GatewayQuizDocs2

GatewayQuiz Assignments

GatewayQuiz assignments in WeBWorK have many of the characteristics that one might expect of on-line "quizzes" or "tests". In particular, they

• have a time limit on the assignment,
• are versioned, and therefore may (depending on how the assignment is defined) be taken by a student multiple times; each version of the assignment will be different in the same way that problems on homework sets differ for different students,
• may require proctor authorization to be taken and graded,
• may present more than one question from the assignment on a single page,
• allow problems in the assignment to be described as a group of problems from which one (or more) problem(s) is(are) drawn,
• allow restriction of the grade and related data that is shown to students when they have completed an assignment,
• allow specification of specific computers or labs from which the assignment may be completed, or from which it may not be completed, and
• may be configured to hide students' scores or work from them after they have completed the assignment.

In the following we consider an instructor's view and the students' view of these assignments, addressing how these different aspects are incorporated into the management and use of a WeBWorK assignment.

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Instructor's View

The information in this section is split between the following, which seeks to be more of a description of how to do things, and a philosophy page, that delves into more of how things are set up underneath the outer skin of WeBWorK. As you use gateway_quiz type assignments, it may be worth stopping to read that page as well to understand why some things work as they do.

Setting Up GatewayQuiz Assignments

It is possible to set up gateway_quiz type assignments by editing an existing set or by importing a set from a set definition file. In addition, there are some behaviors of these assignments that are set in the global.conf file. Other than having more settings than a usual homework assignment, GatewayQuiz assignments are essentially the same as other homework sets. The one other difference is that they allow problems to be drawn from a group of problems, as is explained in the problem groups page. It is also possible to restrict where students may take a test from, as described here.

GatewayQuiz Assignments by Editing

To create a GatewayQuiz assignment by editing an existing set, you first create a set by using the Library Browser, or from the Instructor Tools or Homework Sets Editor page. Once the set is created, select it in the Instructor Tools menu and click "Edit one set". Under "General Information", change "Assignment type" to "gateway/quiz" or "proctored gateway/quiz" and click the "Save Changes" button.

You will then be able to set the parameters that determine the characteristics of the GatewayQuiz assignment, as described in the table below. In addition to these specific parameters, it is also possible to set restrictions on where assignments may be completed, as described here.

GatewayQuiz Parameters

Test Time Limit	The length of time the student is allowed to work on each version of the assignment. Note that the expiry of the time limit has implications for the recording of student answers, as noted below in the Due Dates section of the documentation. Also note that there is a grace period at the end of the test in which students are still able to submit their answers.
Cap Test Time at Set Due Date	Whether the time limit for a student's assignment should be truncated at the due date of the course assignment (e.g., if a 20 minute quiz must be completed by noon and a student starts it at 11:50---if the cap is set to "yes", this student will only get 10 minutes in which to complete the quiz). See also the information about Due Dates, below. (Available in WeBWorK 2.4 and later.)
Number of Graded Submissions	The number of times a student may submit each version of the assignment for a grade. In most cases, this will be 1.
Time Interval for New Test Versions	If students are allowed to complete multiple versions of the assignment (e.g., if it is a skills test that may be taken multiple times for practice), this time interval gives the time interval in which those versions must be taken. For example, if a student may take the assignment once per day, we might set this to 1440 (minutes: 24 hours). Note that the time interval is a rolling interval, so that specifying one version per hour means that a student who starts a test/quiz at 11:58 may start a second at 12:58:01. To implement a daily restriction (e.g., two tests per day) it is generally sufficient to specify the number of tests in a 12 or 18 hour interval. In WeBWorK 2.4 and later, entering "0" for the time interval for new versions gives an infinite interval.
Number of Tests per Time Interval	This is explained above; entering "0" puts no limit on the number of allowed versions. If the time interval for new versions is infinite, this gives the total number of test/quizzes that may be taken.
Order Problems Randomly	If this is true, the problems on the test/quiz will be presented in a random order. It is worth noting that this has implications for the manner in which student results are displayed.
Number of Problems per Page (0=all)	How many of the questions in the test/quiz to show on one page. For example, specifying "3" for a 5 question quiz will result in a first page of 3 questions and a second of 2. Specifying "0" problems per page puts all problems on one page.
Show score on finished assignments	Whether students should be able to see their score on versions of the test/quiz on which they have no remaining attempts, or no remaining time. This is described below in the Showing Student Scores and Work section of the documentation. (Available in WeBWorK 2.4 and later.)
Show student work on finished assignments	Similarly, whether students should see the problems and their work after finishing a test version. This is also described below in the Showing Student Scores and Work section of the documentation. (Available in WeBWorK 2.4 and later.)

