Assessment stimuli

A stimulus is a resource composed of one or more images, texts, videos, or other content. Stimuli can be linked to questions that are part of assessment modules.

When a stimulus is linked to a question, some or all of it (depending on its setup) appears at the side of the question along with two chevrons. The test-taker selects the chevrons to bring the stimulus fully on or off the question screen.

A stimulus can provide supplementary information, instructions, images, and so on. It can be composed of several resource types — audio, video, image, HTML — and one stimulus can contain multiple items.

A stimulus is linked to a question through the question's details screen. A stimulus can only be linked to a question if they're both in the same assessment module.

There's only one copy of a stimulus in the system, so changes made to it apply to all questions it's linked to.

Stimuli are managed by navigating to Design > Stimuli.

Add a stimulus

Navigate to Design > Stimuli and select Add Stimulus from the Actions dropdown.

1. Select the Discipline and Module where the stimulus is located. A stimulus can only be linked to a question if they're both in the same module.
2. An Identifier is automatically generated if the appropriate option is enabled in Resource Settings, and can't be changed. If auto-generation isn't enabled, enter a unique identifier.
3. Enter a unique Name for the stimulus.

4. Optionally enter a Description.

   

5. Open Expanded to see the menu. Depending on Resource Settings, you can choose:

   • Free HTML
   • Slideshow
   • Email

1. In this example, Free HTML is selected. You can add information by:

   • Typing text directly into the text box.
   • Using the source button (<>) to edit the HTML.
   • Adding text or image resources via the Insert menu.

2. Audio can be added to the stimulus by selecting from the dropdown beneath the text box.

   

3. Open the Preview window to specify how the stimulus appears at the side of the question screen.

   Leave Same as expanded stimulus ticked to use a smaller version of the stimulus as the preview. If you uncheck it without supplying an alternative, the test-taker sees no preview — only the chevrons. To customise the preview, uncheck the option and use the same tools as step 6. This is particularly useful for video stimuli — you can supply an image as the preview screen rather than the default grey screen.

1. Select Save Stimulus.

Search for a stimulus

The search feature lets you quickly find a stimulus. Search is only useful when the list is large.

Navigate to Design > Stimuli.

1. Select Search for Stimuli — a search field appears.
2. Enter your search word.
3. Select Search.
4. Results appear in the Display Name column.

5. To perform another search, select Reset Search.

   

Edit a stimulus

Use this function when stimulus details need to be changed.

Navigate to Design > Stimuli.

1. Search for the required stimulus or select it from the Display Name list.

   

2. Select Edit Stimulus.

   

3. Change details as required.

4. Select Save Stimulus.

Settings

Administrators can configure the following settings at Settings > Stimulus Settings and Settings > Resource Settings.

Stimulus Settings — customises how stimuli are presented (preview defaults, available content types).

Resource Settings — controls auto-generation of stimulus identifiers and which content types (Free HTML, Slideshow, Email) are available when adding a stimulus.

Related documents

• Resources
• Assessment Modules
• Assessment module questions
• Assessment question types