Platinum offers entry assessments that students can take during the Assessment Testing phase of enrollment or after they are enrolled in Full Access Testing. Additionally, you can create your own custom assessment exams to be taken alongside or instead of the Platinum-provided exams.
Contents:
A. Creating a Custom Entry Assessment
B. Assigning a Custom Entry Assessment to a Cohort
A. Creating A Custom Entry Assessment
1. Start in your Instructor role for EMSTesting or Platinum Tests.
2. Select the Manage Tests tab from the red toolbar.
3. You will be taken to the Test Search page. Click Create New Test.
4. Once you've chosen to create a new test, you'll be directed to the Add A New Test menu on the Test Settings tab. Enter the basic details about the test you're creating.
Note: Fields marked with an * are required.
*Test Name: This is how your students will see the test. It is the name shown under their 'Current Assessment' menu on the Student homepage.
*Test Title: This will appear at the top-center of the page if you print the tests to give on paper or keep as hard copies for your records.
Reference: (Optional) This can be used as an additional descriptor.
*Test Status: This drop-down defaults to 'Draft' when you're creating a new test. You do not need to change this field because it will update automatically after you finalize your test.
*Program Type: This field will only appear if you are an instructor assigned to classes for multiple professions. Here, you will select which profession to assign the test to.
*Provider Level: You need to choose a provider level from the drop-down menu. This field is essential and will determine the content available for the test based on the selected level. When assigning the assessment to the cohort, you can assign tests with mismatched provider levels.
*Test Type: Select Entry Assessment.
Test Instructions: (Optional) If you are administering this test online, the text entered here will appear on the students' 'Test Instructions' page before they begin the test and can be used to convey any additional notes.
Personal Test Notes: These notes are solely for you.
5. When you've filled out the fields on the Test Settings tab, click the green Create button at the bottom of the page.
6. Once the test settings have been saved, an additional tab, Question Criteria, will be opened. This is where you query the banks for the questions you would like to appear on your test.
Note: You can add as many question criteria areas as you want, as long as they do not exceed 200 questions. If you delete a criteria area, it will remove the questions associated with that section.
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A. Pull Questions By Curriculum
- When you select Pull Questions By Curriculum, enter the number of questions you want to pull for this search criteria into the Questions field. If your school has custom questions, you can choose your school's question bank from the Question Bank drop-down; otherwise, it will default to Platinum's Validated Questions.
- Below that, you can select the curriculum you'd like to use, and depending on your choice, you can pick the individual topics and modules from which you'd like to pull questions.
- Once you are happy with your selection, select Save Criteria.
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B. Pull Questions by Text, Keyword, or ID
- When you Pull Questions By Text, Keyword, or ID, enter the number of questions you would like to pull in the Questions field. If your school has custom questions, you can select your school's question bank from the Question Bank drop-down; otherwise, this defaults to Platinum Validated Questions. Select your bloom levels from the Bloom Level drop-down and how you would like to perform your search from the Search By drop-down.
- In the Search field, enter the variable by which you'd like to search.
- Once you are happy with your selection, select Save Criteria.
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C. Pull Questions From My Active Tests
- When you Pull Questions From My Active Tests, enter the number of questions you would like to pull from the selected test in the Questions field and select the name of the test you would like to pull them from using the Select A Test to Merge drop-down. You can choose to scramble the questions, but by default, this is turned off.
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Note: When creating an assessment test, the only available tests in the Select A Test to Merge dropdown will be other assessments.
- Once you are happy with your selection, select Save Criteria.
Once you select your criteria and save an additional tab, Test Questions will open. On the same Question Criteria page, you should see a screen showing the items found.
7. Select the Test Questions tab to review questions pulled from your chosen criteria. From here, you can customize your test using available tools, including removing, replacing, excluding, and banning questions on this page.
Replace: This option, located to the right of each question, removes the current question and replaces it with another that meets the criteria you chose in the previous steps.
- Choose: This will display a screen with up to five alternative questions that meet the criteria set in previous steps, allowing you to select one to replace the current question.
- Remove: This will remove the current question from the test without replacing it.
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Exclude: This will remove the current question from the test without replacing it and stop it from appearing again on this test.
(When this option is selected, you will be asked to confirm the action) -
Ban: This will remove the current question from the test without replacing it and prevent it from appearing in your instructor account while you build or edit tests, as long as the question remains banned.
- Note: Banned questions will also be excluded from the computer adaptive testing environment for students in your classes. (When you select this option, a warning message will appear asking for confirmation.)
To remove multiple questions at once: Place a checkmark to the left of the question(s) you'd like to remove and select the 'Remove Selected' link at the top of the page.
8. Finalizing Your Test. Once you've reviewed all the questions on the 'Test Questions' tab and are satisfied with the test, you can click the Finalize Test button at the top.
Once the test has been finalized, you will be returned to the Test Search page (or Manage Tests page). Your newly finalized test will appear at the top of your list in green. If your test appears yellow instead, it has not been finalized.
Note: A test cannot be added to a class until it is finalized. If your test shows in yellow, you need to select the edit option next to the test name and finalize it on the Test Questions tab.
B. Assigning a Custom Entry Assessment to a Cohort
1. Edit your Cohort. This can be done from the Admin role or the Dashboard. The following shows how through the Dashboard.
- Click the black and grey Manage Cohort tile.
- Click edit for the cohort you want to add the custom entry assessment to.
- Note: Only Admins and Cohort Admins can edit the cohort.
2. Click the EMSTesting or Platinum Tests tab.
3. Click the Assessment Tests tab.
4. Enable/Disable. Enable the exams you want your students to access. Disable the generic assessments you do not want them to access.
Note: Enabling custom entry assessments will automatically disable the Platinum Global Assessment tests.
5. Save when finished.