This
page requires you enter the name of the
Test Area and the Area Password to access it.
There can be any number of databases,
each with a different name. The Website Administrator creates these
databases for individual teachers, departments, or schools as needed.
The Password
is assigned by the Website
Administrator and cannot be changed by anyone else. There can be any
number of passwords for every Test Area. Every person who is authorized
to access a database can have a different password. On the RoboTutor site
we use the password RoboTutor. Note, it is case sensitive and
you must spell it with a capital R and T.
Test Setup: You start the process by going to the
Test Setup page and entering the test name, password, author, number
of questions to display, and other information.
Categories are setup on this page only after
you have added questions to the test.
Advanced Features: Optionally click Advanced Features to
setup to setup how you want the test displayed.
The default if you don't
click it is to display all at one time or in sets of 30 if the test is
larger.
Results Pages: Click Results Page Setup to select
which of the 3 Results Pages you want the students to see after
completing the test. The default is the page with scores.
Test Templates: If you will be creating a series of tests
using the same identical setup, another option is to go to another
Test Area and create a master template there without questions. Return
to the original Test Area and then use the Import Test option to
import the template each time you create a new test.
This option makes it possible import
tests from other RoboTutor databases.
The database must be located in the same
folder as all other Test Areas used with this version of the
program. This cannot be accomplished online and must be done by the
server administrator.
You must know the name and password for
the database.
You have the option to
import as many tests as you want from that database.
The program is backward compatible with
all previous versions of RoboTutor.
If the database from which you want to
import tests is located somewhere else, you will need to temporarily
import a copy of it and locate it in the same folder.
To create a new question: Click the down arrow to the right of the
Select new Question Type box on the top left.
Pick the type of question you want to have by clicking on
it.
The question type you pick should now appear in the box.
Now click the Add button to the right.
A page appears where you can enter your new
question. The options will vary depending on the type of question selection.
For example, multiple choice questions will have a field at the top for the
question and 10 fields below for up to ten question sub-options.
Every setup page for questions will let you
specify one or more correct answers.
Weight:
Every page let you enter a weight. If you want one page to be more important
than another, enter a weight greater than 1. For example, to have question two
be 5 times more important than question 1, weight question 1 with a 1 and
question 2 with a 5.
Category:
Every question can be optionally assigned a category name. The default is
Cat 1. Categories are ways of grouping questions for display purposes.
For example, you might want to have 4 questions based on a short story. Give
each of these questions the same Category name such as Story 1. Then go into
Edit Test Setup, scroll down to where Categories are displayed, and enter the
story in the field provided.
Random:
Every question is set by default to randomize the sub-options (except
true/false). Sometimes it is desirable to turn this feature off. This option
lets you turn it off.
Tutorial:
Tests can be set in Advanced Features to display in tutorial format where
questions are presented one at a time and corrected before advancing to the
next question. If short information is entered into the tutorial field when
setting up a question, then this information will display when students miss a
question. It also displays in the Results page, when selected, whether
tutorial is turned on or off.
Commentary:
Questions can have an extended commentary added with instructional material to
help students when they make errors and miss a question. The best way to enter
this material is to type it in a word processor, spell check it there, and
then paste it into the form here. The commentary will display in tutorial mode
when students click on the Commentary button after they miss a question. It
also displays on the Results page by clicking on the number of the question
from the table that displays, when turned on, to show the questions missed.
Picture:
Most questions can have a picture added to them that displays to the right.
When doing math questions and others that require special symbols or graphs,
it may be desirable to make the question itself a picture. Since all pictures
are stored in the database, they should be small and no more than 25,000 bytes
in size. Gif pictures are best because they display quickly.
Change the text in
red to be what you want the link to say.
Change the text in
blue to be the address to the page where
you want students to go when clicking on the link.
You can used
HTML basic codes to modify any text
in the Result's page.
Right Answers
can be specified with the radio buttons or check boxes to the left.
The Weight field at the bottom is so you can give
special weighting to the question. For example, if you enter a 5,
then this question will count as much as 5 questions in the overall
total. Do not use fractions or decimals. If you wanted to have the
last question count as much as the first 9 in a test that has 10
questions, then give the last question a weight of 9.
The Category field
at the bottom lets you enter any name or number of your choice to
categorize the question.
This is an optional field and it can also be left
blank. For example, if the test is to teach math basics, you might
categorize the questions by "addition," "subtraction,"
"multiplication," or "division." You might also want to categorize
by question type such as multiple choice or essay.
