The options tab is where you can start editing how the test behaves. The options tab is split up into 4 different sections.
Each section has its own various settings.
Before Taking Options
The Before Taking Options relate to the test before the user starts the test.
Authenticate Page Options
As a security measure, prior to starting a specific test, exam or program, you can require users to validate against a previously entered value in a custom field. For example, if a custom user field is added to contain users' driver's license numbers before a user is allowed to start a test, they would need to enter in their correct driver's license number.
If there are no custom user fields setup to authenticate against the settings for this feature will be ignored.
Custom user fields are set up by Superusers under the Manage Settings menu.
More than one custom user field can be set up for authentication. When the feature is used for a test, then all the custom user fields set up for authentication will be displayed to your test takers. If you are using any of the custom user field features that hide custom user fields from users based on user group membership, then those fields will not be included in any authentication.
Two types of authentication are available. 'Challenge' authentication is used to prevent a user from starting content unless they know the value of the field they are being challenged to provide. 'Verification' authentication is used to capture (and save) the information you are asking a user to provide. From a security perspective, 'Challenge' authentication is stronger because the application is actually comparing what a user has entered against information already entered in the application, while 'Verification' authentication only collects data. For 'Challenge' authentication if no value was previously entered to compare against, then the application will collect (and save) whatever value is entered and then will then let the user proceed with starting their content.
If a user is able to restart/resume any occurrence of this test they have already started, then user WILL NOT be required to authenticate again for this test. This is a system-wide setting that can be changed by your GAUGE/test.com representative.
If a user is re-taking a test, and they previously successfully authenticated, and have not logged out of the application from the last time they authenticated, then on the retake, the user will not have to authenticate again for this test.
If the proctor feature is used to prevent a user from taking this test until the proctor has entered their credentials, then any authentication will occur after this step. If a proctor is set up to take or print a test on behalf of a user, then proctor will not need to also authenticate on behalf of a user.
Use the authenticate checkbox above the text field to turn on this feature. If no custom user fields are set up to allow for authentication, then this feature will be ignored. The optional Custom Text box will display whatever it entered there to test takers on the authentication page. Typically text entered in that text box is used to provide additional directions to test takers regarding the required authentication.
Instruction Display Options
The following settings control how instructions are presented to the test taker when a test is being taken. These settings are for the entire test, not individual questions. Instructions for individual questions are controlled where questions are added and edited.
All except the first setting (Display System Generated Instructions Sub Header) requires the entry of Custom Text or HTML in the text box. If this Custom Text Box is left blank, the settings that require it will be ignored.
You have 5 options to configure/activate:
- Display System Generated Instructions Sub Header on start taking page (recommended)
- Display System Generated Instructions Body Text on start taking page (recommended)
- Show Custom Text Instructions on Start Taking Page under system generated instructions if being displayed
- Show Custom Text Instructions on Special Page Between the start taking page and the first page of questions
- Show Custom Text Instructions on Top of All Question Pages using expand and collapsible panel
Page Display Preferences (Before Taking)
These settings control page preferences on the Before Taking (Start) page.
Start Taking Page Title/Headline enter optional text or leave blank to use the default setting
Email Start Taking Notice Options
Once a test is newly selected AND STARTED by a user, a notice will be automatically emailed. If selected and if the notice text is left blank, the application will generate a system generated notice. The notice field supports the entry of HTML.
Email When Purchase Notice Options
Once a test is newly purchased by a user, a notice will be automatically emailed. If the notice text is left blank (and no template has been chosen), the application will generate a system generated notice. The notice field supports the entry of HTML.
While Taking Options
While taking options impacts the test while a user is taking the test.
Time Limit and Minimum Time Frame Settings
The following are advanced settings that control the time limit. The time limit is ignored if a zero value is entered. If used, the application will automatically display a timer on the page when a test is being taken. To activate any of the options click on the corresponding checkbox and save.
(Optional Setting) When the timer expires automatically complete this test and SCORE all unanswered questions as incorrect (if not checked the test will be marked as INCOMPLETE and NOT SCORED when the timer expires)
(Optional Setting) Use the Time Limit as a Minimum Time Frame. When checked, a user will not be able to finish/complete the test until the timer value is GREATER than the Time Limit entered.
Question Count Limit Settings
The following are advanced settings that control question count limits. If utilized, this application will automatically limit the number of questions included in a test as specified in the text field; otherwise, all available questions will be included. Question count limit is ignored if a zero value is entered. If the value entered is greater than the number of questions available, then all available questions will be included. However, if the test is set up to use sections and control optional question randomization and question count individually by section, then these values are ignored. To activate any of the options click on the corresponding checkbox and save.
