We are using the QTI specification to create maths questions that can be delivered online. In order to do this we have used Uniqurate, partly as a tool for writing questions (although the vast majority of questions have been ‘hand-coded’ in QTI XML, due to their complexity), but mainly as a tool for bringing questions together into tests.
I thought I would share a few things that have made my life easier when using Uniqurate, in case they are useful to anyone else:
- Use ‘Enter’ (carefully!) to confirm actions – Uniqurate often asks for confirmation, e.g. when deleting questions, using a pop up box. This can make deleting lots of questions an annoying process if you use the mouse to click the OK button in the confirm box. However, if you just click the delete button (rubbish bin) and then hit the enter key, this will confirm, so you can delete lots of questions quickly. Needless to say be very careful when doing this!
- Go back to the main menu if it starts misbehaving – Uniqurate sometimes starts misbehaving, e.g. not adding questions properly. If this happens, just go back to the main menu, then click the “Edit current test” button to return to the edit screen.
- Click on the Section name to edit it – it’s not immediately obvious, but you can edit section names by clicking on/selecting the current name of a section and then typing in the new name.
- To move a question, click on white space, not the question name – You can drag and drop questions within a section (but unfortunately not from one section to another). To do this, you need to click on the white space to the right of the question name, not on the question name itself (doing so just selects the text).
- “Add question to section” link only works when the mouse cursor is an arrow – Depending on your browser (I’m talking about IE10 on Windows), the pointer will be one of an arrow, a pointer (hand with pointed figure) or a text cursor when you hover over the “Add question to section” link, depending on which part of the link you are over. It only seems to actually work as a link when it is the arrow, so move around until you get an arrow before clicking!
- Check the total score when you have repeated questions – see the post about modifying assessment.xml for more information
I will add any further things as and when they crop up.