you
do to your question list, your quiz will remain intact. Also you do not have to
copy your whole question list to another disk to give someone a copy of a quiz,
just copy the quiz. The bad news is that if you correct a question in your
question list, the same question in a quiz will not be corrected.
Differences between quizzes and tests.
Of course the major difference is that a test is printed on paper and a
quiz is taken on the computer.
On a test the multiple choice answers are lettered A), B), C), D), and E). On a quiz, the they are numbered 1), 2), 3), 4), and 5), unless a question has more than nine, if so then letters will be used. This is automatic, you must not make this change in your questions.
On a test, if the multiple choice answers are short enough, and "Print all MC questions vertically." is set to "NO", then they may be printed on one line, ie;
A) 23 B) 6 C) 5 D) 21 E) 1
1) 23 2) 6 3) 5 4) 21 5) 1
FORMATTING A QUIZ.
Before you learn how to set the print parameters see Select Questions to learn how to select the questions to be used in the quiz.
Figure 23 shows you the parameters you can set for making a quiz. To change the parameters press [TAB]. Use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the parameter that you wish to change, press [TAB] to toggle the parameter between "YES" and "NO", or enter the numeric value for the last three.
QUESTION 23 317 QUESTIONS Computer Knowledge Chapter 11 | |
212. In a spacecraft orbiting the Earth, why do objects float in the
air?
A) There is no gravity in space.
B) The moon's gravity cancels that of the Earth.
C) All objects in the spacecraft and the spacecraft itself are
falling around the Earth at the same speed.
D) The gravitational attraction of the walls of the spacecraft
C surrounds the object and is greater than that of the far away
E Earth
0 E) Solar radiation | |
# Selected [ 19]. This question: [ ] has been printed [*] has been selected. | |
NO * Record score on disk. YES * Print out score slip. YES * Print questions in random order. NO - Print MC answers in random order. YES - Print instructions. YES * Review your answers. NO * Show correct answers. NO * Repeat quiz. NO - View wrong answers after quiz end 20 * Time limit/quest.(Sec) 0=No limit 10 * Time limit/quiz (Min) 0=No limit 0 * Use n selected questions. 0 = All |
Make a Quiz 1. Select / Unselect this question. 2. Go to previous selected question. 3. Go to next selected question. 4. Jump to question. 5. Auto select questions in range. 6. View / Write instructions. 7. View questions selected. 8. Search questions. 9. Begin printing. F10. = Function key descriptions. TAB. = Set parameters / ESC. = Quit. |
If all the parameters are locked with an "*" then the quiz taker will not be offered an oportunity to make any changes. If one or more of the parameters are not locked, the quiz taker may change them.
Once you have locked the parameters that you want locked, press [ESC]. You will now be asked if you wish to save these parameters. If you press [Y] they will be written to the disk.
Record score on disk.
If "YES", after a quiz is finished the score, student's answers, and other
data will be written to the disk. To read the score, or make a spreadsheet
readable file, use the "Quiz management" function. See Spread sheet.
Print out score slip.
If "YES", after a quiz is finished a score slip will be printed. See figure
24. The last part of the score slip shows the answers you made to the
questions. Under column (A) is the number of the question in the order it was
asked. Under the (B) column is the original number of the question in the quiz.
For example, if the quiz asks the questions in scrambled order, the first
question asked might be #4, the second question asked could be question #3. See
figure 24.
Ford, Henry History 201 Chap 13 07-28-1991
----------------- ------------------ --------------- ----------------
Student Name Course Test Name Date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You have correctly answered 13 out of 15 questions. Your grade is 87%
========================================================================
Student signature_____________________________________ Class____________
To receive credit for this test you must sign and hand in this slip.
========================================================================
The answers marked with (-) were answered incorrectly.
(A) (B) (C) (A) (B) (C) (A) (B) (C)
1 4 +A
2 3 +Washington
3 5 -ABC.EGF
4 1 -Pluto
5 2 +C
|
In other words, in figure 24, the fifth question you answered was really question 2, and you answered C.
If you chose not to ask the questions in random order, the numbers in column (A) will match those in column (B).
The printed answer to a cross match question will be "unscrambled". If you correctly answered the question DFACBE then the answer on the score sheet will be printed +ABCDEF. Think about it, if the question had not had it's answers scrambled when it was asked then the answer to the first description would be A, the second would be B, the third would be C, etc. If the printed answer is -AB.DEC then the third description was not answered and the sixth description was incorrectly matched with C.
The reason for all this is that if you are scored "incorrect" on a question, and you think that you are correct, you may have the instructor use "Quiz management" to look up the question (or refer to a printout of the quiz) to argue your point.
