tesTerra© is an online test taking system which allows instructors to create three type of questions (Multiple Choice - Single Answer, True - False, Essay) with a set of possible answers , organize the questions into online tests, schedule the tests for their students to take, view students' grades and class statistics.
tesTerra©
has some technical requires both for server and client sides. The system was
developed and tested on MS Windows XP SP2 with MS IIS 5.1, MySQL 5.0, and PHP
5.1. Although tesTerra© potentially can be run on other versions
of MySQL, PHP, and operating systems, the author does not guarantee that the
system will be fully functional and bugless under environments other than specified
above.
Client's side requires MS Internet Explorer® 6.0 or higher browser
(recommended) or Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or higher.
All the tesTerra© users are divided into three main group depending on their roles in the system. These groups are:
Administrator(s) is the person who originally installs the system on the server, maintains it, and makes sure everything is working nice and smoothly. In general, tesTerra© administrator should have administrative privileges on the database (MySQL) and web (IIS) servers. Person who has no access to the servers and has limited user rights will NOT be able to setup the system. From within the system, administrators have full access to the set of tools required to run tesTerra© - they can create semesters and classes, assign instructors for each of the classes, delete questions, modify user details, assign system administrators, etc. Administrators almost have no access to academic data like test results or question's answers.
Instructors have limited administrative rights in the system but full access and control to the academicals data of the classes they teach. Instructors can enroll existing users (except for administrators and themselves) into their classes, create users if they are not in the system already, view and change users' details, create questions and possible answers to them, organize those questions into online test, assign points for each question in the test, view class data and statistics for each of the test, etc.
Students have no administrative rights in the system. Also they almost have no access to the academic class data. They can take online tests scheduled by the instructor of their class, review their own answers, and view overall class statistics for a given test.
All tesTerra© users must have their own unique usernames and passwords to log in into the system. Their cannot be two identical usernames in the system. Passwords must be at least six characters long and unlike usernames are case sensitive. System administrator can change the minimum required password length.
At log in, the system automatically recognizes the role of the user in the system. If the user is an administrator, then Administration Module will be displayed. Otherwise, the user will be prompted with a list of all semesters when he or she ever had classes as a student or an instructor (see picture below). Simply select desired semester and class to work the class. Depending on user's role in the selected class, either Instructor Module or Student module will be displayed.
If you need to switch to another class or semester, simply click on Change Class button located in the top right corner of your screen to return to semester / class selector page without logging off.
Pay attention to the info bar shown right below the header. Information shown
there notifies you when and from which IP address (computer) you logged into
the system last time. If the data shown there does not match the date/time YOU
logged in last time, then somebody used your username and password to log in.
Change your password
and notify system administrator as soon as possible.
Although the system provides pretty reliable session handling, it is strongly recommended logging off by clicking on Log Off button located on the top right corner of your screen when you finish working with the system. Do not end your tesTerra© session by closing your browser.
My Profile option allows instructors and students to view and change their personal information in the system. Administrators should use User Manager to change their profile information. Sample My Profile window is shown on the picture below.
My Profile allows you to change the way your first and last names are displayed in the system, reset your password by clicking the checkbox next to the password field and typing in new password, and change your e-mail address. Please remember, that your first and last names cannot be blank, password must be at least six characters long. If something is wrong with the new values you entered, tesTerra© will notify you about the errors. You will have a choice either to correct the input data, or click Cancel button to drop the changes and return back.
User Manager allows administrators to create new and modify existing users. When User Manager shows a list of all users currently existing in the system sorted alphabetically (see picture below).
Administrators can either create a new user by clicking Create New User button, or view / modify existing user by selecting user from the list and then clicking View / Modify User button. Sample View / Modify User window is shown on the picture below.
The upper part of the window displays personal information about the user - first and last names, user name, e-mail address. By checking or unchecking Admin checkbox, administrator grants the user administrative right in the system. Resetting user's password is done by checking Reset checkbox first, and then, when the password field turns active, typing new password value. Username must be unique, first and last names cannot be blank, new password must be at least six characters long, valid e-mail address should also be provided. If administrator wants to notify the user about any changes in his or her account, then simply check Send user a message upon successful change checkbox - the system will automatically generate and send an e-mail message to the user about the changes using e-mail address provided.
The lower part of the window shows all classes in which user is participating either as an instructor or user. If the user is not an instructor in either of the classes, then the account can be deleted. This can be done by checking confirmation box next to Delete User button to activate the button and then by clicking the button itself.
Clicking Create New User button brings up user creation window (see picture below.)
