Item Authoring

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Assessments & Learning content in aXcelerate are authored through the use of Items. Items are Questions or Content that are used to build Assessment Tasks. Items can exist within the Library, or within an Assessment Task itself, and can be authored in either area. Items in the Library are typically stored for reuse across multiple different Assessment Tasks, or for use within Question Banks, whereas Items stored only in an Assessment Task are typically only used once.

To author Items, users will need the following permissions:

  • Assessments - View
  • Assessments - Add
  • Assessments - Update
 

Tip: We recommend familiarising yourself with the Assessment Glossary whilst using this help article.

Item Authoring

Items can be authored in two areas - within the Assessment Library, or directly within an Assessment Task. There are no differences in authoring functionality between the two areas.

The primary consideration to make is if you wish to reuse the Item in more than one Assessment Task, or if you wish to use the Item in a Question Bank. If so, the Item will need to exist in the Library.

Authoring Items in the Library

Authoring Items in the Library can be a fast way to holistically author items in a sequential manner. You can easily Author, Tag, Map and Preview Items one at a time before moving onto the next one.

For more information, please see the Items help article.

Authoring Items in a Task

Items that are Authored within an Assessment Task can be optionally saved to the Library for reuse. Alternatively, they can exist purely in the Task itself, but won’t be usable within a Question Bank. You can still use Marking Scales from the Library, even if you don’t save the Item itself to the Library.

  1. Click Add new Question or Content
  2. Select the Item Type from the dropdown
  3. Author the Item
  4. Apply any relevant settings to the Item
  5. (If applicable) Apply an existing Marking Scale or create and apply a new one
  6. (Optional) Select the checkbox Save to Library
  7. Click Save Question

Items Authored within a Task can be saved to the Library later if you change your mind, by using the Save Items to Library button.

Save Items to Library.png

 

Tip: You might choose to exclude Items from the Library if you know you won't reuse them in another Task.

 

Note: For more information about Task Authoring, please see the dedicated help article.

Item Types

Assessment Items can take different delivery formats, known as Item Types.

There are a number of Item Types, but they aren’t all compatible with every Assessment Type. For example, you can’t have an Observation Item within an Online Quiz.

Furthermore, some items are marked automatically by aXcelerate, whereas others require intervention from an Assessor to result an outcome.

The following images display the Item Types that are supported for each Assessment Base Type.

Item Types that are marked automatically:

Item Types - Marked automatically.png

Item Types that need to be marked by an Assessor:

Item Types - Require Assessor.png

The Content Item Type will never be marked - it's used purely for learning content delivery:

Item Types - Never Marked.png

Item Title

The Item Title is an optional-yet-recommended field available for each Item. The Title serves the following purposes:

  1. Appears in the Item sidebar when Learners are completing Assessments
  2. Displayed in the Assessment Library to help readability

Fill in the Blank Item type

Fill in the Blank questions can be configured in two ways - text-based Fill in the Blank, or Dropdown Select. If using the text-based option, you can specify alternate answers to accommodate for typos or differences in spelling. If using the dropdown option, you need to specify at least one incorrect answer in addition to the correct answer, so the Learner has a list to choose from.

  1. Click the + Blank icon in the editor to insert a blank placeholder
  2. Click the placeholder that you just inserted to configure it
  3. Enter the correct answer into the Solution field
  4. (Optional) Enter a placeholder that appears to Learners before they type anything
  5. Use the Dropdown Select option to toggle between a Dropdown Select or Fill in the Blank
  6. Use the Plus button to add alternative solutions to cater for typos or minor variances (Fill in the Blank), or to add incorrect solutions (Dropdown Select)
  7. Click OK to save.

Fill in the Blank example.png

 

Tip: You can also enter your text, highlight the text, and then click the + Blank icon instead of completing steps 2 & 3.

 

Note: We recommend keeping options to a length of 1-3 words.

Matching List Item type

Matching Lists requires students to correctly pair labels to images, or terms to descriptions. Students will be shown each of the images or descriptions that they will need to identify, along with a dropdown list of the available labels/terms.

Matching List example.png

 

Note: Each value can only be used once as a label or definition

Hot Spot Item type

A Hot Spot (or Hotspot) question will require students to identify (or identify and label) specific areas within an image. When creating a Hot Spot question, you will need to shift-click (hold the shift key while clicking) to add region points. Once three or more region points have been added a region will be created between the three-points that will mark the area that the student needs to identify. Continue adding region points to adjust the shape of the region. Click on a region point and drag it to reposition the region point. You can also remove particular region points by selecting the region point and pressing the backspace or delete key.

