In this article
In this article you find the following information:
- About assignment templates
- Creating an assignment template
- Changing a template to a default template
- Editing an assignment template
- Navigation settings
- Item options
- Buttons and labels
- Messages and warnings
About assignment templates
By means of the assignment template you define the look and feel, behaviour and navigation of an assignment in the assessmentQ player.
There are two default assignment templates in assessmentQ:
-
Exam template
This template is automatically selected when an author creates an assignment of the type Exam. Generally, the correction and solution buttons are not shown in the default exam template. -
Exercise template
This template is automatically selected when an author creates an assignment of the type Exercise. Generally, the correction and solution buttons are shown in the default exercise template.
Assignment templates can be managed by administrators only. As an administrator, you can:
- create new assignment templates
- change a template to become the default exam or exercise template
By default, authors can use the predefined templates and they can override the template settings, but only for their assignments. These changes have no impact on the predefined templates.
Note: If you do not want the authors to change the template settings in their assignments, you can de-activate the authors' permission to override the assignment template settings in their author role. More information.
Creating an assignment template
Proceed as follows to create a new assignment template:
- Go to Settings
> Templates > Assignment templates.
- Click on
Result: The Add assignment template popup appears. - Select a template to start from and click Save.
Result: The first tab Correction and feedback of your assignment template is opened. - At the top of the page, enter the name of your template.
- Open the Properties at the right and select the interface language.
- Open the template tab(s) of your choice and configure the settings to your needs:
- Correction and feedback
- Navigation
- Item options
- Layout
- Buttons and labels
- Messages and warnings
Note: If the Interface language is the User language, you will need to select the language(s) in case you want to change the default buttons and labels, messages and warnings for these languages.
Changing a template to a default template
As an administrator, you can change a template to become the default exam or exercise template.
Proceed as follows to change an assignment template to the default exam or exercise template:
-
Go to Settings
Assignment templates.
- Click on the three dots next to the assignment template you want to make default.
- Select Make default exam template or Make default exercise template.
Result: The template will now by default be used when an author creates a new exam or exercise assignment.
Editing an assignment template
Proceed as follows to edit an assignment template:
-
Go to Settings
Assignment templates.
- Click on the template you want to edit.
Result: The first tab Correction and feedback of the assignment template is opened. - If you want to change the interface language, open the Properties at the right and select the language of your choice.
- Open the template tab(s) of your choice and change the settings to your needs.
Result: The changes are saved automatically. If this template is already used in an assignment, the author will be see a warning and will be able to update the template. This applies to all assignment statuses from draft to approved.
Allowing navigation without internet
Proceed as follows to activate or de-activate the setting for navigation without internet:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Navigation and scroll down to Additional options.
- Activate or de-activate the option Allow navigation without internet.
Result: Depending on whether this option is enabled or not, the behavior in the assessmentQ player differs for a participant.
Behaviour when this option is enabled
By default, the option Allow navigation without internet is enabled in the assignment template.
When this option is enabled, the content (excluding media files) is preloaded at the start of each part. As a result, a participant does not notice internet interruptions. He can continue working, answering questions, and navigating to the next question. His answers are stored locally and when the internet connection is restored, the answers are saved in assessmentQ.
The participant, however, will see a popup in the player saying he has lost his internet connection when he tries to finish a part while his internet connection is still interrupted. It is important that the participant waits until the internet returns before he goes to the next part or before he ends his session, or else his answers will not be stored.
Note: Please notice that assignments containing media files may have trouble loading media in case of unstable or unreliable internet connections. assessmentQ provides an option allowing to preload media and other files. This way the content of the assignment including media files will be fully loaded at the start of each part. More information, see Preloading media files below.
Behaviour when this option is disabled
In case of high-stakes exams, you can decide that the participant must be notified immediately when he tries to navigate to another question and he is not connected to the internet.
To enable this behaviour, the default setting Allow navigation without internet needs to be disabled in the assignment template.
When this setting is disabled, the participant will see a popup in the player as soon as he tries to navigate to another question while his internet connection is lost. He will not be able to navigate to another question without internet.
Preloading media files
When a participant's internet connection is unstable or rather unreliable, it may be useful to preload all media files (images, videos, audio files, etc.).
Proceed as follows to activate or de-activate the option Preload media and other files:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Navigation and scroll down to Additional options.
- Activate or de-activate the option Preload media and other files.
Result: When enabled, all files are preloaded at the start of each part. Starting a part will take a little longer in that case, however, when the internet connection is interrupted in the middle of a part, the participant will be able to continue and see all media files immediately.
Note: This option is not available by default in assessmentQ channels, but can be enabled upon request. If you are interested in using this option, please contact Televic Education via support@televic-education.com.
Advantages of preloading media and other files
- Once all files have been preloaded, the participant can navigate without interruptions in each assignment part, and all images, videos, etc will be visible immediately.
- In combination with the option Allow navigation without internet, a participant can almost complete an assignment offline. The participant only needs an internet connection when starting the assignment and each time he finishes an assignment part. More information, see Allowing navigation without internet above.
- The user experience for the participant is great, as he does not notice any internet interruptions except when finishing an assignment part.