Administrator must provide user's first and last names, create a unique username, password, and e-mail. The password can either be setup manually to some value, or can be generated automatically by clicking Generate Password button. Password must be at least six characters long. Checking Admin checkbox gives the user administrative rights. Remember, that since a user becomes an administrator, he or she cannot be an instructor. It is recommended to create separate account for administrator and instructor if the user has these two roles in the system.
By clicking Create User button administrator stores the new user in the system and returns back to the list of all users.
Administrator must provide information about the current semester he or she is working with before any classes can be viewed, created, or modified. This is done in Semesters section (see picture below.)
The system automatically generates a list of semester (shown on the right part of the screen) one year ahead of the current one. Once generated, the semester(s) can be included into the system by selecting the desired semester and clicking Add Selected Semester button. The semester disappears from the list of available semesters and appears in the list of existing in the system semesters shown on the left part of the screen. Administrator can select a semester from the existing ones in the system and set it as a current one by clicking Set As Current Semester button. When the current semester set, administrator can work with classes in this semester and create new ones if required.
Current semester classes can be viewed or modified in the Classes section. New classes can also be created there. Sample Classes window is shown on the picture below.
The initial window displays a list of all classes currently created for the current semester. The existing classes can be modified by selecting a class for editing and clicking Modify Class button. This brings up Modify Class window (see picture below.)
All
the fields are required. Class start and end dates are selected by clicking
a small calendar icon 
next to the Start and End Date fields and then selecting dates
required. The popup calendar controls will disappear as soon as you select date
or click on Cancel button of the calendar control.
If any of the information provided is missing or of incorrect format, a message box with the list of errors will be shown. Administrator has an option either correct the errors and click Change Class button, or click Cancel to drop the changes and return to the list of classes.
Creation of a class is done in a similar manner.
As it was stated previously, administrators have limited access to the academic data. The only operation on academic data administrators can perform is deletion of a question. This is done in Questions Bank section (see picture below.)
To delete a question, select the question you want to delete from the list of all questions, then check confirmation checkbox next to Delete Question button and click the button itself. The question and all the corresponding answers (not visible to administrator) will be deleted. Remember, that this action will also remove the question from all the tests where it exists, so be careful deleting any questions from the system - this cannot be "undone"!
In the Tests section instructors are able to perform all the required operations on tests for their classes. They can create a new test, modify existing one, change question's weight, duration of the test, login time slot, view test's results for every user in the class, view statistical data in graphical representation.
A sample Tests section window is shown on the picture below.
In this window instructor is able either create a new test, or edit existing one, or review test results if there any.
To create a new test, click on New Test button and provide all the information required (see picture below.)
All the fields are required. Please note that Login time specifies period of time when students are able to start taking the test, in other words, when the test is active and available for students to start working on the test, meanwhile Test Duration specifies actual time allowed for students to take the test, in other words, how much time they have to answer the test's questions since they've logged in. Test Duration time is specified in minutes.
If no Login time specified, then the default value of one hour is applied.
Test modification is done by clicking Edit button in the Tests Section. The window brought looks different from the Create Test interface (see picture below.)
In
addition to the standard data like Test Description, Login Time, Date, and Test
Duration, instructors can view information about questions added
to the test. The lower part of the screen displays total number of questions
in the test, maximum possible number of points students can receive for the
test, and the set of questions. By default, each question weights 1 point. This
can be changed by entering desired points for each question in to the Points
(Pts:) box on the right side of the questions. To display list of possible answers
of the question, click on a small plus icon ( + ) on the left side of the question.
The question box will expand to show all possible answers. Correct answer is
marked with a small green check mark 
.
If you do not want to keep any of the questions in the test, just select the question you want to remove and click Remove Question button. The question will be removed from the test only. If later on you'll decide to add the question back, you have to go to Questions Bank to do this.
When at least one student has submitted the test, the data becomes available at Test Results window (see picture below.)
The window provides a short summary for each of the student - when they started taking the test and how long did it take them to complete it, how many points they earned as well as total percent. To review a single student's answers, select the student and click View / Grade button. The system will display all the test questions and user answers (see picture below.)
If
the student answered a question incorrectly, his or her answer will be marked
with red cross mark 
.
Correct answers are marked with green check mark .
If the student left any questions blank (unanswered), then no points for the
question are assigned and the question is marked with red question mark symbol
.
Instructors also are able to view class's statistics for a given test. To access the data, click Statistics button. The appropriate information will be shown for the test. Picture below shows sample test statistics.
Graphical representation of the statistical data is available for students enrolled into class.
