How to Grade Quizzes in Different Ways

With ProProfs Quiz Maker, you can grade your quizzes in three different ways:

Regular grading: Points are automatically given when a question is answered correctly.

Partial grading: Points are given when a question is partially answered correctly (some correct options are selected)

Custom grading: Points are given based on each answer option as selected and defined by the quiz author (custom point value for each selected option).

Also Learn: How to Configure Quiz Results Based on Score

The above three are the most common ways to grade quizzes. In addition to these, you can also make use of the following scoring methods:

1. Manual Grading - While most quiz question types are automatically graded by our quiz software such as multiple-choice questions, instructors can also manually grade essay questions and other open response questions.
2. Negative Marking - You can use negative marking to penalize wrong answers of learners and discourage them from randomly guessing the answers, during online tests.
3. Bonus Points - You can assign your learners' bonus points in their final reports based on different criteria such as completing their assessments in time, extra credits for attempting certain questions, etc. 

Here's how you can select a grading method for your quiz:

Step 1. Select a quiz and click "Settings."

Step 2. Under the "General" tab locate scoring, select "Assign points to each question" and click "Manage Point Assignment."

Step 3. Select a 'Grading Type' from the options. You can also enable negative marking, and assign tags to each question.

Let's get to know the different Grading methods in detail: 

1) Regular Grading

Regular grading is the default & most commonly used grading is the default & most commonly used grading. In this case, points are given only when a question is answered correctly. There are no points given unless all correct options are selected. For example, in the question below, if learners select options A, B, C - they get 0 points. Again, if learners select only option A, then they get 0 points. Learners only get points when the question is answered correctly by selecting both A & B and not selecting C & D. 

What color is the sky?
A) Blue (correct)
B) White(correct)
C) Pink
D) Beige

To apply Regular Grading to your quiz, select "Regular Grading" in Step 3, and click "Save."

2) Partial Grading

Like in the example above, certain quizzes consist of two similar answers out of which one is the correct answer but the second option is also not altogether wrong. Partial grading is one of the grading processes, with which you can award points to learners for selecting more than one correct answer or for getting the answer partially correct. In the above example, if learners select only option A and B, then they are considered to have answered the question partially correct and will be given 50% of the total points assigned to the question. 

Partial grading can be used when you create matching or checkbox question types. In such cases, if you have selected partial grading during point assignment, your learners will then be automatically rewarded certain points for choosing an answer, which is partially correct.  Partial grading does not allow to manually assign points to each option rather it automatically assigns a fraction of points to each option from the total. 

Let's look at an example:

Which of the following is located in America?

a)     Pyramids

b)     Statue of Liberty

c)     Washington, D.C

d)     Eiffel Tower

Out of the four options, 'b' & 'c' are correct, and you have allocated a total of 4 points to this question. In partial grading, the total points assigned to each question get distributed equally amongst all options. In this case, each option carries 1 point which is awarded if the quiz taker's answer to that option (selecting it or leaving it unselected) is correct. 

Here's what happens:

If users select 'b' and partial grading is disabled - they get 0 points as they did not get the answers entirely correct.

If users select 'b' and partial grading is enabled - they get 3 out of 4 points as they made only one mistake (not checking option c). 

If users select 'a' as well as 'b' and partial grading is disabled - they get 0 points as they did not get the answers entirely correct.

If users select 'a' as well as 'b' and partial grading is enabled - they get 2 out of 4 points as they made two mistakes (not checking option c and checking option a). 

Question Types That Support Partial Grading

The following question types support partial grading. These allow users to select more than one answer option:

Matching -  A matching question type is where learners select the correct answers from the drop-down menu to match two options based on associations and relationships. 

Fill in the blanks -  Learners type in the answers into blank spaces (text boxes). The answers are automatically compared with your choice of correct answers.

Checkbox - Learners select one or more answers from a list of options.

To apply Partial Grading to your quiz, select "Partial Grading" in Step 3 and click "Save."

3) Custom Grading

Unlike partial grading, where learners are automatically awarded points for choosing more than one correct answer, with custom grading you can manually add specific points to the answer options in your quiz. It makes the grading of your quiz rigorous and detailed. In addition to this, you also have full control over the grading process, as you can assign unique points to each answer option, unlike partial grading where the points are equally divided among the answers when a learner selects two or more answers. Custom Grading supports Checkbox type, Dropdown, and multiple-choice questions; you can assign points manually to each option in these question types.

To apply Custom Grading to your quiz, select "Custom Grading" in Step 3, and click "Save."

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How Does Automatic Grading Work?