This scenario shows a user creating a test by specifying certain parameters for his/her test. For this example, it is assumed that the user has the accessibility / permission to create a test, that a populated database of questions is either already open or a has been defined in the global preferences, and that a list of classes have also been created.
To generate a random test using TestTools' test generation tool, the user selects Test Creation from the startup window, and then selects Test->Generate from the toolbar. A new window displays to the screen (see Figure 1 below), and the user is now able to refine their filter for questions to be used on their exam.
Figure 1: Test creation dialog.
The Test Name field is a one-line string that gives a name to this test file. The Class drop-down menu displays the list of classes already entered into the question database. Here the user selects what class he/she want their questions to be filtered by, as show in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Selecting a class
The two empty text fields below the Class menu accept numerical input which provides the user with the ability to specify his/her exam's length in time or by number of questions. The user is not able to generate a test until the Test Name text field, the time allotted text field, and the Class field are all filled with valid values. The number of desired questions on the test is an optional parameter. The user can also set more advanced parameters by clicking on the More... button which drops down another window panel with more options. Details using these options can be seen in 2.4 Advanced Test Creation in the Requirements Documents. The user inputs their data in the text fields, and the program enables the Generate Test button, as shown in Figure 3:
Figure 3:Creating a CSC 102 quiz using basic preferences.
The user now clicks Generate Test which randomly selects questions from the pre-loaded database of questions that satisfy the user defined test parameters. Specifically, each question generated in the final test must have the Class keyword in its own respective Class field. Additionally, the sum of the length of each question must add up to an acceptable duration of the test, which is defined as the length of the user inputted time of a test, plus or minus a user defined variance, which is defined in the global preferences. In this scenario, the default value of five minutes is used. Therefore, in this particular case, the sum of the length of the questions must be between 10 and 20 minutes, inclusive. All questions in the final test must also lie under the Difficulty variance of the test. Using the default difficulty value of five as used in this scenario, every question in the final test must have a Difficulty value between 3 and 7, inclusive. The user clicks the Generate Test button, and the system responds by displaying a "vital statistics" window for the test that shows number of questions, duration of the test rounded to the nearest minute, and test difficulty and distribution of question format. An example of this window is shown here in Figure 4:
Figure 4: Test statistics dialog.
If these statistics are unsatisfactory, the user selects the Generate Another Test button, which uses the same parameters already entered in the test creation panel and creates another unique, random test and displays the new statistics for this test, as shown in Figure 5:
Figure 5: Test statistics dialog after re-generation.
To return to the test filtering window and re-define test creation parameters, the user clicks the <Back button. To exit the test creation process and show their completed exam, the user clicks on the Done button. The TestTool program displays the user's randomly generated test, as shown below in Figure 6:
Figure 6: A completed test.
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