The article How to Create Test Sections is verified for Release 12.5 on September 21, 2024.
This article explains how to create a test with sections in the YTM system. It provides a step-by-step guide to help you design a well-structured and effective test.
Test Creation
To create a test, please follow these instructions:
Select the Tests option in the application’s left-side menu and select the New test tab.
During Step 1 of the test creation wizard, input the exam details and select the Test with sections checkbox.
Display advanced settings such as:
- Test attachments: In this section, you can include test attachments containing instructions or useful materials in various formats. For more information, please visit this article: How to Add Attachments to Your Test
- Test label: Provide a label to categorize and classify test pages and exported reports.
- Test category type: Choose a test category. If there are multiple types of categories, you should choose the Test category type first. For more details, read this Article.
Note: Only the Test category field will be visible if only one test category type exists.
Step 2 of the test creation wizard is dedicated to test settings. In this phase, you’ll need to:
- Select the Duration type: It can either be Time defined in each section or time allotted for the entire test. For more details, please read this article.
- Choose when the report will be presented to candidates and whether it will display only the score or both the score and answer details.
- Enable proctoring if the exam requires proctoring. For more details, please visit this article on how to create a proctored test.
- Display advanced settings such as dialog settings, Test instructions, Test completion messages, Acknowledgment, Pause, retake, and reschedule settings, Additional possibilities for candidates, Security and data control, and Test access across networks
for more details please visit this article How to Create a Simple Test.
Step 3 of the test creation wizard is dedicated to section creation and settings. Utilize the Add section button to create a new section.
Note: You can add as many sections as needed to organize your test effectively. Each section has its own settings, which are similar to the test settings, allowing for tailored configurations within the test.
Section creation
Upon redirection to the first step of the section creation wizard, you’ll be prompted to:
- Input the section’s details, comprising its name and description.
- Display and specify advanced settings, such as Section attachments you can Import the previously created attachments from the attachment library or create a new.
Step 2 of the section creation wizard is dedicated to section settings. In this phase, you’ll need to:
- Choose a section template if you wish to apply previously saved settings.
- Define the section’s duration type, which can be unlimited, time per question, or time to answer all questions. Additionally, select the page format—either one question per page or all questions on one page.
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- Access advanced settings which are:
- Section instructions: All candidates will have to read the instructions before starting the section
- Additional possibilities for candidates: enabling the I don’t know option, enabling answer feedback to candidates, showing question attachments, showing question metadata to candidates, enabling notes, etc.
- Test-taking limitations: include requiring answering all questions, disabling going backward in the test section, and disabling answer deselect.
- Security and data control: offer the choice to enable the Revisiting Section, allowing candidates to navigate back to a completed section.
During step 3 of the section creation wizard, you will need to choose between the following methods for adding questions to the section:
- Pick questions from pools or create them on the spot. For detailed instructions on creating and adding questions to a test, please visit this article.
- Let the generator select questions based on question difficulty or question categories, For more information about how to create a generated test, please view this article.
In Step 5 of the section creation wizard, you need to define the test versions and question settings:
Note: This step will only appear if you choose to allow the generator to select questions automatically.
- Specify the allocation of points and penalties for each question based on its difficulty level.
- Generate test versions dynamically or specify the number of unique versions: Enabling this option allows the system to create a new version each time a candidate begins the test.
- Define the test as a practice test: Enabling this option permits candidates to select the desired number of questions from each question pool that the test will contain.
During Step 6, you’ll have the opportunity to review the specified section settings. If you wish to make edits, you can utilize the Back button or proceed to the final step using the Next button.
In the final step, Step 7, you can:
- Save the created section settings and proceed to finalize the test creation using the Save and Continue button.
- Save the created section settings and include a new section using the Add another section button.
Once you’ve finished adding sections to the test, you will be redirected to Step 4 of the test creation wizard to finalize the test settings.
Here are the actions you can take at this stage:
- Define Passing Mark for the Test: Select the passing mark type, either percentage or points and specify the minimum required score to pass.
- Make the Passing Mark Inclusive: Enabling this option allows candidates to pass the test only by achieving an equal passing mark.
- Proctoring Report: If the test is proctored, enabling this option ensures candidates cannot pass the exam solely by obtaining a positive proctoring grade. Otherwise, the proctoring report won’t affect the final score.
- Show Advanced Settings: In the advanced settings, you’ll have the following options:
- Map Score to a Grading Scale: Associate specific grades with achieved points or percentages by selecting a previously created grading scale. This mapping helps represent test results as grades (e.g., A to F).
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- Section Groups: Group test sections, set passing mark criteria, or modify passing mark settings.
- Question Attributes Reports: Use descriptive passing marks to indicate an expected level of knowledge in specific subject areas. Questions are drawn from the displayed question pools.
- Question Property Reports: Define passing marks based on custom properties assigned to questions. Create dropdown custom question properties within the application and label questions using these values. Optionally, set passing criteria for the test based on these custom values.
Additionally from the advanced settings, you can define passing criteria for each section:
- Edit Passing Mark: Click the pencil icon to edit the passing mark.
- Section Requirement: Specify if passing the section is mandatory to pass the entire test.
- Set Passing Marks: Choose the required passing score for each section.
- Inclusive Mark Option: Enable this to allow candidates to pass if their score is equal to or higher than the passing mark.
- Grading Scale: Assign a grading scale you’ve created to represent section results as grades.
Note: you can reorder the sections by dragging and dropping the table rows.
At Step 5 of the test creation wizard, you can add the test certificate by utilizing the Add certificate button. This step is optional; you can include a certificate even after publishing the test from the test settings. Please refer to this article: How to Create and Manage Certificates for further details on assigning certificates to the test.
At Step 6, you can review the test settings and proceed to Step 7 if no changes are needed.
The final step in the test creation process is to save the test settings and complete the test creation wizard. Once completed, the test will be saved as a draft.
After completing the test creation, you will be redirected to the ‘Manage Tests‘ section, where you can publish the test, create testing sessions, and assign candidates as needed.
For more details on how to create a testing session and assign candidates, please read this article: How to Schedule a Testing Session
After publishing the test, you can edit its settings, such as:
- Changing the test name.
- Adding a description.
- Exporting, archiving, or creating a copy of the test.
For more details, please visit this article.
Candidate’s perspective
From the candidate’s perspective, the test will be organized into sections, which they can start and complete one by one.
Candidates can choose to finish a section or complete the entire exam at once.
After completing a section, the status will change from “Available” to “Completed.”
This structure allows candidates to progress at their own pace while keeping track of their completed sections.
For more details on how to create a test with sections please watch this video
For additional related topics, please refer to the following articles:
- How to Create Generated Tests with Method “By Answer Weight”
- How to Create, Take, and Monitor a Proctored Test
- How to Create Multiple Test Versions
- How to Enable Section Selection