Once you have designed a question and specified a
category, you can return to the Test Setup screen and select
questions to be included in the test by the categories you have
created. You can also specify the order in which questions appear by
these categories.
The Picture field below the question lets you
upload a picture to the test. To use this option, click the Browse
button and locate the picture on your hard drive that you want
placed to the right of the question on the test. Note, the picture
should not be larger than 300 pixels wide and tall or it will leave
no room on the test for your question. When you click Create, the
picture is uploaded to the database on the server.
To create the question,
click the "Create" button at the bottom. If you plan to create
another question, click the "Cyclical Create" button. It will bring
you back to this screen and save you a step.
Fill-in-the-Blank and Essay
questions: These are the fifth and sixth question types.
Answers must be entered
as Key Words, which are words expected to be found in any
reasonable answer. Students type a sentence or essay to answer the
question. The computer looks for the Key Words and grades the
question based on how many Key Words are found.
Now all essay questions
are suitable for this type of grading.
It works best with
questions where specific factual information is expected.
Note, for other types of
essay questions, you can inform the students to expect a score of 0
on their essay, but you will grade it by hand using Custom
Grading in Records and Reports.
Enter the Key
Words in the Answer Box. The grader will search what
the student enters and look for the correct answers.
A space between
answers indicates different answers: answer1 answer2.
A vertical line
between answers means it can be either answer1 or answer2:
answer1|answer2.
The underscore is used
to indicate an answer that has 2 or more words in it, but must be
in a specific order and counted as only one answer:
George_Washington.
A correct answer
cannot be a word within other words. For example, if the answer is
"mount", then "mountain" is not correct.
To restrict scoring of a student answer to the first
X number of characters, enter #X following the correct
answers.
For example, "ANSWER #6" considers only the first 6 characters typed. This
can be very useful in a fill-in-the-blank question where a short
answer is requested and you want to prevent the student from
entering many possible answers.
If you want to grade
all essay questions yourself, this can be done by using Custom
Grading in Records and Reports. To temporarily give
students a score of 100% on any essay or fill-in-the-blank
question and ignore anything they enter as their answer, enter
100% #0 in the answer box. To give them a score of 0%, enter
0% #0 as the answer. You can then later grade the questions
and adjust their overall scores.
Browser Settings:
Many browsers are set to automatically fill-in a text field if 1 or
more characters match. This can be a problem when multiple students
are using the same computer in a school. You can fix this problem in
Internet Explorer as follows:
Go to Tools > Internet
Options
Select the Content
tab at the top
The bottom section is
titled Personal Information.
Click the
AutoComplete button
Uncheck the Forms
check box
Grouped Questions:
Questions 7, 8, and 9 are specialty questions that require a number
of answers to get a single question correct.
Identify Graphic Component requires you
upload a graphic to appear on the right.
For example, this graphic may be a map with the
names of the cities removed and replaced with A, B, C...
The correct label for each letter is entered on the
left side. For example, if you replaced New York on the map with A,
then in the A field on the left, enter New York.
Matching Sets
(Words/Definitions) lets you match a
series of related words or concepts.
For example, you might want to match cities with
states. To do this enter the city on the left and the state on the
right.
Everything you enter on the left and right side of a
single line indicates correct matching answers.
Setting Sequential Orders lets you list a
sequence of items that must be repeated by the student in the same
order.
Type the correct order
in the fields provided.
The students will see
randomly ordered drop-down menus
They will be required to
select the correct order.
Sliding Continuum
(Survey) Questions: The last question type is
the Sliding Continuum or Survey option. When used as a survey question,
it is generally
also used with the Thank You results page. But it can be used in any
test where one answer is more desirable than another, but there is
no exact right or wrong answer.
The Sliding Continuum assumes
some responses are more desirable than others and it is scored to
identify users who answer it the way the survey designer prefers.
This is a multiple choice question with 5 options. You can specify the ranges that appear.
Select the "preferred" option with the radio
buttons.
The grader gives a 1 if the preferred option is
selected by the user. If the next option on the scale, either
1 above or 1 below is chosen, then a 0.75 is given, 2 above or below
produces a 0.5, 3 above or below produces 0.25, and 4 above or below
a 0. In this way answers can be partially right and wrong and
the survey designer can consider every response in the overall
score.
Click the number of the question in the column below the #
sign.
If there are no numbers, then this test has no questions
yet.
A page will open where you can edit the question.
Type: Type refers to the type of question that was
selected when creating it. There are 10 question types available in the
drop-down menu.
Cat: Category
refers to any name or number you assign a question when you create it.
