Printing a Test

     To print a test, select “Print” from the File menu.

     You will be presented with a series of six or seven dialog windows, depending on the options that you select.

     Note:  The printing options are saved with the test for your convenience.

The first dialog window

     This dialog window allows you to select what to print:  a blank test, an answer key, or a list of the answers.  You can’t print only a list of the answers.

     You can also export the list of answers to a text file for use with computer controlled, scantron-like systems.  The file will contain the version of the test and the letters of the correct answers.  Obviously, this option is only useful for multiple choice tests.

Important:  The questions and corresponding answers will be printed in a random order, so if you want an answer key or a list of the answers, you must print this at the same time.

     The answer key prints another complete copy of the test.  If you don’t need this, you can save a lot of paper by printing only a list of the answers.  For each question, only the letter and the text or picture of the correct answer will be printed.

     You can also select how many different versions of the test to print.  Each version will be completely different: different questions (if you are selecting from a question pool), a different question ordering, and the answers to each question in a different order.

     You can also choose where to start numbering the questions.  Normally, you would start at 1.  However, if you want to combine two or more tests without using the “merge tests” feature, you have to print each part separately.  This option allows you to number all the questions consistently across the various parts.

The second dialog window

     This dialog window asks you how many questions you want to actually print.

     If you are not using question categories:

     The dialog window will simply ask you how many questions you want to print.  The questions are chosen randomly so that different versions will have different questions.  If you choose to scramble the questions, they will be printed in a random order.

     If you are using question categories:

     The dialog window will display a list of all the available question categories.  The third column of this list will display how many questions are to be printed from each category.  The fourth column will display the total number of questions in each category.

     You can change the numbers in the second column to specify how many questions to print from each category.

     The first column of the list and the radio buttons at the right of the window allow you to select how to scramble the test questions.  If there is no dot in the first column, then the questions in the corresponding category will be scrambled.  If there is a dot, the questions will not be scrambled.  (It works this way because you will almost always want to scramble the questions.  The dot sticks out to indicate an exception.)  Click in the first column to toggle the dot.  This works in conjunction with the three radio buttons:

     1)  Print the categories in the order that they are shown in this dialog window (the same order as on the Question Category popup menu in the Test Editing window), and do not mix questions from different categories.  The questions within each category will be scrambled if there is no dot next to the category name in the list.

     2)  Scramble the order of the categories, but do not mix questions from different categories.  The questions within each category will be scrambled if there is no dot next to the category name in the list.

     3)  Completely scramble all the questions.  The settings in the first column of the list will be ignored.  (Note:  In this case, you will not be able to print category instructions because the questions from each category will be spread throughout the test and will not be marked.)

     In every case, the multiple choice answers to each question will be scrambled.

The third dialog window

     This dialog window lets you choose how to format the instructions.

     If you entered any general instructions for the test, they will be printed at the beginning of it.  You can choose to print them on a separate page (so the questions start on the second page) or at the top of the first page (so the questions start just below the instructions).

     If you are using question categories and you chose to scramble the questions only within each category, then you will be able to print the instructions for each category.  If you have not entered any instructions for any of the categories, you will want to turn this option off.  However, if you have entered instructions for even one of the categories, you will want to turn this option on.  The categories that do not have any instructions will say so.  (The default text is “No specific instructions.”)

     If you choose to print the category instructions, you can also choose whether to begin each set of questions on a new page.  (If you do not print category instructions, the categories will not be marked so it will look strange if the questions only go part of the way down the page.)

     If you choose not to begin each category on a new page, you can set how many lines of blank space to leave when starting a new category.  This can provide a visual clue to the students when they take the test.

The fourth dialog window

     This dialog window lets you choose how to format the questions.  You can set the amount of blank space between questions, between the question text and the associated picture, between the question and the first answer, and between answers.

Note:  Packing the answers too close together can make it hard for the students to distinguish between them if they are large pictures.

     Questions with fewer than two possible answers are obviously not multiple-choice.  If there is an answer at all, it will not be printed on the blank test, under the assumption that it is the correct answer.  It will be printed on the answer key, however.  On the blank test, several lines will be left blank so that the student can write in the correct answer.

     If you want to make sure that students never miss any information because the question is continued on the next page, select the “Keep question and answers on same page” option.  If you are more concerned with saving paper, turn this option off.  Then individual questions will be split across pages in order to print as much as possible on each page.

     You can also save paper by selecting the “Arrange answers horizontally when possible” option.  When this option is on, as many answers as possible will be arranged on one line across the page.  If you turn the option off, each answer will be printed on a a separate line.

     If the students are supposed to mark the answers on a computer scoring sheet, you will probably not want a checkbox next to each answer.  If the students are supposed to mark the answers on the test, you can either print a checkbox next to each answer for them to mark off or have them circle the letter of their choice.

     In either case, the answer key will look the exactly same as the blank test, except that the correct answer will be clearly marked.

The fifth dialog window

     This dialog window asks you for a title, version identifier, and header information for the test.

     The Title can be anything up to 50 characters long.  People often use cryptic file names in order to pack in everything from the test subject to the date it was created to the phase of the moon.  This Title allows you to specify a descriptive name for the test that the students can understand.

     The version information is provided so you can identify the different versions that you print.
     If you chose to print only one version of the test (in the first dialog window), the Version can be anything up to 20 characters long.
     If you chose to print many versions of the test (in the first dialog window), you can only specify what version number the first version should have.  Consecutive printed versions will have increasing version numbers.  Setting the initial version number is especially useful if you have already printed 5 versions, and then you realize that you need 5 more.  By specifying 6 as the starting version number the second time you print, you guarantee that each version has a unique version number.
     There are two reasons for the limitation on the version information when printing multiple versions.  First, it is complicated to specify how to automatically change the version information between different versions (unless you like UNIX).  Second, scantron-like grading systems only accept numeric versions on the answer sheets.
     If you really need fancy version information, turn “background printing” on and then print one version at a time.  This should not cause too much difficulty because the only time one would want to generate more than a few versions of a test would be when one has a scantron-like grading system.

     The Header Information allows you to provide space for the students to enter their name, the date, and any other relevant information that you might need from them.

     You can choose to print the Header Information either on a title page or at the top of the first page of the test.  The title page can be used by the students to cover their answers as they work down each page.  The title page is only printed for the blank test.

The sixth dialog window

     This is the standard “Save file” dialog window.  It will only appear if you chose to export the answers to a text file in the first dialog window.  Simply select where to save the file and what to call it.

     If you chose to print multiple versions of the test, the file name that you enter will be used as the base name.  Each version will be saved in a different file and “.vX” (where X is the version number) will be appended to each file name so that you can keep them apart.  For example, version 5 of the test will have “.v5” at the end of the file name.

The last dialog window

     This is the standard printing dialog window.  Please refer to the manuals that came with your printer for more information.

     It is usually best to print only one copy of everything and then make as many photocopies of the blank test as you need.

     When you click on the OK button in this window, the items that you requested in the first dialog window will be printed.