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How do I build a test in WebCT?

Again, there are a number of ways to do this. WebCT has two testing systems. There is a "self quiz" system that goes with each page of study guide that can handle only multiple choice questions and give immediate feedback to the student and the instructor never knows anything about the results. To set up a self quiz click on the "Questions" button at the bottom of the developer page while your in the page or location where you want the quiz to appear. You can then click on "new question" to add a question or two or click on "upload" if you have a whole file of questions that you want to upload.

To upload a file you need to create a text (.txt) file in a particular format and then upload it into the WebCT file manager. The format of this file is fairly simple; it needs to look something like this:

:TYPE:MC
:QUESTION
A ____________ is a systematic way to organize and explain observations.
:ANSWER1:0
hypothesis
:REASON1
This is a tentative belief about the relationship between one or more variables
:ANSWER2:0
paradigm
:REASON2
This is broad set of theoretical assumptions that a scientific community uses to make sense of a domain of experience.
:ANSWER3:100
theory
:REASON3
This is the correct answer
:ANSWER4:0
model
:REASON4
A model is a component of a paradigm

Note there is a line to tell it what type of question it is, a question line, an answer line (the 0 indicates a wrong answer a 100 the correct answer) and a reason. You could also imbed pointers in the reasons if you wanted a student to have the option of going directly to a lesson, diagram or other material for review.

The second type of testing system in WebCT is designed for giving tests for marks, though I also use it to provide practice tests as well. This is accessed from the front page by clicking on the test or quiz icon.

When you set up your WebCT course you must have allowed for this function other wise you will have to add it. This is a much more sophisticated system that allows for multiple choice, short answer, matching, calculations, diagrams and essay questions. Again you may enter one question at a time or upload a whole file of questions. Wiley has provided a set of ten self test questions and the complete set of test bank question for each chapter with its WebCT material. Be careful here, stay very organized when working with tests and test banks. If you don't label questions, and files in a way that you will understand a month from now or if you try to put all types of questions in one file you will drive yourself crazy trying to find things. The WebCT test bank is arranged by chapter and each question is title with the number that corresponds to the number in the printed test bank and each question has a title that indicates the level of difficulty and topic. The test bank format looks like this:

:TYPE:MC
:CAT:CH11
:TITLE:11-1 Topic- Emotion Difficulty- Medium Type- Factual
:QUESTION____________ is an evaluative response that typically includes some combination of physiological arousal, subjective experience, and behavioral or emotional expression.
:ANSWER1:0
Reasoning
:ANSWER2:0
Rationalization
:ANSWER3:100
Affect
:ANSWER4:0
Interpretation

Again, you could provide reasons for each answer and pointers from reasons to relevant information.

I notice that there is a "feedback" section to test questions. What types of things can I put in the feedback?

"Feedback" can be very useful in responses to tests. The simplest thing you can include is a brief explanation of why the question is correct or in correct. However, you can also include pointers to various lessons, audio of video clips and instructional material you want that will help a student learn the material. To do this it helps to know a bit of html because this is the easiest way to point to other parts of the course or the Internet from an internal WebCT file. The code is fairly simple
< a href="http://www.somewhere">What you want to call it < /a>
but a little bit of "html" wouldn't hurt. There are a vast number of websites and books to introduce you to the joys of html. There is a way around this if you are using an html editor like MS FrontPage. Go into FrontPage and create the link you want. Then just copy it and paste it into your WebCT page.

I know I can give exams over WebCT, but how do I ensure that they are the ones taking the exam and not some graduate student or paid test taker.

Well, this is a difficult one. How do we know that any of the work a student hands in is their work. It seems like every semester a student informs me about a new on-line source of pre-written research papers in psychology and many other subjects, some that are for sale and some that are free. Basically we have to trust our students unless we have reason to believe otherwise. We can usually, feel assured, however that the final test is that a student has to take a test in person. With tests given at a distance you generally do have to make some arrangements for monitoring the test. I often monitor tests given by other colleges and universities in Canada and ask the same of instructors at other institutions. I have had students take tests at home under the supervision of a parent and at work under the supervision of a supervisor. In all these cases I have had telephone discussions with the monitor before the test. WebCT has a password and timing system that allows you to release a test at a particular time, to a particular student or group of students and only with a give password.