For example, you may enter 200 questions for
a course and organize them into subject area categories. Or you may want to
base categories on difficulty levels. Category names are entered on the
Question List page or on the Edit Questions page.
Category names can be entered on the
Question List page or when designing a question.
To enter Category names on the Question
List page, type the names in the box
Click Submit at the bottom of the page to
record your changes in the Test Area.
Selecting Questions by
Category: Once you have
created questions for the test, the next time you enter the Test Setup
page, you will see an option for selecting questions by Category.
Wgt: Weight refers to the importance
assigned to a question.
A weight is a number from 0 to 100 assigned
to a question.
If 0, then that question will not be
considered in the overall totals.
If 100, then that question is 100 times more
important in the overall totals than a question with a weight of 1.
This option creates a new test
using the test currently being edited as the template:
With some exceptions, all the parameters from Test Setup, Advanced Features,
and the Results Pages are kept the same.
You are requested to give a new title for the test, as well as a new
subtitle, author, and password.
You have the option to link the test to another
test so only students who passed the other test can take this test.
All Category settings from the previous test are removed.
The number of test questions is set at "All."
To edit the parameters used in the
template, click Edit Test Setup after creating the new test.
To create a new test that does not use the
test currently being edit as a template, go back to the Test List page and
click the Create New Test button there.
This feature lets you import questions from
another Test Area or from a word processor.
Importing from another Test Area
The Test Area must be located in the same
folder as your other Test Areas. If importing ALL the questions in the
test, it can be either a current or an older version of RoboTutor. If
importing SPECIFIC questions only, then it must be a current version of the
program databases.
The Import Questions page appears.
Enter the name of the Test Area
Enter the Test ID for that database and
click Submit.
A page appears with a list of all tests in
that database.
Select the ones you want to import by checking
them in the left side column.
Note, all questions from the tests you check
will be imported into your active test!
Click Insert at the bottom of the page to
begin importing them.
You will be returned to the Questions List
page and the questions you imported will be there.
Importing from a Word Processor
You have the option of importing multiple choice or
survey (sliding continuum) type questions.
Save your word processor document on your
hard drive as a text file.
The number of questions to be imported
should not exceed 50 at one time. If you have more than 50
question, divide into into multiple documents and import them one at a time.
Use Save As: Text Only (*.txt)
(If your word processor has: Save As Text (*.*),
use the extension .txt)
Any .txt format works except "Encoded
Text"
Click the "Import questions from
text file" button.
Browse to find the text file and click
Submit
The file is uploaded to the server and
displayed on next screen.
Multiple Choice (Types 1 and 2):
It is assumed all questions start with 1., 2., 3., ...
and so on.
It is assumed all sub-options start with A., B., C., etc.
(They are NOT case sensitive)
There can be no more than 10 sub-options for
any question.
It is assumed all the questions are Multiple
Choice with 1 or more correct answers.
If there is an asterisk * ANYWHERE on the
line of a
sub-option, that indicates it is the correct answer. For example, B.
*{option} and B. {option}* both indicate that B is the correct answer.
If there is no asterisk, then A is the
correct answer by default.
If a question has 2 or more correct answers,
put an asterisk to left of each one of them.
True/False questions (Type 4) are entered as
Type 1.
Survey (Sliding Continuum, Type 10):
It is assumed all questions start with 1., 2., 3., ...
and so on.
It is assumed the continuum is 1 to 5
(Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree).
The descriptions must be change manually.
The preferred answer is indicated on the
next line by placing an asterisk * to the left of a number.
*5 and 5* on the next line both indicate that 5 is
the preferred answer.
All other question types, including essay
and fill-in-the-blank must be created manually.
All other question types, including essay
and fill-in-the-blank must be created manually.
To get a summary of how a test is
setup, click the Test Summary button:
A page appears that lists the setup parameters
of the test at the top
Each question in the test is listed below with
its weight, category name, and correct answer.
Next is listed all the sub-options for the
question.
Below that the Tutorial and Commentary text
are given.
Any pictures, if any imported into the
database, are displayed last.
This summary listing is needed when viewing many
of the reports. Student answers are numbered according to the original list
displayed here and not according to the actual randomly generated test taken.
This option lets you generate a test and
answer key for use in the classroom when computers are not available.
A test will be generated from the database and
presented on the screen.
The test displays itself in a new window.
To print, use the browser print options. If you want
to modify the test before you print it, or if you want to enter page breaks so
that individual questions are not on two pages, use Edit> Select All and
Edit > Copy. Then open your word processor, such as Microsoft
Word, and Edit > Paste it into a new document. Here you can make any
modifications you want, check spelling, and enter page breaks.
