Providing test-level instant feedback

Test-takers often want direct feedback about how well they have done in their assessment. It is possible to configure a Test to offer them instant test-level feedback.

Follow the steps below to configure your test to provide test-level instant feedback:

1. Configure your test for Outcome Processing.

Before you can provide test-takers with instant feedback on whether they have passed or failed, you need to configure the method of scoring for your test. To do this, click on Tests from the Assessment Builder Bar, and select your test from the Library.

Then, click on Authoring in the Action Bar. Now you are in the test editor.

Next, click on the Settings icon to the right of test name at the top. This is depicted by three interlocking cogs.

After this, open the Scoring panel, and select Cut score in the drop-down menu of the Outcome processing box.

Then define a Cut score for your test.

Note: This needs to be a ratio (between 0.0 and 1.0) and is computed by dividing the maximum score by the total score. If Category score is checked, the same cut score will be applied to all categories (set to individual items)

When a Cut score has been defined, expand Outcome declarations, then regenerate the Outcome variables.

Note: The full set of Outcome variables can be found in the section Scoring Tests.

2: Display the pass/fail captions.

The generated outcome variables can be used to display the appropriate pass or fail caption.

To do this, add a new Test part (or Section) at the end of the test.

Next, add an (informational) Item in the new test part (or section). If you don’t have a suitable item already, you will need to prepare a new one. Follow the instructions in Inserting a Text Block for information on how to create an informational item. In the new item, add in a description such as ‘Test Score and Feedback’. In order for the feedback you wish to give the test-taker to be displayed in a prominent position, it’s a good idea to insert several blank lines at the top of your informational item (in other words, before the text). An example is given in the image below.

Now you are ready to write your feedback. You will probably want to add two types – one for when the test-taker passes the test, and for when they fail. In the new test part (or section) you have created for your feedback, click on the A icon to the right of the test-part/section title. This adds a rubric block to the section. Then, click inside the blue New Rubric Block and insert an appropriate ‘pass’ caption, such as ‘Well done!’. From the style options, make it a heading and select bold to make it stand out.

Add another rubric block by clicking inside the blue New Rubric Block below the first, and insert a ‘fail’ caption, such as ‘Hard luck’.

Finally, specify when each of the captions should be displayed. To do this, click on the Properties icon on the right of each rubric block. The properties panel will open on the right.

If you would like the captions in a specific style, you can add a style sheet in the class box. This can also be left blank, however.

Then, click on the Feedback Block panel and check the Activated box so that your caption can be displayed as feedback.

Select the relevant outcome variable for your test (defined in the test-level properties) from the drop-down menu in the Outcome box, and then a value in the Match Value box which indicates the circumstances in which this caption should be displayed. For pass/fail captions, choose PASS_ALL_RENDERING from the menu in the Outcome box, and enter passed in the Match value box if the caption is for a positive result, and not_passed if the caption is for a negative result. Note: The input in the ‘Match value’ box is case-sensitive.

3. View the final outcome.

Save the test and create a new Delivery to view the final outcome.

The image below shows an example where the test-taker passed the test, and the feedback chosen was ‘Course success you learned the material’. The text beneath it is what was contained in the informational item. Note: This is a generic informational item, which could be used to display the score as well as the feedback. It’s not recommended to leave the informational item empty.