I already have a favorite set of questions or a test bank that I like to use. Can I incorporate these into the WebCT system?

Yes, that's entirely possible. However, the set of questions you have must be reformatted to fit the WebCT format (see above). When I convert test banks from their regular format I write a series of macros in Word 97 that perform the various stages and get most of the elements in the correct order. This is very important, stick to the prescribed order of elements rigidly. You can then upload your items into an existing WebCT file or create a new file to hold your unique questions.

Can I have WebCT give different versions of the test to either a group of students or to the same student for a second try at a given test?

You can format the testing system so that it draws randomly from a set of test questions. In the test creation section there is a button labeled "add alternates." This allows you to have any number of possible questions to choose from for any given item in a test.

What is the difference between a "survey" and a "test" in the WebCT test section?

"Tests" are designed to be given to students, marked, recorded, and looked at by the instructor. "Surveys" are designed to be taken by students, but are recorded in such a way that the instructor may see who has answered the survey, but not what they have answered. You can then use the survey function to do a course evaluation and promise your students that you won't know who answered what. When you go into the testing facility at the bottom of the page there are two different buttons, one says "Add Test" the other "Add Survey." There are other differences in that you can set specific times and passwords for tests, and not for surveys.

What kind of statistics can I see with regard to test scores?

WebCT keeps a host of statistics on students, tests and individual test items. After you have given a test go back to the test page and click on the "Quiz Info" for that test. Click on the "Update Statistics" and you will see an item analysis of the questions in that test.

Can I give practice tests from within the testing system?

Yes, I generally set up practice tests within the testing function for each chapter. Sometimes I use only multiple choice tests, in which case the test is automatically scored and students can view their results as soon as they finish. I sometimes include diagrams and essay questions to give students a sense of these types of questions and then I have to mark these questions before they can see their results. WebCT sees these as tests and records the results, but simply set up the database so these scores are not included in the student's course average.

Can all the students see all the marks or just their own?

This depends on how you choose to post your marks. If you are using the WebCT student database, then you can see the marks of all the students but when they go into the system it only displays the marks and records of the individual who is logged in. If, on the other hand, you have chosen to post an Excel html file with marks on it, then all the students will see whatever you included in it.

	How do I build a test in WebCT?
	Again, there are a number of ways to do this. WebCT has two testing systems. There is a "self quiz" system that goes with each page of study guide that can handle only multiple choice questions and give immediate feedback to the student and the instructor never knows anything about the results. To set up a self quiz click on the "Questions" button at the bottom of the developer page while your in the page or location where you want the quiz to appear. You can then click on "new question" to add a question or two or click on "upload" if you have a whole file of questions that you want to upload. To upload a file you need to create a text (.txt) file in a particular format and then upload it into the WebCT file manager. The format of this file is fairly simple; it needs to look something like this: :TYPE:MC :QUESTION A ____________ is a systematic way to organize and explain observations. :ANSWER1:0 hypothesis :REASON1 This is a tentative belief about the relationship between one or more variables :ANSWER2:0 paradigm :REASON2 This is broad set of theoretical assumptions that a scientific community uses to make sense of a domain of experience. :ANSWER3:100 theory :REASON3 This is the correct answer :ANSWER4:0 model :REASON4 A model is a component of a paradigm Note there is a line to tell it what type of question it is, a question line, an answer line (the 0 indicates a wrong answer a 100 the correct answer) and a reason. You could also imbed pointers in the reasons if you wanted a student to have the option of going directly to a lesson, diagram or other material for review. The second type of testing system in WebCT is designed for giving tests for marks, though I also use it to provide practice tests as well. This is accessed from the front page by clicking on the test or quiz icon. When you set up your WebCT course you must have allowed for this function other wise you will have to add it. This is a much more sophisticated system that allows for multiple choice, short answer, matching, calculations, diagrams and essay questions. Again you may enter one question at a time or upload a whole file of questions. Wiley has provided a set of ten self test questions and the complete set of test bank question for each chapter with its WebCT material. Be careful here, stay very organized when working with tests and test banks. If you don't label questions, and files in a way that you will understand a month from now or if you try to put all types of questions in one file you will drive yourself crazy trying to find things. The WebCT test bank is arranged by chapter and each question is title with the number that corresponds to the number in the printed test bank and each question has a title that indicates the level of difficulty and topic. The test bank format looks like this: :TYPE:MC :CAT:CH11 :TITLE:11-1 Topic- Emotion Difficulty- Medium Type- Factual :QUESTION____________ is an evaluative response that typically includes some combination of physiological arousal, subjective experience, and behavioral or emotional expression. :ANSWER1:0 Reasoning :ANSWER2:0 Rationalization :ANSWER3:100 Affect :ANSWER4:0 Interpretation Again, you could provide reasons for each answer and pointers from reasons to relevant information.

