Timing Quizzes

Example

Creating, administering and grading a timed psychology quiz for a continued education course.

MGI Tags

  • mgiQuiz

Steps

  1. Create an entry page.
  2. Save the entry page.
  3. Open the entry page in a text editor.
  4. Insert the mgiToken tags.
  5. Save the entry page page.
  6. Create the quiz page.
  7. Save the quiz page.
  8. Open the quiz page in a text editor.
  9. Insert the mgiQuiz tag and mgiToken tags.
  10. Save the quiz page.
  11. Create a quiz format file in a text editor.
  12. Save the quiz format file.
  13. Create a quiz grading page.
  14. Save the quiz grading page.
  15. Open the quiz grading page in a text editor.
  16. Insert the mgiQuiz tag and mgiToken tags from the quiz page.
  17. Save the quiz grading page.
  18. Create a quiz administration page in a text editor.
  19. Save the quiz administration page.
  20. FTP the entry page, quiz page, quiz format file, quiz grading page, and quiz administration page to the web server running MGI.
  21. Take the first quiz to add the quiz key.
  22. Administer quiz to students.
  23. View the students' quiz scores.


Step 1: Create an entry page.

Create a new HTML page to assign a unique token to each student. An entry page is required for timed quizzes. The student's quiz access and submission is tracked through the token identification. On the entry page, add a link to the quiz page. For example,
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>Psychology 330 Quizzes</H3>

<P><A HREF="chapter1.html">
Chapter 1: Understanding Life-Span Human Development</A>

Step 2: Save the entry page.

Save the entry page and name it "psyquizzes.html".

Step 3: Open the entry page in a text editor.

Open the entry page in a text editing program that allows you to view and modify HTML.

Step 4: Insert the mgiToken tags.

The mgiToken tags append a token to every URL located within the body of the tags. Enter a beginning mgiToken tag after the <BODY> tag and enter an ending mgiToken tag before the </BODY> tag. The mgiToken tags should enclose all links on the page including HREFs and FORM actions.
<mgiToken>

<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>Psychology 330 Quizzes</H3>

<P><A HREF="chapter1.html">
Chapter 1: Understanding Life-Span Human Development</A>

</mgiToken>

Step 5: Save the entry page.

Save the changes you have made to the entry page.

Step 6: Create the quiz page.

Create a new HTML page to display the quiz questions. The quiz questions will be generated by the mgiQuiz tag and the quiz format file, but any headers or footers should be entered on this page. For example, enter a header labelled "Psy 330 Chapter 1 Quiz":
<H2>Psy 330 Chapter 1 Quiz</H2>

Step 7: Save the quiz page.

Save the quiz page and name it "chapter1.html".

Step 8: Open the quiz page in a text editor.

Open the quiz page in a text editing program that allows you to view and modify HTML.

Step 9: Insert the mgiQuiz tag and mgiToken tags.

Insert your cursor after the "Quiz" heading and enter the mgiQuiz tag, databaseFileLocation parameter, tableName parameter, formatFileLocation parameter, and timer parameter. In the databaseFileLocation parameter, enter the name of a database file. If the file does not exist already, MGI will create a new database file. For example, enter "Psy330" in the databaseFileLocation parameter. In the tableName parameter, enter the name of the specific quiz that you are administering. For example, enter "Chapter1" in the tableName parameter. In the formatFileLocation parameter, enter the name of the file that contains the format of the quiz questions. For example, enter "psy330ch1format.txt" in the formatFileLocation parameter. In the timer parameter, enter "On".
 
To track the time a student begins taking a quiz, enter a beginning mgiToken tag after the <BODY> tag and enter an ending mgiToken tag before the </BODY> tag. The mgiToken tags should enclose all links on the page including HREFs and FORM actions.
<mgiToken>

<mgiQuiz databasefilelocation="Psy330" tableName="Chapter1" 
formatFileLocation="psy330ch1format.txt" timer="On">

</mgiToken>

Step 10: Save the quiz page.

Save the changes you have made to the quiz page.

Step 11: Create a quiz format file in a text editor.

Create a new page in a text editing program to format quiz questions. Enter HTML text fields for the student's name and ID, form elements for each quiz question, a submit button and HTML <FORM> tags (The format file is included on the quiz page so mgiToken tags should not be entered in this file).
Enter three text fields for the student's first name, last name, and student ID. Name the first name field "First Name". Name the last name field "Last Name". Name the student ID field "ID". Format each quiz question as text, HTML, and form elements including radio buttons, checkboxes and pop-up menus (do not use text fields or text boxes). Name each set of radio buttons, each set of checkboxes, and each pull-down menu uniquely. In the example psychology quiz, there are three questions formatted with radio buttons. Enter an HTML submit button after the quiz questions. For example, enter a submit button named "Submit Quiz".
 
