Author
The written guidance outlined on this page covers Authoring content on the AssessmentUCL platform.
Link to AUCL: https://europe.wiseflow.net/login/license/568
Other ways to learn
In addition to the written guidance below, you can learn how to complete Author tasks on the platform via:
Interactive Guides: short 'watch and learn' videos, followed by a click-along quiz for you to test your knowledge.
Video Guides: video guidance covering essential steps for each platform role, including past recordings of training.
Overview of Authoring function on Assessment UCL
What can an Author do?
As an author you can:
build interactive tests with more than 50 question types ranging from simple multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, short and long answer to advanced maths and graph questions;
create and edit rubrics;
share exam questions, drawn from a content bank, or imported into a test. Thus, tests/quizzes can be co-created by several authors. If allowed, the author can also attach the test or assignment to a FLOWmulti exam.
Navigating the Authoring Overview page
If you have been given the role of Author, you will see an Authoring tab at the top of your screen when you log in. If you click on that you will see the Authoring Overview page below.
Access to your list of assignments
Quick access to your recently updated assignments
Access to your list of sections in the Content bank.
Quick access to your recently edited Content bank sections.
Access to your associated flows.
Access to your list of Rubrics.
Access to your list of Author groups.
Access to the previous/legacy author tool for assignments.
Creating & Attaching an Assignment
Authoring methods
An assignment can be authored (created) in the following ways:
Constructed in the platform using AssessmentUCL's editing tools (i.e. an online/interactive exam). Please refer to Authoring an online exam (FLOWmulti assignment) section on how to do this.
Uploaded to the platform as PDF file (i.e. a PDF of exam questions - FLOWassign assignment). Please refer to Upload a File based assignment (FLOWassign) section on how to do this.
Created by importing questions in acceptable file formats into the platform. Please refer to Importing questions from Moodle section on how to do this.
The type of flow that has been created for a particular assessment workflow, dictates which of these approaches an author can use to add an assignment to it (i.e. the flow). The different flows are tabulated below, along with the type of assignment they can accommodate and how students can submit their work.
1: Authoring an online exam (FLOWmulti assignment)
IMPORTANT:
A FLOWmulti assignment must have at least one Item. An Item is a container/page into which individual questions can be built and arranged. You cannot create a question without first creating an Item to house it in. Items facilitate item-based marking, whereby Marking can be assigned to each one and the questions contained within it. It is recommended that you create one Item for every question so students will see one question per page (for better accessibility and if there is a need to exclude a question later on in the marking process).
Step 1: To create a new assignment, go to the Assignments container and click on the New assignment button where you can enter a title and a description:
Step 2: By clicking 'Create', you will then be inside your new assignment to add items and questions (click on 'Add an Item' button):
Step 3: You have two options available to create your assignment:
i) add a new item - steps outlined directly below (we recommend that each question belongs in its own item)
ii) add an item from your content bank - please refer to the steps in Content bank section.
Step 4: Click 'New item' and enter the title and description of this item/question. You will then be directed to this screen:
Step 5: By clicking 'Add new' (blue + button), you will be presented with different question types to add to your assignment:
Step 6: After you have selected the question type, you will then see your question template ready to be edited:
Total amount of questions in your Item.
Maximum possible score in your Item.
Adding an Author group to your Item.
Last edit of the Item.
Create a copy of the Item.
Delete the Item.
Edit the title, description, and labels for the Item.
Save the question to the Item.
Allows you to toggle between the edit view and preview of the question you are creating.
Allows you to define the text that is shown to the participant as the question.
Multiple choice options allow you to add or remove the responses for the question and
change the text for the specific responses.Allows you to add further responses to your multiple-choice question.
Set correct answer(s) allows you to define the correct response and also set the number of
points for the correct response.Multiple responses defines whether the participant can choose only one or several options.
Shuffle options allows you to automatically shuffle the responses for each participant.
Step 7: Once you have finalised the content of the question, click the 'More option' heading to configure additional settings (enable auto scoring etc):
If you enable this option, the question will not count towards the score.