	I notice that there is a "feedback" section to test questions. What types of things can I put in the feedback?
	"Feedback" can be very useful in responses to tests. The simplest thing you can include is a brief explanation of why the question is correct or in correct. However, you can also include pointers to various lessons, audio of video clips and instructional material you want that will help a student learn the material. To do this it helps to know a bit of html because this is the easiest way to point to other parts of the course or the Internet from an internal WebCT file. The code is fairly simple < a href="http://www.somewhere">What you want to call it < /a> but a little bit of "html" wouldn't hurt. There are a vast number of websites and books to introduce you to the joys of html. There is a way around this if you are using an html editor like MS FrontPage. Go into FrontPage and create the link you want. Then just copy it and paste it into your WebCT page.

	I know I can give exams over WebCT, but how do I ensure that they are the ones taking the exam and not some graduate student or paid test taker.
	Well, this is a difficult one. How do we know that any of the work a student hands in is their work. It seems like every semester a student informs me about a new on-line source of pre-written research papers in psychology and many other subjects, some that are for sale and some that are free. Basically we have to trust our students unless we have reason to believe otherwise. We can usually, feel assured, however that the final test is that a student has to take a test in person. With tests given at a distance you generally do have to make some arrangements for monitoring the test. I often monitor tests given by other colleges and universities in Canada and ask the same of instructors at other institutions. I have had students take tests at home under the supervision of a parent and at work under the supervision of a supervisor. In all these cases I have had telephone discussions with the monitor before the test. WebCT has a password and timing system that allows you to release a test at a particular time, to a particular student or group of students and only with a give password.

	I already have a favorite set of questions or a test bank that I like to use. Can I incorporate these into the WebCT system?
	Yes, that's entirely possible. However, the set of questions you have must be reformatted to fit the WebCT format (see above). When I convert test banks from their regular format I write a series of macros in Word 97 that perform the various stages and get most of the elements in the correct order. This is very important, stick to the prescribed order of elements rigidly. You can then upload your items into an existing WebCT file or create a new file to hold your unique questions.

	Can I have WebCT give different versions of the test to either a group of students or to the same student for a second try at a given test?
	You can format the testing system so that it draws randomly from a set of test questions. In the test creation section there is a button labeled "add alternates." This allows you to have any number of possible questions to choose from for any given item in a test.

	What is the difference between a "survey" and a "test" in the WebCT test section?
	"Tests" are designed to be given to students, marked, recorded, and looked at by the instructor. "Surveys" are designed to be taken by students, but are recorded in such a way that the instructor may see who has answered the survey, but not what they have answered. You can then use the survey function to do a course evaluation and promise your students that you won't know who answered what. When you go into the testing facility at the bottom of the page there are two different buttons, one says "Add Test" the other "Add Survey." There are other differences in that you can set specific times and passwords for tests, and not for surveys.

	What kind of statistics can I see with regard to test scores?
	WebCT keeps a host of statistics on students, tests and individual test items. After you have given a test go back to the test page and click on the "Quiz Info" for that test. Click on the "Update Statistics" and you will see an item analysis of the questions in that test.

	Can I give practice tests from within the testing system?
	Yes, I generally set up practice tests within the testing function for each chapter. Sometimes I use only multiple choice tests, in which case the test is automatically scored and students can view their results as soon as they finish. I sometimes include diagrams and essay questions to give students a sense of these types of questions and then I have to mark these questions before they can see their results. WebCT sees these as tests and records the results, but simply set up the database so these scores are not included in the student's course average.

	Can all the students see all the marks or just their own?
	This depends on how you choose to post your marks. If you are using the WebCT student database, then you can see the marks of all the students but when they go into the system it only displays the marks and records of the individual who is logged in. If, on the other hand, you have chosen to post an Excel html file with marks on it, then all the students will see whatever you included in it.