Import class list of student names

QUESTION
Is there a way to import a mass list of names to create a class?
(without typing each one)

ANSWER
1. Click "New Class"
2. Click "Import"
3. Copy the list of names from elsewhere on your computer and paste
them into the box.

Printing charts and reports

QUESTION
When I try to analyze class data from thatquiz, I like to be able to
occasionally print the charts and reports. Is there a way to print
them and see the whole report on one page? Currently when I try to
print, it spills over onto multiple pages.

ANSWER
  Try using the latest version of the Firefox browser, which has some
nice printing controls.
  See this page for help:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Printing%20a%20web%20page
  especially the section "Print window settings"
 and the option "Shrink to Fit Page width".
It also helps, in Firefox, to right click on the chart and select
"This Frame->Print" in the menu which appears.
For some charts it can help to also check "Print background colors" in
the printing controls.

If you want very precise printing, you can also take a picture of the
screen, called a "screen shot".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenshot
Then edit the image to show exactly what you want, and print it on a full page.

Emailing all of a student's results

QUESTION
At this time there is no way to send results of all tests taken to a parent via email.....correct?

ANSWER
Not automatically via the website.
You could:
1. Click on a student's name in the grades table for a student-specific report.
2. Copy and paste the text of the whole grade report into an email you
send yourself.
3. OR print the page and deliver a hard copy.

Sending test results to parents

QUESTION
I want parents to be able to see how their children are doing.

ANSWER
 You can email test results to parents.
 Click on the test name in the "See Tests" list.  This takes you to a
page for editing test options.
 If students have already tested, there should be a link called "Send
results" in between the configuration section and the list of
questions.  It has a mail icon next to it.  Click the "Send results"
link.  This takes you to a page where you can enter parent email
addresses and send results for a test via email directly to parents.

Deleted tests

QUESTION
I have been using thatquiz for my Algebra students for the last few
years. Today I made a mistake and clicked on delete instead of notify
and all of the scores from my class disappeared. Is there a way for me
to recover those tests scores?

ANSWER
 If the scores were more than 24 hours old, then you can try this:
1. Download a CSV file of all existing grades for safekeeping.
2. Delete the entire class (really).
3. Create a new class.
4. Click Import.
5. Choose to "Restore a class which was previously deleted".
This restores the class from the last nightly backup.  It will include
all grades recorded before today. However, if any tests were
completed today, those grades are not recoverable, since backups occur
once every 24 hours, at night.

Making a test public

QUESTION
I would like to make a test public that I have been using in my class.
I couldn't figure out how to do it.

ANSWER
Tests which you design yourself in the "Design" section (multiple
choice or matching for instance) may be made public if they contain at
least 10 questions.  Edit the test and choose the Public option before
saving.

Math Equations

QUESTION
I have run into an issue though with my Algebra 1 students. I
sometimes need to make more complex equations then your system allows.
Is there anyway a copy and paste feature can be added? For example, if
I create something in Word, can I copy and paste the equation from
there into my question? I need to be able to make fractions and I am
unable to do so now…unless I missed something.

ANSWER
Have you tried the "slide" editor?
Click on the Design link in your menu and use the Slide button.
You'll get a question editor which is suitable for complex equations,
and for fractions.
In general, we don't recommend pasting from Microsoft Word.  The
pasted text might look OK in Internet Explorer but in any other web
browser the results are less predictable.

Skipping a question during testing

QUESTION
When I do a simulation run on my tests I can't seem to find a way to skip
a question if I find it too hard to do. I notice in the report there is a
category showing the number of missed questions. Can you tell me how a
student can miss a question and go on with the next question if they find
one too difficult?

ANSWER
 You are correct that there is no way to skip a problem.
 We would suggest that if a problem must be skipped, a student can
enter zero as the answer, and then return to the problem later by
navigating backwards.
An "unanswered" question in the grade report is a question which
the student did not answer because he/she ran out of time.

Printing a test: page breaks

QUESTION
I tried to print a copy of a task today for a student who does
not have internet access. I clicked on the line after problem 5 and before
problem 6 etc (so that I would get 5 questions per page for a total of 4
pages). When I printed however, it produced 10 pages with around 2 or 3
questions per page and in some cases cut a question in half so parts
appeared on two pages.

ANSWER
Web pages can be tricky to print.
The page break feature allows you to force a
page break so that the next question will start on a new page.  So, if
you know a problem is going to get cut in half, then set the page
break right before it so it begins on a new page.  The only certain
way to make sure everything is printed continuously is to put every
problem on its on page, by clicking every page break line.  Or, if you
see that three problems fit on a sheet of paper, but the fourth
problem gets broken up, then click on every third page break line.  We
can't do better than this for you, because printing depends on many
other factors out of our control, things like which web browser you
are using and its internal printing system, and the paper size which
feeds into your printer.

