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The Test Bank

The Test Bank is an online resource that enables teachers to create tests using content from Essential Physics. You may access the Test Bank with a teacher account at education.pasco.com, or through the Teacher's Edition home screen by selecting Test Bank. The Test Bank allows you to create multiple versions of a test, with the same questions but different numbers (and, for infinite quantitative questions, different answers). You can save both your tests and your test templates online for future use. QTI-compliant tests can be exported from the Test Bank and imported into a learning management system (LMS).

Access the Test Bank

Follow these instructions to access the Test Bank for the first time:

  1. Navigate to the Test Bank, either by clicking the Test Bank icon on the home screen or by selecting Test Bank after entering your teacher access code at education.pasco.com.

  2. Enter your valid teacher email address in the field under Create Test Bank User Key, then click Create. An email containing Test Bank access instructions, including your Test Bank User Key, will be sent to your account.

    Note

    If you do not receive an email from PASCO within a few minutes of clicking Create, check your Spam or Junk Mail folder.

  3. Once you receive the email, copy your User Key to the clipboard. Save the email in a secure location.

  4. Return to the Test Bank.
  5. Paste your User Key into the field under Enter Test Bank User Key and select Enter.

To access the Test Bank on subsequent visits, you only need to enter your User Key into the appropriate field and click Enter. Your browser will usually offer to store your key as a cookie, so you will not need to manually re-enter it unless you log out. If you log out and cannot locate your User Key, enter your email address again and choose Resend to send a new email to the account.

Build a test using the Test Bank

To begin creating a new test, access the Test Bank as described above and select Essential Physics when prompted to select a textbook. From here, building a template and generating a set of tests involves three steps:

  1. Design, in which you select content from any chapter and automatically generate a test template
  2. Review, in which you edit your test template by swapping, adding, or deleting questions
  3. Build options, in which you generate multiple test versions, with numeric questions auto-generating new values in the question stem and the answer choices

Step 1: Design

  1. Fill out the fields for course and instructor information, including Course Name, Course Description, and Instructor.
  2. Questions are available in three difficulty levels, with 1 being the least difficult and 3 being the most difficult. Check the boxes for each of the difficulty levels you want to be available for questions in the template.
  3. In the list of chapters, click on the name of a chapter you want the test to focus on. This will reveal a list of all sections in that chapter, each with a line of text showing the number of available questions and a text box.
  4. For each section you wish to include, enter a value in the text box for the number of questions from that section you would like the test to contain.
  5. When you have repeated Steps 3 and 4 for all relevant chapters and sections, click Continue: Step 2 to move on.

Step 2: Review

  1. Make sure the course and instructor information is accurate.
  2. Type any necessary instructions for students into the Student Instructions field.

  3. Review the questions which have been imported into the test and make any desired changes using the buttons shown below. You can make any of the following adjustments to any question in the test:

    • Click the up or down arrow buttons next to a question to move that question towards the start or end of the test respectively.
    • Click the Swap button next to a question to replace that question with another random question from the same section.
    • Click the Easier or Harder buttons next to a question to replace that question with another question from the same section but with a lower or higher difficulty.
    • Click the Delete button next to a question to remove that question from the test.

    You can also add a question to the test by selecting the desired section from the dropdown menu directly below the Student Instructions field and clicking Add Question. The new question will always be added to the start of the test.

  4. Once you are fully satisfied with the questions, click Build Assessments to begin generating student tests, or click Save Changes to save your edits without generating assessments yet.

Step 3: Build options

Each test version you build is based on the test template created in Steps 1 and 2. This final step will create multiple versions of a test from the same template, with different values in the problems and their answers.

  1. Choose how many versions of the test you wish to generate. Enter this number in the Versions field.
  2. In the fields below the Versions field, enter a name for each test version, as shown below.
  3. Click Build Assessment to complete the test build and generate the specified number of test versions.

Retrieve and modify a template

Once you have created one or more test templates, you can view a list of your created templates by selecting My Templates from the Test Bank toolbar. From this screen, you can perform a variety of actions for each template by clicking the links to the right of that template's name, as shown outlined in red below.

  • Edit Template: Return to editing the template, as in Step 2.
  • Generate Tests: Generate new tests from the template, as in Step 3.
  • View Tests: View a list of tests you have already generated from the template, as well as various options for those tests.
  • Delete: Permanently delete the template.

Retrieve and export a test

Clicking View Tests for a specific template will open a list of all test versions generated from that template. From this screen, you can perform various actions for each test version by clicking the links to the right of the version's name, outlined in red below.

  • Edit Name: Change the name of the test.
  • Preview: View a preview of a printable version of the test.
  • Print: Print the test to paper to hand out to students, or generate a PDF version.
  • Solution Set: View a short or full answer key for the test.
  • QTI v2.1 or QTI v3.0: Perform a QTI export of the test so it can be imported to a learning management system, such as Canvas, Blackboard, or Schoology.
  • Delete: Permanently delete the test version.

Printable version

The Preview and Print options allow you to view a printable version of a test. In this format, certain key pieces of information will automatically be added to the test document alongside the questions. The instructor name and course name will be printed in the top left of the first page; the date of test creation and the test name will be printed in the top right; and the student instructions will be printed above the first question. (See below.)

Solution keys

The Test Bank creates two kinds of solution keys for each test, both of which can be viewed by clicking Solution Set from the list of test options. The first, the Answer Key, is a short key containing only the question numbers and correct answers, making it useful for grading. The other, labeled Full Solutions, contains fully worked out solutions for all the problems, using the specific numbers in the chosen version of the test.

You can print the currently displayed solution key at any time by clicking Print. The Full Solutions in particular are useful as a handout for students as you review the test solutions after completion.