Assessing tests

After a test, you assess the participants' results in the assessment tool: you correct answers by hand, compensate for flawed questions and release the results.

Open the assessment tool via Course > Administration > Assessment tool and, in the left-hand overview that reflects the course structure, select the test you want to assess. Here you find two tabs: "Overview" and "Participants".

The "Overview" tab summarises the assessment status of this course element, for example how many persons have already passed it. In the "Participants" tab you see the participants and start the assessment.

Tab Participants

General action options

Buttons Test Statistics, Export results, Pull tests and Correction tool, Delete all data in the menu with three dots, below them the list of participants

Course coaches and course owners have the possibility, via the corresponding buttons, to:

view the test statistics,
export the results of all displayed participants as a zip file,
pull tests that are currently in progress,
delete all data of the test,
set the assessment for all or several selected participants to the status "completed", finalizing the assessment,
set the assessments of the tests to visible or invisible for all or several selected participants at once (release),
extend the time for processing the test,
send an email to one or more participants,
correct the tests question by question (button "Correction tool"),
adjust the previously configured rating scale again.

Note

Which options are displayed in detail depends partly on the configuration of the course element.

The buttons and options in detail:

Test Statistics

The button opens the statistics for the test and for each of its questions. This shows you how well individual questions worked. For each person, the most recent test run is evaluated as soon as it is finished. More about this on the page Test statistics.

Export results

To archive the test results or evaluate them outside OpenOlat, export them as a zip file. The name of the zip file states the test, the course and the date of the download. The zip file contains an overview of the participants as an HTML page, folders with the participants' results and other files. If the test receipt is switched on, it also contains the test receipts. The columns of the Excel file are described on the page Export tests.

Pull tests

If participants have started a test but not yet submitted it, you end it with "Pull tests". The answers given so far then count as submitted, and you can view and assess them. The button is only active as long as at least one person is working on the test.

Correction tool

In the correction tool you correct a test question by question or person by person. You award points for questions that OpenOlat does not evaluate itself, adjust the score of automatically corrected questions and leave comments.

The question types Essay, Drawing and File upload are corrected by hand. OpenOlat corrects all other question types automatically.

The "Correction tool" button appears if the "Correction" setting of the course element is set to "Manual by course coach/owner" or if the test contains questions that are corrected by hand. If the setting is "Manual by correctors", the button is missing. The correction then runs through the correction workflow in Coaching. The setting itself is described on the page Tests at course level.

If assessments are already closed, OpenOlat asks first in the dialog "Reopen closed assessments". With "Reopen assessment" you set the closed assessments back to the status "To review" and can correct them again. With "See correction read only" you open the correction tool without reopening the assessments. The answers of these persons are then read-only, and the "Adjust score" button is missing.

Validate test receipt

If a participant presents their test receipt, you check with "Validate test receipt" whether the receipt is valid and belongs to a result stored in OpenOlat. To do this, upload the XML file of the test receipt in the field "XML file". OpenOlat shows the result of the check directly in the dialog.

The button only appears if the option "Generate a test receipt" is switched on in the configuration of the course element. OpenOlat then creates a test receipt after the test is completed, which the participant can download as an XML file. If the option "Send the test receipt per mail" is also activated, the participant also receives the file by email.

Delete all data

With "Delete all data" you irrevocably delete the data of all participants for this test, including results. You find the entry in the menu with three dots next to the buttons. In the dialog "Delete data of test", you confirm the checkbox "I understand that this deletes the corresponding data." and click "Delete all data". If participants have already started the test, OpenOlat creates an archive file with the relevant data when deleting, which is then downloaded.

Among others, course owners and persons with the right Assessment tool see the entry, but not course coaches without this right. In contrast, you reset the data of individual persons for the respective person, see section "Resetting or invalidating tests".

Prolong

If individual participants need more time, select them in the list and use "Prolong" to extend their processing time by a number of minutes.

Adjust grade scale

With "Adjust grade scale" you change the rating scale of the course element or switch to another grading system.

Manual assessment of test questions

For the manual assessment of the questions of a test, the following approaches are generally possible:

a) Assessment of all participants based on a single question

b) Assessment of all questions of the test based on one person

c) Assessment of a single person

Tip

For the assessment of a) and b), use the "Correction tool" button.

a) Manual assessment per test item - Tab Questions

Select the desired test in the left navigation and click "Correction tool". The "Questions" tab lists all questions of the test with their correction status.