You can add a penalty point for incorrect responses to a question.
If you enable Check answer button, a button at the bottom of the question named Check Answer is added to allow the participant to check if their answer is correct or incorrect.
Define the number of attempts that the participant can use the Check answer button.
Scoring type defines the way the question scores the participant’s answers depending on the Score option above.
a. Exact match: The participant earns the number of points defined in Score when all correct answers have been selected no matter the number of correct answers. The maximum amount of points will be the amount specified in Score.
b. Partial match per response: The participant earns the amount specified in Score per correct answer. The maximum amount of points will be the amount specified in Score multiplied by the number of correct responses.
c. Partial match: The amount specified in Score is distributed on each correct response. You are given the option to round the number or not. The maximum amount of points will be the amount specified in Score.
Enable or disable auto-scoring for the question.
Gives the participant a minimum number of points for any kind of answer.
Layout allows you to define the visual presentation of the question.
Assessment guidance will be shown instead of the question when the flow enters the assessment phase. It will be visible to the assessor and to the participant (if the participant has access).
Comment for authors is only shown to authors when working on the question.
Step 7: You have the option to Preview the formatting and content of the question or, if happy with the configuration, Save the question:
Step 8: Once saved, click 'Go to assignment set up' to return to your assignment and add subsequent Items:
Repeat Steps 4 to 7 until you have created all of your items (questions).
Step 9 (Optional): It is possible to add features to an Item of your assignment (such as a calculator etc). When creating an Item, select the Features button to add any of the features below relevant to your Item.:
Step 10: Having added all of your Items, you can decide the configuration of the assignment as a whole (i.e shuffle Items etc). This is done by clicking the button with the wrench symbol:
You will then see the following screen:
Shuffle Items: This will make all the sections appear in random order for each participant.
Negative scores: This will allow questions to have negative scores if penalties are used. This is activated per default on all new assignments.
Reading mode: This sets a period at the beginning where the participants only have reading access to the assignment.
No backward navigation: This option makes it impossible for the participants to return to a previous question. It will also affect reading mode if that option is activated.
Information page: If activated, it will add a text editor below where you can add information that the participants need to read before the exam starts. The information will be shown in a separate start page for the participants.
Step 11: Having created your assignment, you will need to create a Flow version - this is essentially creating a read-only copy of the assignment that can be attached later to your assessment flow.
In the assignment, click Flow Versions and Create flow version button (a reference code will be generated that you will use to paste and attach to a flow):
Every time the assignment is updated, you can create a new Flow version. You can enter notes for the version you are about to create, then click on Create flow version for your reference.
Step 12: Click the Flow version reference (highlighted in grey) to copy the code:
Step 13: You have two options for attaching the assignment to a flow - via the Author route or Manager route:
i) Authoring route - Please see the following section, Attaching an assignment to a flow.
ii) Manager route - provide the reference code (copied in the last step) to the Manager - they can attach the assignment in the Manager overview page (steps outlined in Manage: Setting up an Assessment section of Manager guide).
2: Upload a File based assignment (FLOWassign)
An Author can upload a File based assignment (and add it to a FLOWassign assignment).
Note: Alternatively, the Author can provide the Manager with the file assignment (PDF) to attach to the flow (steps outlined in Manager guide - Manage: Setting Up an Assessment section)
Step 1: In Author Overview page under the Assignments tab, click on Assignments (legacy):
Step 2: Click the green +New assignment button.
Step 3: Enter the assignment details on the screen:
Enter the Title of the new assignment. (Max. length of 50 characters currently).
Optionally Add description.
Optionally Add tags (Advisable, as this will enable the search function; e.g. History; Maths. Use underscore to create a tab with multiple words e.g. 'Earth_Sciences').
Step 4: Click on the Next button. select File based assignment and click on the green Create button.
