[LON-CAPA-admin] Placement Tests

[Stuart Raeburn]

Mark,

Justin Gray in the Mathematics department at Simon Fraser University  
has used LON-CAPA for Math Placement tests for many years.

> I know that a single folder can be created from a pool,  but can a  
> single folder be created gracefully
> from 4 separate pools or does this require 4 separate folders?

Currently, LON-CAPA would require 4 separate folders for this.   
However, if the exam is run online, students will be unaware of the  
boundaries between folders if they use LOn-CAPA's navigation arrows to  
move from one problem to the next.

An alternative would be to use randompick in a single folder in which  
the problems within the folder themselves contained multiple response  
types enclosed within a randomlist tag.  This would mean each pool  
would be converted to a single problem, which would not be especially  
desirable from the perspective of flexibility of content reuse.

Note: the forthcoming LON-CAPA 2.11.0 release supports use of both  
randompick and randomorder in bubblesheet exams.  In addition, there  
is a countdown timer available automatically when the time interval  
parameter is in use which is something that the LON-CAPA administrator  
in the Mathematics at the University of Saskatchewan has asked about  
in the past.

Stuart Raeburn
LON-CAPA Academic Consortium

Quoting Mark Lucas <lucasm at ohio.edu>:

> I'm being approached by our math department to look at the option of  
>  using LON-CAPA for placement
> tests. They are currently using blackboard and there have been some issues.
>
> Where is the system currently being used for placement tests and how  
>  is enrollment and reporting handled?
> Is it still being used at the University of Saskatchewan for this?
>
> Their selection of problems includes 4 pools of questions from which  
>  they select a pre-selected number from
> each pool. I know that a single folder can be created from a pool,   
> but can a single folder be created gracefully
> from 4 separate pools or does this require 4 separate folders?
>
> Thanks!
> Mark
>
> --
> Mark Lucas 								email: lucasm at ohiou.edu
> 252D Clippinger Lab						phone: (740)597-2984
> Department of Physics and Astronomy		fax: (740)593-0433
> Ohio University
> Athens, OH 45701
>