Akindi Online assessments (integration with Brightspace)

Access the Content tab in your D2L Brightspace course shell. Add a module to the left-hand navigation bar by clicking Add a module… and give it a name.

For online assessments, the module must be visible for students to access the quiz.

Student-facing pages are not necessary when using Akindi only for Paper-Based Assessments. If you are not running any online assessments, and would like to hide the module from students, click on the eye icon in the top right corner and switch the visibility to off. This is confirmed by the eye icon displayed below the name of the module in the side-bar navigation.

Inside your new module, select External Learning Tools from the Existing Activities drop down menu.

Scroll down, and select Launch Akindi.

This will add a link with the same name to your module; click it to open the tool.

Access the tool by clicking on the Launch Akindi link or by selecting View Topic under the arrow to the right.

Then, click the big orange Launch Akindi for [your course name] button in the bottom left of the new window, which will take you into Akindi on an external site.

1. After launching Akindi, click Create Assessment.

2. Select your course from the drop-down.

3. Name the assessment.

4. Assessment Type: Set to “Online”.

5. Multiple Versions: If enabled, this feature can be used to automatically shuffle the order questions are presented to students, or support up to six separate versions of the assessment. As you change options, the preview to the right will update. 

6. Test Question Display: The options available will vary depending on your version selections. 

• Display full PDF will replicate the bubble-sheet experience. You will have to select the layout, and ensure that your questions match the settings you select.   
• One question at a time presents each question above with clickable answers. This option is more flexible, supporting any number of questions and multiple choice options, and can be set to allow or prevent backtracking. 
• If you are sharing questions with students using an external platform, and would like them to only select answers, you can choose I don’t want to upload test questions. 

7. Click Save and Continue.

8. Drag-and-drop your test question document into the box. For One Question at a Time assessments, the upload will only accept a .docx file. If you have opted to Display full PDF, the file must be uploaded as a PDF. 

9. When successfully uploaded, click Continue.

If creating a One Question at a Time assessment, individual questions will be loaded with the answers below them.  

 a. Identify correct answers by clicking on the letter beside them, turning it blue. Questions can have multiple correct answers. Prior to uploading, the correct answers can be identified in the document by using boldface, italics, or a different coloured fonts.
 b. Question type and weighting can be changed using the advanced marking options, accessed through the 6-dot grid beside the question.
 c. When finished, click Save & Continue.

If creating a Display full PDF assessment, a separate answer sheet is displayed.

 a. After uploading the PDF of questions, create an answer key by clicking on the correct option for each question. Questions can have multiple correct answers.
 b. You can bulk upload answers using the Copy and Paste Answer Key option. Details about formatting can be found at Akindi’s Copy and Paste Answer Key (external link)  resource. 
 c. Question type and weighting can be changed using the advanced marking options. 
 d. Continue.

If you are presented with error messages or unexpected behaviour, please visit Akindi’s Question and Answer resource (external link) .

You can toggle advanced marking by clicking the on/off slider at the top right of your screen. If the slider is orange, advanced marking is turned on. Setting advanced marking options is only necessary for your assessment if your assessment has bonus questions, questions worth different amounts, or questions with multiple answers.

For questions with multiple answers: 

1. Exact Mark Question: the student’s answer must match the answer key exactly. If the student doesn’t select all of the correct answers they will receive a zero for that question. This is the default option in Adindi.
2. Partial Mark Question: The student is awarded partial marks for each correct response up to the full weight of the question, but will receive a score of zero if they fill in more bubbles than there are correct answers. If you select Deduct incorrect answers, Akindi will award students a partial mark for each correct response and deduct a partial mark for each incorrect response.

Either Or: A student will receive full marks for selecting any of the valid responses.

1. Time limit: Optional. Acts as an individual timer for each student, starting when they begin the assessment.
2. Activation date: When the assessment becomes available to students. If they navigate to Akindi in advance, they will not be able to start before this time. 
3. Deadline: After this date and time, even if their individual timer has not run out, students will not be able to continue the assessment. 
4. Click Save & Continue.

Click Publish to Brightspace. This will make upcoming assessments visible to students when launching Akindi from within Brightspace, but it will only be accessible after the activation date. 

The option to alert students by email will be provided; this will inform them of the timing restrictions you set, but will not provide them with a direct link.

1. Select the checkbox beside the name of the student who requires alternate timing. Multiple students can be selected, if the same change is to be applied to them all. 

2. Click the Actions option, and select Edit Assessment Timing.

3. If a time limit is enabled for the assessment, adjust to include the total time the student is eligible for.

4. Be sure to change the deadline to consider the additional time; if you do not do this, the student will automatically be stopped at the time of the default deadline. 

5. Click Save and Continue.

1. From the assessment Dashboard, Select the checkbox beside the name of the student who requires a new attempt. 

2. Click the Actions option, and select Reopen assessment attempt. If this option is not listed, confirm the Assessment status of that student in the table below to ensure that they  have completed an attempt.

3. Set the new activation time, deadline, and any changes to the time limit that you would like to implement for this student

4. The student's saved responses from their previous attempt will appear when they access the assessment. To remove all the previous responses, select the 'Clear saved answers from previous attempt' option.

From the Course dashboard, select Edit Questions & Answers for the relevant assessment.

From the response summary, select the Actions button, then choose “Edit Answer Key” from the drop-down list.

1. Once at the Answer Key, you can click on the letter beside the answers to toggle  if they are considered correct (filled in orange), or incorrect (white). To remove a questions from the assessment calculation, set all possible answers to incorrect. 

2. When all changes have been made, click “Save and Continue”.

Once your tests are completed, you can view your results from the Akindi Dashboard by clicking on Results under the relevant assessments.

The first tab of your results is the Overview. Here you can see statstics on how well your students did on the test, what questions were easiest and most difficult for them, and a breakdown of your Akindi discriminatory score, breaking down how well your test was designed based on the results.

The second tab of your results is the Graphs. This displays visualizations of your student marks, grade distribution, answer breakdown, and point biserial.

The third tab of your results is the Responses. This will give you a spreadsheet of each students id, name, section, grade (percentage), mark, and their answers to each individual question. You can sort the order of each row by clicking on the columns at the top. You can search for students by ID or name by using the search bar at the top right corner.

When you're ready to export the grades to your D2L Brightspace course shell, click Send Grades to Brightspace in the top right corner.