Restrictions of preloading media and other files
- Starting an assignment part will take a little longer (depending on the speed of the internet connection) as all files need to be downloaded first. Therefore, it is not recommended to enable this option when you have more than 250 exams starting simultaneously.
- Preloading media files only works for files that have been uploaded in assessmentQ, not for embedded files. For example: when you upload a video in a multiple-choice item, this video will be preloaded. But when you embed a Youtube video in a multiple-choice item, this video cannot be preloaded.
- In combination with the option Allow navigation without internet, there is a risk of losing answers: when the participant answers several questions while he is not connected to the internet, his answers are saved locally in the browser. If he does not click the "Finish" button of his assignment or assignment parts, but closes the browser instead, his answers will not be stored in assessmentQ.
Showing a warning for unanswered questions
Participants sometimes involuntarily double-click the Next button, causing them to accidentally skip a question.
To prevent this, you can activate the navigation option Warning for unanswered questions in your assignment template. This option is available in all navigation modes, but it is particularly interesting in the case of linear navigation, because in linear navigation the participants cannot return to the previous question.
When activated, a warning will be shown to the participants when they navigate away from an unanswered question. The participant can still choose to navigate away without answering the question, but then it is a deliberate choice.
Notes:
- The Next button in the navigation is disabled and a loading spinner is shown as long as the participant does not close the warning message.
- When an assignment uses linear navigation, there is always a 1 second delay before the Next button becomes enabled again. This delay is always available, even when the warning for unanswered questions is not enabled. This prevents the participant from skipping an item by accident by double-clicking on the Next button.
- When the participant resets an item that was already answered, it will be considered unanswered again and the warning will be displayed again when the participant clicks Next.
- The warning message is not displayed when the time limit of an item, a part or an assignment has been reached. It is displayed, however, when the participant navigates away from an item with a time limit and still has time left when the item is unanswered.
- For the item types Order vertically and Matching, a participant may intentionally decide not to change the initial order. When navigating away, the participant will get this warning as well. When the participant confirms that he wants to navigate away, the item will be marked as answered.
- The warning message for unanswered questions is not shown when a participant reviews an assignment.
Procedure
To activate the warning for unanswered questions, proceed as follows:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Navigation.
- Enable the option Warning for unanswered questions.
- If you want to customize the text of the warning message that is shown to the participant:
- Click on the tab Messages and warnings and scroll down to Text shown in the warning for unanswered questions.
- Change the text to your needs.
Configuring the progress and the item numbering
In the assignment template, you can configure the settings for the progress and item numbering.
If activated, the progress and the item numbering are shown to the participants in the player.
For example:
Proceed as follows to configure the settings for progress and item numbering:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Navigation and scroll down to Progress and numbering.
- Enable or disable the options of your choice.
For example:
Restrictions for showing progress and item numbering
-
Progress and item numbering in adaptive assignments
There are no restrictions for showing the item numbering in adaptive assignments. Showing the progress in adaptive assignments, however, is only supported in case all possible paths in the assignment contain the same number of items.
-
Progress and navigation modes
Showing the Progress per part is only supported for the navigation modes Linear navigation and Free navigation within parts, see overview below.
Navigation mode Progress options Linear navigation Progress per part
Progress for the entire assignment
Free navigation within parts Progress per part
Progress for the entire assignment
Free navigation Progress for the entire assignment
-
Item numbering and repeated case information
It is not possible to activate the item numbering option Include case information pages if the case information is repeated and the first case item is shown immediately.
-
Progress bar at the bottom in the player
The progress bar at the bottom in the player is only shown provided the total number of items is less than or equal to 50.
Defining the choice order in multiple choice and multiple response items
In the assignment template, you can determine the order in which the choices of multiple choice and multiple response questions are shown to the participants.
By default, the choices are shown in the order the author has defined in the items. You can, however, overrule the choice order through a setting in the assignment template. This may be required if you want the same choice order to be applied to all multiple choice questions.
For example, all choices for all multiple choice and multiple response questions in the assignment should be shown to the participants in random order.
Proceed as follows to change the order of the choices:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Item options.
- Scroll down to Multiple choice questions and select the order of your choice.
For example:
Result: This order will be applied to all multiple-choice and multiple response items in the assignments that use this assignment template.
Activating supporting tools in the player
assessmentQ contains the following supporting tools for participants:
- Text to Speech allows the participants to have the content read aloud
- Character map allows the participants to insert special characters easily
- Standard or scientific calculator
Note: The calculator can be activated on item level or on assignment level. The other supporting tools can only be activated on assignment level. More information, see Activating supporting tools in an item.
-
Text highlighter: allows the participants to highlight words in longer texts in the question block of every item type.
Note: In the interaction block of item, the highlighter can only be used in the following item types:
- multiple choice item
- multiple response item
- multiple choice matrix
- fill gaps in text
- conjugate verbs
- dropdown in text
- drag and drop in text
- drag and drop in columns
-
Custom button: allows the participants to use a supporting tool you can define, like a dictionary or a translation tool.
