Building Assessments

##Assessment Overview Assessments in Autolab are defined as a single submission set. Labs, Exams, Quizzes, and Homeworks are all Assessments.

Each Assessment has an Assessment Configuration File, Handout files, Writeup Files, a Handin File, and Problems.

The behavior of an assessment is defined by a configuration file which is named after the assessment. A Homework assignment might be called 'homework1' and would have a directory structure like this:

homework1
|-- homework1.rb
|-- homework1-writeup.pdf
|-- homework1-handout.tar.gz
|-- handin
|   |-- student1_handin.pdf
|   |-- student2_handin.pdf

• Assessment Configuration File: The name of the configuration file (homework1.rb) must be the name of the directory and .rb. It should follow a very specific format. This file can either be built by the Assessment Builder or created by a Lab Author. This file is used to override the default behavior of Autolab.
• Handout File: A Handout File is what a student needs to start working on an assignment and typically should be downloaded exactly once by each student.
• Writeup File: A Writeup File is the assessment description that students will reference throughout the assignment.
• Handin File: The Handin File is what students will upload back to Autolab as a submission. This must only be a single file (but can be an archive of multiple files).
• Problem: A Problem is the lowest resolution of grading possible. Problems should represent any quantitative measurements for a submission. Problems are stored in the Database, not in the configuration file, but they can be pre-defined in the configuration file for easy installation semester after semester.

##Creating a New Assessment To create a new assessment, go to your Course Page and click the 'Install Assessment' button. If you already have the assessment files prepared, use Option 2 or 3.

Otherwise, follow through the Assessment Builder in Option 1. Note that an SVN provides a version control system for submissions.

##Using Advanced Assessment Features Once the assessment is created, go to its main page and 'Edit Assessment'. From this screen, you should specify assessment problems and can set grace/late days, max submissions, and release/withdrawal dates among other options.