Step 5: Click Add files to upload the file assignment:
Step 6: You must click Publish before you or anybody else can add the assignment to a flow:
Step 7: Your assignment will now be visible in Published assignments, which you can find at the bottom of this screen (the Assignments tab). From here you can copy the reference code, (by clicking on the name of the published assignment):
Note: Published assignments can also be shared with other users on the same licence by clicking the button that says Private and then choosing who you want to share it with.
Step 8: In the Author Overview page, under Associated Flows heading, click on the flow you wish to attach the assignment to. Paste the reference code and click the Attach button:
3: Importing questions from Moodle to Wiseflow
The following Moodle question types can be imported into AssessmentUCL (WISEflow):
Simple MCQ
True/false MCQ
Multiple answer MCQ
Short text answer
Long essay answer
Importing questions to AUCL
STEP 1: prepare questions for export from Moodle
You can export questions one by one or by category. To export multiple questions at once, either use your existing categories or create a new category, and copy or move the questions you want to export to this category.
Create a new category in your Question Bank. On your Moodle course, click Administration>Quiz Administration>Question bank>Categories
At the bottom of the categories page, add a category e.g. call it 'AssessmentUCL'
Click the Questions tab (i.e. Administration>Quiz Administration>Question bank>Questions)
Find your questions (note they might be a particular category either for the course or topic or exam)
Click edit and then you can either duplicate the question and apply the new 'AssessmentUCL' category, or edit and change the question category to the new 'AssessmentUCL' category
STEP 2: export questions from Moodle
On your Moodle course: Click Administration>Quiz Administration>Question bank>Export
Select Moodle XMLf format
Select the appropriate category (e.g. a purpose built AssessmentUCL category or a previously used category)
Click Export questions to file
Save your file
Figure 1: Exporting questions from Moodle.
STEP 3: Import to AssessmentUCL
Open AssessmentUCL, go to Author tab and select the Content bank
Click import content
Select Moodle from the drop down menu and select file and find the Moodle XML file you exported. Once uploaded, check for any error messages and click Import
Step 4: Check questions
Preview and tag your questions to ensure they have been copied successfully.
Some formatting might be lost in the importing of questions, so please check each question carefully. For example subscripts and superscript text may need to be reformatted.
Click import to approve them. They can now be added to FLOWmulti exam papers from the content bank.
Dealing with import error messages.
You may encounter error messages such as follows
This is a result of AssessmentUCL requiring XHTML formatting, including closed element tags e.g. <br/> is allowed but <br> is not. UCL has raised this with supplier to improve. For now the work around is as follows:
Use the Chrome browser as the error message on the import page should indicate the line of the XML file where the unclosed element is located.
Open the XML file in a text editing software of your choice (e.g. Notepad or VS Code)
Run a find and replace on the unclosed tag e.g. find '<br>' and replace it with nothing (i.e. to remove the <br> tag) or alternatively with <br/>.
Save the XML file
Import the XML file.
Repeat steps 2-5 until error messages are removed.
Formatting Moodle questions
Questions imported from Moodle will display with the standard MCQ formatting. You can reformat Moodle Questions to appear in the block style as follows:
Edit the question
Layout: Change from Standard to Block
Label type: Upper case letters
You may find when importing a bank of questions from Moodle that not all questions are imported to AssessmentUCL. This is a result of AssessmentUCL requiring XHTML formatting, including closed element tags. UCL has raised this with supplier to improve this process. For now, the work around is as follows:
Open the XML file (the file you exported from Moodle) in a text editing software of your choice (e.g. Notepad or VS Code)
Run a find and replace on the unclosed tag e.g. select Edit > Replace and type <br> into the Find field and replace it with nothing (i.e. to remove the <br> tag).
Save the XML file
Import the XML file to AssessmentUCL.
4. Exporting questions from Wiseflow to Moodle
Please see the WISEflow article on 'Exporting Assignments or Items'.