A form action sends the quiz information to the quiz thank you page for grading. Enter the name of the quiz grading page, "chapter1grade.html", in the form action. Enter "post" as the form method. The following is the complete psychology quiz format file:
 
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="chapter1grade.html">

<!--Student Information-->

<TABLE>
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT">First Name:</TD>
<TD><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="First Name" SIZE="20"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT">Last Name:</TD>
<TD><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="Last Name" SIZE="20"></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD ALIGN="RIGHT">Student ID:</TD>
<TD><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="ID" SIZE="20"></TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<P><HR></P>

<!--Question 1-->

Growth is best defined as:<BR>
<BR><INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question1" VALUE="A">
A. physical changes that occur from conception to maturity <BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question1" VALUE="B">
B. the biological unfolding of genetic potential <BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question1" VALUE="C">
C. positive changes across the life-span<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question1" VALUE="D">
D. gains, changes, and losses at each stage of the life cycle</P>

<P><HR></P>

<!--Question 2-->

Which of the following has had the MOST significant impact on lengthening 
the average life-span in the United States?<BR>
<BR><INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question2" VALUE="A">
A. improved health care for the elderly <BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question2" VALUE="B">
B. improved nutritional habits <BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question2" VALUE="C">
C. major decreases in infant mortality<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question2" VALUE="D">
D. disease prevention among school-age children</P>

<P><HR></P>

<!--Question 3-->

Who is most often cited as the founder of developmental psychology?<BR>
<BR><INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question3" VALUE="A">
A. Charles Darwin <BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question3" VALUE="B">
B. G. Stanley Hall<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question3" VALUE="C">
C. Sigmund Freud<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question3" VALUE="D">
D. Lewis Lipsitt</P>

<P><HR></P>

<!--Question 4-->

Ethical considerations are critical when conducting
research with human beings. Guidelines for ethics are provided by various
associations, such as the American Psychological Association and the Society
for Research on Child Development. The guidelines stipulate which of the
following?<BR>
<BR><INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question4" VALUE="A">
A. informed consent <BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question4" VALUE="B">
B. the avoidance of physical and psychological harm<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question4" VALUE="C">
C. debriefing participants<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="question4" VALUE="D">
D. all of the above</P>

<P><HR></P>

<P><INPUT TYPE="submit" NAME="button" VALUE="Submit Quiz">

</FORM>

Warning: Do not put an mgiQuiz tag in the quiz format file. The mgiQuiz tag references the quiz format file which causes the potential for an infinite loop.

Tip: Format your quiz questions in a graphic editor, then copy the HTML it creates into the quiz format file.

Step 12: Save the quiz format file.

Save the quiz format file and name it "psy330ch1format.txt".

Caution: The format file name must match the formatFileLocation parameter that is entered in the mgiQuiz tag.

Step 13: Create a quiz grading page.

Create a new HTML page to display a message to students after they take the quiz and to grade the quiz. Enter the student message, "Your quiz has been received". The quiz will be graded automatically by an mgiQuiz tag.
<H2>Your quiz has been received.</H2>

Step 14: Save the quiz grading page.

Save the quiz grading page and name it "chapter1grade.html".

Caution: The quiz grading page name must match the action parameter of the <FORM> tag that you entered on the quiz format file.

Step 15: Open the quiz grading page in a text editor.

Open the quiz grading page in a text editing program that allows you to view and modify HTML.

Step 16: Insert the mgiQuiz tag from the quiz page and mgiToken tags.

Insert your cursor after the message and enter the mgiQuiz tag exactly as it appears on the quiz page that you created previously.This mgiQuiz tag grades student quizzes and adds them to the quiz database.
 
To track the time a student submits a quiz, enter a beginning mgiToken tag after the <BODY> tag and enter an ending mgiToken tag before the </BODY> tag. The mgiToken tags should enclose all links on the page including HREFs and FORM actions.
<mgiToken>

<H2>Your quiz has been received.</H2>

<mgiQuiz databasefilelocation="Psy330" tableName="Chapter1" 
formatFileLocation="psy330ch1format.txt" timer="On">

</mgiToken>

Step 17: Save the quiz grading page.

Save the changes you have made to the quiz grading page.

Step 18: Create a quiz administration page in a text editor.

Create a new page in a text editing program to administer quiz grades. Enter the mgiQuiz tag, databaseFileLocation parameter, tableName parameter, mode parameter and timer parameter. In the databaseFileLocation parameter, enter the name of the database file that contains the quiz information (Psy330). In the tableName parameter, enter the name of the specific quiz table that contains the quiz grades (Chapter1). In the mode parameter, enter "Admin". In the timer parameter, enter "On".
<mgiQuiz databaseFileLocation="Psy330" 
tableName="Chapter1" mode="Admin" timer="On">

Step 19: Save the quiz administration page.

Save the quiz administration page and name it "chapter1admin.html".

Step 20: FTP the entry page, quiz page, quiz format file, quiz grading page, and quiz administration page to the web server running MGI.

Upload the entry page, quiz page, quiz format file, quiz grading page, and quiz administration page to the web server using an FTP program.

Step 21: Take the first quiz to add the quiz key.

Access the quiz page with a browser and enter the correct answer to each quiz question. Submit the first quiz. The first quiz is used as the quiz key to grade all subsequent quizzes.

Step 22: Administer quiz to students.

After the key has been entered, students can take quizzes. After each quiz is submitted, the quiz is automatically graded and added to the quiz database. The total quiz time from the moment the student accesses the quiz page until the quiz is submitted is also added to the quiz database.

Step 23: View the students' quiz scores.

Access the quiz administration page to view students' quiz scores, search for specific quiz grades and export quiz grades to a file.


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