Note: It's best to use these features in conjunction with the Question Randomization Settings (below) if you need to automatically build tests with randomly selected questions when you have a pool of questions larger than the number of questions you want to be included in a test.
Question Randomization Settings
The following are advanced settings that control question randomization. This application will automatically control question randomization for your tests as specified below. However, if a test is set up to use sections and control optional question randomization and question count individually by section, then these values are ignored. To activate any of the options click on the corresponding checkbox and save.
(Optional Setting) Randomize the order of questions presented when taken
(Optional Setting) Similar Question Limit: If limiting question count limits, attempt not to include more than one similar question when the test is being taken.
(Optional Setting) Don't Repeat Limit: If you are limiting question count limits, when a test taker is retaking a test, the platform will attempt to not repeat already taken test questions.
(Optional Setting) Balance by Difficulty: If randomizing and using the number of questions limit, balance questions chosen by difficulty (when optionally specified in each question record). If zeros are entered in ALL of the following fields, the system will automatically choose questions with entered difficulty levels in proportion to the total number of questions for each difficulty level found in the pool (example: in a pool of 80 questions, if 40 are entered as low difficulty and 40 high difficulty, then the resulting test will have 50% low difficulty and 50% high difficulty questions). If entering in proportions below, the system will use those proportions when calculating the total number of questions to include in a test (example: if 100 is entered below under the low difficulty proportion, and zeros entered in for the other proportions, and the pool contains equal numbers of low, medium, high and not specified question difficulties, then the resulting test will have 100% low difficulty questions). If there are not enough questions to accommodate the entered proportions, the application will then automatically include enough additional questions outside of the difficulty levels specified to reach the question count limit.
(Optional Setting) Re-randomize: If randomizing and if a test is set up to use sections plus control optional question randomization and question count individually by section – then, use the checkbox to re-randomize the questions across all sections, otherwise the questions will be grouped by section, in section order and randomized inside each group of sections.
(Optional Setting) Group Question Scenarios: together when randomizing questions (if scenarios are optionally specified in questions)
(Optional Setting) Randomize order of question possible answers (when optionally specified in each question record)
Question Per Page Settings
As a best practice, the smaller the number of question displayed per page the better. As a test taker moves from page to page, the test takers answers are automatically saved. The more questions per page the fewer times the answers are saved. Choose one question per page if you are unsure how to use this setting. In the text field, enter a number between 1 - 20 (The default is 1 question per page).
Test Taker Options
The following are the test taker options for this test. If a test is set up to use test sections (for question banks); the test taker options entries made in those individual test section records for this test will be ignored - only the following test taker options will be used to control this test. To activate any of the options click on the corresponding checkbox and save.
(Optional Setting) Allow a Test Taker to Use the Back Button to go back and review their prior answers
(Optional Setting) Allow a Test Taker to Skip answering questions in order (if allowed to use Back Button)
(Optional Setting) Allow to Finish if Unanswered Questions with unanswered marked as incorrect (if allowed to Skip)
(Optional Setting) Allow a Test Taker to Bookmark Pages and show Question Table of Contents (if allowed to Skip)
(Optional Setting) Show Elapsed Time to the test taker while taking this test
(Optional Setting) Show Progress Bar of questions answered to the test taker while taking this test
(Optional Setting) Show Calculator Button to open a calculator in a new window while taking this test
(Optional Setting) Show PDF Button to open entire test in a PDF window (not recommend for security/PDF capability reasons)
(Optional Setting) Show Hint Link while answering questions (if a Hint exists for the question)
(Optional Setting) Show Reference Link while answering questions (if a Reference exists for the question)
Option to Display This Test While Being Taken In Secure Window
The following option, if selected, will open this test automatically in a secure pop-up window while being taken. In most browsers, the secure this popup window will prevent both the screen capture and printing of the window.
One should note the functionality of this feature is limited. Some browser security settings may not permit this functionally, but will still let the test taker proceed to take the test.
When this feature is enabled, the test taker will need to make sure all popup blocker are disabled on their computer and some test takers may have more than one popup blocker that would require being disabled. iPads, iPhones and other smartphones have will require disabling popup blocking under their settings and preferences menus. To activate this feature click the checkbox.
There're Better Alternatives to Secure Your Tests/Exams Than Using This Feature with the likelihood most users have smartphones with cameras, there's no technical solution to stop these users from taking pictures of test/exam questions. This is a legacy feature somewhat now outdated.
