This is available for Authors.

Candidate-selected questions in Inspera Assessment allow candidates to choose which test questions they want to respond to from a given selection. 

This article provides an overview of this feature and its activation, details how to enable and configure it as an author, explains the candidate's experience during selection and submission, and clarifies how graders view and mark these questions, including specific special considerations.

Feature overview

You can allow candidates to select which test questions they want to respond to. If candidate-selected questions are enabled, candidates are able to select their chosen questions from a section. Only the questions they select will be submitted for grading, even if they have answered other questions.

Enable candidate-selected questions

We recommend adding all questions to a section before setting the maximum number of questions to answer. For the candidate selection option to be available, all questions within that section must have the same maximum marks.

1. When authoring a question set, locate the area below the section heading.

2. Click on the arrows icon Randomisation, pulling, and selection. 

   

3. Select the option Allow candidates to select _ of _ questions from this section.

   Within the text field, enter the upper limit for the number of questions that can be included in that specific section of the question set. 

   

It is a good idea to add descriptive text for the candidate on how the test is configured so the candidate knows what to expect regarding question selection.

Candidate experience

When candidates are given the option to select questions, they are presented with the following options:

• This state also functions as a temporary placeholder while the candidate explores the various question options available to them.¨ 

  

• If a candidate starts answering a question without explicitly selecting Yes in the dropdown menu, the system will assume they intend to answer the question and will automatically mark it as Yes (i.e., answering the question is treated as equivalent to selecting Yes). 

  

• If a candidate has already selected the maximum number of questions allowed in a section, any additional questions they attempt to answer will automatically be marked as No or not selected. In this case, the candidate will be unable to answer or select any new questions in that section until they unselect one of the previously selected questions. 

  

Candidate submission page

• When the candidate has completed all questions, the summary page provides an overview of the sections and the selected questions on the test.
• If a candidate forgets to answer a question, a warning in the relevant section notifies them if they have left any questions unanswered.
• A candidate's selection will remain saved throughout the duration of the test, even if they log out and return at a later time. Candidates can modify their choices until they submit their final answers.
• If the test is reopened for resubmission, the candidate's previous selections and responses will be available in the same way they were when first submitted. The candidate will be able to modify their choices again until they submit their new answers.
• Note that only selected questions will be submitted for grading.

Candidate and Grader question view

There are differences in how candidates and Graders view which questions have been answered.

• Questions in the test will be presented in numerical order. However, if a candidate has already answered a particular question, that question may appear out of sequence in the order it was originally answered by the candidate. 

  

• The Candidate report will still show the number of questions the candidate has selected but numbers them based on the order they appear in the Question Set.

   

Grading candidate-selected questions

When grading, graders will only see the questions candidates have chosen to submit. The grading process otherwise remains the same as for other tests.

If threshold values are used, the grade will be calculated based on the maximum possible marks for the section, considering only the selected questions.

See the grader guide for more detailed information.