WebCT Vista: Creating Questions and Assessments

1. Open a web browser and login to WebCT Vista
   http://vista.ncsu.edu/index.php
2. In "Build" Mode, click on "Assessments" from the "Course Tools" menu on the left side of the page.
3. Click the "Go to Question Database" button at the top of the page.

Create a Category for Your Questions

4. For optimal organization of your question database, click the "Create Category" button to create a category to hold your questions.
5. Type a Title for your category and click "Save".
   (i.e. A title of "Quiz 1 Questions" for questions that will appear in Quiz 1)

Create Your Questions

6. Click the "Create Questions" and select the type of question you would like to create.
   (This example will demonstrate the creation of a multiple choice question)
7. Fill in the fields for "Title", "Question Text", and all possible answer choices you would like to have displayed.
8. Click the "Correct response" checkbox next to the correct answer choice for the question.
9. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look over the options under the "Settings" header. You may wish to leave all settings as they are but one nice feature is the ability to randomize the order in which the answer choices are displayed to your students. If you would like to use this feature, check the radio button for "Yes" beside "Randomize Answer Ordering".
10. Click the "More Options" link at the bottom of the page. The area will expand and you will now see a checked radio button for "Specify an existing category" with a drop-down box to the right. From the drop-down box, select the category you created in Step 5 and click "Save".

Repeat steps 6 - 10 for as many questions as you would like to add to your newly created questions category.

Create Your Assessment

11. Click on "Assessments" from the "Course Tools" menu on the left side of the page.
12. Click the "Create Assessment" button at the top of the page.
13. Fill in the field for "Title"
    (Grade Book column name will be populated to match your title)
    It is a good practice to keep the title as short as possible as your gradebook column will be given the same name.

Assessment Settings and Options

14. Under the "Duration" heading, select the radio button for "Unlimited".
    (This pertains to the length of time the student may have the assessment window open while the assessment is active)
15. Under the "Attempts" heading, select the number of times you would like to allow each student to take the assessment from the drop-down box next to "Allowed attempts".
    (If you would like for the questions to appear in a random order for each student on each attempt, select the checkbox for "Randomize questions in a question set for each attempt")
16. Under the "Student score" heading, select the radio button for "Release the score once the assessment has been submitted and all of the questions have been graded."
    (This will give each student his/her final score once they have completed the assessment)
17. Select the "Dates Available" heading to expand this area of the page and select a start and end time to specify the time frame for which students are allowed to take the assessment.
    (If you would like to create a calendar entry for your assessment, check the "Create a corresponding event in the Calendar" checkbox)
18. Click "Save"
19. Click on the link for your assessment.
20. Click the "Add to Assessment" button and select "Existing Questions".
21. Populate the checkbox to the left of each question you would like to include in your assessment and click "Add Selected".

Notice that your assessment is marked as (Hidden) next to the title at the top of the page.

22. Click the options arrow to the right of your assessment name (top of page) and select "Show Item".

Your assessment is now set visible online and may be accessed by clicking on the "Assessments" link in the "Course Tools Menu".

Switch to "Student View" to see how the assessment will appear to students.
Notice there is now a green snowflake icon next to the "Assessments" link in the Course Tools Menu. This indictates that a new assessment has been added.