5. Attaching an assignment to an assessment
To add an assignment to a FLOWmulti online assessment you need to be:
one of the authors linked to the assignment (i.e. the main author or part of the author group)
added as an author on the assessment itself - the Manager of the flow can add you as an Author
Step 1: First, you will need to get a read-only copy of the latest version of the assignment (in the form of a reference code), which you will attach to the assessment flow. If you already have this reference code, skip to Step 5.
In the Authoring Overview page, under the Assignments heading, select 'Go to assignments':
NB: If you have not been added to an author group which has been linked to an assessment flow, you need to ask your team who the author is and ask them to add you to the author group.
Step 2: Locate your assignment from the list and click on the edit icon (pencil icon):
Step 3: In the assignment, click Flow Versions button and Create flow version button (a reference code will be generated that you will use to paste and attach to a flow):
NB: Every time the assignment is updated, you should create a new Flow version (a read-only version of most current assignment).
Step 4: Click the Flow version reference code (highlighted in grey); this will copy the code into your clipboard:
Step 5: In the Author Overview, go to Associated Flows:
Step 6: Under Active Flows, click on the assessment (flow) that you want to add the assignment to:
NB: if you do not see your assessment here, it is likely that you are not an Author on the assessment itself. Contact the Manager of the assessment to add you as an Author.
Step 7: Details of the assessment will appear, including a box for you to paste the reference code of the assignment that you have copied. Paste the code into the box highlighted and then select the Attach button:
Step 8: Once attached, the assignment will appear in blue:
You can also preview this assignment (selecting the eye icon) or delete it (trash bin icon).
Alternatively, if you are a Manager of the assessment flow, you can add the assignment as follows:
Pre-requisites: the Author must; i) have created the assignment already, ii) share the assignment reference code with you.
Step 1: In the To be handed out tab, click the ‘Add assignment’ button:
Step 2: Copy and paste the unique assignment reference (provided by the Author who created the online assignment) and click Add assignment:
Step 3: The assignment has now been attached to your assessment – you will be able to see the title of the assignment and the person who authored the assignment. You also have the option to preview or remove the assignment:
Optional: Previewing assignment to an assessment
Authors can preview the assignment itself or as a participant. You will see these options when you are in the assignment as an author.
Once you have opened the assignment, click the preview icon (an icon with an eye):
Previewing assignment as an Author
Authors will have the ability to see the assignment that includes the questions along with a score calculation. The score calculation is an additional feature which displays the total assignment score and enables authors to check that the set-up is done correctly at the assignment level. If you have set up an assignment of automatically-marked questions, you can check if you have assigned the correct answer to each question by going through the assessment question by question.
Note: the score calculation will not be displayed if you preview an assignment as a participant.
Previewing assignment as a Participant
The assignment opens in a separate browser tab when previewed as a participant. This feature allows authors to see the assignment from the students' perspective (helpful when testing areas such as the layout and formatting of questions):
Creating & Attaching a Rubric
To do this, you need to complete 3 steps:
1. Create a rubric
A rubric is a matrix that can be used for marking and providing feedback(i.e. a mark sheet). Rubrics should be added to an assessment before the start date of the marking period.
Step 1: In Authoring Overview page, click on the Rubrics section:
Step 2: Click on the green +New rubric button:
Step 3: You will enter into this screen:
Enter the following details:
Title of the new rubric. (Max. length of 50 characters currently).
Optionally Add description (max. 500 characters).
Optionally Add tags (Advisable, as this will enable the search function; e.g. History; Maths. Use underscore to create a tab with multiple words e.g. 'Earth_Sciences').
Click on the Next button to continue.
Step 4: You have the option of creating a Standard rubric (guidance steps) or a Custom rubric (guidance steps).
A standard rubric takes the form of a matrix template that has been provided by the platform, or an existing matrix you have previously set up on the platform.
A custom rubric will allow you to build your own rubric using sections (and question types) available in the platform.
Option 1: A Custom rubric
Step 5: There will be a blue bar on the screen representing your rubric as shown below:
As it is a new rubric, you have the following tools available to edit your new standard rubric via the icons shown under the blue bar and described below:
Open pop-up to edit the title, description and tags of the rubric.