Here is how you do it. After you complete the quiz, choose to "Review the questions that you answered incorrectly". You will be shown the correct answer and your answer for each incorrectly answered question. If you disagree, write down the question number in the upper left corner of the screen. This number is the one you will find in column (A). The instructor will find the question in the quiz by using the corresponding number in column (B).
Print questions in random order.
Note: this function also applies to HTML quizzes.
If "NO" the questions will be printed in the order that they were selected. If "YES" the graded questions will be printed in a random order, each time the quiz is taken the order will be different. Survey questions are always printed in the order they were selected when the quiz was made. Note: If a quiz contains documents, then after being placed in random order the questions will be grouped together according to the documents they are linked to.
Print MC answers in random order.
Note: this function also applies to HTML quizzes.
If this parameter is "NO" then the multiple choice answers will be printed in the order they were typed. If this parameter is "YES" and the "Scramble A-()" (See Scramble) is set then they will be printed in random order.
Print instructions.
Note: this function also applies to HTML quizzes.
If "YES" then the current instructions will be printed at the beginning of each part of the quiz.
Review your answers.
If "YES" you can use the up and down arrow keys to go back and forth in the
graded portion of the quiz. Note: you can always review survey questions.
Show correct answers.
Note: this function also applies to HTML quizzes.
If "YES" the computer will tell you if you answered a graded question correctly, and if you answered incorrectly it will show you the correct answer. Once you answer a question you cannot change the answer if this parameter is "YES".
Repeat quiz.
If "YES" allows the quiz taker to retake the quiz.
View wrong answers after quiz end.
After the quiz has ended you may wish to review the graded questions that
you answered incorrectly. This is important if you chose not to "Show correct
answers" while taking the quiz, or if the quiz was taken as a test. See "Print
out score."
Time limit/quest.(Sec) 0=No limit.
Applies to graded questions only, survey questions are never timed. If not
0 gives the test taker a time limit to answer each graded question. Enter 1 to
999 seconds. If the limit is 0 then there will be no limit. Note; If you can
"Review your answers" a time limit is pointless, therefore to use a time limit,
"Review your answers" must be "NO". Note; do not use this function if your quiz
includes documents.
Time limit/quiz (Min) 0=No limit.
Applies only to the graded portion of the quiz, survey questions are never
timed. If not 0 gives the quiz taker a time limit for the graded portion of a
quiz. Before the graded portion of a quiz begins the program will show a "Stop"
screen that instructs the quiz taker to wait until told to start. While the
quiz is being taken a combination bar graph/count down clock appears at the
bottom of the screen. The clock counts down in minutes until one minute, when
it counts down in seconds. There is a warning beep at five and one minutes. The
clock continues to run (although the display is not updated) even if the
computer is "paused".
Since each quiz is individually timed it is not necessary for each student to begin at the same time. If a student arrives late she can have her own individually timed quiz.
Print n selected questions. 0 = All.
Note: this function also applies to HTML quizzes.
Applies to the graded questions only, all survey questions are always asked in every quiz. It is possible to not only make quizzes that have the same questions printed in a different order but to also make quizzes that have different questions. To do this select more questions than you want on the quiz. Now set this parameter to the number of questions that you want on the quiz. The program will randomly choose from those questions selected, the number of questions you chose to be asked.
If this parameter is set to 0 then all of the questions selected will be asked in the quiz.
Using a quiz for a test.
If you wish to use a quiz to give an actual test, set the following
parameters;
"Record score on disk" / "Print out score". One or both of these must be
"YES".
"Review your answers" = "YES".
"Show correct answers" = "NO".
"Repeat quiz" = "NO"
All other parameters are your choice. All parameters should be locked with an "*".
MAKING A QUIZ.
After you have selected your questions and set the parameters you may begin
creating the quiz by pressing [9].
You must now choose between making a computer quiz for a personal computer (see next paragraph) or an HTML quiz for an internet web page. (See HTML.)
PERSONAL COMPUTER QUIZ.
From the entry box (see figure 25) you must enter a quiz file name. If you
enter a file name already in use you will be asked if you wish to change it or
overwrite the old file.
Enter quiz file name, use no spaces
or punctuation marks. ........
Enter quiz password. If blank, none
will be required ........
How many student access numbers are
Needed. 0 = not required. ..0
F1 = Change printer mode FIXED 3 60 3
F2 = Calculator mode CALCULATOR
Press [TAB] to write/[ESC] to quit. |
The program will print out from 1 to 999 access numbers. Each access number will allow a student to take the quiz once (assuming "Repeat quiz" is set to "NO"). After use, the access number will be invalid. Access numbers can be restored by "Quiz management".
If a student prints out a score sheet (or is allowed to decide if he wants to print a score sheet) you should set a printer mode. Press [F1] until the printer mode you want appears.
