Set preferences for an activity

The General options available to you depend on the activity behavioral mode.

Default Activity Style -- Choose an activity style from the list. To preview the style, click Preview.

Display this number of questions per page -- Specify the number of questions (default is 1) students see on each page of the activity. Enables the following options when you display at least 1 question per page:

Display one section/narrative per page (not available for adaptive or assignment activities MyLab Languages only) -- Let students view one activity section on each page of the activity. Selecting this option enables the following option, Allow student to skip pageswhich lets students skip pages in an activity. If cleared, students must complete the current page before moving to the next page.

Show immediate feedback -- Provide students with feedback for each question before they proceed to the next question. When selected, the Next Question button that appears after each question is replaced by a Submit & Get Feedback button. Students click Submit & Get Feedback, review the feedback, and can then click Next Question to proceed.

Allow students to Try Again -- Provide a Try Again option on the results page of the activity. When students select this option they can redo questions they answered incorrectly.

This option not available for adaptive or assignment activities; in MyLab IT, the option is also not available for study plan pre-tests or post-tests; likewise the option is not available in MyLab Languages readiness check pre-tests or post-tests .

Require students to answer all questions -- Make sure each student answers each question.

This option not available for adaptive or assignment activities.

Display direction line text on each page (MyLab IT only) -- Display activity directions on each page of the activity. You enter activity-level directions on the Preferences > Messages page.

Display total possible points for each question
(not available for adaptive or assignment activities; MyLab Languages only) -- Let students see the assigned point value for each question while they are working on the activity.

Remove correct/incorrect indicators in student results view -- Prevent students from seeing whether the answers they selected were correct or incorrect after they finish an activity and view the results.

Include in course plan scoring -- Include the activity in the course plan scoring. If selected, the grade for this activity is included when a student views the progress meter that reflects the percentage of course materials mapped to learning objectives that the student has completed to date.

If you organize your course materials around learning objectives, select this option to include the activity in the threshold scoring of the learning objective. Only activity questions that are mapped to learning objectives are included in the score.

Organize by Narrative (available only for basic/random activities) -- Display questions based on the narrative associated with the question, rather than the order specified by the sections on the activity's Questions page. For details, see Organize by narratives.

Save response at the end of each page -- Lets you force the submission of the student work using the Submit Student Answers option in the View Submissions window if the student completes at least the first page of the activity and navigates to the second page. When you force a student submission and this option is selected, the submission reflects only the completed activity pages; it does not include partially completed pages.

Allow student to save for later -- Provide a Save for Later button in the activity. This option lets students save their answers and return to work on the activity at another time. Saving an activity for later does not submit the activity.

Auto-submit single-SCO Activities -- Automatically submit an activity for a student when the student completes an SCO question. When selected, the Submit button does not appear in the activity presentation window.

Restrict student from reviewing and changing saved answers -- (only available for basic/random activities and readiness check or study plan pre-tests and post-tests) Prevent students from viewing or changing previously saved answers when taking an activity. When checked, students who save and re-start an activity resume the activity on the first unsaved question. If the activity closes abruptly (or crashes) before the student answers all of the questions already viewed, you need to delete the student's submission to reset the activity for the student.

Enable Browse Mode -- This feature is not used in Higher Education courses.

Number of attempts (not available for adaptive activities, or assignment activities) -- Let students attempt the activity more than once. Enables the following options:

• Specify number of attempts: Enter the number of attempts students are allowed. The default is 1.
• Number of attempts is unlimited: Select to indicate that students can take the activity an unlimited number of times.

Show hints -- Display a Hints link for students while they are taking the activity. The link shows any hints that the question author provided for a question.

Enable HelpLinks for this activity -- Display a Need help button for students while they take the activity. For all but adaptive and assignment activities, you can also use the Display Need Help option in the Feedback section of the activity Preferences page to choose when (always, never, or at attempt x) to display this link.

Shuffle order of sections for each student (MyLab IT only; not available for adaptive or assignment activities) -- Randomly shuffle the order in which activity sections are presented to each student.

Restart numbering in each section (MyLab IT only; not available for adaptive or assignment activities) -- Restart the numbering of the questions in each section at 1.

This activity requires manual grading -- Display the manual grading icon when the activity appears in a list.

This activity contains multimedia (not available for adaptive, or assignment activities) -- Display the multimedia icon when the activity appears in a list.

Enable late submissions -- Allow students to submit the activity after the due date. You can accept any late submissions. If manual grading is required you will be able to grade the late submission and include the grade in the gradebook. If auto-scoring is enabled, grades appear in the gradebook after you accept the last submission.

Enable Grace Period -- Let instructors define the grace period settings for late submissions and eliminates the need to manually accept each late submission. Enables the following options:

The Appearance options are the same for each activity :

Select style sheet -- Choose an activity style from the list. To preview the style, click Preview

Timing options let you define the maximum time a student has to complete an activity.

Timing options are available for basic/random activities.

You can set default timing preferences on the course Preferences > Activities and Preferences > Study Plan pages.

Enforce at (not available adaptive, or assignment activities) -- Select from the following:

• Activity level: Timing is enforced at the activity level. Students must finish the activity within the time you specify. You can enter the following:
  • Time required to complete the activity: Enter the maximum time (in hours and minutes) that students have to complete the activity.
  • Display warning. Number of minutes remaining: Select to provide students with an alert that indicates the approaching time limit. Enter the number of minutes before the end of the activity that the alert should appear. For example, if you enter 2, the alert appears two minutes before the activity ends.
• Question level: Timing is enforced at the question level. Students must finish each question within the time you specified in the Time to answer field of the individual question preferences.
• None: Students can complete the activity without any time restriction.

