Getting Started/Create activity/🌱Create new
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Add new test

Introduction

In a typical activity, you give your students different kinds of questions: multiple choice, identification, enumeration, essays, problem solving, code written on paper, or drawings. In GradeChum, each question is called an item, and the items of an activity are organized into tests (Test I, Test II, and so on).

When you add a new test, you write every item yourself and decide its answer key, its score and how strictly our system checks your students' answers. In this segment, we will explore how to build a test from scratch.

Steps

Note: Open the Create Activity window first: on your class's Activities tab, click Create activity > Create new, then name the activity and choose its type. See Create new.

To build a test from scratch, there are two ways to add items:

a. Single item option

  1. Under Add tests for this activity and add items per test., click Add test, then select Add new test. A Test I. tab appears.
  1. Under the test, click Add new item to see the item types.
  1. Then, select an item type for your item and fill it in. GradeChum supports 7 item types. Code on paper and Visuals are only offered on handwritten activities, so they do not appear when the activity is online:
a. Multiple Choice

For items with Multiple Choice as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question in the Question* box. Click into the box to show the formatting toolbar, where you can add headings, lists, code, a table, an image (JPEG or PNG) or a math equation.
  1. Type your options, and click Add option to add another. An item can have up to 5 options (A to E).
  1. Click the round button beside the letter of the correct option. It turns green once the option is set as the correct answer.
  1. If the item has more than one correct answer, turn on Has multiple answers at the bottom right of the item, then click the square button beside each correct option. The item's badge changes to Multiple Answers.
  1. For an item with multiple answers, choose a Scoring mode: All correct answers required gives the points only when every correct option is chosen, Any correct answers accepted gives them for any correct option, and Partial credit shares the points out across the correct options.

  1. If you chose Partial credit, set the Penalty per wrong answer. The penalty can be from 0 up to the item's score, and the info icon beside the score shows how much each correct answer is worth.

  2. Finally, set the item's score at the bottom left. A score can have decimals, must be greater than 0 and can be at most 100.

b. Identification

For items with Identification as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question for this item.

  2. Type at least one answer key under Answer Key. If the item has other acceptable answers, click Add answer key to add them.

  1. Select a Strictness level: for the item. Exact Spelling Match, the default, only accepts the exact spelling of an answer key, while Flexible focuses on effort and partial understanding.
  1. With Exact Spelling Match, tick Is case sensitive beside an answer key if the student's answer must also match its uppercase and lowercase letters.
  1. Finally, set a score for this item at the bottom left.
c. Enumeration

For items with Enumeration as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question for this item.

  2. Type the answers under List of correct answers. A new enumeration item starts with two, which is also the fewest it can have. Click Add answer key to add more, and drag an answer to reorder the list.

  1. Turn on Answers must be in order if your students have to give the answers in the same order as your list. Beside it, select a Strictness level:. With Exact Spelling Match, an Is case sensitive checkbox appears beside each answer.
  1. Finally, set Score per answer: and # of required answers: (from 1 up to All). The item's score is the score per answer times the number of required answers.
d. Essay

For items with Essay as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question for this item. The Rubrics section stays empty until the item has a question.

  2. Open the Checking type: dropdown and select Objective for essays with a clear factual or model answer, or Subjective for opinion-based or open-ended essays. With Objective, you can also type or upload the key idea the answer should contain in Expected key idea (optional):.

  1. Select a Grading level:, the set of score levels every rubric is written for. It starts on the Detailed preset, marked (default). You can also pick one of My custom levels, or click Add custom to make your own.
  1. To make your own level, click Add custom, describe how you grade in at least 6 words in Tell us how you grade, then click Create personalized grading. To make any level your default for this item type, click its star (Set as default).
  1. Click Generate rubrics and wait for our system to finish creating your rubrics. The button stays disabled until you choose a checking type.
  1. Review the rubrics. The table shows one score level at a time, so use Prev and Next to page through them. Click any box to edit it, type a rubric's Max Score, and use Actions to move or remove a rubric. Total score: adds up the max scores.
  1. To add a rubric, click Add new rubric, type its name, then choose Autogenerate with AI to have its descriptions written from the name, or Create my own to write them yourself.
  1. To change the checking type, the key idea or the grading level after generating, click Regenerate rubrics, make your changes, then click Regenerate rubrics in the modal. This replaces the current rubrics.
  1. For an Objective essay, click View AI-generated answer above the table to see the answer your rubrics are based on. Click Edit answer, make your changes and save them. GradeChum asks Generate again?. Click Generate rubrics to rebuild the rubrics from your answer.
e. Problem-solving (without visuals)

For items with Problem-solving as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question for this item.

  2. Open the Checking type: dropdown and select how the item is checked. Sequential step-by-step (flexible methods) allows any correct solution path. Sequential step-by-step (specific method) expects one solution path. Final Answer Only grades only the final answer.

