Quizbank/Instructions

There are three methods[1] for using one of the Quizbank resources found in Category:Quizbank/Units.

Very short quizzes with an overhead projector

edit
 

This method is suitable for short quizzes with 2-4 questions. It is nearly paperless, except that short strips of paper must be handed out to students if the quiz is to be graded. On most browsers it is not difficult to open the same page with two windows, and arrange them side-by-side as shown.

In Google Chrome I would go to a page such as ♦/TestCourse/Test1 and right-click the O1 exam twice in order to open the same page twice in different tabs. Then make the window small and "pull" both tabs out. Taking a tab to the far right (left) causes the window to occupy half the screen. Then fine-tune both left and right windows to obtain the image shown. My classroom does not permit the display of two versions (e.g. O1 and O2), so the students will be given slips of paper labeled either E(even) or O(odd), with neighbors answering alternate questions. By randomly splitting one 4-question quiz into two parts, we incentivize the studying of all examples in the chapter before class starts. Generous partial credit will be awarded for those who write something intelligent about both quizzes on the back.

  Name:            1.__   3.__
  Name:            2.__   4.__

Since we will be covering approximately one chapter per week, these quizzes will be offered almost every day, sometimes with a brief introduction, and sometimes without.

Printing a small portion of a very large pdf file

edit
 
This is the top of this large pdf. Click the links to get down to the various randomizations (A-Z). Here version R1 is desired, as indicated by the red arrow.
 
Clicking on R1 sends us down to page 105, as indicated by either of the two red arrows shown.
 
To find where the exam R1 ends, slide the right sidebar back to the top of the document and click the R2 exam, which leads you to page 107 (or perhaps 108). To preint exam R1 you print (or save) only pages 105-107.
 
Since the instructors will often print out the answers to R0, we save paper by not keeping the question together. Note the page break before the answers.

First, make sure your pdf-reader can print or create an excerpt consisting of only certain selected pages from a long document. If you have this capability, you will need to use a browser (e.g. Chrome) that lets you print out certain pages from a Wikiversity page. If anybody has such a problem let me know and I will make it a high priority to fix this problem.[2]

  1. Important: Download all the tests you plan to administer AND MAKE BACKUPS of all of them. We cannot be sure that the files on Wikiversity won't be upgraded in the near future. Also, you will be modifying each file by deleting almost all of it. Keep the backup files in a safe place.
  2. For each test pick a different letter of the alphabet (students will catch on if you pick the same letter for each test!).
  3. To get the student versions, click from the first collection to get the starting page. Then go back to the top and click the version that imediately follows to get the page number of the first page you do not want. Also do not select the same letter (A-Z) for each test.[3]
  4. Now that you know the first and last pages that you want, either 'save as' or 'print' the pages you need. You will probably have to do this three times: R1 and R2 "tests" and R0 "answers" (to help the instructor prep the class.) If you keep the original pdf in a safe place you need not print out the answer keys.

My students hand in only the scantrons so they can use their copies of the exams to immediately learn their score by going to Wikiversity. Be sure to carefully monitor cell phone use so students have to wait before seeing the answer keys!

Printing a test or quiz directly from the Wikiversity page

edit

The new format also facilitates the printing of tests, especially the short 4-question quizzes that should take about 20 minutes to complete. The quickest way to obtain one or two versions of the quiz is to click the "Exam" link in the quiz, reaching, for example: P2. With Google Chrome, for example, it is possible to print a short section consisting of 4-8 questions by first highlighting the desired lines as they appear on Wikiversity. Then select the "print" option in the upper-right corner. This will open a dialoge that permits one to select: Options|Print selection.

Footnotes

edit
  1. I apologize for the awkwardness associated with using these units. If we can initiate a culture where OER quizbanks are built to accompany OER textbooks, this period of "growing pains" as we interface instructors (and students) with these testing materials will not last too long.
  2. Public notice at User talk:Guy vandegrift, private conversation at guy.vandegrift@wright.edu
  3. Students will quickly notice that and know which test to practice for if they see any pattern in the selection of tests used in a course.