Thresholds on question level offer an alternative method for awarding marks on questions, especially useful for complex questions with multiple response elements. This feature allows you to define specific reward levels based on a candidate's automatically calculated score. Thresholds are available for all automatically marked question types, with the exception of Drag and Drop and Hotspot questions.

This article explains how to set threshold levels and provides a detailed example of their application.

Setting threshold levels on a question

Thresholds on questions work by using the original calculated score to define level rewards. The candidate is scored according to normal scoring rules, and the score is used to determine the reward based on the threshold values set by the question author. The reward can be both more or less than the standard maximum achievable score.  

1. First click on Marks in the right-hand panel, and select Threshold levels.

   

2. Select Show advanced options to set marks per correct answer. The total achievable score (if all answers are correct) will serve as the initial upper limit for your threshold levels.

3. Click Edit to begin configuring the threshold levels. 

   

4. A new panel will appear where you can edit the threshold levels:

   1. Add More Thresholds: Use the option to add additional thresholds as needed.
   2. Define Score Range: For each level, set the upper and lower score for the range.
   3. Set Reward: Specify the reward (in marks) that the candidate will receive if their automatically calculated score falls within the defined range. This reward can be higher than the default maximum score or lower than the default minimum score.
   4. Save Values: Save the threshold values during editing, and click Done when you have finished editing or adding all values.
   5. Finish: When you have finished editing and/or adding threshold values, click Done.
   6. Information about default maximum and minimum achievable marks for the question without threshold levels.

   

Understanding thresholds

• Default marks: The default maximum and minimum achievable marks for the question are calculated without applying threshold levels.
• Maximum question score: The highest reward set for any of the thresholds will define the question's overall maximum score. This specific score is then used to define threshold values at the test level.
• Testing thresholds: We recommend that you test the threshold scoring by previewing the question. Try out different combinations of correct and wrong answers to verify that the reward behaves as you intended.

Example of threshold values in a Composite question

This question consists of three different response elements - one multiple response with two correct alternatives (1), one inline choice (2) and one text entry (3).

In Show advanced options two marks are set per correct answer, resulting in a total achievable score of eight marks for the entire question. Four marks can be awarded for the multiple response elemen,t because it has two correct alternatives, and two marks each for the other two questions. One mark is deducted for a wrong answer.

In this example, the Author want to give a different reward than the normally calculated marks. They adjusted the reward to be 10 marks for anyone who answered all questions correctly. In addition, they also adjusted to a higher reward than the calculated score for the remaining threshold levels.