A comparison of QuizSite and the Oncourse test and survey tool

Quiz Program QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
Support Group BEST Oncourse
1. Question Types and Options QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
a. What types of automatically graded quiz questions are available?
  • true-false (using RADIO or SELECT) or check
  • multiple-choice (RADIO or SELECT)
  • matching
  • fill-in-the-blank (OPEN or NUMERIC)
  • true-false
  • multiple-choice
  • matching
  • fill-in-the-blank
  • b. What types of instructor-graded quiz questions are available? None (though the instructor could include essays on a quiz and post scores for them in Post'Em)
  • short answer
  • essay
  • c. What types of non-anonymous survey questions are available?
  • check
  • multiple-choice (RADIO or SELECT)
  • fill-in-the-blank (OPEN or NUMERIC)
  • essay
  • check or multiple-selection list
  • multiple-choice (rating or single-selection list)
  • fill-in-the-blank (text box)
  • essay (text area)
  • d. What types of anonymous survey questions are available?
  • check
  • multiple-choice (RADIO or SELECT)
  • fill-in-the-blank (OPEN or NUMERIC)
  • essay
  • None
    e. What media types are supported? HTML text, in-line images; links to sound and video files HTML text, images, sounds and videos
    f. Is media storage space provided? No (media files must be available on the Internet) Yes (40 MB of media files can be stored on the Oncourse server)
    g. Can scoring be weighted so that a response is worth more than one point? No Yes
    h. Can questions be given a skill level? No Yes
    2. Creating and Editing Questions QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
    a. Can questions be created one at a time using a form? Yes Yes
    b. Can questions be created many at a time using a text file? Yes No
    c. Can questions be imported? Yes (uploaded from a text file) Yes (from another quiz or an ODBC question database)
    d. How are questions edited? Imported from a text file or edited on-line using a text box to replace existing questions (many at a time) Using a form (one at a time)
    e. Can questions be deleted? No (but questions with no topics are hidden from students) Yes (by clicking a delete button)
    3. Selecting and Organizing Questions QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
    a. How can instructions for a quiz be given? Custom HTML instructions can be put at the start of the quiz or in a container before the questions. Custom HTML can be used for the quiz header and footer (WWW page settings).
    b. How can questions be grouped within an activity? containers sections
    c. How is each question categorized? one or more topics one category, one topic
    d. How are questions ordered and reordered? Each question has a unique ID number that determines the order. Questions are ordered sequentially and can be reordered using a form.
    e. Can a random subset of questions be selected from a larger set of questions? Yes (activity settings: assembly methods rand and sticky) No
    f. Can questions be randomly ordered in an activity? No (activity settings: assembly method shuffle, in a future version) Yes (general settings: scramble test questions)
    g. Can question choices in a multiple-choice question be randomly ordered? No No
    h. Can the program present a question at a time based on the student's previous answers? (adaptive testing) No No
    4. Activity Settings QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
    a. Can students do the activity many times? Yes (activity settings: attempts) Yes (general settings: attempts)
    b. Can start and end times be set for an activity? Yes (activity settings: start and end times) Yes (access control settings: deny access before and after)
    c. Can a timed test be given? No (except by using a narrow start and end window) Yes (general settings: time limit, auto-submit)
    d. Can an instructor create a link directly to an activity? No (students must log in, choose a course, and choose an activity) Yes (students must log in but then go directly to the activity)
    e. Can students be sent to a URL after completing an activity? No Yes (feedback settings: Finish URL)
    f. Can activities use head tags, e.g. for foreign language character sets? Yes (upon request) Yes (WWW page settings: HTML Head)
    5. Instructor and Student Access QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
    a. How are instructors authenticated? IU Network ID (any user can create an instructor account) IU Network ID (course instructor automatically; faculty and staff can obtain an account upon request)
    b. How are students authenticated? IU Network ID (or instructor-assigned username and password) IU Network ID (students who are enrolled in the course appear in the roster automatically)
    c. How does the program get roster information? The instructor must obtain the roster from the Registrar and upload it. Roster information is automatically obtained and updated directly from the Registrar.
    d. Can instructors allow students to do an activity even if they are not enrolled in the course? Yes (but only by adding their individual names to the roster) Yes (access control settings: user validation: none or custom user list)
    e. Can access be controlled by IP number? (e.g. for restricting a test to a single computer lab) No Yes
    f. What course information is displayed to students?
  • course number
  • section number
  • instructor username
  • course number
  • section number
  • instructor username
  • course title
  • instructor full name
  • 6. Results for Students QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
    a. Can students see automatic feedback for each question? Yes (for some question types) Yes (for some question types; comments)
    b. Can students see automatic feedback for each question choice? Yes (for some question types) Yes (for some question types; comments)
    c. Can students see a custom message after completing a quiz? No Yes (feedback settings: custom message)
    d. Can students be given the answer key to a quiz? Yes (activity settings: disclosure) Yes (feedback settings: the correct answers)
    e. Can disclosure of the answer key to students be delayed until after the test? Yes (activity settings: disclosure) Yes (by manually changing the access control settings)
    f. Can all feedback be completely suppressed? Yes (activity settings: attempts: NOF) Yes (access control settings: disable student access to test results)
    7. Results for Instructors QuizSite Oncourse test and survey tool
    a. What score statistics are reported?
  • raw and percentage score of each student (score report)
  • class average
  • standard deviation, z-scores, upper and lower thirds (item analysis)
  • raw and percentage score of each student
  • class average
  • b. Can scores be exported in comma-delimited text format and then imported to a spreadsheet or gradebook program? Yes (score report) No
    c. What item statistics are reported? frequencies, averages, item difficulty (item analysis) frequencies