ICT in het Onderwijs

How do I use collections?

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You can use the Library to navigate to the different collections that have been shared with you (you cannot create them yourself; collections are created by the Faculty coordinator). Collections can be used to organize your items. For example, you can create collections that contain items with a certain subject; items used in a specific course; items for a specific level, etc. Within a collection you can add, edit, delete, and share items as well as add labels. This is all done from the Collection homepage.

Collection homepage

Items are always created within a specific collection. All actions concerning the editing and ordening of your items are taken on the Collection homepage.

  • Use the navigation bar on the left to navigate to Library.
  • Click on the collection that contains the desired item. You will be navigated to the Items tab of the collection.

In the overview you will find an Item id for each item, when the item was last edited, what type of item it is, the score you can obtain for this item and the status. Use the buttons in the top navigation bar to:

  • Add items.
  • Delete items.
  • Add labels to an item.
  • Perform actions:
    • Import: It is possible to import items to the collection, for example from other collections or an Excel file.
    • Export: select the box in front of the item to select it for exportation. Then select Export, which you can find under Action. You will see a notification indicating the item is being downloaded, after which the download will appear at the bottom of the screen. The download will consist of a zip-file containing an Excel file.
    • Copy:  select the box in front of the item to copy it. Then click Copy, which you will find under Action. The copy will appear at the top of the list with items. 
    • Change status: The status will show whether the item can be used in assessments, or whether it is still in the draft stage and/or needs a review. In order to quickly change the status of an item you have to select the box in front of the item and then select the new status under Action > Change status.
    • Change item purpose: The item purpose determines whether you can use the question in formative tests, summative tests, or both. To quickly change the item purpose of an item you have to select the box in front of the item and then select the purpose under Action > Change item purpose (when you select None you will be able to use the item in both summative and formative tests).
  • Share the collection or give other users permission to use items from the collection. This option can only be performed by the faculty’s digital assessment coordinator and the author.
  • Alter the settings of the collection (click the three-dots icon to do so).

If you want to use an item in a test, you have to set the status to Live.

Filter, sort and search items

On the Collections homepage you will find multiple possibilities to filter and sort items, which allows you to find them more easily.

  1. Similarly to the Library homepage you can use the navigation bar on the left to filter items based on type and status.
  2. Use the search bar to search for items based on name, item-id, label, or key word.
  3. Click the filter icon next to Title to filter based on label. You can click one or multiple labels to filter on, and you have to click Filter once you have selected the desired labels. 
  4. Sort the items based on name by clicking Title.
  5. Sort the items based on item-id by clicking Item id.
  6. Sort the items based on what has been last edited/created first by clicking Modified.
  7. Click on the filter icon next to Learning objectives to filter on learning objectives. Select the relevant learning objectives and click on Filter.
  8. Click on the filter icon next to Taxonomies to filter on taxonomies. Select the relevant taxonomies and click on Filter.
  9. Sort the items based on high or low possible score by clicking Score.

Collection settings

  • Go to the Collection homepage and click the three-dot icon.
  • Click Collection settings.
  1. Change the title of the collection.
  2. Change the adjective of the collection that is used by Cirrus to generate item-id's.
  3. Click Save.

Statistics

For each item in a collection you will find statistics. These can be found by going to the Statistics tab (second tab) while on the Collection homepage. 

You will find an overview of the items in the collection, of which you will immediately see the question, item-id, and the type of question. Furthermore, you will find some additional statistics for each item:

  1. Click on the arrow to see when the items was last used and in which exams the item was used.
  2. Chance score: the chance score is the chance that students will answer the question correctly. Cirrus will display this score as a percentage of the maximum number of points a student can acquire for a question. For example: with a multiple choice question with four possibilities a student will have a 25% chance to answer the question correctly. If the maximum number of points would be one, the chance score would be 0,25. If the question would be worth 3 points, the chance score would be 0.75. The chance score is not available for fill in the blank items, numeric items, short answer items, essay items, and existing answer questions.
  3. PC: the pc-value displays the same as the P-value, but it also contains the chance score.
  4. P: the p-value shows whether the question is difficult or hard (meaning many students answer the question right or wrong). Cirrus calculates the p-value by taking the average score of all students and dividing it by the maximum score for that question.
  5. Answered: The amount of times the question has been answered.
  6. Given answers: shows how many times each answer option was chosen.
  7. Status : provides an indication about the difficulty of the item and whether that makes it a good item or not. The options are Ok and Warning:
    • Ok means that p = >0,3 en <0.7.
    • Warning means that p = <0,3 of >0,7.

You will only see the statistics once an item has been used in tests and after the tests have been submitted.

Statistics of items provide a better insight when reviewed on assessment level. See How do I use assessments for more information.

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