Administering a Quiz

Example

Creating, administering and grading a high school chemistry quiz.

MGI Tags

  • mgiQuiz

Steps

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

Step 1: 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 "Chemistry Quiz 1 Fall 1999": 
<H2>Chemistry Quiz 1 Fall 1999</H2>

Step 2: Save the quiz page.

Save the quiz page and name it "quiz1f99.html".

Step 3: 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 4: Insert the mgiQuiz tag.

Insert your cursor after the "Quiz" heading and enter the mgiQuiz tag, databaseFileLocation parameter, tableName parameter, and formatFileLocation 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 "Chemistry" in the databaseFileLocation parameter. In the tableName parameter, enter the name of the specific quiz that you are administering. For example, enter "Quiz1F99" 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 "quiz1f99format.txt" in the formatFileLocation parameter. 
<mgiQuiz databasefilelocation="Chemistry" tableName="Quiz1F99" 
formatFileLocation="quiz1f99format.txt">

Step 5: Save the quiz page.

Save the changes you have made to the quiz page.

Step 6: 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.
 
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 chemistry quiz, there are four questions formatted with radio buttons and a pop-up menu in colored tables. 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, "grade.html", in the form action. Enter "post" as the form method. The following is the complete chemistry quiz format file:
  
<form method="post" action="grade.html">

<!--Student Information-->

<table>
<tr><td align="right">First Name:</td><td> 
<input type="text" name="First Name"></td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">Last Name:</td><td>
<input type="text" name="Last Name"></td></tr>
<tr><td align="right">Student ID:</td><td>
<input type="text" name="ID"></td></tr>
</table>

<p><hr><p>

<!--Question 1-->

<u>You want to check the odor of a chemical.  You should:</u><br>
<br><input type="radio" name="odor" value="Sniff Directly">
A. Sniff directly out of the flask
<br><input type="radio" name="odor" value="Waft Gently" checked>
B. Waft gently over the flask toward your nose
<br><input type="radio" name="odor" value="Drink">
C. Drink some of it first

<p><hr><p>

<!--Question 2-->

<u>What element has an atomic number of 1?</u><br>
<br><input type="radio" name="Atomic Number" value="Helium">A. Helium
<br><input type="radio" name="Atomic Number" value="Hydrogen">B. Hydrogen
<br><input type="radio" name="Atomic Number" value="Uranium">C. Uranium

<p><hr><p>

<!--Question 3-->

<u>Which of the following elements are present in hydrogen peroxide? 
(Check all that apply.)</u><br>

<br><input type="checkbox" name="Peroxide" value="Hydrogen" checked>A. Hydrogen 
<br><input type="checkbox" name="Peroxide" value="Neon">B. Neon
<br><input type="checkbox" name="Peroxide" value="Nitrogen">C. Nitrogen
<br><input type="checkbox" name="Peroxide" value="Oxygen" checked>D. Oxygen

<p><hr><p>

<!--Question 4-->

<u>What is the chemical symbol for Lead?</u><br>
<br><select name="Lead">
<option>Ld
<option>Pb
<option>Dr
</select>

<p><hr><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 7: Save the quiz format file.

Save the quiz format file and name it "quiz1f99format.txt".

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

Step 8: 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 9: Save the quiz grading page.

Save the quiz grading page and name it "grade.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 10: 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 11: Insert the mgiQuiz tag from the quiz page.

Insert your cursor after the student 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. 
<mgiQuiz databasefilelocation="Chemistry" tableName="Quiz1F99" 
formatFileLocation="quiz1f99format.txt">

Step 12: Save the quiz grading page.

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

Step 13: 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, and mode parameter. In the databaseFileLocation parameter, enter the name of the database file that contains the quiz information (Chemistry). In the tableName parameter, enter the name of the specific quiz table that contains the quiz grades (Quiz1F99). In the mode parameter, enter "Admin". 
<mgiQuiz databaseFileLocation="Chemistry" 
tableName="Quiz1F99" mode="Admin">

Step 14: Save the quiz administration page.

Save the quiz administration page and name it "quiz1f99admin.html".

Step 15: FTP the quiz page, quiz format file, quiz grading page, and quiz administration page to the web server running MGI.

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

Step 16: Take the first quiz to add the quiz key.

Access the quiz page 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 17: 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.

Step 18: 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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