Managing Test Settings
Click on "Advanced Options" as shown in the image below, to access test settings. The settings are bifurcated into
1. Test Options
2. Section Options
3. Candidate registration fields
4. Assessment Info
5.Coding questions settings.
Each test setting is explained further in this article.
1. Test Options
Test options allow users to configure the following test settings:
a. Show custom message before assessment starts: We can set up a custom message that will be displayed to test-takers before the test begins (when the test is loading)
b. Allow copy and paste (useful if assessment has coding problems): By default, the Mettl platform does not allow copy/paste on or from the test window. However, if there is any such requirement during the test, we can enable this setting.
c. Show custom message to test-takers after test finishes: Test-takers can be shown a custom message (A thank you message or any other information) after they finish their test. The test-takers are shown the message as per the performance category. We can read more about performance categories in this article here.
d. Show report to test-taker after test finishes: Test takers can be provided with a pdf download enabled link to view their test performance report immediately after completion of their test.
e. Redirect test-takers after test finishes: If we need to redirect the test takers to a custom webpage, we need to insert a link in this box.
f. Provide an on-screen calculator: Test-takers can use Mettl's scientific calculator to make complex calculations while attempting the test.
g.Provide Excel Scratchpad to test-takers: Test-takers can use excel scratch pad for basic excel formulas, while attempting the test.
h. Fixed section order for test-takers: A test can have multiple sections. Use this option to set the order in which you want the test-takers to attempt these sections. Once section order is fixed, a test-taker cannot move back to a previously attempted section.
i. Enable Compensatory test time: Compensatory Test Time Setting to provide additional test time to specially abled test takers. For more details, click 'here'.
J. Allow test takers to upload answer images via mobile using QR code: This setting can be used only for Long Answer type of questions where file upload feature is enabled. Know More.
k.Custom Assessment Name: This feature helps mask the assessment's display name and show a custom assessment name to the test-takers. E.g. An assessment could be named "Java Version 10" in your account, but with this feature, we can assign a pseudo name like "Java Consultant" to the assessment. Using this option, you can link the assessment name and schedule name or test link name. Use the keyword {assessment-name} to pick the current assessment name and {schedule-name} to pick up the current schedule name.
l. Sample test link: A sample test link will be provided to the test-taker. Before the test starts. The test-taker will be able to get a glimpse of how a test starts.
m. Show marks in Test: If this option is enabled, then the marks for each question will be shown to the test-taker.
n. Custom Watermark Text: This feature is used for cheating prevention. Enabling Watermark will show a unique ID in the background of each candidate’s test screen. This will help in identifying the person in case someone tries to click images of this screen to cheat.
Use curly braces { to enter a Dynamic key into the text. Or enter any custom text. Max Watermark text limit - 70 chars. Characters not permitted are "(double inverted quotes) < (lesser than) &(ampersand) '(single inverted comma),(comma). -
o. Enable test stop on Disconnection Duration: This setting will stop the test after a certain duration of internet disconnection for test takers. This feature is used for cheating prevention during exams. For more details Click here.
2 (A) Section Options
Here we will explore the section options and settings that can be applied to each section of the custom designed assessment. Click on "Section Options" in advanced options.
Using these options, we can configure various settings for each section. These can be:
a. Questions to be Attempted: The no. Of questions which are mandatory to attempt.
Note:
1.Correct and incorrect grades should be the same for all skills for sections.
2.This setting is not applicable for Case Study, Audio, Video and Code type questions.
b. Section Instruction: Setting up custom instructions (to be shown to test takers) for each section of test
c. Make All Questions Mandatory: To ensure that test takers do not move to the next section until he/she has attempted all questions in the current section (usually used in behavioral tests).
d. Randomize Questions: Enabling this feature will randomize the questions displayed on the test from within the selected skill.
e. Randomize Options: Enable this to randomly juggle the answer options of a question (MCQ, Checkbox type questions etc).
While using this setting, please ensure that if any question has options like "All of the above" or "None of the Above ", please rename it as "All of the given options" or "None of the given options".
f. Show multiple questions per page: This option is used to display multiple questions per page. By default, one question is displayed per page.
Note:
- Multiple questions per page can be enabled for MCQ, Multiple Statement Questions, Multiple Checkboxes, Fill in the Blanks and Short Answers.