Copy the current version of the rubric.
Open focus view. This makes the tab show only the rubrics you are currently working on.
Delete the rubric (Hold to confirm).
Add a rubric item - it is recommended that you add all rubric content into the same item so that content appears on one page.
Step 6: Currently, your custom rubric is an empty frame with no content. Hence, the next step is to click on the green + Add an item option to populate your rubric as you wish:
With custom question: this will allow you to add a variety of content, including free-text fields (Essay question), audio recorder, range scoring (useful for assigning total marks available per rubric criteria) etc.
For further guidance, please follow the instructions on the WISEflow support site here.
Step 7: Continue adding rubric content via 'Add content to the item' (1):
You can also edit the rubric content (2) and preview the full rubric (3).
Option 2: A Standard rubric
Step 5: There will be a blue bar on the screen representing your rubric as shown below:
As it is a new rubric, you have the following tools available to edit your new standard rubric via the icons shown under the blue bar and described below:
Open a pop-up to edit the title, description and tags of the rubric.
Copy the current version of the rubrics.
Open focus view. This makes the tab show only the rubrics you are currently working on.
Delete the rubric (Hold to confirm).
Add rubric matrix.
Step 6: Currently, your standard rubric is an empty frame with no content. Hence, the next step is to click on the green +Add rubric matrix option to populate your rubric as you wish. For further guidance, please follow the instructions on the WISEflow support site here.
2. Publishing (and sharing) a rubric
When you have added all the necessary items, changed the settings to your need, and, if needed, added a grade scaler, you are ready to publish the rubric.
Step 1: Select Publish on your rubric:
Step 2: Select Approve. The published rubrics will show up in the published rubrics list at the bottom of the page
Click the rubric name to quickly copy the reference ID to add the rubric to a flow.
As a default rubrics are initially not shared with anyone. You can decide to either share a rubric with everyone on the licence (All) or share with specific authors (Shared).
The icon indicates whether the content, i.e. rubric, is owned by you or someone else (initials will be shown).
Preview the published rubric or use one of the actions:
3. Attach a rubric to a flow
You can attach a rubric to a flow in the same way as you would add an assignment.
Step 1: You must have the reference code of the rubric (the code is then attached to the relevant flow). To get this code, under Published rubrics (in Rubrics section), and click the rubric you wish to add:
By clicking the title of the rubric, you will have copied the reference to you clipboard, ready to be pasted and attached to the desired flow.
Step 2: Next go back to the Author Overview page and click on the Associated flows section:
Step 3: Click on the flow you wish to add your rubric to. Under the Rubrics heading (or Assignment heading if adding an assignment), you can paste the reference code and click Attach:
For further guidance, please read this Author: Adding an assignment and a rubric to a flow article in full.
Useful Information
Question types available on AUCL: online assessment (FLOWmulti)
Question types available: online assessment (FLOWmulti)
Below are the available question types in the AssessmentUCL platform. The platform incorporates a third party product called Learnosity that provides the available question types. Hence, the links to user guides for each of the question types listed below may re-direct you to Learnosity guides:
Multiple-Choice: Classic multiple-choice question where the participant answers one or more questions by marking one or more available responses provided. (See: Multiple Choice configuration instructions).
Choice Matrix: The Choice Matrix requires students to evaluate one or more row items using a set of column options. (See: Choice Matrix configuration instructions).
Fill in the Blanks: The participant selects a response to a question by drag-and-drop, by selecting it from a drop-down menu or by typing it in the field. See configuration instructions for the following Fill in the Blanks question types:
Written and recorded: Texts and recorders. The text options are either longer essays or just short written answers. The recorders will allow the participants to record audio or video responses to the question. See configuration instructions for the following Written and recorded question types:
Classify, Match, Order: The participant must arrange, sort or match a set of responses according to each other or a set of predefined categories or lists. See configuration instructions for the following Classify, Match, Order question types:
Maths: These types of questions support mathematical formulas and are suited for math/chemistry and other questions where special characters, numbers and formulas are needed. See configuration instructions for the following Maths question types:
Graphing: These questions include number lines, where participants select several responses and place them correctly according to the line, and graphing tools where participants can draw lines, curves and other shapes on a graph.
