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Games

The ASSESSMENT > Games option allows face-to-face tests in the classroom. In one course we can create several games (ordered sets of test questions) and play several matches of each game.

New game

To create a new game and add it to the list of existing games, click on the New game icon (plus sign) in the upper left corner of the box where the games are listed, or on the New game button at the bottom of that box. A form will appear with the following fields:

• Title. A title for the game (for example Exam Theme 1).

• Maximum grade. A positive real number (for example 0.2). The score obtained in a match of this game will be scaled in such a way that the maximum score (which coincides with the number of questions) will correspond to this maximum grade.

• Visibility of results. The amount of information offered to students in the results of game matches can be set selectively, by activating/deactivating each of the following check boxes:

  • Text of questions and answers: The text and optional multimedia elements of both the stem and each of the options (in the case of unique or multiple choice questions) are shown.
  • Feedback text: The optional feedback text written by the teachers is shown both in the stem and in each of the options (in the case of unique or multiple choice questions).
  • Right answers: It shows which are the correct answers set by the teachers. The answers given by the user are always shown, they cannot be hidden.
  • Score of each question: The numerical score of each of the questions is shown.
  • Total score: The total numerical score is shown (sum of the scores of all questions).

  This configuration will only be effective for each game match once the teachers activate the visualization of the results of the match, which is initially deactivated.

• Description. Brief optional description of the game.

Once filled in these fields, press the Create game button. A confirmation message, the same title and description edit box, and a second box to add one or more questions to the newly created game will be displayed. The new game will also be displayed in the updated game list.

Edit game

It is possible to remove, hide/show or edit each of the games in the course.

To remove an existing game, click on the Delete icon (red trash can). To effectively eliminate the game you will have to confirm the deletion by clicking on the Delete game button. The elimination of the game supposes the elimination of all its matches and results.

To hide an existing game, click on the Hide icon (eye). To show a hidden game, click on the Show icon (strikethrough eye).

To edit an existing game, click on the Edit icon (pencil). A form identical to the one shown to create a new game will appear, allowing you to edit the title, the maximum grade and the description. When editing is complete, click on the Save changes button. If the game has no matches, you can also edit its questions. If it already has matches, the question edition will remain locked until all its matches are deleted.

Questions

The questions of a game are taken from the bank of test questions. Only unique-choice questions can be used in games, with any number of options between 2 and 10.

To add questions, click on the Add questions icon (plus sign) in the upper left corner of the Questions box or on the New question button at the bottom of the box. A box titled Select questions will appear, similar to the one for editing test questions. Select one or more descriptors and a range of dates, and click the Show questions button. If there are unique-choice questions that include any of the selected descriptors, and that have been edited in the indicated date range, they will be listed then. In the list of questions, select one or more questions and click on the Add questions button to add them to the game.

Normally we will not want the questions to be used to be available in open in ASSESSMENT > Tests. To prevent this, we can add a tag when creating or editing them, for example Exam Theme 1, and mark that tag as prohibited in ASSESSMENT > Questions > Tags.

Once the questions have been added, they will appear at the end of the game's list of questions. The order of the questions is the same for all matches in the game, and it is not random, but it is possible to establish it when editing the game. The answers or options of a question can be shown in a different and random order in each match played if so indicated by activating the Shuffle box when creating or editing the question.

If there is no match for the game, in the list of questions we can delete a question with the Remove icon (red trash can), edit the order in which the questions will appear in the game with the icons Up (up arrow) and Down (arrow below), and edit the content of a question with the Edit (pencil) icon. If the game already has matches, it will not be possible to add questions, delete them, or modify their order.

The content of a question can be edited at any time in ASSESSMENT > Questions > Edit. However, if the question has already been used in any match it is not advisable to edit it except to correct important errors. The manipulation of questions already answered could cause confusion in the feedback given in the results of the test exams and in the results of the matches, because the feedback always shows the latest version of the content of the question and not the one at the time the student answered. Therefore, any question modified at a date after the completion of a test exam or game match will appear in these results with an indication that it has been altered.

Matches

Once a game is created, several matches can be played, for example one in each group of the course.

New match

To create a new match, the teacher (or non-editing teacher) has to go to the game by clicking on its title. A Matches box appears, and you have to click on the New match icon (plus sign) in the upper left corner, or on the New match button. A form appears to give a name to the match, which will be shown later as a title on the match screen. The teacher can also select if that match is open to the participation of any student of the course or only to students belonging to certain groups. Finally, you will have to click on the Play icon (play symbol).

A non-editing teacher can create matches, but not games. And he/she can only delete or play the games he/she had created.

It is also possible to resume an interrupted or finished match. To do this, the teacher has to click on the Play/Resume icon (play / flag symbol) associated to the game.

Match operation for teachers

When a teacher (or a non-editing teacher) creates or resumes a match, a new window opens in the browser with the content of the questions and possible answers. At that time the video output should be projected in the classroom to be visible by the students present.

Teachers can click on the icons:

• Backward
• Pause/Resume
• Forward

when deemed appropriate to go through the following states of each question:

1. Question statement.
2. Statement and possible answers to the question. Students can only answer when the question is in this state and is not in pause mode.
3. Statement and results of the question. This status is optional and will only be displayed if the teacher activates the View results toggle.

At all times, the total match time and the current question time are shown on the teacher's screen. When the match is not paused, the number of students who have answered the current question and the total number of students who are playing the match are also shown.

In principle, there is no time limit in each of the states of the question, since it is the teacher who controls when the change from one state to another. However, the teacher can click on the numbers 60, 30 and 10 next to the hourglass icon to establish a countdown after which the match automatically goes to the next state. If the teacher wishes to cancel the countdown, he/she can click on the infinite symbol.

Each match can be interrupted, paused and resumed at any time. This means that there is no problem if connectivity to the network is lost, if the browser is closed or if there is no time to finish the match at class time. The same applies to students, who can reconnect to the match if they close the browser and re-enter.

Match operation for students

Students can join a match by selecting it in the game's match list and clicking on the Play icon (play symbol / flag). A student can only join a match if he/she belongs to any of the groups associated with that match. When joining the match, a new window will open in the browser in which the question number and several buttons will appear to select one of the options. These selection buttons are only shown in the second state of the question, when the answers are being projected on the classroom screen.

Results

The results of each student in each match are stored in the database for later use as part of the assessment. Each student can see their results after finishing the match when the teacher decides.

The teacher can activate or deactivate the visibility of the results in the list of matches in a game by clicking on the icon Hidden results (crossed out eye) or on the icon Visible results (eye) located to the right of each match. By default the results are hidden until the teacher makes them visible.

• If the results of a match are hidden (crossed out eye), the student will not be able to see any information about his/her outcome in that match, regardless of the current visibility settings of game results.
• If the results of a match are visible (eye), the student will see more or less information according to the current visibility settings of game results.

If you are a teacher, you can see the results of each student by clicking on the icon Results (trophy symbol). Then select the students whose games you want to see, and click on the See results of matches button. A first list will appear where you can change the selection of games, and a second list with all the matches made for the selected games. You can see the details of each match by clicking on the icon See game (on the right side of each row).

If you are a student, you can see your results by clicking on the icon Results (trophy symbol). A list will appear with the matches you played in the selected games. You can see the details of each match by clicking on the View match icon (on the right side of each row) if the teacher has allowed it.