- The play limit set for media files in questions will NOT be applicable when showing multiple questions per page. Candidates can play media files multiple times.
g. Unidirectional: The candidate will be attempting all the questions in one go. Candidate wouldn't be able to move to the previous question.
2 (B). Section Order
In the section order option, the sequence of the section order can be fixed.
3. Candidate Registration Fields
This candidate registration field is test specific. All the settings of this will be applicable in this particular test.
The candidate registration fields, these are the fields that the test-takers must fill in before the test starts. Only then will the test-taker be able to proceed further. If the field is marked as mandatory, then the test-taker wouldn't be able to proceed further without providing this information. If we have checked on verify then the details filled in by the candidate will be cross-checked with the details which are stored in the system data. (Test takers privately invited)
4. Assessment Info
We can select the purpose of the test from the drop down.
5. Coding Assessment Setting
1. Check Code Complexity: This option will enable you to calculate the code complexity of the candidate’s code.
The code score on our backend programming simulator is calculated as 100 - Cyclomatic Complexity. It is a quantitative measure and is therefore displayed in the candidate’s report.This field is optional, but we recommend enabling this field.
2. Check Time Complexity: Select this option if you wish to run all the Time Complexity Testcases against the candidate’s code. This field is optional, but we recommend enabling this field.
3. Custom Scoring Logic: Enable this option only if you want to bypass the conventional testcases based grading and allot the candidates a percentage of marks based on the following criteria:
Note: The total of all the scores should be equal to 100.
a. No of Lines - The percentage of marks that the candidate is allotted, provided his code does not exceed the maximum lines specified in the field Specify Maximum Lines
b. No of Logical Statements - The percentage of marks that the candidate is allotted, provided the number of logical statements in the code does not exceed the maximum statements specified in the field Specify Maximum Statements
c. Code Compilation - The percentage of marks that the candidate is allotted if the candidate's code is compiled successfully.
d. Basic Test Cases - The percentage of marks that the candidate is allotted if the candidate's code passes all the Basic Test Cases.
e. Necessary Test Cases - The percentage of marks that the candidate is allotted if the candidate's code passes all the Necessary Test Cases.
f. Corner Test Cases - The percentage of marks that the candidate is allotted if the candidate's code passes all the Corner Test Cases.
g. Code Complexity - The percentage of marks that a candidate is allotted w.r.t his/her code’s complexity, i.e., for example, the cyclomatic code complexity of a candidate’s code is 6; so, the Code complexity will be (100-6=94). If the mark allotted for this criterion is 100 and the overall mark of the question in the assessment is 1, then the calculated score would be
(94*(100/100) *1)/100 = 0.94.
Therefore, the marks scored by the test taker are 0.94 out of 1.
Note: Please enable this option only when needed else, refrain from changing these values to avoid any hindrance in the working/scoring of the question. 5. Run Basic Test Cases: Select this option if you wish to run all the Basic Testcases against the candidate’s code. This field is optional, but we recommend enabling this field.
6. Run Corner Test Cases: Select this option if you wish to run all the Corner Testcases against the candidate’s code. This field is optional, but we recommend enabling this field.
7. Run Necessary Test Cases: Select this option if you wish to run all the Necessary Testcases against the candidate’s code. This field is optional, but we recommend enabling this field.
8. Restrict Languages in coding: The general purpose back-end programming simulator in Mercer | Mettl offers support of 30+ programming languages, but as a test admin you may restrict the test-taker to choose a coding language from a limited/defined list of languages only. After enabling just, the required set of languages, the test-taker will be able to choose and code only in the selected programming languages in that assessment.
Click here to know how to do restrict languages.
9. Plagiarism Check: Enabling a plagiarism check will take a test-taker's code and compare it with all other test-takers' codes to identify areas which might have a potential overlap. While flagging for plagiarism, the submission of a test-taker is compared across all the previous submissions by other test-takers in a particular assessment.
To know more about how plagiarism is calculated on our platform, click here.
By default, the not-acceptable plagiarism percentage is fixed at 60% but this value can be configured accordingly.
Click here to know how you can configure this.
10. Grade on Max Marks Submission: When a submission is made in a coding question, the test-taker has the option to edit their solution, compile it and submit it again.
If the “Grade on Max Marks Submission” setting is enabled for an assessment, the submission which passes the greatest number of test cases and scores the most marks for the test-taker is considered the final submission. If this setting is disabled, the last submission made by the test-taker is considered as their final submission irrespective of the marks scored in the previous compilations.