Setup an exam for a student
Because the course is somewhat self-paced, any student might be ready for an exam at any time.
It’s nice when students use the “Exam Request” link on the course menu because you can set up the exam in advance and optionally calculate what score is needed to pass. But you can also set up an exam on demand.
Whatever the circumstances, here’s how to setup an exam.
A. GETTING STARTED
1)Make sure the student has passed the previous module
Don’t allow a student to test in Chapter 8 if he hasn’t successfully completed Chapter 7 yet, for instance. It’s okay to work on the next module for variety and wait a little while before re-attempting a failed exam. But if you permit modules to completed out-of-order there are bad consequences:
- Students will abandon “hard” modules in search of “easy” ones.
- Record keeping is more complicated.
- Some situations can arise that aren’t anticipated in the Syllabus.
So keep it simple and rigid. If you want to take the Module 8 Exam, you must have completed Module 7 with a passing grade already.
2)Go to the MML Gradebook for the module
Make sure you select the right module from the dropdown list at the top of the Gradebook page.
3)Click on the student’s name
All students registered in the module are listed. Click on the student for whom you are setting up the exam.
(and names are listed below –you won’t need to click the A-E, F-J, etc. index links)
4)Filter the list to show Tests only
The list includes all the homework and quizzes. You only want to see the Test history.
5)How many times has the Test been taken already?
Count them and see. In this example, the student has not taken the test at all. You see there’s one test listed but no score or date.
But in this example, the student has already taken the test once. Her next attempt will be her second.
6)In the dropdown list, select “Settings Per Student” and click “Go”
7)What’s next – it depends on whether it’s a First Attempt or a Retest
There are slight differences. We illustrate each case separately.
B.SETTING UP A FIRST-TIME TEST
If the student is taking the exam for the first time, here’s how to set it up.
1)Change default settings
2)It should look like this when you’re done
C. SETTING UP A RETEST
1)Observe the old settings from the previous attempt
Make sure the number of results in the Gradebook matches the number of attempts allowed up to this point. If you set this number of attempts too high, it opens a window for the student to get a “free” attempt at a time and place of her own choosing! This could happen if the student requests the same test more than once without using an earlier request. Be alert for this possibility and don’t let it happen.
2)Change the Password and increment the number of attempts.
D. “What do I need to pass?”
This is optional but easy to do if you have enough time.
1)Click “Show details”
It’s at the top of the page, just under the student’s overall grade.
2)Note the student’s grades so far
You need the overall Homework category average and the overall Quiz category average.
On the paper Exam Request form, you can write these scores in the boxes provided. Later, after all exam requests are done (that is, the passwords are set), you can go back through the papers and calculate what’s needed to pass. (Note that only Homework and Quizzes count now; the picture below was back from the days when we counted an “Other” category.)
3)Back to gradebook
Click the link at the top to go back to the Gradebook page with the list of students when you’re done copying the current grades for this one student.
4)“What do I need to pass?”
Then later you can click the “What do I need to pass?” link at the top of . Just choose the appropriate module and fill in the Homework and Quiz averages. The web page knows what the passing level is and how many questions there are. The results can be written in on the form. It’s not necessary but it’s a nice service for the student and it’s a reward for having scheduled an exam in advance.
If you’re setting up two or three or more exams at one time, it seems easier to assign all the passwords first, recording current homework and quiz averages as you go. Then after that go back through the stack and complete the Need-To-Pass boxes.
E) Where do passwords come from?
1)The tiny print link in the e-mail for “staff copy” gives you an Exam Request form that has a password filled in. It doesn’t matter if the student clicks that link. The password is regenerated each time the page is viewed so only you see the password that you will set.
2)Alternative: If you go to and click the picture that talks about “Open in New Tab”. It will generate a random four-digit password. There’s no explicit link displayed for this. It’s just a hidden feature and that picture seemed like a convenient place in which to hide it.
3)Or you can just make up your own passwords. For a quick on-demand exam, I usually set some simple password like “111”.
F) If a Work Study student serves as an exam administrator
If you have a Work Study student (or whomever) who will set up exams,
- He/She must enroll in your Course Compass course as a student, first. (And this requires a Course Compass account. At this writing, it’s uncertain how we’ll handle this. Possibly we can get a free instructor access from Pearson, as all teaching faculty have. Or maybe we scrounge up unused half-year subscriptions from students who don’t need their Course Compass passwords any more.
- Go into the Control Panel in Course Compass for each of your modules.
- Click “List/Modify Users”.
- Find the assistant on the roster.
- Give him/her SEC INSTR access to the course – checkmark the box.
- Click the “Submit” button. It might take a few minutes for the change to become effective.
And then the Work Study student has the power to set exam passwords, and probably do a lot more, too.
ExamSetup.docx 4/20/2011 5:05 PM