Tabs All, To correct, To review, Manual and Adjusted above the question list with the columns #Answered, #Auto, #Manual, #Adjusted, #To correct and #To review

Tabs

The tabs above the table take you directly to the questions where work is still pending or where a change was made afterwards, without having to sort the list:

All: all questions of the test.
To correct: questions that are corrected by hand and have at least one answer without points.
To review: questions with at least one answer that is marked for review.
Manual: all questions that are corrected by hand.
Adjusted: automatically corrected questions with at least one score adjustment.

Columns

The columns show where something still needs to be done:

Section: the section of the test in which the question is located.
Question: the title of the question. A click on it opens the answers of all persons to this question.
Keywords: the keywords of the question. The column is hidden by default.
Question type: the type of the question, for example Single Choice or Essay.
#Answered: how many test runs answered the question, in relation to all test runs.
#Auto: how many answers OpenOlat corrected automatically, without adjustment. Only filled for automatically corrected questions.
#Manual: how many answers the question has if it is corrected by hand. The number includes corrected and not yet corrected answers.
#Adjusted: how many answers carry a score adjustment. Only filled for automatically corrected questions.
#To correct: how many answers do not have points yet. A click on the number opens exactly these answers. When all answers are corrected, a check mark appears there.
#To review: how many answers are marked for review.

The columns "#Manual" and "#To correct" only appear if the test contains questions that are corrected by hand. The column "Question" and the menu with three dots cannot be hidden. A click on the number in "#Auto", "#Manual", "#Adjusted" or "#To review" opens the answers that make up this number.

Correcting answers

Click the title of the question you want to correct. The answer of the first person appears. Here you can leave points and comments, and if necessary also "Mark for review" the correction. For automatically corrected questions, you can also display the solution ("View solution", "View correct solution") and adjust the score. In the "Assessment documents" field you upload a file for the answer if needed, for example a corrected version. Participants find it in their test results for the question, where the comment is also shown.

Comments are always visible to correctors. Participants see them only if the test results are visible to them and the question summary is shown, see Tests at course level. This applies to every comment on a question, including the comment from "Adjust score" and from the actions for all participants.

Several correctors can assess a test at the same time. If someone is currently working on a person's answer to a question, OpenOlat locks this answer for everyone else. In the system administration, administrators define under Administration > e-Assessment > Test in the section "Configuration of correction" whether the participants are listed anonymously in the correction tool. The "Participant identifier" then appears instead of the name.

Finally, save the entries with "Save", "Save and next" or "Save and back to overview". You can switch to the next person or go back to the question overview of the correction tool and select the next question.

Points for all participants of a question

If a question was flawed, you treat all participants equally without opening each answer individually. The menu with three dots at the end of a question's row contains two actions for all participants for this purpose:

Add points to participants score: OpenOlat adds the entered points to the points of each person. The maximum score of the question is not exceeded.
Set score for all participants: all persons receive the same score for this question, regardless of their answer.

Both actions open a dialog with the same procedure:

Enter the value in the mandatory field "Points to be added" or "New score". It must lie between the minimum and the maximum score of the question. When adding, it must be greater than 0.
In the "Comment" field, explain why the points change. OpenOlat appends the text for each person to the end of their existing comment, an existing comment is kept. The field is optional.
Confirm with "Add points" or "Set score". OpenOlat saves the points and the comment immediately for all participants, an additional save is not necessary.

If the question is corrected automatically, the dialog points out that the question was scored automatically and asks for a comment that explains the adjustment to the participants. Have this explanation ready before you open the dialog: without it, the participants see a score that does not match their answer.

Note on the automatic scoring of the question, mandatory field New score and Comment field, which is appended to the existing comment of all participants

For an automatically corrected question, these points count as an adjustment, exactly like a single score adjustment. The question then carries the status "Adjusted manually", also for persons who did not submit an answer or did not read the question. For a question that is corrected by hand, the points count as a manual correction, and the question carries the status "Corrected manually".

Adjusting the score of a question

If it turns out after a test has been conducted that an automatically corrected question was incorrectly worded or has a wrong solution, you compensate for this with an adjustment. The question can no longer be removed from the test after it has been conducted. With the adjustment, you add points for the persons concerned or deduct points, without changing the question itself. The adjustment remains visible: statistics and export show it separately, and the result remains traceable in a later review.

In the correction tool, open the answer of a person to an automatically corrected question. The "Score" field is read-only. Next to it is the "Adjust score" button.

