Achievement Series Item Entry Best Practices for Importing Items from Microsoft Word and ExamView

Transcription

1 Achievement Series Item Entry Best Practices for Importing Items from Microsoft Word and ExamView

2 Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Scantron. The software described in this document is subject to the license agreement included with the product which specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the product. Any unauthorized duplication or use of Achievement Series, in whole or in part, in print or in any other storage and retrieval system, is prohibited. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form by any means for any purpose other than the purchaser s use without the express written permission of Scantron Corporation. Achievement Series is a registered trademark of Scantron Corporation. ExamView Test Generator is a registered trademark of einstruction. Microsoft Word copyright Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other product names are the copyright of their respective copyright holders. Copyright 2010 Scantron Corporation.. Best Practices for Importing Items from Word and ExamView 1st Edition, July 2010

3 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Getting to Know the ExamView Import Process Before You Begin Installing ExamView Achievement Series Chapter 2: Preparing the Microsoft Word File Before You Begin Question Numbering Answer Choice Numbering What Item Types Are Supported? What Fonts and Sizes Are Supported? Formatting the Word File Chapter 3: Converting the Items Step 1: Import the Word File to ExamView Pro Step 2: Publish the ExamView Question Bank to an Achievement Series Item Bank Copyright Scantron Corporation Page i

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5 1 Chapter 1: Getting to Know the ExamView Import Process Achievement Series offers an additional way to bring high-quality, tested, and validated assessment items into district and school tests: ExamView Test Builder by einstructiontm. ExamView provides access to a broad selection of additional tests and items. In addition, many textbook publishers include ExamView item banks and sample tests as part of their instructional materials. Your Achievement Series subscription includes a customized ExamView utility to allow you to bring these tests and items (and any you may have created for yourself) into Achievement Series. You can bring ExamView question banks into Achievement Series at any organizational level (district, school, etc.), depending on your permissions. What permissions do I need to import ExamView question banks? Whether you may import ExamView question banks to your Achievement Series site depends on: Which level of site you log in to Your level of permission at that site: Teachers (either with or without edit), Location Controllers, and Administrators may import question banks Consultants may import question banks directly to the site they log in to, but may not import item banks to any lower site they switch to Data Entry and Test Operators may not import question banks. Any question banks you import are available at the site you logged into and any site below that level. Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 1

6 Before You Begin Before you begin importing items created in Word you need the following: A properly-formatted Word document containing your items. See Chapter 2: Preparing the Microsoft Word File starting on page 5 for details. Installing ExamView Achievement Series CAUTION: Achievement Series supports a slightly different set of fonts and item types than ExamView. Be sure you create items types that are supported in Achievement Series. See Appendix B starting on page 13 for detail. The latest version of ExamView Pro installed on your computer. See the einstruction web site ( support_downloads/downloads.html and scroll down to ExamView Assessment Suite) or any disc that came with a textbook supporting ExamView. NOTE: You will need a valid ExamView license to use this application for longer than the 30 day download trial version. CAUTION: If you install this version after you install ExamView for Achievement Series, be sure to install it to a different folder than the folder where you installed the Achievement Series version (\ExamView if you used the default folder). Otherwise you will overwrite your existing installation. In addition, we strongly recommend renaming the desktop shortcut for each installation to make it clear which shortcut starts which version. The latest version of ExamView Achievement Series installed on your computer. See Installing ExamView Achievement Series on page 2 or the Achievement Series online help for details. An active Achievement Series login to the site that will house the item bank(s). See What permissions do I need to import ExamView question banks? on page 1. CAUTION: If you already have ExamView installed on your computer, you must also install the program from the Achievement Series site to take advantage of this feature. You must install the Achievement Series ExamView to a different folder than the default or you will overwrite your existing installation. 1. Click. 2. Click Download ExamView from the menu on the left-hand side (toward the bottom). TIP: Save ExamView to its own download folder. 3. Once the application has finished downloading, navigate to the folder where you saved it. Page 2 Copyright Scantron Corporation 7/2010

7 4. Double-click the executable file you just downloaded. 5. Follow the directions on-screen. CAUTION: Install this version of ExamView to a different folder than the default (\ExamView). In addition, we strongly recommend renaming the desktop shortcut for each installation to make it clear which shortcut starts which version. NOTE: If you have any questions about the ExamView installation or about using ExamView Test Generator, please contact einstruction at support_downloads/. 7/2010 Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 3

8 NOTES Page 4 Copyright Scantron Corporation 7/2010

9 2 Chapter 2: Preparing the Microsoft Word File The key to a successful import is preparing the Microsoft Word file carefully, using the guidelines from this chapter. Before You Begin We strongly recommend grouping all items of the same type together. You can only format multiple choice and true-false questions using this format. Although the importer will accept extended response and short answer questions, the import process is unreliable for these question types. If you have short answer and essay (extended response) items, submit them at the end of the exam or in a separate document. Do not number pages Achievement Series will automatically number them for you. ExamView limits question banks to no more than 250 items; group the items in your Word file accordingly. Question Numbering All question numbers must be in a consistent format and in numerical order. Example shows simple number with a period Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 5