To mitigate the ability of your users from stealing and cheating use these features instead: Randomize your questions. Randomize your possible answers. Use questions banks that contain more questions than what you're including in the test. Consider, using the features that prevent users from navigating back and forth, and skipping questions. If using the bookmarking features, use the feature that prevents the listing of question text on one page. Be sure to use a timer, and set the timer so the users don't have enough time to answer the questions and then go back and take pictures of your test. At the conclusion of the test, consider hiding your question text and correct answers. For higher stakes testing, use our Proctoring features.
Help Window / Page Options
(Optional Setting) Any text in the text field will be presented as a help screen to test takers. The text field supports the entry of HTML. To activate this feature click the checkbox. If the checkbox is not chosen, any text entered will be ignored.
Page Display Preferences (While Taking)
The following settings control page preferences on the While Taking pages.
Display System Generated Top of Page Sub Header with what's being taken information (recommended)
Hide Test Description when taking and on finish page (if above system generated checkbox is checked) (recommended)
Hide Application Menus when taking (recommended)
In this section, you also have a text field that is for displaying an additional top of page append text.
Scoring and Results
The scoring and results settings impact the test after a user is finished with the test.
Passing Score Option
In the text field, you can set a passing score. By entering a 0 there is no passing score.
Tracking Test Taker Improvement
We’ve added a new feature that lets you easily compare question results across two tests (either the same test or different tests). This new feature allows you to measure how individuals or groups of test takers improve over time. To set this up go to the Scoring and Results tab under Options in your test settings. There you will find a new section called “Rate of Improvement Summary Options.”
Grade and Scoring Band Options
The following controls how grades are assigned and how special note(s) can be presented to a user based on high and low score ranges. This feature uses a Grade and Scoring Band Template. Superusers, under the Manage Settings area of this application, can set up these templates by choosing the creating/editing Grade and Scoring Band Template menu option. If no template is chosen from the drop down, the following options in the section will be ignored.
(Optional Setting) Show on Final Page - at the top of the final results page
(Optional Setting) Include in Final Results email
(Optional Setting) Include in Pass/Complete Notice email
(Optional Setting) Include on Administrator Pages - on all administrator results pages
(Optional Setting) Show on User Pages - all user results pages under the user's My Account menu
Options on How Results are Displayed to Users - on Final/Results Page
The options and settings in this section further define how results are displayed to a test taker on the final page immediately after a test has been taken or while a test is being taken (if you have optionally chosen to display results after each page of presented questions).
(Optional Setting) Display Results Summary Immediately after Taking the Test - indicates which questions the user answered right or wrong, and gives a summary of the user's score at the END of the test
(Optional Setting) Display Results while Taking the Test - indicates which questions the user answered right or wrong, DURING the taking of the test after each question page
Options on How Results are Displayed to Users - afterward under their taken content history
(for users only) This setting allows for the user's continual availability of detailed test results as defined on the page (for this test) under the user's My Account history menu choices.
Allow Results to be Available Afterward on a Later Date - for users only (administrators always have access to the results). If checked, then users will be able to review their results anytime by navigating to their taken history under the My Account menu. The results will be identically formatted (as defined on the page) as they were originally displayed on the Finished taken page when the test was originally finished.
Email Need to Manual Score Notifications to Administrators Option
(Optional Setting) Used by the Essay/Short Answer Question Type Manual Scoring Wizard Administrator Tool to email a notification to an administrator if a question set up to be manually scored was answered and is now ready to be scored by an administrator.
Email manual score notifications for essay/short answer questions to the following email addresses:
(use a semicolon to separate multiple email addresses, using the term 'user' instead of an actual email address will send to the user's email, 'manager' will sent to a user manager's email if using that feature, admin'/'adminall', 'adminuser', 'admincontent', 'adminresult', 'proctor', or 'super' will send to administrators using the User Security Group features)
Email Results Notice Options
(Optional Setting) A Results Notice is a full report of what was taken. The notice includes scores, all question information and all answers including an answer key. Typically results notices are only sent to administrators and not users.
System Default set to include test taker question and answers in these emails. This setting can be adjusted by Superusers on the Advanced Account Site Setting menu choice under Manage Settings.
Email Pass/Complete/Fail Notices Options
(Optional Setting) The following controls how pass, fail or complete notices can be sent. Completion notices are only available for tests with a passing score percentage entered as zero. As an option, you can append special text to these notices. Both the Pass/Complete Append Text and Fail Append Text fields below support the entry of HTML.
