Introduction

This manual describes how to use the QQ Assessment Solution web portal to plan, build, conduct and evaluate the assessments of your institution.

Use the manual as a reference. Locate the required task in the Contents or in section 1.5, and go directly to that section.

1.2 About QQ Assessment Solution

QQ Assessment Solution is a web-based assessment management system for universities and other educational institutions. It manages every stage of assessment in one system: setting up colleges, users and courses; writing and reviewing items; creating and conducting exams and assignments; compiling and publishing results; and analyzing performance through reports.

Admins and faculty use the web portal that this manual describes. Students take their exams in the QQ Assessment Application, which is available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Huawei devices and is described in a separate guide.

1.2.1 Key Capabilities

• Item writing and review: build an item bank, review items technically and scientifically, and align items with course learning outcomes (CLOs) and blueprints.
• Exam types and formats: Standard and Trial exams, and Observational Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) exams; Single Course and Open Exam formats; Summative and Formative assessment.
• Online and offline exam modes: conduct exams online, offline, or offline with transit, in English or Arabic.
• Exam security and proctoring: identity verification with face and ID card images, AI and human proctoring, live monitoring, chat with a proctor, and exam suspension when cheating is detected.
• Control during the exam: extend the exam duration, join or upload time, allow students to rejoin, and postpone a running exam.
• Results: grade answers, compile results, review and adjust results, and publish results to students.
• Reporting and analysis: analyze student responses, item performance, and achievement of course learning outcomes (CLOs) and program learning outcomes (PLOs).
• Surveys: collect and review feedback from students and staff.
• الإشعارات: inform students and staff about exams, schedules and results.
• Data sync: exchange data, such as users, courses and students, with other institutional systems.

1.3 Assessment Lifecycle

Work in QQ Assessment Solution follows a fixed lifecycle, from setting up the institution to analyzing the results. Complete the stages in order, because each stage depends on the previous stage. The following list shows each stage, the module used, and the role that performs it.

• 1. Set up the institution: colleges, logo, application settings, PLOs and NQF outcomes, session categories, item types, grading and other shared lists: Settings (Chapter 5). Who does it: System admin.
• 2. Create users and assign roles and course permissions: User Management (Chapter 4). Who does it: System admin.
• 3. Design the course: course information, CLOs, objectives, educational and assessment activities, assessment settings: Course Management (Chapter 6). Who does it: Course admin or course supervisor [TO CONFIRM: which roles can design a course?]
• 4. Publish the course and enroll participants: dates, academic term, sections, students and course users: Course Management (Chapter 6). Who does it: Course admin or course supervisor.
• 5. Build the item bank: write or import items, classify, submit and review them: Item Writing (Chapter 8), Item Import (Chapter 7). Who does it: Item writer, technical reviewer, scientific reviewer, course supervisor.
• 6. Create and publish exams and assignments: Exam Management (Chapter 9), Assignment Management (Chapter 10). Who does it: Exam admin or exam coordinator.
• 7. Conduct the exam: Exam Management (Chapter 9) and the QQ Assessment Application. Who does it: Students take the exam; proctors monitor it; exam admins extend, rejoin or postpone.
• 8. Grade and compile results: Exam Management (Chapter 9), Reports & Results (Chapter 12). Who does it: Item grader or faculty [TO CONFIRM: which role grades manually marked items?]
• 9. Publish results: Reports & Results (Chapter 12). Who does it: [TO CONFIRM: which role publishes results?]
• 10. Report and analyze: Reports & Results (Chapter 12), Dashboard (Chapter 3). Who does it: Faculty, course supervisors and admins.
• 11. Gather feedback: Survey Management (Chapter 11). Who does it: [TO CONFIRM: which role creates surveys?]

Three modules support every stage of the lifecycle:

• Dashboard: displays the status of exams, items and courses, and overall statistics.
• الإشعارات: informs students and staff of events, for example when an exam is published or results are released.
• Data Sync: keeps users, courses and students synchronized with other institutional systems.

1.4 Intended Audience

This manual is for staff who manage assessments in QQ Assessment Solution. It assumes that you can use a web browser. Each assessment term is explained on first use and in section 1.8.

• System admins manage users, roles, settings and data synchronization.
• Exam admins and exam coordinators create, schedule, conduct and publish exams.
• Faculty and course coordinators manage courses, assessments and results for their courses.
• Item writers and reviewers write and review items.

1.5 Find Your Task

Use the following list to locate the tasks for your role. Each task section contains a short description, a BEFORE YOU START box and numbered steps.