FIXED will set up the quiz to use the current printer set up only. Whatever you currently have set to print top and bottom margin lines and the lines of text will be how the quiz will always print.
STUDENT SETS will use the current printer setup as the default setup for the quiz, however the student will be allowed to change the setup.
Basically, if you know which printer will be used to print out a score sheet, use set FIXED mode. If you don't know, because he will take the quiz at home or another classroom, then use the STUDENT SETS mode.
If the printer setup does not match how the printer actually prints then the pagination will not come out correctly, ie. subsequent score sheets will begin lower and lower (or higher and higher) on the page and eventually each page will have part of one score slip and part of another.
Press [F2] to toggle between CALCULATOR and NO CALCULATOR. If CALCULATOR is set, then your students may access an on screen 5 function calculator (by pressing [F5]) to help them answer your questions. If, however, your questions quiz their ability to do simple math then you may want to set NO CALCULATOR.
DRY RUNS
Now that you have created your quiz, go back to the main menu and choose
"Take a quiz" to TRY IT OUT!
When you last edited your questions you may have changed something and forgot to change something else, or entered something wrong, or (unbelieveable) the program may have made a mistake while compiling. So take the quiz yourself and print out the score sheet and make sure that it is working correctly. If you want to lockout the scoresheet after your dry run you may do so by using "Quiz Management", that way you will not have to recompile the quiz. Also, if your dry run saved the score to disk remember to use "Quiz Management" to erase the score file.
FIRST TIMERS
Before you have your students take a real quiz you may want to have them
take a practice quiz. This will help them familarize themselves with taking a
quiz on a computer in general and using this software in particular. Since the
scores from the practice quiz would not be recorded in your records the
students would be allowed to talk, ask questions and ask for help.
Tell your students about "answer reduction" in fill in the blank questions,
reading footnotes, looking for [F3] to display graphics or [F4] to display
documents. Be as realistic as possible. If your regular quizzes will ask for a
password, access number, or ask survey questions or have a time limit, then so
too should your practice quiz. However the questions in a practice quiz do not
have to have any basis in reality. Write some goofy questions and let your
students have a laugh or two.
A short list of what this function will do is that it will make an internet quiz page in the form of a "form" that a student may fill out either by clicking on options or typing in text. It will print out a list of all the files that will comprise your quiz, every one of the files listed must be uploaded to your webpage. It will optionally print out a correct answer list if you wish to manually score quizzes e-mailed to you. It will create a correct answer computer file that can be used by a gateway text (that YOU provide) to grade quizzes. (In the future I will be writing a new program that will use the correct answer file to grade quizzes that have been e-mailed to you.)
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A PERSONAL COMPUTER QUIZ AND AN HTML QUIZ.
A computer quiz made by "Harris Test" can be taken on a stand alone personal
computer or (with varing degrees of success) a local area network (LAN). This
means that the people taking the quiz must all take it on the same computer or
on several computers and the data manually collected on disk, or if on a LAN
they must all be in the same building. However if you place your quiz on the
internet then the location of the people taking your quiz is only limited by
the fact that they must be on the Earth as interplanetary internet connections
are not currently available.
A computer quiz can use all the resources of your computer. An internet HTML quiz is limited by the state of the art of the HTML programming language, this means that many of the functions of a computer quiz cannot be implemented or will be slightly different.
A. Record scores on disk.
B. Print out score slip.
On an HTML quiz the scores can either be e-mailed to you or sent to a
gateway script that YOU provide.
C. Print questions in random order.
D. Print MC answers in random order.
On an HTML quiz this program can place either the questions or multiple
choice answers (or both) in random order. However only one webpage will be
created and all students will take the quiz in whatever order was produced for
that page.
E. Print instructions.
Same as computer quiz.
F. Review your answers.
On an HTML quiz there is no way to block a student from going back and
changing an answer.
G. Show correct answers.
On an HTML quiz the student's answers can only be processed after the quiz
is finished, therefore there is no way to score answers while the quiz is being
taken.
However, if this parameter is set to YES then the correct answers (except essay) will be printed at the end of the webpage. After answering the questions a student may go to the end of the page to see if his answers were correct.
H. Repeat quiz.
There is no way to stop a student from re-accessing a web page.
I. View wrong answer after quiz end.
If you are providing a gateway script to score your quizzes you may want to
add this feature to it.
J. Time limit / question.
K. Time limit / quiz.
An HTML quiz cannot have time limits.
L. Use n selected questions.
This is supported in HTML quizzes, however as with "random order" (see
above) only one quiz page will be produced.
M. Calculator.
No on screen calulator in an HTML quiz.
N. Password.
O. Access number.
Not supported on an HTML quiz.
P. Survey / Graded questions.
Same as computer quiz.