When printing from the browser, you can turn
off the Window Title and Page Address in IE by clicking File
Menu > Page Setup. Clear the Header and Footer boxes.
Under the Title and Subtitle are 3 optional lines
where you can put the name of your school, the teacher's name, and request the
student's name. If they are left blank, the lines disappear from the top of the
test.
To give maximum space for the student name at
the top, type Name: ________________ on line 2.
The number of questions that display for printing
at one time is set in Advanced Features under "Test Options". See
DISPLAY QUESTIONS on screen [?] at a time.
Spaces between questions can be
optionally added so the pages are printed without splitting questions. This
assumes you are using the browser to print the tests. It is not necessary if you
copy and past the test into your work processor.
Borders can be included to emphasize
questions. All font
and border colors black.
If you select to Print answer sheet, the
answers to the test
will be displayed in a second window on TOP of the test. Print it and then close
it. You do not need to copy and paste it into your word processor.
Question Types 7, 8, & 9 can be displayed for
printing in two formats:
Student enters the letter that matches
correct answers. This is the default.
Student writes in the correct answer. To select this
option, check the Write in Answers box.
It is
easy to include music, voice, movies, pictures, or outside links in your test questions:
The music, voice,
and movie files
must be in a format that can be played by Windows Media Player
when using IE or QuickTime Player when using Netscape.
Wav files can be very
large and take a long time to download.
Midi files are generally quite small and no problem.
The sound or movie files must be
located somewhere on the world wide web to be accessible by others.
They can be located on an individual computer such as your C drive,
but then only persons on that computer can access them. They can also
be located on a CD.
The sound options shown
here work automatically with Windows Media Player when using
Internet Explorer.
After downloading, be sure
and open the player. Go to Edit > Preferences > Quick Time
Preferences. Click the MIME Settings button. Click the + to the left
of Audio.
Make sure the WAV and MIDI
boxes are checked, as well as any other media types you plan to use in
the tests.
To access and download
buttons specifically designed for use in RoboTutor, click
In RoboTutor 9
the buttons are located in: links/
default.htm
To access midi and wav files
specifically designed for use in RoboTutor, click
In RoboTutor 9
the sound files are located in: sound/default.htm
Graphics in Test Questions: To put a
graphic to right of or below a test question:
To import a small picture and put it
in the Test Area, use the Picture option at the bottom of the
Create or Modify Question screen.
For greater control of where
pictures are placed, stored, or appear, copy this code and put it
after the test question itself: <img border="2" src="http://www.robotutor.com/images/robotutr.gif"
width="150" height="190" align="right">
Replace the part in
blue with the address to the file.
Set the size of the border (in
pixels) from 0 to 5.
Set alignment for right, middle, or
left.
Set the actual width and height of
the picture in pixels. It should not be more than 300 pixels wide by 200 pixels high.
To put the picture directly to the
right of the question, put the above code BEFORE the test question.
Graphics can also be put in the
Category Headings in Edit Test Setup.
Links to Other Web Pages:
Many teachers like to use RoboTutor to
teach as well as test a student. This can be easily done by putting a button in
the heading of each question that links to another page with instructional
materials, sound, movies, or graphics on it.
Copy this code and put it
IN FRONT of the test question: <a
target="_blank" href="http://www.robotutor.com/default.htm/">
<img border="0" src="links/pink/help.gif" align="right"></a>
Replace the part in
blue
with the address of the instructions, picture, movie, or sound file.
Replace the part in
green
with the address of the button.
Alignment can be to the right, left,
or middle. If you don't want it on the right side, remove align="right".
To put the page directly to the
right of the question, put the above code BEFORE the test question.
Click the Help button for
an example of a link to another web page:
Links to other web pages can also be
put in the Student Instructions or Category Headings in Edit
Test Setup.
Hidden Background
Sound: To put sound in the background of a test question:
Copy this code and put it
with the Student Instructions in Edit Test Setup : <embed src="sound/asian.mid" hidden="true" autostart="true" loop="false">
Replace the part in blue with the address to the file.
The code will not appear
when the question displays. But the sound will start playing.
Background sound should only be used
in test questions when the questions are displayed one at a time as in
Tutorial mode.
Short Sound Control: To put
sound in a test question and have controls appear so the student can turn
it on and off:
Copy this code and put it
IN FRONT of the test question. <EMBED src="sound/asian.mid" controls="smallconsole"
width="100" height="15" autostart="false" volume="90" loop="false" align="right">
Replace the part in blue with the address to the file.
