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Creating Your Own Assessments
Creating Your Own Assessments

Learn how to create your own quizzes and exams using a variety of question types available within the Project STEM course platform.

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Written by Project STEM
Updated over a week ago

Before You Start

Review this article to make sure you are creating the best content type for the item you wish to add. When you are done with the instructions below, go through the checklist in this article.

Creating the Quiz Shell

We always recommend creating new content directly from the Modules page in order to save yourself a few steps. Follow the steps below to set up the shell for your quiz. Then, proceed to the next section to add questions and finish the setup.

1. Starting in the student course you wish to add an item to, navigate to the Modules page

2. Scroll to the unit you wish to add the new item to

3. Click the "+" button to the far right-hand side of the unit's title as shown below

4. From the first dropdown, choose "Quiz" as shown below

5. Select "[New Quiz]" from the list of items

5. Give your new item a name under "Quiz Name"

6. Choose a grading weight group/category under "Group"

7. Choose the level of indentation you would like the item to have. For example, if you want it to appear to be nested under another item, you may want to indent it one level more than that item. If you are not sure, this, along with the Quiz Name and Group selections, can be edited later.

8. Click the "Add Item" button when done

Your new item is now located at the bottom of the unit in an unpublished state.

Choose Your Settings

The first thing to do after setting up the shell is to select the settings for your new quiz item. Scroll to the bottom of the unit to locate the new item and click to open it. From the page that opens, click the "Edit" button near the top. Then, using the image below and the corresponding numbers beneath the image, pick the settings you wish to use.

1. These settings are found under the "Details" tab

2. You will be adding questions later under the "Questions" tab

3. Number of points the quiz is worth. Note that since we have not added any questions yet, there are no points.

4. Published/Unpublished status

5. Rich text area where you can add additional instructions that will display before the questions

6. Choose a Quiz Type:

  • Graded Quiz: based on right or wrong answers; does provide a grade

  • Practice Quiz: based on right or wrong answers; does NOT provide a grade

  • Graded Survey: NOT based on right or wrong answers; does provide a grade

  • Ungraded Survey: NOT based on right or wrong answers; does NOT provide a grade (usually used to gather info)

7. Choose or change the Assignment Group (the grading weight category/group)

8. Checking "Shuffle Answers" will randomize the order of multiple-choice answers. This does not shuffle the question order itself.

9. Add a time limit here

10. Allow multiple attempts. Once the box is checked, you will have the option to add a set number of attempts if you wish.

11. Choose whether students can see their own responses after completing the quiz, and whether they can view the correct answers, including when

12. Choose to display one question at a time or not

13. Add an access code, if you wish

14. If your school requires filtering IP addresses, you can add this here

15. Choose due dates and/or availability dates, assign to specific students, create differing due dates for different students, etc.

When done, click "Save" or click the "Questions" tab to move to the questions area. Note that if you click "Save", you will need to click the "Edit" button again to add questions.

Add Questions

Now that you have finished the settings for your new quiz item, it is time to create the questions. You will see that there are 3 options: New Question, New Question Group, and Find Questions.

A question group will randomize the order of the questions for students. To read about how to do this, click here.

The "Find Questions" button will allow you to choose questions from existing assessments. To read about how to do this, click here.

To create a question from scratch, click the "+ New Question" button. There are several types of questions you can choose from when clicking this button, and details on each follow the image below. All are auto-graded except for the Essay and File Upload types.

You will also assign the point value for each question in the area indicated below.

When done creating any question, click the "Update Question" button to save.

Multiple Choice

You will find that each question type has brief instructions near the top (circled above) to help you create the item. Note that this question type will automatically show multiple choices with the first choice as the correct answer.

Type in the question portion in the indicated area and the answer choices where is says "Answer Text".

Hover over the answer choices to show their options. For instance, you can change which item is the correct answer by clicking the arrow next to any "Possible Answer". The answer will then change from red (not a correct answer choice) to green (the correct answer choice). On the far right, you can click on the pencil icon to show the rich text editor for an answer choice, or on the trash icon to delete the answer choice.

If you want to add more answer choices, click the "+ Add Another Answer" link.

If you want to add comments that display for all students after they complete the entire assessment, click the box with three dots next to an item (to display the comment if a specific item is chosen) or one of the three circled text boxes (green comment will display if the student is correct, red comment if the student is wrong, and blue comment whether right or wrong).

True/False

This question type only allows a true or false answer. No answer options may be added, deleted, or edited with the exception of choosing which is correct. You will notice that you can click the arrows to change the correct answer as you would in the multiple choice questions, and that you can add comments here as well.

Fill In The Blank

For fill-in-the-blank questions, you will be entering every possible variation of the correct answer that you can think of, including variations in spelling and capitalization. Notice that no incorrect possible answers show, only correct ones. Click on the "+ Add Another Answer" link to add more choices.

The same comment options are available, and you can delete a choice by hovering over a Possible Answer and clicking the trash icon. Note that the rich text editor is not available for the Possible Answers on this question type.

Fill In Multiple Blanks

Be sure to follow the instructions for the reference words above the rich text editor for the question when creating this question type. If you do not follow this format, the question will not display properly.

Once your reference words are set up, they will show in the dropdown circled under Answers. You will then be able to select one of the reference words and enter your possible correct answers.

Per usual, the comment options are available for this question type. To add more choices, click the "+ Add Another Answer" button. To remove choices, click the trash icon that shows when you hover over a Possible Answer. Note that the rich text editor is not available for the Possible Answers on this question type.

Multiple Answers

This question type is used for questions that require more than one answer. For example, if a question says to select two answers. This is set up much like the multiple choice question type, with the exception that you can click the arrows to select as many correct answers as needed.

Click on the "+ Add Another Answer" link to add more choices. The same comment options are available, and you can delete a choice by hovering over a Possible Answer and clicking the trash icon. The rich text editor is available for the Possible Answers on this question type.

Multiple Drop-down

This question type is much like the Fill In Multiple Blanks type, except that instead of a blank it will show a dropdown with a menu of answer choices. This can be set up to have multiple dropdowns per question. Be sure to follow the instructions for setting up the reference words as in the Fill In Multiple Blanks type.

Per usual, the comment options are available for this question type. To add more choices, click the "+ Add Another Answer" button. To remove choices, click the trash icon that shows when you hover over a Possible Answer. Note that the rich text editor is not available for the Possible Answers on this question type.

Matching

After filling in the question text area, you can enter a series of matching items. The answer possibilities will show as a dropdown. You can also add "distractors", or incorrect answers, that will show in the dropdown menu as well.

Per usual, the comment options are available for this question type. To add more choices, click the "+ Add Another Answer" button. To remove choices, click the trash icon that shows when you hover over a Possible Answer. Note that the rich text editor is not available for the Possible Answers on this question type.

Numerical Answer and Formula

These two question types are made for mathematical formulas and, as such, Project STEM teachers will likely not use them. If you want info on creating these question types, please reach out to support@projectstem.org for help.

Essay

Essay questions are manually graded by the teacher. You will write the question in the rich text editor and the student will see another rich text editor where they can type in their answer. Per usual, the comment options are available for this question type.

File Upload

File uploads are manually graded by the teacher. You will write the question in the rich text editor and the student will see the option to upload a file as their answer. Per usual, the comment options are available for this question type.

Message Text (non-question)

The Message Text option is not a question, it is simply an area of text on the test. This can come in handy if you are sectioning off the exam and want a specific set of instructions for different sections.

Finish Setup

When you are done creating your questions, click the "Save" button to save the assessment. Then, use the Checklist for Creating Content to wrap up adding any requirements, publishing, etc., that needs to be done.

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