The Exam Builder generates course materials from source files that you create in Scientific Notebook. The source file starts out as an ordinary document. When you are ready to generate exams from the source you will save the source with the .qiz extension. When you try to open a qiz file in Scientific Notebook the following magic occurs: Exam Builder reads the qiz source file and generates an instance of the exam. It is this generated exam that is loaded into Scientific Notebook.
Each source file contains a front section with information setting up the
exam. The front section is followed by a series of questions and answers.
Each question can have its own setup information.
You create variations of the questions not by writing out each possible variation of each question, but by supplying algorithms for the questions. The Exam Builder does the work of creating the variations. The Exam Builder has a rich set of tools for supplying algorithms and stating questions. You can use random number functions and formulas to define variables that meet certain conditions, then use those variables to state your questions. Your questions can include tables, graphics, matrices, 2D and 3D plots, and any other elements that can be included in Scientific Notebook files.
Depending on the algorithms in your source file and the way you structure the questions, any or all of these elements can vary slightly each time you use the file to generate an exam:
If your source file contains no algorithms, each generated instance of the exam or problem set will be the same.
Each time you compile the source file, the Exam Builder generates an instance of the exam or problem set. The exam instance is what the student sees, and it's quite different from the source file for the exam. Click here to see a sample source file../Quizzes/fractions.tex, then click here to see an exam instance../Quizzes/fractions.qiz generated from the source file. ClickitbpF16.6875pt16pt2ptback.wmfto return to this file from the source and exam files.
If you have a local network or an account with an Internet service provider, you can make the exam source file available online so students can answer the questions using the computer. If they're working online, students can submit their answers to multiple-choice questions for immediate automatic grading. After looking at the graded result, students can then view the solutions to obtain more detailed explanations of the problems. If working online isn't an option for your students, you can print and make copies of the exam and solutions files, grade the completed papers by hand, and distribute copies of the solutions.