QUIZ HEADER
From the entry screen (see figure 26) you may enter a five line header for
your HTML quiz. The lines will be printed in this order...
Headers are always centered horizontally on the web page.
Date Quiz file Answer file HTML file Graphic .EXT 05-23-00 TRIVIA.. LESSON4.ANS LESSON4.HTM .BMP Screen Color LIGHBLUE....... Text Color BLACK............... School / Oganization name AMUNDSEN HIGH SCHOOL........................................ Instructor's name A. LINCOLN.................................................. Course CHEMISTRY 204............................................... Document name NOBEL GASSES................................................ Action HTTP://PAGES.PRODIGY.NET/CGI-SEARCH/MAILTO.................. Hidden 1 v Value v Name=TO............................. HTTP://DALEHARRIS@PRODIGY.NET............................... Hidden 2 v Value v Name=NEXTURL........................ TRANSMIT.HTM................................................ Instructions for graded questions (Press [F6] to toggle) Answer these questions to the best of your ability. When don e press the "Transmit" button at the end of the test........ ............................................................ ............................................................ |
GRAPHICS
This program will always look for .GIF and .JPG graphic file names in your
questions and documents to link them to your HTML internet quiz. You may also
specify one additional graphic format by entering the file's extension in the
upper right corner of the entry screen.
ACTION / DESTINATION.
From the entry screen (see figure 26) you must fill in an ACTION line that
tells the server (the computer that controls your website) how to process the
form (your quiz) and you may also fill in two HIDDEN lines to further process
your form.
This program will use the ACTION line to generate the code in the first line of figure 27. HIDDEN1 and HIDDEN2 will generate the code in the second line of figure 27.
[FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="[your input]"] [INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="[your input]" VALUE="[your input]"] |
[FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="http://pages.prodigy.net/cgi-search/mailto"]
[INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="to" VALUE="http://daleharris@prodigy.net"]
[INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="nexturl" VALUE="transmit.htm"] |
To find out what YOU need to enter into these lines to accomplish what you want to do, contact your internet provider, read his manual, or contact some other users on your system.
If you do not enter text into the ACTION or either of the HIDDEN lines then that line will be ommited. If the form of the line is improper or [your input] is longer than what can be entered into the entry screen field then you will have to manually enter the proper code after the page has been written using your HTML editing software or word processing program.
GRADING YOUR HTML QUIZZES
Currently the only way that is provided to grade your quizzes is that if
they are e-mailed to you, you may use the answer sheet that was printed when
the quiz was created to manually grade each quiz.
E-MAIL GRADER
I am currently working on software that will automatically grade quizzes
that have been e-mailed to you. It will grade multiple quizzes for multiple
courses for multiple instructors. Please call, write, or e-mail for the
availability of this software.
GATEWAY SCRIPTS
The very best way to grade your HTML quizzes is to use a gateway script. A
gateway script is a program that resides on your network provider's server
(computer). A gateway script will receive your student's quizzes, grade them,
record the score data for you, give the student his score, and do it all in
real time, ie. NOW.
Great, how do you get one? Well, that's the sticky part. First you must determine if your internet provider allows user's gateway scripts on his system. If so you must either write it yourself or find someone to do it for you. Why you lazy bum, you say, why won't you do it. I do not know what type of computer your internet provider has, I do not know what software he is using to provide internet access, and I do not how his drives are organized, therefore cannot write a gateway script for you. The best I can do is to describe what a gateway script should do and then hope that you can produce one.
First you must make several quizzes and place them on your webpage, make sure that your quizzes use as many question types and functions as possible. Now take each quiz several times and have them run through your provider's CGI parser and e-mailed to you. Study the resulting e-mail and learn how the output is formatted. Now do the same thing for the correct answer file that was created when your HTML quiz file was created. After studing them for a while it should become clear how the correct answer file can be used to grade the e-mail.
Now it is time to program your gateway script. It should do the following. When it receives the output from a quiz it should first find, open, and read the proper correct answer file. Now it must compare the answers in the file to the answers in the quiz output and score the quiz. Optionally it may now display an "exit" webpage to the student telling him that his quiz has been received and graded and it may also report his score. The gateway script must now create a file (or add to an existing file) for the instructor reporting the quiz results. This report file must be in a usable format depending on how the quiz results will be retreived by the instructor. If he will access the results as a word processing file then the results must be recorded in that format. If he wants the results in a spreadsheet then the scores must be saved in that format.
It is important to write the gateway script in such a way that you only have to write it once. You want it to be able to receive any quiz and then load the proper correct answer file. Using the data in the quiz and answer file it must be able to grade the quiz and then route all the results to the correct files or people. It must be able to do this for all current and all possible future HTML quizzes.
Note: Don't forget "answer reduction" for fill in the blank answers.