10 Example shows caps and a period A. What Item Types Are Supported? Answer Choice Numbering Answer choices must also be in a consistent format: B. C. See Understanding Item Types in the online help for details about the Achievement Series item types discussed below. This ExamView item type True/False Modified True/False Multiple Choice Multiple Response Bimodal Yes/No Numeric Responses is converted to this Achievement Series item type: True/False True/False; the rationale for the correct answer is removed Multiple Choice Multiple Response Multiple Choice, where the choices represent the choices available in the bimodal item Multiple Choice, where choice A = Yes and B = No Short Response The type of Short Response item depends on the answer (Whole Number, Decimal, or Fraction). If the answer does not match one of these types, the item is converted to a Text answer. Completion (up to 80 characters, multiple potential answers) Matching Extended Response NOTE: Extended Response items are not supported for online or OMR form tests in Achievement Series; you must use custom plain paper forms for this item type. Not supported Page 6 Copyright Scantron Corporation 7/2010

11 This ExamView item type Short Answer is converted to this Achievement Series item type: Extended Response NOTE: Extended Response items are not supported for online or OMR form tests in Achievement Series; you must use custom plain paper forms for this item type. Problem, Essay, Case, Other Extended Response The conversion adds the default Test Form Instructions ( Write answer in test booklet ) What Fonts and Sizes Are Supported? NOTE: Extended Response items are not supported for online or OMR form tests in Achievement Series; you must use custom plain paper forms for this item type. All fonts are converted to their nearest supported equivalent: ExamView Font Any sans serif font (such as Verdana or Arial) Any serif font (such as Times Roman or Garamond) Any monospace font (such as Courier) Achievement Series Font San Serif Serif Courier All font sizes are converted as follows: ExamView Size (points) Achievement Series Size (points) less than /2010 Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 7

12 ExamView Size (points) Achievement Series Size (points) Formatting the Word File greater than Please follow this template exactly to eliminate formatting errors when your exam is imported into Achievement Series. Save the file as Rich Text Format (RTF) when you are done formatting. CAUTION: Notes appear in the margins. Do not type what appears in the margins on your assessment. ***start of sample file*** Top line of first page no cover page needed TITLE OF COURSE OR EXAM [one paragraph space (hard return)] All caps you must inform the system of the question type Answer choices must be in a single column MULTIPLE CHOICE 01. Enter your first question of the type listed above A. Enter your first answer choice B. Enter your second answer choice C. Enter your third answer choice D. Enter your fourth answer choice Answer must be in all caps and must be preceded by ANS: ) Manually number the questions rather than allowing Word to number them automatically. ANS: A [one paragraph space (hard return)] 02. Enter your second question of the type listed above A. Enter your first answer choice B. Enter your second answer choice C. Enter your third answer choice D. Enter your fourth answer choice ANS: D [one paragraph space (hard return)] 03. Enter your third question of the type listed above A. Enter your first answer choice Page 8 Copyright Scantron Corporation 7/2010

13 B. Enter your second answer choice C. Enter your third answer choice D. Enter your fourth answer choice ANS: B [one paragraph space (hard return)] You must inform system when you switch question types TRUE/FALSE 04. Enter your first question of the type listed above ANS: T [one paragraph space (hard return)] 05. Enter your second question of the type listed above ANS: F [one paragraph space (hard return)] You must inform system when you switch question types MULTIPLE CHOICE 06. Enter your first question of the type listed above [one paragraph space (hard return)] Enter a graphic needed for a question between the question and the answer choices. [one paragraph space (hard return)] Let the questions carry over to a new page don t add extra spaces on a test in an effort to stop from splitting up questions and their answer choices If you need a graphic to go along with an answer choice, it needs to be added on the same line as the answer choice it goes with with no spaces between the graphic and the hard return for the paragraph space.) A. Enter your first answer choice B. Enter your second answer choice C. Enter your third answer choice D. Enter your fourth answer choice ANS: B [one paragraph space (hard return)] ***end of sample file*** 7/2010 Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 9

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15 3 Chapter 3: Converting the Items Step 1: Import the Word File to ExamView Pro 1. Start the ExamView Import Utility (evimport.exe). 2. Click Next at the first screen. 3. Specify the items to be imported: a. Find the RTF file(s) containing your items: The drive and folders where the files to be imported reside; you can select files from multiple locations. TIP: You can import more than one bank at a time. See the ExamView Import Utility online help for details. b. Highlight the file(s) and click Select. c. Repeat steps a and b for all the files you want to import. 4. Click Next. 5. Set any preferences for the import. See the ExamView Import Utility online help for details on using this screen. Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 11