Note that there are also several settings in the global.conf file that determine the behavior of GatewayQuiz assignments (as noted below). These include settings in the permissionLevels hash and the gatewayGracePeriod variable.

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GatewayQuiz Assignments by Importing

Gateway/Quiz assignments may be imported from set definition files in the same manner as other assignments. To specify the gateway/quiz parameters, however, additional options must be indicated in the definition file. These refer to the gateway/quiz parameters that can be set by editing an assignment, as is suggested in the following example file:

openDate = 01/24/2008 at 8:00 AM
dueDate = 02/23/2008 at 11:59 PM
answerDate = 02/23/2008 at 11:59 PM
paperHeaderFile = integralGWpaperHeader.pg
assignmentType = gateway
attemptsPerVersion = 1
timeInterval = 43200
versionsPerInterval = 0
versionTimeLimit = 1800
problemRandOrder = 1
problemsPerPage = 0
hideScore = N
hideWork = N
capTimeLimit = 0
restrictIP = RestrictTo
restrictLocation = ProctoredLabs
relaxRestrictIP = No
#
problemList=
(etc.)

All time limits and intervals are given in seconds (note that this is different than the way they are entered in the edit menu). Note some restriction variables have specific valid values:

• assignmentType may be gateway or proctored_gateway (just omit assignmentType for non-gateway sets);
• probRandOrder and capTimeLimit may be 0= or =1 (for don't/do display problems in a random order or cap the time available on the test);
• hideScore and hideWork may be N=, =Y, or BeforeAnswerDate;
• restrictIP may be No, RestrictTo or DenyFrom;
• relaxRestrictIP may be No, AfterAnswerDate, or AfterVersionAnswerDate.

It may also be worth observing that the input data for the hideScore and hideWork parameters are the negation of the data that are selected on the set editor page.

When importing sets from a set definition file, it is not currently possible to set IP address restrictions on sets to more than one location. The value given by restrictLocation must be a valid location as defined in the WeBWorK environment into which the set is being imported. It is also not currently possible to create a set-level proctor password from a set definition file.

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GatewayQuiz Parameters in global.conf

There are a number settings in the permissionLevels hash in the global.conf file that determine the behavior of GatewayQuiz assignments:

• proctor_quiz_login - this is the permission level required to allow students to start a proctored_gateway_quiz assignment.
• proctor_quiz_grade - this is the permission level required to allow students to submit (grade) a proctored_gateway_quiz assignment.
• view_proctored_tests - this setting determines whether proctored_gateway_quiz assignments will appear in the set list page for students. If you set up an entry page that directs them to a proctored assignment (instead of having them navigate to it), you may want to set this permission level to ta so that they aren't confused by seeing the proctored tests showing up in their set lists.
• create_new_set_version_when_acting_as_student - (new in WeBWorK versions > 2.4.5) this determines who (if anyone) can create a new set version when acting as a student. If this is set to something other than undef, e.g., professor, then it will be possible for them to create a new version of a set when acting as a student. Note that the created version will count against the student's allowed number of versions, so this is usually not desirable.
• record_set_version_answers_when_acting_as_student - (new in WeBWorK versions > 2.4.5) this determines who can record answers for a new set version when acting as a student. In general, this should be set to undef, as is record_answers_when_acting_as_student, but if it is necessary or desirable for an instructor to be able to create and submit student GatewayQuiz assignments it can be reset.

In addition, there is the setting

• view_ip_restricted_sets - which determines who is able to ignore the location restrictions on sets.

Finally, there is one system variable that is set in global.conf and which helps determine the behavior of GatewayQuiz assignments. $gatewayGracePeriod gives the number of seconds after an assignment's due time that students will still be allowed to submit it for a grade. This only applies to gateway_quiz and proctored_gateway_quiz assignments.

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Students' View

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