Understanding Sakai@UD Tests &
Quizzes
July 2008
Information
Technologies
1
Introduction
This document is intended to provide a basic understanding of the Tests &
Quizzes Tool in Sakai@UD. It does not include step-by-step instructions for any
particular task you might wish to accomplish using the tool. However, the
information presented on this page is in many ways more important than the
step-by-step details. After reading this overview, please consult the Sakai Help
for task-specific instructions.
Overview
The Sakai Tests & Quizzes Tool can be used to create a variety of assessment
types, including Self-Tests, Surveys, and Evaluations. The differences between
assessment types is controlled by changing the Settings for the Assessment.
Assessments created or imported into Sakai initially appear under the heading
Core Assessments. Core Assessments are not visible to students until they have
been published even after the release date for the assessment has passed. In
order to allow students to access an assessment you must BOTH publish the
assessment, and set an appropriate release date/time.
It is extremely important to obtain a student log in for your Sakai course so that
you can be sure that your students can complete the assessment successfully. Be
sure to test every question in student view before releasing an exam to your
students. This is especially important for graded assessments.
Each time you publish an assessment, Sakai copies the questions from the Core
Assessment into a Published Assessment with the same name and settings. The
Core Assessment is not removed. Edits made to a Core Assessment will not be
reflected in any previously created Published Assessments.
It is a good idea to double-check the settings of a Core Assessment before you
publish it. The only settings that you can change in a Published Assessment are
those located under Delivery Dates and Grading.
Question Storage and Reuse
There are two places that questions to be used in a Sakai@UD assessment can be
stored for re-use. The first is within the unpublished Core Assessments, and the
second is in a Sakai@UD Question Pool. Under most circumstances, it is
preferable to store questions in a Core Assessment.
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Core Assessment Features:

Questions in a Core Assessment can be edited.

Questions in a Core Assessment are available to all instructors and
teaching assistants with access to the course containing the assessment.

Core Assessments belong the course in which they were created, and can
not be accessed from other courses.

A Core Assessment are sub-divided into Parts.
o If you do not explictly create a Part, all questions in the quiz will
appear in Part 1.
o Within a Part, it is possible to present a number of questions
randomly selected from a Question Pool or Sub-Pool (see below).
o Questions you wish to store in an Assessment, but NOT present to
students taking the Assessment, can be stored in a Part named
Default.
Question Pool Features:

Questions in a Question pool can not be edited.

Question Pools are available only to the individual instructor or TA who
creates them, and can be accessed from any course to which that
individual has access.

Question Pools can contain sub-pools.

Question Pools must be used if you wish to generate a quiz containing
randomly selected questions within an assessment (see above).
Question Pool vs. WebCT Question Database
A Sakai Question Pool is differs from a WebCT Question Database category
in several fundamental ways. Here are the major differences you should bear in
mind:

A Question Pool belongs to an individual, NOT a course.
o The creator of the pool can access it from any course.
o No other individual can access the pool, not even a TA who is a
member of the course in which it was created.
o If a TA creates a Question Pool, the instructor of the course WILL
NOT be able to access it!
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
Questions copied from a Question Pool are copies, not references. This
means that changes made to a QP question will not be reflected in any
quiz. This differs from the behavior of WebCT questions!

Questions can not be edited directly in a Question Pool. They can only be
edited in an assessment.

There is no way to edit a question globally in Sakai. Editing a question
within an Assessment affects only the copy in THAT assessment.
Recommended Settings
1. When creating a test with more than one Part, it is best choose the Linear
access navigation option. Random access navigation of a multi-part
assessment is both cumbersome and confusing. If you must select Random
access, be sure to allow a bit more time than you would have if giving the
assessment within WebCT.
2. When creating a quiz or exam that will count towards a course grade,
avoid setting Question-Level Feedback along with Immediate Feedback.
This will result in instantaneous feedback to students on a question-byquestion basis.
3. As with all online quizzes, you should bear in mind that it is easy for
students to cheat unless the test is administered in a secure location. Using
the Sakai@UD Tests & Quizzes tool for high stakes testing from an
unmonitored location is not recommended. Surveys, Self-Tests and short,
low-stakes assessments are preferable to conventional exams.
July 2008