Open input window Adjust score with the mandatory field New score and the Comment field for the explanation to the person

Click "Adjust score". A small input window opens.
In the mandatory field "New score", enter the new score of the question, not the difference. The value must lie between the minimum and the maximum score of the question.
If needed, explain in the "Comment" field why you adjust the score. OpenOlat appends the text to the end of the "Comment" field of the answer.
Confirm with "Adjust score".
Save the correction with "Save", "Save and next" or "Save and back to overview". Only then are the score and the comment saved.

The question then carries the status "Adjusted manually". The "Score" field shows the result. Below it, "Score (auto)" shows the automatically calculated value followed by the adjustment in brackets, for example "0 (+1)".

Status Adjusted manually, Score field with the new value and below it Score (auto) with the automatically calculated value and the adjustment in brackets

With "Reset adjustment" you restore the automatically calculated value. The status changes back to "Auto-corrected". Save this change as well.

There is no adjustment for questions that are corrected by hand. There you enter the score directly in the "Score" field, and the question receives the status "Corrected manually".

The adjustment appears wherever points are shown:

A score adjustment on a question appears in the correction tool, in the list of test runs, in the test statistics and in the export of the test results

Correction tool: in the column "#Adjusted" and in the tab "Adjusted".
Test runs of a person: in the column "Score (auto)", see c) Manual assessment starting from a single person.
Test statistics: in the key figures "Number of adjustments" and "Average adjustment" of the question, see Test statistics.
Export of the test results: in separate columns of the Excel file, see Export tests.

The participants only see the final score of the question in their results, not the adjustment.

Status of a question

When you open the answer of a person, the status shows at a glance how the question is assessed and whether anything still needs to be done:

No answer: the person did not submit an answer or did not read the question, and no points have been assigned by hand.
Auto-corrected: OpenOlat scored the answer automatically.
Adjusted manually: the points of an automatically corrected question were changed by hand, with "Adjust score" or with an action for all participants. This also applies if the person did not submit an answer.
To be corrected: the question is corrected by hand and has no points yet.
Corrected manually: the question is corrected by hand and has points. This also applies if the person did not submit an answer.

If the person did not submit an answer, the note "This question has not been answered by the participant." appears above the answer. If the person did not open the question at all, it reads "This question has not been read by the participant." An unread or unanswered question carries the status "No answer" as long as nobody has assigned points by hand. After that, the status shows the intervention: "Adjusted manually" or "Corrected manually". The separate value "Unread" is shown by the label to the right of the person's name above the answer, which also shows "Answered" and "Not answered". The question list of a single test run shows the same value, see c) Manual assessment starting from a single person.

Columns and tabs of the correction tool use shorter labels than the status above the answer: the columns "#Auto", "#Manual" and "#Adjusted" and the tabs "Manual" and "Adjusted".

b) Manual assessment per person - Tab Participants

Select the desired test in the left navigation, click "Correction tool" and select the "Participants" tab. Here you see an overview of the persons to be assessed as well as their current assessment status for the selected test.

Tabs above the list of persons with the columns Score, #Answered, #Auto, #Manual, #Adjusted, #To correct and #To review

Above the table are the same tabs as in the "Questions" tab: "All", "To correct", "To review", "Manual" and "Adjusted". They show the persons whose answers are to be corrected, marked for review, corrected by hand or adjusted.

The table shows for each person:

Name or Participant identifier: with anonymous correction, the "Participant identifier" appears instead of the name columns.
Test run ID: the number of the test run. The column is hidden by default.
Not answered: how many questions the person did not answer. The column is hidden by default.
#Answered: how many questions the person answered, in relation to all questions.
Score: the result of the person in the test.
#Auto: how many questions OpenOlat corrected automatically, without adjustment.
#Manual: how many questions are corrected by hand.
#Adjusted: how many questions carry a score adjustment.
#To correct: how many questions do not have points yet.
#To review: how many answers are marked for review.

The columns "#Manual" and "#To correct" only appear if the test contains questions that are corrected by hand. The column with the participant identifier and the column "Score" cannot be hidden, so that it always remains clear whose result is in the row.

A click on a person opens their question list. There you select a question and assess it as described under a). Then select the next person until all are assessed.

c) Manual assessment starting from a single person

If you only want to assess a single person, proceed as follows:

Select the desired test in the left navigation and select the tab "Participants". Then click the name of the person to be assessed. A list with all test runs of this person appears. For the most recent run, click the pencil icon "Correct" in the "Correction" column.