Charts: In this type of question, the participant can create and edit different types of charts and diagrams to answer a given question. See configuration instructions for the following Graphing and Charts question types:
Highlight: Participants mark an area of an image or point out words, sentences or letters in a text to answer the question. See configuration instructions for the following Highlight question types:
Chemistry: Questions that allow the participant to write or complete chemical formulas. See configuration instructions for the following Chemisty question types:
Other: Questions that do not fit in the other categories, such as the file upload type. See configuration instructions for the following Other question types:
GeoGebra: Questions that will allow you to add content from GeoGebra to your assignments.
Content bank
The content bank displays all your content which can use to create assignments. This section will show you how to; 1) Add sections (questions) to the content back, and 2) Add sections (questions) from the content bank.
You can access the content bank by clicking the button Go to the content bank on the Authoring Overview screen.
Add questions (Items) to content bank. Adding a new Item to the content is very similar to creating a section in an assignment
From the Content bank overview above, click on Add an Item.
To create questions within your Content bank Item, click Add new. The process of questions and set up is the same as the previous steps in the assignment section.
Add questions (sections) from content bank
Open your existing or newly created assignment and click Add new Item and then select From content bank as shown below.
This will take you to your content bank view, and you can select the Items you want to add to your assignment.
How many Items you have selected from the Content bank.
Save or cancel your selections.
You can preview the Item and select the Item you want to add to your assignment.
Below shows the difference to how a content bank added Item will look in your assignment
Tells you if there is a relation with this Item to the content bank.
Warns you if the Item has been amended in the content bank.
Tells you if the Item was changed in the content bank before you last saved the
assignment.
Associated flows
From the Associated flows section, you can view and edit all your active and archived flows, where you have been added an as Author. These flows are made by managers, who want you, as an author, to add created assignments to their flow.
Your flows are listed in two halves of the screen. The top half lists your Active flows. While your Archived flows appear in the bottom half.
Active flows
By clicking the small arrow, you can fold out the flow and see the details. In the bottom, you have the option of adding an assignment reference code directly and attaching it to the flow.
Archived flows
Authoring groups
Authoring groups allow you to add co-authors to collaborate on assignments. The authors are defined by two categories, the owner of the group and collaborators.
Creating a new Authoring group
To access the Authoring group section, click on Manage author groups from your Authoring Overview. This view will show your existing authoring groups and you can also create a new author group by clicking Create new Authoring group as shown below:
After selecting to create a new Authoring group, you will now be able to add a title and description also add co-authors who will be your collaborators on the Authoring group.
You can edit the title and description of the Authoring group.
You can add your Co-authors to the Authoring group.
Current authors in your Authoring group will appear in this section.
Adding an authoring group to an assignment or section
Once you have created an Authoring group, you are able to add that Authoring group to an assignment or Item.
When inside the assignment or the section, you will see there is a button to add an Authoring group, as shown below:
Assignments (legacy)
In October 2021, a new authoring tool was added to the platform and the previous one was moved to a legacy status. The Assignments (legacy) section (accessed via the Authoring Overview page) represents the previous route of accessing content, such as:
Assignments (file based only)
Published assignments (file and online content)
Rubrics
Associated flows
At the time of writing, legacy assignments are still supported; however UNIwise (the developers of Wiseflow/ AssessmentUCL) have confirmed that they intend to deprecate this at an undetermined date in the future.
We would strongly recommend that you avoid using the legacy functionality to create new assignments. If you have any legacy assignments, we also recommend that you export these and re-import them into the new assignments area to preserve them.
Need to speak to someone or having issues?
If you can't find the answer to your question in the guidance above, please raise a query via the staff support page.