Enable late submission -- Allow students to submit the activity after the due date. You can accept any late submissions. If manual grading is required, you will be able to grade the late submission and include the grade in the gradebook. If you enable auto-scoring, grades appear in the gradebook after you accept the last submission.

Enable Grace Period -- Allow instructors to define the grace period settings for late submissions and eliminates the need to manually accept each late submission. Enables the following options:

• Amount to Deduct: Enter the points (percentage) that should be deducted. Default is 0% and maximum of three whole numbers (for example 100) can be used.
• for Every: Enter the time period after which the deduction should be applied. Select Hour, Day, or Week (default is 1 day).
• Maximum Deduction: Enter the maximum points (percentage) that should be deducted from the score. Default is 100%.

For example, if the Amount to deduct is 10% and the time period selected is 2 days, the score for a submission that is 3 days late will be 10% less than the actual score the student obtained. If it is 4 days late, 20% will be deducted from the score.  

 

• This option is only available if you select Enable late submission.

• This option appears with the Timing options when you set course-level preferences on the Preferences > Activities page. It appears with the General options when you set activity-level preferences on the activity's Preferences page.

The Grading options in your course depend on the activity behavioral mode you selected and the default preferences set for the course on the Preferences > Activities and Preferences > Study Plan pages.

Include in Mastery Reports -- Include the activity in the mastery reports available on the Gradebook > Reports page.

Set activity to practice mode (not available for study plan pre-tests or post-tests (MyLab IT) or readiness check pre-tests or post-tests (MyLab Languages) -- Allow student to work on an activity as practice. When selected, you cannot view the student submission and the grade column in the gradebook displays the text "Practice." If the activity includes questions that require manual grading, such as file upload or essay questions, the activity cannot be graded because the instructor cannot view practice submissions. Question types that require manual grading should not be used for activities set to practice mode.

Select grade schema for the activityMyLab Languages only -- If grade schemas are enabled in your course, you can assign a grade schema for all instances of a given activity, all study plan or readiness check pre-tests, or all study plan or readiness check post-tests.

Record this score in the Gradebook (not available for adaptive activities or for readiness check or study plan pre-tests) -- Determine which score to show in the gradebook for an activity that allows multiple submissions. Choices are:

Set the threshold/mastery score to pass --
Specify a threshold score students must obtain to pass the activity or master the skill or standard. By default, the threshold is 70%. If this option is cleared, pass/fail icons do not appear in the gradebook or activity summary results page; instead the actual grade appears.

Display icon in student grades area based on threshold/mastery score to pass -- Enable to display the score result icon next to the threshold score on the Grades page and the View All Submissions page.

Provide a class average -- Track the class average for the activity in the Reports and View Submissions page of the gradebook and enable the following options:

The Feedback options depend on the activity behavioral mode you selected and the default preferences set for the course (on the Preferences > Activities and Preferences > Study Plan pages).

Display total possible points for each question (available only for adaptive and assignment activities) -- Let students see the assigned point value for each question.

Allow participant to view summary
(not available for LTI, adaptive or assignment activities) -- Let students view the feedback and study material for the question. You also must specify at which attempt—a value between 1 and 255—you want students to view the information.

Display correct answers after student submits activity (not available for assignment activities, or for readiness check or study plan post-tests) -- Let students view the correct question answers after they complete the activity. You also specify when to Show Correct Answer (except for adaptive activities):

Display/Show Feedback (not available for adaptive or assignment activities) -- Specify when to show question-level feedback to students (question authors have the option of entering feedback when they create the question). Options are:

• Always: Show feedback after each attempt.
• Never: Never show feedback.
• At attempt: Show feedback after the specified number of attempts. This option appears if you set Number of attempts to a number greater than 1. The number you specify here cannot exceed the total number of attempts allowed for the activity.

Display feedback and correct answers (not available for adaptive or assignment activities) -- Specify where to show the correct answers and question-level feedback on the activity results page. Options are:

• Next to responses: Students click a feedback icon next to their response to view the information.
• Below responses: The icon information appears as text below each question.
• Next to and below responses: The information appears in both locations.

Display/Show Need Help (not available for adaptive or assignment activities) -- Specify when to display the Need Help link to students. Options are:

The Messages page is available when you are setting course-level preferences. On this page you enter default messages students can view at the beginning and/or end of the activity. Any messages you enter appear on the activity Messages page when you create or edit individual activities.

Beginning of Activity -- Specify an instructor message which is displayed after the default message at the beginning of the activity. Instructors can edit this message.

End of Activity -- Specify an instructor message which is displayed after the default message at the end of the activity. Instructors can edit this message.

The Sections page is available when you are setting course-level preferences.

Shuffle order of sections for each student (not available for adaptive or assignment activities) -- Randomly shuffle the order in which activity sections are presented to each student.

Restart numbering in each section -- (not available for adaptive or assignment activities) Restart the numbering of the questions in each section at number one.

The Res. Toolbar page is available when you are setting course-level preferences.

Display Resource Toolbar (if enabled) -- Include the resource toolbar for students while they are taking the activity. This option enables the option , Hide Text Labels (only show icons) (only available at course level), which lets you display the tools available in the resource toolbar as icons and hide the text that describes each tool.

Enable Activity Tools -- Lets you view or create new activity tools for students. When you select this option, a Customize link appears.