Note: For the content of the Custom button as well as for the Help button, you can choose between:
- Text
- Embed
Procedure
Proceed as follows to (de)activate a supporting tool in an assignment template:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Buttons and labels.
- Activate or deactivate the buttons for the supporting tools you need.
Tip: If you select the calculator, specify whether the calculator should only be used in the items where the calculator is activated or in all items. In case the calculator should be used in all items, choose either the standard or the scientific calculator.
- If you want to change the name of the buttons, select the language(s) of your choice in the Properties pane at the right and rename them in the selected language.
Result: The changes are saved automatically. The buttons of the activated tools will be shown to the participants in the top bar of the player.
Note: Not all supporting tools are enabled by default. If you want them to be activated in your assessmentQ environment, please get in touch with our support team at support@televic-education.com. Customers who are interested in using the text to speech have to purchase a Readspeaker SpeechCloud API licence.
Configuring the finish button
By default, a participant will see a Finish button when he reaches the end of an assignment part and the end of an assignment.
In the assignment template, you can change the default configuration for the Finish button. You can:
Changing the label of the Finish button
You can change the label of the Finish button for both the button at the end of an assignment part and the button at the end of an assignment separately. This way, you can use a different label for the Finish button at the end of an assignment part (e.g. Finish part) vs. the Finish button at the end of the assignment (e.g. Submit).
To change the label of the Finish button, proceed as follows:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Buttons and labels and scroll down to Buttons in the bottom navigation.
- Change the label(s) for the Finish button(s) to the labels of your choice.
For example:
Result: The new labels will be shown to the participants when they reach the last item in an assignment part or assignment.
Hiding the label of the Finish button
You can show the Finish button without a label. In this case, only the button icon is shown.
To hide the label of the Finish button, proceed as follows:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Buttons and labels and scroll down to Buttons in the bottom navigation.
- Remove the label(s) for the Finish button(s) of your choice.
Result: The Finish button will be shown to the participants without a label. Only the Finish icon will be shown.
Hiding the Finish button
You can hide the Finish button at the end of a part and/or at the end of the assignment.
-
- When you hide the button for assignment parts, the Finish button is no longer shown at the end of a part. The participant will only see the Next button and will navigate on to the next part unnoticed. This is especially interesting in adaptive assignments where participants do not always need to know that they have moved to another part.
- When you hide the button for the assignment, the participants will not be able to finish their assignment.
- When you hide the button for assignment parts, the Finish button is no longer shown at the end of a part. The participant will only see the Next button and will navigate on to the next part unnoticed. This is especially interesting in adaptive assignments where participants do not always need to know that they have moved to another part.
To hide the Finish button, proceed as follows:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Buttons and labels and scroll down to Buttons in the bottom navigation.
- Deselect the Finish button(s) of your choice.
For example:
Result: When you deselected the Finish part button, the participants will only see the Next button when they reach the last item in a part and they can navigate on to the next part unnoticed. When you deselected the Finish assignment button, the participants will not be able to finish or submit their assignment.
Notes: When you hide the button for the assignment parts, keep in mind the following configuration guidelines:
- Use linear navigation.
- Disable the warning messages for assignment parts.
- Do not restart the item numbering per part.
- Do not use time limits on part level.
- Display the overview of unanswered questions only at the end of the assignment, not at the end of the part.
- Do not show the progress per part.
- Hide the breadcrumbs.
- Disable the possibility of going back to the portal.
Warning: It is recommended to hide the button for the assignment only if you want to finish the sessions yourself (e.g. via the monitoring module or via an API integration).
Showing the item name in the player
Proceed as follows to show the item name in the player:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Buttons and labels and scroll down to Labels in the item content.
- Select Use the item name in the dropdown.
Result: This option is saved automatically. The item names will be shown in the assignments that make use of this assignment template.
Tip: For a case and its items you have the option to show the item name only in the table of contents and not on the menu bar above:
Managing warnings at the end of an assignment
When participants submit their assignment, you want to make sure they did not click the Finish button involuntarily. In assessmentQ, you can configure a warning message at the end of a part or assignment to make sure the participants take a deliberate decision:
- Are they sure they want to finish the assignment or part?
- Are they aware that they have any time left?
- Are they aware that they did not answer all questions yet?
- Do you want them to see which questions they have already answered and which not, allowing them to navigate back to unanswered questions?
All of this can easily be configured in the assignment template.
Note: In the assignment template, you can only configure the warning message related to the end of an assignment or the warning message related to the end of a part. Which one you can configure, depends on the selected navigation mode:
- In the case of linear navigation or free navigation within a part, you can configure a warning message at the end of the part.
- In the case of free navigation, you can configure a warning message at the end of the assignment.
Procedure
To configure the warning at the end of a part or assignment, proceed as follows:
- Edit the assignment template of your choice. More information.
- Open the tab Messages and warnings.
Result: Depending on the selected navigation mode, you will either see the Warnings for parts or the Warning for assignments. - Configure the warnings:
- Define if you want to show the warnings and what they should contain.
- You can also choose if you want to show the overview of answered and unanswered questions to all participants, or only to those who have unanswered questions.
- Use the assignment template in your assignment or preview it to see the result.