Surpass 12.15 Pre-Release Webinar

In this Surpass Pre-Release webinar, Ben Brady and Tom Wardak demonstrate some of the new features coming to Surpass in the latest release, expected late August 2018.

Topics Covered

Further Enhancements to Task Management (2:25)

Continuing work to the recently introduced ‘Tasks’ screen in Surpass, we’ve now expanded the functionality available to Task Managers.

Task managers can now edit open tasks, to extend a deadline, change the users it is assigned to, or refresh an item list for tasks that have not yet started, for example. This ensures that task details stay up to date for users over the course of the task. Task managers will also be able to access overdue tasks, allowing final decisions on items to be made after the task expiry date, or the task deadline to be extended if necessary.

As well as enhancements for task managers, task assignees now also have further item information available to them during a review task, including item tags and enemy items, meaning reviewers have comprehensive information available to them to conduct a thorough and accurate review.

All of the functionality within this part of Surpass is designed to help you effectively manage your item authors and reviewers. Keep an eye out for further enhancements to the ‘Tasks’ screen in future releases of Surpass.

New features for multiple choice and multiple response questions (14:58)

When authoring multiple choice question types, you can now add rationale to each answer option, to indicate to reviewers why each answer option has been included. This information, visible within item authoring or when a test is exported to a Word document, will ensure your reviewers have all the information they need.
We’ve also introduced the ability to assign negative marks to answer options when using weighted marking. You may choose to award a candidate a negative score for choosing particular answer options, or to discourage guessing if the answer is not known.

Caliper tool (21:41)

Expand what you’re able to test in Surpass by asking candidates to make accurate measurements on-screen in Surpass. This versatile tool, available for tests in HTML delivery, allows candidates to accurately measure elements on-screen, using a variety of units of measurement. This fully keyboard accessible, easy to use tool means you can test skills that would not have previously been possible on-screen in Surpass, and creates a unique and interactive experience for candidates.

Survey sections (25:26)

Gather feedback from candidates without infringing on their test time by creating a new survey section type within your test. This new section types means that survey questions are timed independently from the rest of the test duration and do not affect the progress bar, giving candidates clarity over how much time they have to respond to questions which award them marks. This new section type also means that any HTML-compatible item type can be used as a survey item.

Bulk update tags

Ever find that you need to update all of the tag values currently associated to your items? Building on the existing bulk update functionality, which allows you to add or remove selected tags from your items, we’ve now added the ability to update tag values using a .csv file. Any data you upload from the spreadsheet will override existing tag values associated with the specified items, meaning it’s an efficient way to keep your item metadata up to date.

Share subject improvements

If you deal with a large number of centres all delivering tests from the same subject, we’ve now introduced an ‘all centres’ option when sharing your subject with delivery centres. This means that your subject will be available at all centres in Surpass, and any new centres you bring on board will automatically have the subject shared with them.