How does an initial diagnostic work?

How does an initial diagnostic work?

There are two types of initial diagnostics: 
  1. Initial diagnostics for the entire course
  2. Initial diagnostics for a unit
What is the purpose of an initial diagnostic?

An initial diagnostic is used to measure student knowledge about the concepts within a learning path or unit before a student actually begins working through the learning path or unit. 

How is the question pool for an initial diagnostic set-up?

All concepts in a course/unit are included in an initial diagnostic, with the exception of informational concepts. The number of questions per concept used for this diagnostic, as well as the question type and Bloom's Taxonomy level used, can be specified in the settings for each unit (for a unit diagnostic) or when setting up the learning path (for a course diagnostic). The system will pull questions from each concept that meets those requirements to form the pool for the diagnostic. For example, if the setting for the diagnostic is four self-check questions with a Bloom's level one, then four self-check questions with a Bloom's level one will be pulled from each concept in that unit/course to create the pool. 

How does mastery work for an initial diagnostic?

The student will answer each question in turn until all diagnostic questions are completed.  If a student meets or exceeds the mastery percentage for a concept during the initial diagnostic, then that concept is marked as "mastered" and they will not have to complete the learning workflow for that concept. Otherwise, if a student does not exceed the mastery percentage for a concept, then they will need to complete the learning workflow for that concept. 

How does grading work for an initial diagnostic?
Performance on the initial diagnostic does not count towards the grade for a concept (if grading is being done at the concept level) or unit (if grading is being done at the unit level) unless that concept/unit was mastered during the initial diagnostic. In that latter case, a grade will be given for that concept/unit based on the diagnostic performance.


To learn how to adjust the settings of a learning path in order to add/adjust an initial diagnostic, click here.

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