Blank grades and the average

QUESTION
Can you give me any advice on how to treat a student situation where the
student has been ill and was absent for one of the tests assigned.
In the "grades" window, they will have a blank for that particular task -
does that affect their average grade and if it does, is there a way to
have this task not count towards their average grade?

ANSWER
Blank grades are NOT taken into account when computing the average.
But they can still take the test anytime, when they get back to
school, or from home.

Emailed quizzes not received

QUESTION
My teachers have been using That Quiz for the last couple years, but
they are having problems sending the quiz via email to students. I
have been in a teachers account, and have not had any luck either.
Can you give me any suggestions for further troubleshooting?

ANSWER
 Many spam filters accidentally classify our email messages as spam
and filter the messages out.
 If the email address is a school email address, you can try
configuring the mail server or firewall to accept all messages with
"thatquiz" in the sender's name.
 Or, if students are using their own personal email addresses, they
can create a rule so that messages from thatquiz are never marked as
spam.

 The BEST solution, however, is probably to switch to class home
pages.  Every class created in thatquiz has a url which allows student
access to their assigned quizzes.  If you click "Edit class" the URL
is displayed near the top of the page.  You can configure this page so
that students must enter passwords to access their quizzes, and make a
link to the thatquiz class page from your school web site.

Inserting images into tests

QUESTION
I cannot figure out how to insert a scanned picture into the test.

ANSWER
 For multiple choice, short answer, or matching tests look for the
little i in between the question and the answers.  Click it.
 For slides, there is a button called "Image".

Editing grades

QUESTION
I'm trying to edit grades on one of my tests and when I click edit, it
doesn't give me the option to edit the grade but just erase it. I
know I've done this before but maybe I'm doing it wrong?

ANSWER
 To edit a grade, click on an individual grade in regular "View" mode.
This should open detailed grade information in another window or tab.
Next to the score there is a small link you can click called [Edit]
which allows you to change the student's score.

Grading essay questions

QUESTION
How does the essay question work when designing a multiple choice
test? How is an essay question graded?

ANSWER
  When the student tests, as long as they enter some text in the essay
box, the question is marked as correct and they are given full credit.
  However, after the grade is recorded an "Essays" link will appear on
your grades page.  Click on the link, and you can do a detailed review
of each essay and award / take away points based on the student's
response.  You can also write your own comments on the essay, which
the student can view later via the class home page, if you allow
students to view their results on that page.

Fixing an assigned test

QUESTION
If I have an error in a test and want to fix it but the test has been
assigned, is there a way of doing so via the duplicate command? What
are the steps?

ANSWER
 If students have begun testing, you cannot change any of the
questions.  But if student's haven't tested yet, you can make changes.
 In your list of tests, click on the test name to edit it.  You can
drag any bad question into the trash can (appears when you start
dragging).  You can also check the checkbox next to the question and
then the delete button.
 Finally, to add more of your own content to an existing test, you
should design a new small test with the question(s) you desire, assign
it to the class, and then merge the two tests to create a new test.

Disappearing grades

QUESTION
I have noticed something bizarre going on with my grades in the last
couple of weeks. I have classes that have taken several quizzes (6 or
8) and when I click on "see grades", I notice that an earlier quiz
(like the first one) has several grades that have disappeared. The
kids have taken the quiz, I have recorded those grades in my grade
program, but now when I look at them, the majority of them are blank.
This has happened with more than one of my classes in the last couple
of weeks.

ANSWER
 The grades table shows grades for a certain time period.
 When you open the page it shows you grades from the last month.
 There's a selection control at the top left of the page which lets
you choose the time period to see.
 Select "All Time" to see all grades.

FOLLOW UP
Yes, that works!  Thank you.

Adding email after initial creation of class

QUESTION
Is it possible to add email addresses after creating the class list?

ANSWER
Yes you can.
The way to add email addresses is to use the Notify button on the See
Tests page to notify students of a new test.  This page allows you to
add or modify student email addresses, before sending the notification
email.

Copying slides between tests

QUESTION
I am trying to copy a slide(s) from one test and placing into another
test. I designed the tests, and don't want to recreate every slide if
I don't have to. Can I copy an entire slide and paste it into another
test?

