Create Online Test with Timer
Tue 17th Dec 2019< Back to Blogs and Tutorials
There are so many features that are incorporated into online Tests that could have never been achieved so easily, with paper Tests. One feature that comes in very handy is a Test timer. When you create an online Test with timer, you no longer have to use a stop watch or keep checking the clock. With ClassMarker’s online Test platform, this is completed automatically. When the timer stops, so does the Test!Advantages of a Test Timer:
- Discourages users from searching in search engines, documents, etc., for answers outside of their Test, as they know they have a time limit, to adhere to.
- Use a timer to help keep Test-takers in your Test for mandatory time. While this will not force users to stay in the Test, you can instruct users that they need to remain in the Test for a set amount of time. Example; if a timer is set for 20 minutes, provide instructions that they must stay in for at least 15 minutes. Users can easily track the time because the timer displays during the Test. This is a great option for wanting your users to spend more time on the questions you provide and to prevent them from just zipping through it. Especially useful, if you have learning materials (audio, video, images, documents used for training purposes.
- Competition type quizzes are an easy way to see who finishes the quiz first! With these, you can make these fun by offering rewards or prizes to those who finish first or the top three, for example.
- Review who can process information quickly - Setting a quiz time limit on a Test is ideal for those times where you need to Test your users on how fast they can process or grasp certain amounts of information quickly.
- Determine quick response time under pressure - Another great way to Test users on their quick response time, along with how they do under pressure while under a specific time limit.
- Pass considered by completing Test - While ClassMarker offers the option to set a passmark to determine if a user has passed, not all Tests require a passmark. Some Tests may just require Test completion within a set amount of time. You will know right away who did not complete their Test within the time set.
- More focus on Tests - Setting a timer will ensure that users are more focused on their Test because they know they only have a certain amount of time. Great option for Test takers at remote locations as well, where this will assist them in focusing on their Test instead of all the distractions around them and you know when at home or another location away from school or work, the distractions are endless!
- Enables the Test Giver to focus on other tasks during Test. In class or the employee training room, you may be able to see all users and what they are doing. Depending on class size, this may not always be the case though. Giving your Tests with an online timed quiz maker will provide you with the time to work on other tasks so that you do not have to watch the clock or your users because they will be paying attention to their task at hand - their Test!
Advantages of using ClassMarker’s online Test maker with timer:
- The timer will display unobtrusively, on every Test page during the Test.
- The Test will automatically stop when the time is up.
- When using ‘save and resume later’, the timer will pause until the Test resumes. (Save and Resume later will enable users to save Test progress to resume at a later time)
- The timer will continue to count down when not using ‘save and resume later’. Even if a Test taker were to close out of their browser or go elsewhere outside of the Test, the time will keep going. This has been put into place as a cheat prevention method, so that users do not try to gain more time.
- Over-ride time limit set per user is another great option included with ClassMarker. Sometimes, you may have a user that does require additional time and you only want to give that extra time to that particular person, not the entire group of users. Not a problem with ClassMarker! You can extend quiz time just by going into the user's individual results page.
- Results show exact duration of time spent in Test. This is a very important feature to pay attention to on a user’s results page, especially if you are tracking the time they spend in a Test. With or without a timer set, in the quiz results display, you can view the duration which is the actual time a user has spent in the Test. For example; you have a timer on the Test set for 20 minutes and during that a user closes out of the Test for 10 minutes, they of course then lose 10 minutes on the timer and they do not finish the Test. You can confirm the actual time in the Test by this duration, which for the example above would display 10 minutes. Conclusion: They had 20 minutes and this ran out however they only remained in the Test for 10 minutes.
How to add a timer to a Test in ClassMarker:
- Once you assign your Test, go to your Test ‘settings’ page
- Click on section Taking Test, to expand additional settings
- Under the heading Time Limit, enter the amount of time
- Save Changes at bottom of page
You’re all set!
When timers are applied to the right type of Tests, with a suitable amount of time, this is a great feature for including in your Tests.
The Timer will stay visible at the top of the page during the whole exams, so students can always see how much time they have left.
You do not want to cause anxiety for your users by applying timers to Tests that should not have a timer on them or have too short of a time on it. For example, you would not set a 30 minute timer on a Test that includes 1 essay question that requires 2 hours of thought and writing to complete it. You probably wouldn't apply a timer to a math Test, if these users are learning as they go through a Test trying to figure out the calculations.
You are not likely to place a 10 minute timer on a 200 question Test - if you do this, you will not even need to view results afterwards - the final results will be 0% happy users or 100% unhappy users, depending on how you look at this! So, we suggest, when using ClassMarker's quiz maker with timer, you do not do this!
Just as you would be selective with the type of questions and content that you add to a Test, the same applies to Test settings, such as the timer function.
Like all features on ClassMarker, setting a time limit is options, so you have control over how you give your online quizzes.
Lastly, you can also Create online surveys. with ClassMarker to give users an understanding it will not take long to complete your survey.
Register Here to begin using the timer function and all other well thought out, beneficial, and very cool Test settings that ClassMarker offers!
Happy Testing!
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