  1. If you chose the specific method, type or upload the solution you expect in Expected solution method:. Generate rubrics stays disabled until you do.
  1. Select a Grading level:, then click Generate rubrics. Review and edit the rubrics the same way as for an essay (steps 6-8 of the Essay item type).
  1. Finally, click View AI-generated answer to see the answer your rubrics are based on. You can edit it with Edit answer, and GradeChum asks Generate again? before it rebuilds the rubrics.
f. Code on paper

For items with Code on paper (BETA) as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question for this item. Code on paper items are checked by how correct the algorithm is, so there is no checking type to choose.

  2. Select a Grading level:, then click Generate rubrics and wait for our system to finish creating your rubrics.

  1. Review and edit the rubrics the same way as for an essay (steps 6-8 of the Essay item type).

  2. Finally, click View AI-generated answer to see the code your rubrics are based on. You can edit it with Edit answer, and GradeChum asks Generate again? before it rebuilds the rubrics.

g. Visuals

For items with Visuals (BETA) as the item type:

  1. Fill out the question for this item. Visuals items are checked part by part, so there is no checking type to choose.

  2. Select a Grading level:, then click Generate rubrics and wait for our system to finish creating your rubrics.

  1. Finally, review and edit the rubrics the same way as for an essay (steps 6-8 of the Essay item type).
  1. To add another item, click Add new item below the last item and repeat step 3. Use the arrows on an item to move it up or down, or click Duplicate item or Delete item.
  1. Check the totals above your items. Activity items: and Activity score: count the whole activity, while Test items: and Test score: count the open test. Click Shuffle to put the test's items in a random order (it needs at least two items).
  1. To add another test, click Add test beside the tabs. Click a tab to open its test, drag a tab to reorder the tests, or click its x to delete one. A test with items asks Delete test? first. Click Delete to confirm.
  1. Once done, review your activity, then click Create activity.
  1. Finally, for a handwritten activity, GradeChum offers to make shuffled sets. Click Autogenerate set/s and choose how many to add under "How many additional shuffled sets do you want to create?" (see Create sets), or No thanks to skip. For an online activity, a Success modal shows. Click Finish.

Note: When you edit an older activity, Add new test first asks you to choose a test type: Shading for multiple-choice items (one per activity) or Answer Box for the other item types.

b. Item Group option

  1. Under Add tests for this activity and add items per test., click Add test, then select Add new test.

  2. Under the test, click Add new item, then select Item group.

  1. Fill in the main question of the group in the Main question* box, for example a passage or a diagram your students answer questions about.
  1. Under Sub-Questions, click Add sub-item and select an item type. A sub-item can be any item type except another item group.
  1. Fill in the sub-item the same way as a single item (step 3 of the Single item option). The group has no score of its own: the totals add up the sub-item scores.

  1. Add as many sub-items as you need with Add sub-item. An item group needs at least one sub-item before you can save the activity.

  2. To add another item group, repeat steps 2-6.

  3. Finally, review your activity, then click Create activity.

Set default points

New items start with 1 point for Multiple Choice, Identification and Enumeration, and 5 points for Essay, Problem-solving, Code on paper and Visuals. If you often use other scores, set your own defaults. They are saved to your account and apply in every class.

  1. In the Create Activity window, click Set default points at the top right of the Add tests for this activity and add items per test. step.
  1. In the Set Default Points modal, type the Default points for each Item type, or use the minus and plus buttons. Points go from 1 to 100 and can have up to 2 decimals.
  1. Finally, click Save defaults. GradeChum shows "Default points saved." and closes the modal.

Note: Default points apply only to items you add afterwards, and you can still change an item's score by hand. A field left empty shows "Enter a value between 1 and 100" and keeps Save defaults disabled. Items from an uploaded questionnaire or from AI keep the scores those tools give them.

Bonus and void items

A bonus item gives extra points without raising the activity's total score. A void item is a question you no longer want to count, for example one with a mistake, after your students have already answered it.

a. Set a bonus item

  1. On the item, click More item actions (the three dots at its top right).
  1. Tick Set as Bonus item. The item gets a Bonus badge, and its points move from Test score: and Activity score: to Bonus score:. Untick it to make it a regular item again.

b. Mark an item as void

Note: Mark as void only appears when you edit an activity that already has student results.

  1. On your class's Activities tab, click the three dots on the activity's card, then click Edit. Once an activity has results, you cannot add, move, duplicate or delete tests and items, or edit a question.
  1. On the item, click More item actions, then click Mark as void.
  1. The item is grayed out with "This item is now marked as void." It no longer counts toward your students' total or bonus scores, or item analysis. To count it again, click Restore item. To finish, click Save activity and regrade at the bottom of the window. The button reads that way once you have changed any items, and your students' answers are checked again.

And that's how you add a new test! Next, let's create sets for your activity.

Last updated September 21, 2026