Roster section allows instructors enrolling students into their classes, manage students' accounts, and create new users. Sample Roster section window is shown on the picture below.
Information bar above the list of the enrolled students displays class capacity and how many more students can be enrolled into the class. If the maximum class capacity is reached, then no more students can be enrolled. If instructor needs to change class capacity, he or she must contact system administrator. If any of the students should be withdrawn from the class, then simply select the student by clicking on his or her name, and then click Withdraw Student button. Roster section also allows instructor modifying some of the student account details such as first and last name, e-mail address, and password. Instructor has an option to automatically notify student on the changes by sending him an e-mail message. To enter Modify Student area, select a student you want to modify, and then click Modify Student button.
To enroll students into your class, click Enroll More Students button. This brings up Enroll More Students interface (see picture below.)
List of already enrolled students is shown on the right part of the screen. List of all students you can add (excluding yourself and system administrators) is shown on the left side. Simply select a user you want to add from the list on the left side. More detailed information about the student will be shown on the right side. Make sure the student you selected is the one you want to enroll and click Enroll Selected button. You can select several students at a time by holding control (Ctrl) key on your keyboard while selecting students. Notice that you cannot go over the class capacity. If the number of students you are trying to enroll is greater than the class capacity, the system will notify you about the error and automatically remove extra students from the selection.
Students in the list are shown in alphabetical order with their last names first, which makes looking up users to enroll easy.
If the student you want to enroll is not in the system, you can create an account for him by clicking Create New Student button. This will bring up user creation interface, where you can provide all the necessary information to create a new student. After creating the student, you can add him or her by selecting the student from the list and clicking Enroll Selected button.
Questions Bank section allows instructors creating, modifying, and adding questions to the existing test (see picture below.)
List
of all questions existing in the system is shown in the main window of the interface.
The questions are sorted in alphabetical order. You may review any question
by selecting it. The full question body will be shown below the list. You can
also review possible answers for the question by clicking small plus sign icon
( + ) to the left of the question body. Correct answer is marked with a green
checkmark .
You can edit questions if required. Simply select the question and click Edit Question button. In the Edit Question section you may edit the question body, possible answers, and change correct answer. Also you can delete the question from the system by checking confirmation checkbox next to the Delete Question button and then clicking the button itself (see picture below.) The question and all the associated answers will be deleted from the system, which includes automatic deletion from all the tests as well.
Questions Bank section allows instructor adding questions to the tests they created. Notice, that questions can only be added to the test that are not active yet. In other words, if you have a test which is scheduled for tomorrow, than you can add questions to it, if the test has already been started, then you cannot add any questions.
To add questions to a test, simply select question you want to add, then choose test from the drop-down menu, and click Add to test button. The question will be added to the test selected. Later on you may go to Tests section and modify question's weight in the test.
You can also create a new question. To do this, you need to click New Question button. New Question interface will be shown. You need to specify question type from the drop-down menu (it can be either multiple choice - single answer, or true-false, or essay question), type in the question body in the field provided, specify number of possible answers (1-9), and specify which answer for the question is correct. If you have entered all the information correctly, the system will save the question, otherwise, it will display an error (see picture below.)
Scheduled Tests section displays all the tests that are scheduled for the class to be taken in the future and have not been taken by the student yet. The tests shown under Scheduled Tests section can be either active or inactive. Inactive tests are scheduled by the class instructor but the date and time of the test has not come yet. Student is able to see title of the test, date of the test, login time, and test duration (see picture below.)
On the date and time of the test, it becomes active (see picture below.) This means that while the test is active the students currently enrolled into the class are able to login and start taking the test. If a student missed scheduled test login date and time, the test becomes inactive and the student receives no points for the test. Students must contact their instructor in case they need reschedule the test and take it in a different date and time. It is up to the instructor to decide if the test will be rescheduled or not.
Select currently active test and click Take Test button to start taking the test. Since the button is clicked, new window will pop-up covering the entire screen area. Once the window is loaded, count down clock will start. Student is able to answer the test questions only during the time specified by the instructor. If the time's up, the test will autosubmit itself. Any unanswered questions will be awarded zero points. If the student finishes the test before the timer expires, he or she can submit the test by clicking Submit Test button at the very bottom of the test page (see picture below.)
Once the test is submitted, it is removed from the Scheduled Tests section and student cannot retake it by himself even in case test login time has not yet expired.
After taking the test, student is able to view his or her score on the test and review test's questions under Grade Book section (see picture below.)
Grade Book also give students an opportunity to view overall class statistic on the test. Statistical information shown to the students is the same as one shown to instructors.