BEFORE YOU START: in order to be able to create an assessment you need to activate a publisher profile. Then you'll need to add an assessment family (if one doesn't already exist). Also, if you want to use topics to group questions in your assessment, before setting up an assessment you'll need to create a topic library.
Assessments are the main building blocks of Smartgrade. This article explains how to create assessment templates and assign them to classes so that you create markbooks from the template.
Note: to build multiple assessments with the same assessment family/subject/window/year group combination, publishers must use the Title field.
To create an assessment:
- Navigate to the My Assessments module and ensure the My Assessments tab is selected.
- Click BUILD AN ASSESSMENT.
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Enter information in the available fields:
- Assessment Family - the grouping for a range of assessments. Note: this is how the system links together assessments in different subjects and assessment windows, so it's good practice to create and reuse a generic family, such as "[Org name] Internal Assessments".
- Title - this optional field can be used to add extra context to an assessment. It will appear in the Marketplace, on markbooks and in analysis. It could, for instance, be used to identify which assessment paper has been used. Using the title field also enables publishers to create more than one assessment with the same assessment family/subject/window/year group combination.
- Subject - the subject for which the assessment is being created.
- Year - the year for which the assessment is intended.
- Assessment Window - the half term in which the assessment will be taken.
- Academic Year - the year the assessment applies to (e.g. 2020/21).
- Multiple Parts - the number of parts that make up the assessment (e.g. select "2" if the assessment has a Part 1 and Part 2). Note - the number of parts defaults to 1 if you do not enter a number here.
- Markscheme. This is visible only to customers who have requested the ability to upload different markschemes. If you do not see this dropdown, then a classic numeric markscheme will be used.
- Data entry method - this allows teachers to enter marks EITHER at question level OR part level and question level OR total level, part level and question level.
- Tiered papers? - whether the assessment is "Tiered" (i.e. does the assessment have separate "Foundation" and "Higher" papers).
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Upload question detail? - this slider allows you to upload marks and topics via spreadsheet. See this article for a more detailed description of this process.
- Select a topic library (optional). If no topic library is selected, topic-level analysis will not be available for the assessment. Note: you can only select a topic library associated with the subject chosen in step 3.2 above.
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Assign marks, topics, weighting and part aliases.
- (If required) For assessments with more than one part you can enter the weighting required for each part of the assessment. It will default to 100%, meaning each part will be equally weighted, although this can be changed if required. You can also set an alias, which will change how the name of the part is displayed; you will see Part 1 and Part 2 if this is left blank, but you can use aliases to change these to subject or unit titles for example.
- Enter the number of questions on your assessment and click CHANGE. The table will update with the number of questions selected.
- (If required) Edit the question name to fit your preferred naming convention. E.G. You may wish to call Optional Questions 3a, 3b, 3c etc.
- (If required) add question text by clicking ENTER QUESTION in the Question Text column. This text will show up on in markbook and analysis modules when hovering over the question name.
- Enter the total potential marks for each question.
- (If required) Select one or more topics to associate with the question from the selected topic library.
- (If required) Use the sliders in the Optional Qn? column to link a question with the previous question. Questions you link together are known as Optional Questions in Smartgrade, and only one of the linked questions can be answered by a student. All linked questions must have the same number of marks, though they may have different topics associated with them. See below for a screenshot.
- Click CONFIRM to save the marks and topic associations.
- (If required) For assessments with more than one part you can enter the weighting required for each part of the assessment. It will default to 100%, meaning each part will be equally weighted, although this can be changed if required. You can also set an alias, which will change how the name of the part is displayed; you will see Part 1 and Part 2 if this is left blank, but you can use aliases to change these to subject or unit titles for example.
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Add attachments (optional). Where prompted, select files for any of the following:
- Test file - the actual test paper you are sharing with teachers.
- Markscheme file - the scheme you wish teachers to use to mark the paper.
- Other file - any other information you'd like to share with people using the test.
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Publish the assessment. Doing this will make the assessment visible in the MARKETPLACE. When publishing, you need to set two further options:
- Publish as - who you want the assessment to be shown as published by (i.e. with your own personal profile or your school / MAT's profile).
- Audience - who you want to be able to view and assign the assessment in the marketplace (yourself, your school, your MAT or "Global", to give access to any school/MAT using the platform).
Hints and tips
- Make sure you think carefully about the Assessment Family used, and check with your MAT Administrator, if relevant, before setting up the assessment. The Assessment Family is how we group assessments together for analysis, so it becomes important later.
- You can add/remove attachments from an assessment anytime - even after the assessment is published and markbooks have been created.