If your students will primarily use
Netscape or Apple QuickTime Player, change the height to 20.
Click the > for an example
of a MIDI file the student will listen to:
Long Sound Control:
To put sound in a test question and have controls appear so the student
can turn it on and off
Copy this code and put it
IN FRONT of the test question. <EMBED src="sound/admirable.wav" controls="smallconsole" width="310" height="45" autostart="false" volume="90" loop="false" align="right">
Replace the part in blue with the address to
or name of the sound file you want to play.
If your students will primarily use
Netscape or Apple QuickTime Player, change the height to 20. If
you are using IE, set height at 25 to remove the progress bar.
Click the > for an example
of a WAV file the student will hear:
Links to Movie Files:
Copy this code and put it
IN FRONT of the test question: <a href="movies/clock.avi"><img
border="0" src="links/gray/movie.gif" width="66" height="24" align="right"></a>
Replace the part in blue
with the address of the sound or movie file.
Replace the part in green
with the address of the button.
Click the Movie button for
an example of a movie the student will see:
Suggestion for Instructional Designers:
The multi-media features in RoboTutor are virtually unlimited, but
they require the HTML code be inserted into the test question header, the
student instructions, or the category instructions.
The HTML code will not work in the sub-options of individual questions.
Use FrontPage or similar HTML editor to design the multi-media
insert and test it to make sure it is working.
Then capture the HTML code and copy it into where you want it to appear in
RoboTutor.
Suggestion for Instructional Designers:
The multi-media features in RoboTutor are virtually
unlimited, but they require the HTML code be inserted into the test question
header, the student instructions, or the category instructions.
The HTML code will not work in the sub-options of
individual questions.
Use FrontPage or similar HTML editor to design the
multi-media insert and test it to make sure it is working.
Then capture the HTML code and copy it into where you want
it to appear in RoboTutor.
This option is a fun way for students to learn
the material in any test.
The game is activated by selecting a Game
Mascot and clicking Go at
the bottom of the Question List page.
If you select a game for THIS Test, then the Academic
Olympics will use the current test for the game.
If you select a game for ANY TEST, then the
Academic Olympics will provide a drop-down menu where students can select any
game in the Test Area.
Student names and scores are not recorded in
the Student Area database. As a result, no Student Area or Student Password is
requested.
The number of students who play the game on a
single terminal can be from 1 to 8.
Any test can be played as a game using this
option. But because students rotate through the questions, the test should
have at least 20 or more questions in it.
For example, if 3 students play the game and
there are 20 questions, then each student will get 6 questions. The last two
questions are dropped so that each student can have the same number of
questions.
The number of questions that are used in the
game is the same as the number of questions that are set to display in
Display Test
Setup when students take the test. So if you want the game to display more
questions than the test, create a new test using the Create Test from Template option and copy
all the questions into the new test.
A student can enter any name or nickname he
wants. But he must click Add Player for it to be included in the game.
Once all the names have been entered, then leave the Name of Player box empty and
just click Start the Game.
To make a link to a game, go to the
Question List page and click the above link. Then copy the Address in the
browser and put it anywhere you want a link.
To have the game display the CORRECT answer
when students miss a question, the path to the game should have
Help=Answers at the end. This is the default when you click on the Game
link.
To have the game display the TUTORIAL answer
when student miss a question, change Answers to Tutorial so it looks like
this: Help=Tutorial.
To have the game display both CORRECT and
TUTORIAL answers, use Help=Both
To have the game display nothing, use Help=
Trouble Shooting:
The Game will not play in some older browsers.
We recommend you download free copies of Internet Explorer or
Netscape 6.0+. If you are using a Mac, then down Internet Explorer
or Netscape 5.0+.
When a student clicks Add Player 1, it
should come back and say Add Player 2. The Start the Game button
should appear next to Add Player. If it just repeats Add Player 1 again
and again or the game otherwise is not running properly, your Browser may not
configured properly.
To fix the problem in Internet Explorer:
Go to Tools > Internet Options.
Click the General Tab and then click
the Settings button for Temporary Internet Files.
Check for new versions of stored pages:
Select Every visit to the page.
Go back and select the Privacy tab.
Select Medium High or lower.
Save your changes. Close your browser and then
open it again.
Go back and select the Advanced tab.
Scroll down to Microsoft VM and make sure the
JIT compiler is checked.
To fix the problem in Netscape: Go to
Edit > Preferences and change the settings to correspond to those in
Internet Explorer described above.
Academic Olympics Game
