1. Overview
  2. Activity Settings Format
  3. More Details of Activity Settings
  4. Uploading an Activity Settings File
  5. Displaying Activity Settings
  6. Editing Activity Settings
  7. Deleting Activity Settings

1. Overview

A QuizSite activity is an exam, quiz, homework assignment, evaluation or other assessment given to students by an instructor.

An activity is created from groups of question items.

Activity settings, such as the question topics and start and end dates of the activity, are stored in an activities file and uploaded to QuizSite.

QuizSite offers a very flexible and completely automated scheduler for activities. The selection of items supports the creation of multiple forms (either randomly or by chosen design) which makes QuizSite a suitable tool for the offering of personalized assignments or exams to students.

2. Activity Settings Format

The format of the activity settings is similar to the roster file: each line describes one activity, and the fields are separated by commas. Here are the fields of a record, or line in the activity settings file:

  1. Name of the activity
  2. Section or group of students aimed for
  3. Disclosure information (after the test, if the test is offered with no feedback)
  4. Actual definition (as a set of items)
  5. Number of attempts allowed (and grading scheme, if applicable)
  6. Starting time and ending time

Here is an example of one line in an activity settings file: 

Placement_Test,ALL,--,ALL(pretest),3=first,07.01.17:00-07.31.23:59

This means that

  1. The name of the activity is Placement_Test.
  2. Section or group of students aimed for is ALL, which means all students in the roster.
  3. We do not offer this quiz as a disclosed activity. Students cannot see their answers after the activity has expired.
  4. It is composed of all the questions that include the topic pretest.
  5. It allows a maximum of 3 (three) tries. The grade is computed as the first of the obtained scores which is greater than zero.
  6. It starts on July 1 at 5pm and ends on July 31 at one minute before midnight.

3. More Details of Activity Settings

More details of activity settings can be found in the detailed description of the activity settings file and in the old activities help screen.

Be sure to test your activity settings, possibly by adding your own username to the roster and logging in as a student.

4. Uploading an Activity Settings File

Create a file with the settings for one or more activities, and store it in a text file on a floppy or hard disk on your computer.

From the Main Menu you can upload a file with activities in three steps:

  1. Under Activities, select Upload and click Proceed.
    This will take you to the upload screen which looks similar to the roster and question item upload screens.

  2. Specify the text file that contains the activity settings, and upload it by clicking Proceed.
    (If your screen does not show a Browse button your browser may need to be upgraded).

  3. You will receive a confirmation screen. On this screen you have a chance to double check the uploaded file. Make any necessary changes to the text file on your computer and upload the file again.

5. Displaying Activity Settings

From the Main Menu, under Activities select Display, and click Proceed.

6. Editing Activity Settings

This feature allows you to add or change settings for one activity at a time. It is easier to learn than creating and uploading an activities file and is recommended for new users or if you only have a few activities.
  1. From the Main Menu, under Activities select Edit, and click Proceed.
  2. Select the activity you want to edit, or select New to create a new activity, and click Proceed.
  3. Fill in the information as described above and click Proceed.
  4. Confirm that you have entered everything correctly, and click Proceed.

7. Deleting Activity Settings

Warning: If you delete an activity, you will no longer see that activity in the reports. Make sure you have a backup copy of your activity settings before removing them from QuizSite.

To merely hide an activity without deleting it,

  1. Change the activity dates so that they are already passed. For example, make the start date 01.01.00:00 and the end date 01.01.00:01.
  2. Make sure that the activity is not disclosed to students by using -- instead of d=n, where n is the number of days.

To delete one activity,

  1. Remove it from your activities file on your computer.
  2. From the QuizSite Main Menu, under Activities select Upload and click Proceed.
  3. Click Browse, double-click your activities file, and click Proceed.

To delete all activities,

  1. Use a text editor like notepad to create a text file with one space. (QuizSite will not accept a completely empty file.)
  2. From the QuizSite Main Menu, under Activities select Upload and click Proceed.
  3. Click Browse, double-click the text file, and click Proceed.

To delete an activity created from the Edit screen,

  1. From the QuizSite Main Menu, under Activities select Display and click Proceed.
  2. Click File->Save As in your browser and save the activities as a text file.
  3. Remove the web page header and footer text and the column header line.
  4. Remove the line with the activity you want to delete.
  5. From the QuizSite Main Menu, under Activities select Upload and click Proceed.
  6. Click Browse, double-click the text file, and click Proceed.