16 6. Click Next. 7. Set any formatting for the import. See the ExamView Import Utility online help for details on using this screen. TIP: We recommend leaving these settings at the default, since Achievement Series uses different formatting. See What Fonts and Sizes Are Supported? on page 7 for details. 8. Specify the question type identifiers you used. If you used the defaults, skip this step. 9. Click Next. 10. Click Finish. The import utility saves the question bank and presents a report: Step 2: Publish the ExamView Question Bank to an Achievement Series Item Bank Once the question bank has been imported, you can open it directly in ExamView for Achievement Series. You may only open and publish one bank at a time. NOTE: The import utility saves the imported bank(s) to the \Banks folder under the ExamView Pro installation, not the Exam View for Achievement Series installation. You do not need to move the bank(s), although you can if you choose to. Before You Begin Be aware of the following limitations before you begin importing question banks from ExamView to Achievement Series. The import process will not import: question names question point values (the point value defaults to 1) standards test instructions, proctor instructions, etc. tables or superscript formatting Page 12 Copyright Scantron Corporation 7/2010

17 Item Numbering ExamView sorts the questions in a question bank ordinally, which sorts from the last character to the first (1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 100, etc.).the questions are automatically assigned this numbering when you import, although you may change the order of questions within a bank in ExamView (see the ExamView online help for more details). When you publish to Achievement Series, the question numbers are imported into the Item ID field. Achievement Series sorts the items in an item bank in ASCII numeric order by Item ID, which sorts from the first character to the last (1, 10, 11, 100, 2, 3, 4, etc.). This method enables Achievement Series to correctly sort Item IDs that include both letters and numbers such as strand numbering (e.g., or NumberSense- 001). You may need to adjust the item numbers after you finish importing the item bank. To publish an ExamView question bank to an Achievement Series item bank: 1. Log out of Achievement Series (you can leave the browser window open). 2. Open ExamView for Achievement Series Test Builder. 3. Open the item bank you imported in the previous step: NOTE: The import utility saves the imported bank to the \Banks folder under the ExamView Pro installation, not the Exam View for Achievement Series installation: You do not need to move the bank, although you can if you choose to. 7/2010 Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 13

18 4. From the ExamView File menu, select Publish To Scantron Achievement Series: 5. Type a title for the item bank. This title appears in the item bank list in Achievement Series (see Working with Items or the Achievement Series online help for details). 6. (If this is the first time you have published a question bank or test) Provide your Achievement Series login information. (If you have published question banks or tests before) Review and confirm your Achievement Series login information. 7. Click OK. ExamView validates your Achievement Series login, then transfers the item bank to your site. When the transfer is complete, ExamView displays a prompt. NOTE: If the site already contains an item bank with the name you chose, ExamView displays an error message. Click OK at that message and change the item bank title, then repeat this step. 8. Click OK. ExamView opens a browser window, logs you into Achievement Series, and displays a page showing the results of the import. Page 14 Copyright Scantron Corporation 7/2010

19 Imported items show one of the following status icons: This icon Means this The item imported successfully. Any necessary formatting changes are noted in the description. The item imported successfully, but the specified changes were made to conform with Achievement Series. The item could not be imported for the specified reason. See What Item Types Are Supported? on page 6 for details about what item types are supported. 9. If necessary, fix any errors in the ExamView Test Builder: a. Print a copy of the results report. b. Click the Item Banks tab at the top of the Achievement Series window to access the item banks list. c. Delete the item bank you just imported. d. Log out of Achievement Series. e. Make any changes to the question bank in ExamView. f. Re-import the item bank. Once the item bank is imported to your satisfaction, you can work with it like any other Achievement Series item bank. See Working with Items or the Achievement Series online help for details. 7/2010 Copyright Scantron Corporation Page 15

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22 Achievement Series District administrators, principals, and teachers have the difficult task of balancing federal accountability requirements with maximizing student learning. How do you address both needs given a fixed number of instructional hours in the classroom? By using a formative assessment solution from Scantron called Achievement Series. Achievement Series helps you meet NCLB requirements and raise the level of student achievement through standards-based formative assessment. Achievement Series provides a content-neutral, highly flexible testing product that you can use to develop and administer paper and online tests. What is the best way to ensure you are meeting nclb mandates while keeping the focus on student achievement? Achievement Series offers a complete test management solution that provides the immediate results needed to achieve these two key goals and the flexibility to do it in a way that matches your specific district needs. Please visit us at for a complete overview of Achievement Series or call us at SCANTRON ( ) for more information Scantron Corporation.. Scantron and the Scantron logo are registered trademarks.