• All users: sign in, select the college and role, and use the screen layout (Chapter 2). For problems, see Chapter 15, Troubleshooting.
• System admin: manage users and roles (Chapter 4), and configure settings, academic years, session categories and exam rooms (Chapter 5).
• Course admin or course supervisor: create, design and publish a course, and assign students and users (Chapter 6); manage the item review (section 8.8).
• Item writer: write and submit items (Chapter 8), or import items from a file (Chapter 7).
• Technical or scientific reviewer: review the items assigned to you (section 8.8).
• Exam admin or exam coordinator: create, schedule and publish exams of every type (Chapter 9) and assignments (Chapter 10).
• Users who review performance: use the dashboards (Chapter 3).

1.5.1 How This Manual Is Organized

• Chapter 1, Introduction, describes the system and this manual.
• Chapter 2, Getting Started, describes how to sign in and use the screen layout.
• Chapters 3 to 14 each describe one module, in the order of a typical setup: Dashboard, إدارة المستخدمين, Settings, Course Management, Item Import, كتابة الأسئلة, إدارة الاختبار, Assignment Management, Survey Management, Reports & Results, Notifications and Data Sync.
• Chapter 15, Troubleshooting, lists common problems with their causes and solutions.
• Chapter 16, Getting Help, describes how to obtain support and report a problem.

1.6 Before You Begin

Before you use QQ Assessment Solution, make sure that you have:

• A QQ Assessment Solution user account with permissions for the modules that you use.
• The web address of your institution’s QQ Assessment Solution portal.
• A computer with the latest version of a supported web browser: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge أو Mozilla Firefox.
• A stable internet connection.

1.7 Document Conventions

This manual uses the following conventions:

• Bold text identifies screen elements: menus, buttons, fields, tabs and options.
• Italic text identifies on-screen messages, statuses and example values.
• BEFORE YOU START boxes list the role, permissions and setup required before a task.
• Numbered steps are actions to complete in order. Each step contains one action.
• The indented line under a step describes what the system displays after the step, or gives an optional action.
• Numbers in parentheses, such as (1), refer to the numbered arrows on the figure of the current screen. A reference such as (5 in Figure 2-3) refers to an arrow on an earlier figure.
• Important callouts highlight information that can affect exams, results or students.
• ملاحظة: callouts provide additional information or tips.
• "اختر" means click with the mouse or tap on a touch screen.
• Section references, such as section 2.5, are links to that section.

1.8 Key Terms

This manual uses the following terms. Each term has the same meaning throughout the manual.

• Admin: A user who sets up and manages the system or a module, for example an organization admin or a college admin.
• Ad-hoc exam: An exam that is not linked to a planned assessment activity of the course. It uses the course weightage that is not yet assigned to other assessments.
• أنشطة التقييم: A planned assessment event of a course, such as a quiz, a midterm or a final exam, with its own weightage. An exam can be linked to an assessment activity.
• نوع الاختبار: تقييمي (counts toward the course weightage) or تجريبي (does not count toward the course weightage; used for feedback during the course).
• Blueprint: The plan that defines what an exam must cover, such as the CLOs and item types, and the number of items for each. A blueprint is optional.
• CLO: Course learning outcome: what students must achieve in a course.
• مصمم المقرر: The sequence of steps in which you build and publish a course.
• Exam mode: How the exam connects to the internet while students take it: Online, Offline + Transit أو بدون انترنت (see section 9.4.1).
• Item: A single question, with its answer options, correct answer and settings. This manual uses item for every question.
• Item bank: The collection of reviewed items of a course from which exams are built.
• Item type: The format of an item, for example اختيار من متعدد أو صح/خطأ.
• NQF: National Qualifications Framework: the national framework of learning outcomes to which PLOs can be linked.
• OSCE: Observational Structured Clinical Examination: an observed practical or clinical exam divided into stations.
• PLO: Program learning outcome: what graduates of a program must achieve.
• Popup: A small window that opens on top of a screen, for example to confirm an action.
• Proctoring: Monitoring students during an exam through the camera, microphone and screen, by AI or by a human proctor who can chat with the students.
• Re-take exam: A new attempt at an exam that has already been conducted.
• Result compilation: The process that calculates the result of each student after an exam ends.
• Role: The set of tasks that a user can perform, for example Item Writer or Course Supervisor. A user can have several roles and works in one role at a time.
• أقسام الاختبار: A group of students in a course, for example a class group. An exam can also be divided into sections of items.
• Trial exam: A mock or practice exam that does not count toward the course weightage.
• Weightage: The share of the course total marks, as a percentage, that an activity or exam is worth.