Quiz Randomizer User's Guide

Developed for: 

Click2Learn ToolBook Instructor version 8.0 and higher

Works in: 

Native, Neuron, and DHTML ToolBook Projects

Type of Tool: 

Catalog Object

1.

Select Add and the following dialog will display:

Enter the Category Name, select your Start and End pages for the give category, you now have a page range.  Note that the "Number of Questions" should show the number of questions in your category.  At this point, because you have not yet selected any Mandatory Questions, the number showing will be 0.  Finally, indicate the number of questions in this category that you wish to be selected as part of the quiz by use of the spin controls, updating the "Number To Randomize" field.

The above shows that in the first category "ToolBook Object Properties" we have one mandatory question.

Important!  You may not have more mandatory questions than the number of questions to randomize in a given category.  If these numbers are the same then you will always get the mandatory questions and none of the other questions in the category.

Typically you would want to Auto Add JavaScript code when you export your files, so you should check the middle option on the Options tab. 

So, if you typically would check Auto Add JavaScript after export, then when would you use the other two options on the Options tab?

Remove Export Code:  Why would you want to remove the randomization?  Let's say that you want to test your quiz to make sure that all of the questions are correctly scoring.  What are your options?  One options would be to take the test lots and lots of times tracking the questions until you are sure that you have tested all of them.  Another option is to remove the randomization widget, export, do your testing, and then re-export after adding the Randomization Widget back into your project. OR....you could simply check the Remove Export (JavaScript) code option and hit the OK button. 

Because all of the randomization code is in the JavaScript, when it is removed you have your quiz without any randomization!  And, you don't even have to re-export :-)  Note that this option is not persistent, meaning that the next time you open the Extended Properties Editor you will see that it is not checked.  Also note that checking this option will override the "Auto Update (JavaScript)" option, so you do not need to uncheck the "Auto Update..."

Auto Update (JavaScript):  This option is provided to allow you to make changes to the way your randomization is set.  For example, you may have missed an important mandatory question. In this case, you would check the Auto Update option after you have made changes to the Quiz Randomizer settings and then click the OK button.  When you do this the Quiz Randomizer will re-generate the JavaScript and update your exported files.  This means that you don't need to re-export you book after making a simple change to the randomization criteria.  Note that this option is persistent meaning that it will remain checked until you uncheck it. 

Taking advantage of the Auto Update option  BTW is a great option if you want to create multiple quizzes from the same files.  With this option you won't even need to re-export to create a newly configured quiz. 

Why would you want to create multiple quizzes???  Let's say that you have a pretest and a post test.  For the pretest you want to give a 20 question quiz, but for the post test you want to give a 40 question quiz.  Here is how you can do it (ensure the Auto Update is checked):

First, export your quiz set for the 20 question pretest.  Now, copy the dhtml files in the WebExport folder to a safe location and mark them as pretest.  Now, open the Extended Properties Editor again, but this time set the randomization criteria for the post test that will have 40 questions. When you click OK to close the Quiz Randomizer Extended Properties, the JavaScript in the DHTML files will be updated for the post test.  Now you have two sets of DHTML files:  Pretest files which you have saved to a safe location and marked as pretest files and post test files that are in the WebExport folder.  Easy, isn't it?

After you have added all of your categories and assigned all of the questions to the categories you now have a quiz that will select x questions and present them to the learner.

Important!  ALL question pages MUST be assigned or the Quiz Randomizer Widget will NOT randomize your book.

At this point you need to consider whether you want all of the questions presented in a random order or if you would like the questions presented in Category order.  By checking the "Randomize All Questions" option the Quiz Randomizer will re-randomize all of the questions after it has completed the randomization of the questions in the individual categories.  Note that if you do not check this option then the questions within a given category will still be randomized whether or not they contain mandatory question(s).