This page provides information about editing examinations. This is divided into “Overall Settings” which are values which control the examination as a whole, and “Special Cases” which concerns individual candidates. For information on uploading PDF examination masters, see Master Preparation.
Overall Settings
These are the fields that can be set when creating an examination, or changed later using the “Edit Details” form, a link to which may be found on the main page for each examination. While some of these affect what is printed on the standardized header, this is not related to changing the actual content of the examination. To do that, a new PDF must be uploaded.
- Primary Start Time
- The date and time when non-special-case candidates are to begin writing the examination. In the event there are multiple non-special-case beginning times (e.g., an in-class examination in a multi-section course), use the earliest such time.
- Duration
- The amount of time candidates have available to complete the examination.
- First Sequence
- The first sequence number that will be used when assigning sequence numbers. Normally, you should not use this because it will be filled in automatically in a way that tries to avoid using the same sequence number range for examinations that are near each other. This is available only on “Edit Details”, not when creating an examination.
- Authorized Uploader
- The individual authorized to upload the PDF examination masters for distribution and/or printing. The form for uploading a PDF master is available only to this person, and only this person can download the PDF masters before they are approved for printing.
- Seating
- Settings which control how seats are used.
“Assigned” means each candidate will be assigned a specific seat; the examination schedule page will show them their specific seat assignment. “Rush” means this will not happen; the candidate’s schedule page will list all rooms in their sitting that have rush seats.
Some seats are equipped with small writing surfaces, only about as big as a notebook. Sometimes these flip up from the side of the chair. These seats are called “tablet” seats. By default they will not be used by the system because they provide a sub-standard experience for examination candidates. If “Use Tablet Seats” is ticked then these seats will be used if needed. This box should be ticked only if it is infeasible to book better space.
By default, every other seat will be skipped in most places in order to provide separation between examination candidates to discourage looking at others’ examination papers, and for the comfort of candidates. Some seat locations are large or spaced out and do not require skipping seats. If “Use Every Seat” is ticked then adjacent seats will be used if needed. This box should be ticked only if it is infeasible to book sufficient space. One typical scenario is an in-class examination which uses the regular meeting room of the class.
Special Cases
Special cases are managed through two links starting from the main page for each examination. “Special Cases” allows viewing a list of all candidates who are in some way special, as well as adding and removing extra candidates who are not registered for the course. “Update Candidates” allows changing individual candidates who are already selected for the examination.
Special Cases
Clicking this link will display a list of special cases. This means all candidates selected for the examination who are in some way special:
- Additional candidates not registered for the class (most commonly clearing an INC grade);
- Candidates not allocated to the primary sitting (most commonly writing at an alternate time or with AAS).
Extra candidates will have an “Unselect” link next to them which may be used to unselect them from the examination. In the event that a candidate is added as an extra candidate but is later registered for the offering, the “Unselect” link will just remove the “Extra” flag, changing them back to being a regular candidate.
Under the list is a link to a form for adding extra candidates. To use this, paste or type candidate information, one per line. The format is quite flexible; as long as the system can identify the UW ID and userid on each line, the candidates can be added. UW ID and userid are both required in order to ensure that the correct candidates are added and to preserve the privacy of students not associated with the offering.
Update Candidates
Clicking this link will display a box in which UW IDs may be typed or pasted. As long as the UW IDs can be identified within the box by the system, they can be arranged in any order and according to any layout. Clicking the “Next” button will move to a confirmation screen which lists the UW IDs, names, and current seating information for the indicated candidates. Below will be some menu options with explanations next to them and an “Update” button for actually making the changes.
The most common use for this screen is to allocate candidates to different sittings. To do this, fill in the “Allocation” drop-down and leave the others blank, unless seats have been assigned in which case “Unseat” needs to be set to “Yes” as well.