We recommend using an image sized 300x300 px, but the system will attempt to resize images to fit.

HotSpot example.png

 

Note: Students will not see the regions when they are undertaking the questions. The regions will only be shown to the student when they are viewing their assessment results.

Insert Content Components

There are a number of pre-styled Content Components available when authoring that can be used to improve the Learner Experience. These can be easily accessed by right-clicking the editor, or by clicking the + icon in the top-right of the editor.

When authoring, the components will appear Purple. However, when the Learner attempts the Task, the components will automatically re-colour depending on the primary colour scheme chosen by you in your System Settings, and can be a great way to bring simple Assessments to life.

Styled components comparison.png

 

Note: If Learners override your default Learner Portal theme, Content Components will adjust to match their selected theme.

Insert an Image

To insert an Image from an external source:

  1. Copy the Image Address of your image
  2. Click the Image option from the question editor
  3. Paste your Image Address in the Source field
  4. Enter any other applicable fields as required
  5. Click Save

Alternatively, you can upload an image to the Library directly from the insert image menu:

  1. Click the Image option from the question editor
  2. Click Upload
  3. Drag and Drop, or Browse for your image
  4. Click Save
 

Tip: To improve mobile responsiveness, the Assessment window is limited to 796 pixels in width. We recommend any tables or media remain below this threshold.

 

Tip: An image address can be copied from any image online. For example, this could be from your aXcelerate Images library or a Google Images search. To copy an image address, simply right-click the image and select Copy Image Address.

 

Warning: Ensure you have the rights to use images before using them commercially..

Insert a Video

This option allows you to insert or embed videos into your assessments.

This is particularly useful if you have a 'watch and respond' style question or assessment.

  1. Copy the URL of your video
  2. Click the Media option from the question editor
  3. Paste your URL in the Source field
  4. Enter any other applicable fields
  5. Click Save
 

Tip: The Assessment window is limited to 796 pixels in width to improve mobile responsiveness. We recommend any tables or media remain below this threshold.

 

Tip: If you would prefer to embed your video, you can do this by clicking the embed tab (after step 2) and pasting your HTML in.

 

Warning: aXcelerate does not currently offer video hosting, so videos must be hosted externally.

Insert a Hyperlink

Adding a hyperlink to your assessment allows your students to download documents, or view any other external resource.

  1. Copy the URL of the page or item you want to link to
  2. Click the Link option from the question editor
  3. Paste the URL into the URL field
  4. Enter any other applicable fields as required
  5. Click Save
 

Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcut Control + K (Command + K on Mac) to insert a hyperlink.

 

Note: If you would like a recipient to download a resource stored in your resource library, and they are not an aXcelerate user, the resource permissions must be set to public.

Insert a Table

This option allows you to insert a table into your assessment.

  1. Click the Table option from the question editor and select the number of rows and columns you would like the table to be
  2. After inserting a table, use the same menu option to open the Cell Properties or the Table Properties menues, that allow further customisation options for tables
  3. Alternatively, right click an existing table for quick access to further menu options
 

Tip: To improve mobile responsiveness, the Assessment window is limited to 796 pixels in width. We recommend any tables or media remain below this threshold.

Embed a Google Drive File

This option allows you to embed documents stored in Google Drive in your Online Assessment. This article will describe the steps to follow for Google Slides, however any Google Drive file that may be embedded as an iframe should work.

  1. Open the Google Slides presentation you'd like to embed.
  2. In the top left corner, click File and choose Publish to the web.
  3. In the box that appears, choose the Embed tab.
  4. Copy the entire iframe embed code that appears.
  5. Click the Media button
  6. Click the Embed option, paste the iframe code, and then click Save.
 

Tip: To improve mobile responsiveness, the Assessment window is limited to 796 pixels in width. We recommend keeping media below this threshold.

 

Note: You can Import common Microsoft documents into Google (such as .pptx), and then embed them in your Assessments.

Add a Student Assessment Declaration

If you require a student to provide a signature as part of your Assessment, enable the Student Declaration setting. Upon submission of their Assessment, students will be shown the accompanying 'Student Declaration Text' and will be required to add their signature. The provided signature will be visible in the Marking area when viewing each Student's attempt.

  1. Add or Update an Assessment Type
  2. Enable Student Declaration Required
  3. Enter the Student Declaration Text students will be shown
  4. Click Submit
 

Note: Assessment Declarations are only available for Assessment Types where the Task Items are visible to the Student.

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