ANSWER
 Yes you can.
 When looking at the slide you want to copy, choose the Select Tool
(immediately underneath the Hand in the toolbar).  Select everything
in the slide by dragging across all the elements, or even better by
holding the shift key down while you click on the slide.  This should
select all elements.  Now click the "Copy" button.
 Click CANCEL to exit the test without saving (or save it if you
want).  Open a different Slides test (existing or new) and navigate to
a blank slide.  Press the "Paste" button.
 This method works for most browsers.  If it doesn't work for you,
tell us the name and version number of the browser you are using, then
try again in Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Stop students from testing twice

QUESTION
I have been using thatquiz for a few months now, and normally when my
students take a test, they cannot go back in once they have seen their
score. I had one boy trying to retake his test that I already had a
score for! He is sneaky about a lot of things, so I just happened to
be keeping my eye on him -- thank goodness...or I might never have
caught it. Do you have any way of letting me know which ones took the
test twice?

This has not happened to me before. What did I do wrong? How can I
make sure this does not happen in the future?

ANSWER
 Take a deep breath.
 If a student manages to take the same test more than once, the first
grade is the only grade which is saved.
 Even if the student's name doesn't immediately disappear from the
list, future attempts on the same quiz will not be registered unless
you, the teacher, manually remove the first grade saved from the
grades table.
 If a student finishes a test, and the grade is sent, thatquiz.org
always checks if there is an existing grade for that student on that
exam, and if there is already an existing grade, the newer grade is
simply discarded.
 So... if a student thinks he/she is being clever by taking the test
again -- let them!  They'll get some extra practice, a chance to
correct their mistakes, but it won't change the result you have in
your grades table.
 If you are still worried about this, you can click on the test name
to change its configuration.  There are some options which may be of
interest:
1. Show number complete when testing (students won't know how many
they're getting right/wrong as they test)
2. Show grade alone when finished (students won't know which answers
they got right/wrong even when they finish)
3. Do not show results when finished (students won't even know what
score they received).

Delete grades and start over

QUESTION
I'd like to erase a portion (maybe all) scores up to this point and
start over. Can I do that? Or should just delete the class and make
a new class?

ANSWER
Sure you can delete all grades.
After clicking "edit" on the grades page, you can select an entire row
or column by clicking on a student name or test name.
Then use the delete button.

However, you can also create a new class, and choose "Import students
from existing class..." so you won't have to enter their names all
over again.  Then delete the previous class.

When email doesn't work

QUESTION
I'm having difficulties sending test to students that do not have
gmail accounts. Can i notify students with other carriers? If so, how?

ANSWER
 It may be that the messages are filtered out before they even reach
the student's spam or junk mail folder.
 We do SEND the messages, always, but we know that messages are often
blocked before reaching their recipients.
 It may serve you better to use the "Class home page" (find the link
on your Edit Class Page).  In conjunction with student passwords, this
provides a very convenient way for students to begin testing, in a
secure way.

Ordering tests in the list

QUESTION
I have created a lot of different tests so students can use the
website for basic facts practice. I noticed that if I create a new
test it simply appears at the top of the list. Is there a way to
change the order of the tests in the list?

ANSWER
 You can sort the tests by clicking on the column name (test name,
assigned date, test type, etc).
 You can also change the order of appearance by changing the
"Assigned" date of the test, since this is the default sorting order.
Tests which are most recently assigned appear at the top of the list.
To change the assigned date click on the test name in the list, which
brings up many options for editing the test.  However, be advised that
if you choose an assigned date in the future, the test will not appear
on a student's list on the class home page until the date arrives.

How to upload a test

QUESTION
Can you give me some info on how to upload a test? What format must
the questions/answers be in before attempting to upload? What
program(s) are acceptable for creating tests to upload?

ANSWER
 You need to write the test in a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft
Office or Libre Office (free program for all types of computers).
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/
 In any major spreadsheet program, one of the file saving options is
"CSV" which stands for Comma-Separated-Values.  This is a basic data
exchange format which is readable and understandable by many different
programs / computer operating systems.
 In the spreadsheet, you want one question per row of the spreadsheet,
with the question text in the first column, the correct answer in the
second column, and any other answer options in additional columns.
 Save as a .csv file, and upload that file in the multiple choice section.

Assigning a test to all classes.

QUESTION
I have created 2 quizzes using the design function.
I want to assign them to all classes at once is this possible?

ANSWER
 1. First assign a designed quiz to a single class.
 2. Select the assigned quiz and click "Share" to copy the quiz for
all other classes.

Archive class data

QUESTION
Is there a way to archive a class at the end of the year, and not keep
them in your pull-down list, in case you need to go back and verify
grades in the future?

ANSWER
 The best thing to do is to download all of the grades to save on your
home computer so that you always have them.
 On the grades page there is a small link near the top left marked
"CSV".  CSV is a common file format which can be imported by almost
any spreadsheet program on any computer.