Ans
Ans is Leiden University's digital testing platform. It allows you to make digital exams using a variety of questions for summative and formative assessment.
Ans has a lot of different features. Some of the most important are:
- Easy interface
- Different question types (such as multiple choice, drag and drop, hotspots, open questions)
- Re-use questions by making a question bank
- Simultaneous grading
- Digital reviewing of written exams
Digital exams in Ans take place at the University Sports Centre (USC). Exams are made on secured Chromebooks. SEEDS makes sure that there is on-site technical support at the USC during the tests. Technical Support Staff can create new passwords, make adjustments to the timeslots, or groups, or help solve other technical issues.
Do you think about using Ans in a Bring You Own Device (BYOD) setting? Please contact SEEDS for advice.
Ans Support and videos
There are two places to get information about Ans:
Screensteps (Dutch only, for now): articles about topics that apply to Leiden University.
Ans Support Center: articles about the technical possibilities in Ans. This information is general. It is possible that some options and situations do not apply to Leiden University.
On Ans' own YouTube channel, you find helpful video's on different subjects.
These four videos give a short introduction to Ans for new users:
Ans preparation for the new semester
Start the new semester fully prepared with a new, or updated exam. Below you find the steps you need to take to prepare your exam in Ans.
What you should know
As soon as a course has been scheduled in uSis, a course is created in Ans.
The 'Facultair Functioneel Beheer' team provides the a list of courses and the assigned teachers. The courses are scheduled in TermTime. SEEDS will add the teachers (and coordinators) to Ans, based on an export from TermTime.
If you miss a course in Ans, it is likely that you haven't been added to the page yet. Please contact SEEDS to request access.
Student registrations for the courses open in mid-July. The moment a student is registered in uSis, the student is enrolled in the Ans course and in the Brightspace course.
Note: Even though students are enrolled in the Ans-course, that does not mean that they are automatically registered for the exam. Registration for a test is mandatory. Only grades of registered students will be proccessed by the student administration.
What you should do
In Ans you can create digital tests, but also create written assignments that you can print and scan. The grading is always done in Ans itself.
Bubble sheet exam
If your exam only consists of multiple choice questions, you can use the bubble sheet option in Ans to grade digitally. Students use a form to color in the answers of their choice.
More information
- What is a bubble sheet assignment?
- Create a bubble sheet assignment
- Print or scan a bubble sheet assignment
Written exam (paper to scan)
This option allows you to print the exam, let the students take the exams on paper and afterwards grade them exam digitally.
More information
Digital test
A digital test allows students to take a test digitally on location (or remotely). Ans offers a variety of questions types, option and integrations.
More information
Learning objectives / Test matrix
Before you upload anything to Ans, make sure your exam questions are aligned to the learning objectives of your course. The test matrix is always the framework from which you create your exam questions!
There are two ways to set-up exams in Ans:
Directly in the course
Create an assignment and add the questions directly. This is convenient if you transfer an exam from paper to Ans.
Question bank
After you created the questions in a question bank, you can build an assignment in Ans.
If you want to make use of a question bank, make sure to check if your course already has one. If not, please request a question bank via SEEDS.
More information
At the same time when you set-up questions in Ans, you need to set-up the grading of the questions.
Four golden rules on grading
1. Every question type comes with a consequence in grading
| Question type | Grading |
| Open question | Model answer and grading criteria/rubrics |
| Closed question | Guess score |
2. Grade positively
| Question type | Grading |
| Open question | Start at 0, grading until max. points |
| Closed question | Do not use multiple answers: automatic scoring means negative points |
3. Let the question speak for itself
Do not give external instructions in the question, do not use 'all of the above' as answer possibility.
4. Have your exam checked by a colleague (four-eye principle)
- Is it aligned to the learning objectives / test matrix?
- Are the questions set up correctly?
Tip: check the exams of your colleagues. Together we can improve the quality of exams enormously!
More information
- On this page you find how question types are graded in Ans: Add a grading scheme to your questions
- Questions on the set-up of questions and grading scheme in Ans? Please contact SEEDS.
Students need to register for each test. Once you have the list of registered students, you can add them in Ans to a group. This is the official grades list (cijferlijst) you receive from the Science Student Administration.
Education Office
The Education Office coordinates the information on special facilities, such as extra time. When there are students who require extra time, you need to add a group for the regular students, and a group for the extra timers.
Once the group is created, you can add them to a timeslot. A timeslot contains the date and time of the test. Please note: always choose a group when creating a timeslot.
If your test takes place at the USC, you need to use the 'Restrict Assignment Access' option.
If your test does not take place at the USC, or if you use a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) setting, please contact SEEDS.
Add a description before the test in which you write the following:
Grade calculation
The default grade calculation in Ans is 10 * scored points / total points.
Second examiner
According to the four-eye principle, a second examiner should check the exam questions and grading scheme.
Optional: resources
The use of a calculator, notes, etc.