System Default set to exclude any score values in these emails. This setting can be adjusted by Superusers on the Advanced Account Site Setting menu choice under Manage Settings.
Pass (or completion) Certificates Options
(Optional Setting) These settings control how pass (or completion) certificates can be generated and shared with users. Certificates are Adobe PDF custom documents your users can save and/or print. This application uses Certificate Templates and a mail merge like a process to generate certificates. Superusers, under the Manage Settings area of this application, can format the look and feel of the certificates by creating/editing Certificate Templates. If no Certificate Template is chosen below, the balance of certification options will be ignored and no certificates will be generated.
Placement Score Results Display Options
These settings control how the application looks at the past results for a test taken and calculates how a test taker did on their test compared to the other test takers. The Look Back Number of Days Window setting is used to limit the number of past results included in the calculations.
The first found 10 tests taken will be discarded and not included in the placement calculations.
A minimum number of 10 tests need to have been taken otherwise a message will be displayed to test takers stating not enough tests have been taken to calculate their percentile score placement ranking. A maximum number of the last 1000 tests taken will be included in the calculation for performance and statistical purposes. These are system-wide settings that can be changed by your GAUGE/test.com representative.
Question Bank Section Summary Results Display Options
The following controls how question bank sections summaries are presented in results. This feature is only available for tests with question banks. If this feature is utilized, a table with rows for each question bank section included in this test will be included in the various results as follows. This feature is typically used when sections are used to manage subject area content. These subtotals would then display to test takers scores by subject area.
Note: This option is only available for tests with question banks
Results Header/Footer Text (on the Final Page) Option
The following text will be presented on the last page when the test taker finishes taking a test. This page can replace the results page if the No Results Page checkbox is selected from any options below. The text field supports the entry of HTML. If the Show check box is not chosen, any text entered will be ignored.
Results Header Pass or Fail Append Text Option
The text fields here will be appended at the top of the results page when the test taker finishes taking this test. Note the two available text fields to differentiate between the results for either pass or failing scores. The text fields support the entry of HTML. If the Show check box is not chosen, any text entered will be ignored.
Page Display Preferences (Finished Taking Page)
The following settings control page preferences on the Final/Finished Taking page.
(Optional Setting) Finished Taking Page Title/Headline Enter the optional text (leave blank to use the default setting - recommended)
(Optional Setting) Finish Taking Return Button feature to display a navigation button on the final page
(Optional Setting) Button Text (required for above 'Log Out and Navigate to the URL...' choice above / optional for other choices)
(Optional Setting) Return URL (required for above 'Log Out and Navigate to the URL...' choice above)
Taking Limits
The taking limits tab relates to the limitations of the test.
Restart/Resume Limit Options
The following are the restart/resume limit options for tests. If a test is set up to use test sections (for question banks); the restart/resume limit options entries made in those individual test section records for this test will be ignored. To activate these features click the checkboxes and fill in the text fields.
Allow a Test Taker to Stop and Restart/Resume taking this test (recommended)
To Start New if not finished taking (for stop and restart/resume feature)(recommended)
Include Stop Taking Button for all content including stop and restart/resume feature(recommended)
Stop and Restart/Resume Number of Days Limit value is typically set to 10. You can enter the number of days from when a test is started that it can be restarted/resumed or you can set it to zero for no limit.
Stop and Restart/Resume Number of Occurrences value is typically set to zero. You can enter the number of occurrences that a test can be started but not completed, or you can set it to zero for no limit of occurrences.
Retake Limit Options
The following are the retake limit options for a test. If a test is set up to use test sections (for question banks); the retake limit options entries made in those individual test section records for this test will be ignored. To activate these features click the checkboxes and fill in the text fields.
The term COMPLETE is used to describe a test where a user has answered the questions and pressed the finish button to complete the test. INCOMPLETE means a test that has not been completed or where the timer had expired with the test set to not automatically score. If you're unsure on how to use the INCOMPLETE setting, in most cases the COMPLETE and INCOMPLETE settings should be set the same.
Example 1 of 2 - For pass/fail test where you want to give the user 3 attempts to pass the test, but upon passing stop the user from taking it again:
Limit Number of Pass Times: 1
Limit Number of Fail Times: 3
Limit Number of Complete Attempts: 3
Limit Number of Incomplete Attempts: 3
Example 2 of 2 - For a test where you only want a user to access it once, use these settings:
Limit Number of Pass Times: 1
Limit Number of Fail Times: 1
Limit Number of Complete Attempts: 1
Limit Number of Incomplete Attempts: 1
The image below shows how the Retake Limits setting is laid out.