List of the test runs of a person with the columns Score, Score (auto) with adjustment in brackets, Score (manual), #To correct, #To review and Correction

List of test runs

The list shows for each test run:

Run: the number of the test run.
Finished at, "Duration" and "Status" of the test run.
#Answered: how many questions the person answered in this test run.
Score: the result of the test run. The value is read-only.
Score (auto): the automatically calculated share. If there are adjustments, they follow in brackets, for example "3 (+1 | -0.5)".
Score (manual): the share awarded by hand.
#To correct: how many questions do not have points yet.
#To review: how many answers are marked for review.
Correction: the pencil icon "Correct" opens the question list of the test run for correction. Instead of a heading, the column also shows a pencil icon.
Results: the magnifying glass icon "View results" opens the results of the test run.

Only for the most recent test run are the values in "#To correct" and "#To review" highlighted in colour and clickable, and only there does the "Correct" icon appear. Older test runs show the plain number, because only the most recent one is corrected. The columns "Score (manual)" and "#To correct" only appear if the test contains questions that are corrected by hand. The columns "Run", "Score", "Correction" and the menu with three dots cannot be hidden. Further columns such as "ID", "Started on", "Last modified", "Test resource" and "#Questions" can be shown if needed.

Question list of a test run

Via the "Correct" icon you reach the question list of the test run. For each question it shows the columns "Section", "Question", "Question type", "Answered", "Score", "Score (Auto)", "Score (Manual)", "#To correct" and "#To review". The "Answered" column shows "Answered", "Not answered" or "Unread" for each question.

The tabs "All", "To correct", "To review", "Answered", "Manual" and "Adjusted" take you directly to the questions you are looking for. In addition, the "Status" filter restricts the list to the values "Answered", "Not answered" or "Unread". From here you open each question and assess it as described under a).

Downloading essay answers as PDF

You can download answers to essay questions as PDF, either individually or in bulk. For a single answer, open a person's answer to an essay question in the correction tool. Use the "Download as PDF" button at the top right to download this answer as a PDF.

Download as PDF button at the top right above the answer, with anonymous correction showing the participant identifier instead of the name

For all answers to a question, open the menu with three dots at the end of the row in the "Questions" tab. Via "Download as PDF files for all participants" you receive a zip file with one PDF per participant.

Menu with three dots at the end of an essay question's row with the action Download as PDF files for all participants

The PDF states the course, course element and test in the header, so that each PDF can be clearly assigned. If the test is corrected anonymously, the "Participant identifier" appears instead of the participants' personal details.

You find the download in the correction tool of a course and in the correction workflow for external correctors.

Prerequisite

The download requires the switch "PDF Service" to be turned on in the system administration under Administration > External tools > PDF generator, see PDF Generator.

Resetting or invalidating tests

If a test attempt should not count or a person should start the test from scratch, invalidate the attempt or reset the person's test data. To do this, open the test of a person in the assessment tool. Under "Test runs", you find "Invalidate" in the menu with three dots at the end of an attempt's row. The "Reset data of test" button is below the list of attempts.

Menu with three dots of a test attempt opened with the action Invalidate, below it the Reset data of test button, both highlighted

With "Invalidate" you mark a single attempt as invalid. The attempt continues to appear in the list, and you can view it and reactivate it, but it no longer counts as the person's result. If the person has made several attempts, the next attempt in time counts as the result. However, this does not change the number of attempts displayed. So if, for example, a test is limited to three attempts and the person has made three attempts, no further attempts are available, even if one or more of the attempts have been invalidated.

If there is only one attempt and it is invalidated, the table display in the assessment tool does not change. The invalidated attempt with its points is still displayed.

With "Reset data of test", in contrast, you delete all attempts of the person. The number of attempts is then back to 0.

Assessment in the course view

You can also assess a single test directly in the course, without opening the assessment tool: with the course editor closed, select the "Test" course element. The tabs "Overview" and "Participants" there offer largely the same options as in the assessment tool. In addition, there are the tabs "Preview", "Communication" and "Reminders".

The "Preview" tab shows the test from the participants' point of view. The "Communication" tab serves for exchanges with the participants during an ongoing test, for example in online exams. In the "Reminders" tab you send reminder emails when certain conditions of the test processing are met, for example a certain score, a certain number of attempts, or passing and failing, see Reminders.

Tabs Preview, Communication and Reminders next to Overview and Participants marked, together with the Correction tool button and Delete all data in the menu with three dots

Further information

Mentioned on this page
Test statistics >
Export tests >
Coaching - Assessment Orders >
Tests at course level >
Members management >
External Tools: Overview >
Course Reminders >

Further
Assessment tool - overview >
Course Element "Test" >
Assessment tool: Tab Participants >

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