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- What if you could assess
all incoming student's understanding
of theory concepts without
manually grading a single exam?
And, what if every student
starting a music degree,
had an opportunity to learn, practice,
and review fundamental music theory
before ever setting foot in
a collegiate theory class?
With uTheory this, and so
much more, is possible.
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uTheory lets you create online
music theory placement tests
that provide immediate feedback,
and practice tailored to
the needs of each student.
You can also configure
settings such as content,
passing requirements, test repetitions,
and customize instructions.
uTheory works on smartphones, tablets,
and computers through any web browser.
No software download required.
Before we dive into how to create a test
for placement purposes,
let's take a look at
what the students will see on their end.
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Once a test is complete,
students will see whether
they passed the exam,
and on which sections they need practice.
The criteria for passing,
number of retakes allowed,
and the score that will be
submitted are all customizable
under the test settings.
Students get immediate
feedback on their performance,
and direct access to lessons and practice,
to improve their skills
before retaking the test.
Here are examples of the
review and practice process,
or what we like to call pre-mediation.
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Once the student shows improvement,
based on their skills practice score,
they will be able to retake the test.
You'll never worry about a
student memorizing the test,
as advanced question generation features
provide a new test each
time a student takes it,
with minimal repetition.
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When you first log in to uTheory,
you'll see your dashboard.
To create a test, we need
to go to the Teach tab,
at the top of the page.
If you have created classes,
you will see these on this page.
At the top again, select, Tests.
From here you can edit an existing test,
or create a new one by
clicking the green plus sign.
Once selected, you'll be
prompted to enter a test name.
Click the blue check when finished,
to begin editing your test.
These are the test settings.
The test content is
completely configurable.
To edit the types of questions,
go to Sections and Questions.
You'll see a list that shows the sections
and types of questions.
To remove an entire section from the test,
uncheck the section checkmark.
To remove just a certain
group of questions,
uncheck the smaller
box, next to the group.
You can change the number of
questions in each section,
and edit the amount of
time allowed per section.
Additionally, you have the option
to modify time requirements
for individual students
as accommodations require,
for accessibility.
You can choose to have the
test be visible to students
as a tab in their menu, by
checking, Show Test in Menu As,
and assigning a name.
If you would like students to
be taken directly to the test,
instead of their uTheory
dashboard, when they log in,
You can select, Use Test as Homepage.
The passing requirements
can also be modified.
You can set a minimum percent
average for the complete test,
require students to pass each section
with a minimum percentage, or both.
You decide whether the most recent,
or highest scoring test
attempt will be counted.
You can control how many times
a student can take a test.
Placement tests rewrite themselves
each time they are taken.
So you can feel confident that
a student will be presented
with different questions,
and won't wind up memorizing the test.
To allow students to
have an infinite number
of test repetitions, enter -1 in the box.
If you require students
to take placement tests
in a proctored environment,
such as in a testing center,
then you can require a password.
Students will not be able to
take the test unless they,
or a test center staff person,
enters the correct password for the test.
You can use the existing
test instructions,
or edit if necessary.
As well as writing and
making basic style changes,
you can use variable place holders
to merge information
into the instructions.
These placeholders will
automatically convert
to the appropriate text,
such as the amount of time,
or number of questions,
in the students view.
To see what the students
will see, select Preview.
Notice that the variables
have added the total time,
number of questions, attempts allowed,
and scoring requirements
from the test settings.
If requested, we can enable
multi-teacher features
that will allow more than one instructor
to have access to the test.
To give other instructors
access to the test,
go to Choose Teachers.
Teachers can view results,
and edit test settings,
and teachers assistants
can view results only.
To see an example of your test,
from the students perspective,
you can try out the test by
clicking the Preview link.
Once you've set it up, and
tried out your placement test,
it's time to let students start taking it.
You'll need a group license,
or testing only license
to share your test with students.
If you don't have one,
a link to purchase one will be shown here.
There are two ways to
share a test with students.
If you are administering a test
to students who are not part
of a uTheory class, for instance,
giving a placement test,
the best way to give students access
to a test is with the Test Invite link.
To copy the invite link, click here.
The link can now be pasted into an email,
as an announcement in your
learning management system,
or via your preferred
written communication
with your students.
When students follow the link,
they will be prompted to
create an account or log in,
and if set up to do so, will
be taken directly to the test.
If you are sharing a test
with students who are part
of a uTheory class you teach,
the easiest way to give them access,
is by connecting the test
to the uTheory class.
To do this, go to your Class
Settings, Connect Tests,
and select the test from the list.
You can connect a test to as
many classes as you would like.
The test will now appear as a
tab on the students dashboard.
As soon as students
complete a placement test,
you'll be able to view their results.
For detailed individual results,
select a student's name
from the left column.
Now you can view a
student's scores by section,
or expand to see how each
question was answered.
Here, I can see that this
student had difficulty
with minor scales.
To download the test
results as a spreadsheet,
click the green Save button.
Teachers and students alike
find uTheory engaging,
adaptive, motivating, and accurate.
Beyond placement testing,
uTheory offers hundreds
of video lessons, and
individualized practice exercises,
with a huge variety of activities
to support all learning modalities.
uTheory connects concepts to sound,
and intrinsically motivates
for progress towards mastery.
uTheory has helped thousands of students
around the world learn the
fundamentals of music theory,
rhythm, and ear training.
And everything uTheory offers
is driven by our mission,
to make music theory learning, easy.
