About the Test Form Rules tab

WARNING: This article refers to an area of Surpass that uses Flash, which is no longer supported by web browsers. Use the Surpass Viewer to view this area of Surpass. For more information, read Installing the Surpass Viewer.

You can edit a test form’s content in the Test Form Rules tab of the Edit Test Form window. Here, you can add content and rules and define the test form’s duration.

This article explains the functionality on the Test Form Rules tab. This includes adding, editing and deleting content, pinning items in place, grouping items, validating content, applying branching XML, locking the test form, and saving.

Test Rules

You can view the test form’s structure in the Test Rules area, including all sections, items, and tools.

NOTE: For tests containing 50 or more items or rules, use Select to show test form content to view the test form content.

About the content key

The content key indicates the types of items in the test form.

Icon	Name	Description
	Question	Represents items that are questions.
	Non-scored	Represents items that have been made non-scored.
	Finish	Represents items that are Finish Pages.
	Information	Represents items that are Information Pages.
	Introduction	Represents items that are Introduction Pages.
	Rubric	Represents items created as rubrics (ContentProducer only).
	Source	Represents items created as source pages (ContentProducer only).
	Tool	Represents tools such as source material and calculators.
	Survey	Represents items that are Survey questions.
	Not defined	Represents items whose purpose cannot be defined.
	Item set	Represents item sets.

Adding, editing or deleting content

Use Add, Edit, and Delete to edit the content of a test form.

Add, Edit, and Delete behave in differently depending on what you have selected on the test form. Expand the following section to learn more about the contextual functions of these buttons.

Currently selected	Add	Edit	Delete
Test form name	Adds a section. For more information, read Adding sections to a test form.	Edits the test form’s Test Form Properties. For more information, read ‘Editing the Test Form Properties’.	N/A
Introduction section	Adds an Introduction Page or sample item. For more information, read Adding Introduction and Finish Pages to a test form.	N/A	N/A
Introduction Page	Adds another Introduction Page or sample item.	Changes the selected Introduction Page.	Deletes the selected Introduction Page.
Section	Adds an item/rule to the selected section. For more information, read Adding items to a fixed section or Adding rules to a dynamic section.	Edits the selected section’s Section Properties. For more information, read Adding sections to a test form.	Deletes the selected section and its content.
Group	Adds an item to the selected group.	Renames the selected group.	Deletes the selected group.
Item/Rule	Edits the selected item/rule.	Edits selected item/rule.	Deletes the selected item/rule.
Tools section	Adds a tool to the test form. For more information, read Adding tools to a test form.	N/A	N/A
Tool	Adds another tool to the test form. For more information, read Adding tools to a test form.	N/A	Deletes the selected tool.
Finish section	Adds a Finish Page. For more information, read Adding Introduction and Finish Pages to a test form.	N/A	N/A
Finish Page	Adds another Finish Page. For more information, read Adding Introduction and Finish Pages to a test form.	Changes the selected Finish Page.	Deletes the selected Finish Page.

You can also drag an item or rule to change its position in a test form. A red line indicates the new position of the item or rule.

Editing the Test Form Properties

You can add rules for pre-test items and edit the item P value ranges when you edit the Test Form Properties.

Pinning items in place

You can pin items in a section to ensure they stay in a fixed position when the item order is randomised.

Grouping items on one page

You can group items so they appear on a single scrollable page when delivered to candidates. You can do this in Test Form Rules using Create Group or Auto Group.

TIP: For more information, read Grouping items in a test form.

Validating the content

You can check your content is valid and can be generated. Test form content must be valid before you can schedule the test.

TIP: Validate your test form every time you edit the content.

Select Validate to check if your test form is valid.

Use the validation message to identify any changes you need to make.

Applying branching XML

You can apply branching logic to specify a path for candidates to take through items in a section. The logic defines the item that appears based on the candidate’s response to the previous question.

IMPORTANT: This is designed for use in one section of a test with fixed content containing Multiple Choice or Multiple Response survey items. The test should be forward only and delivered in SecureClient or HTML delivery. Other test settings may not be compatible.

Locking the content

You can lock test form content to ensure changes to items in Item Authoring do not affect the test form. The available options differ for fixed and dynamic content.

If your test form contains only fixed content, you can choose which item details you want to lock.

Select Lock to lock the item content of your test form. This includes visible item information such as the question stem and answer options.

Use the Lock arrow to configure the locking options.

Setting	Description
Lock Content	Locks items’ question stems, answer options, and media. NOTE: This is enabled by default.
Lock available items, item settings, and tags	Locks items’ additional options, tags, and workflow statuses.

Saving the content

You must save your test form to apply any changes you make to the content.

TIP: Save your changes regularly. Changes are not automatically saved.

Select OK to save changes to your test form.

Select Cancel to exit without saving your changes.

Test Summary

You can see an overview of the test form content in the Test Summary section.

Field	Description
Action script mode	The action script mode of the content. ContentProducer content may be AS2 or AS3. All Surpass content is Mixed.
Total number of items	The total number of items in the test form.
Pass mark	The value of the lowest grade boundary. To learn how to apply grade boundaries, read Setting up grade boundaries.
Total marks	The total number of marks for the test form.
Total exam time	The total duration of the test form.
Average P value	The average P value of the items in the test form.
Total number of Easy items	The number of items with a P value in the defined Easy range. NOTE: This applies to fixed content only.
Total number of Medium items	The number of items with a P value in the defined Medium range. NOTE: This applies to fixed content only.
Total number of Hard items	The number of items with a P value in the defined Hard range. NOTE: This applies to fixed content only.

Test Form Duration

You can define the duration of a test form in the Test Duration section. You can make your test form timed, define the timings, and add breaks. For more information, read About test form duration.