How to use the Tutor workspace

1. Sign in, profile and assigned modules

1. Choose Tutor on the welcome page and sign in with your email and password.
2. Open your profile image and choose Edit profile to update your name, institution, phone, biography or picture.
3. Only modules assigned to your tutor account by an administrator appear in the quiz and lesson builders. If a module is missing, ask the administrator to assign it rather than creating a different spelling.
4. Use the same module code consistently, for example SMIB032. Learners use that code to find quizzes and lessons.

2. What is available in the Tutor workspace?

3. Create an ordinary quiz

Generate an editable quiz

1. Choose an assigned module and optionally enter the quiz title.
2. Describe the topic or learning outcomes, then choose the number, difficulty and question types.
3. Optionally paste lecture notes under constrain questions to source notes so questions stay within that material.
4. Select Generate questions. Review every generated question and answer before saving or publishing.

Build questions manually

1. Select New quiz, enter a clear title and choose an assigned module.
2. Leave Make this a Fun Quiz switched off.
3. Choose Add question. Select Multiple choice, Short answer or Long answer, then set marks.
4. For MCQ, add at least two options and select the correct radio button. Options are randomized for learners while remaining linked to the correct answer.
5. For Short answer, enter a marking key of no more than two words. Matching is case-insensitive and tolerates small spelling differences and reversed two-word order.
6. For Long answer, do not enter a fixed answer. The response waits for manual tutor marking.
7. Add an optional image. Use the math editor for roots, fractions, powers, subscripts, sums and integrals.
8. Move, duplicate or delete questions as needed. Save a draft, preview the learner view and then publish.

4. Create a Fun Quiz

A Fun Quiz presents one question at a time, saves progress, randomizes MCQ options and gives spoken feedback. Correct responses receive varying congratulatory messages and alternating voices. After two incorrect attempts, the learner may continue, retry or view the answer and explanation.

1. Start a new quiz and switch on Make this a Fun Quiz.
2. Choose a level: Starter, Explorer, Challenger, Expert or Genius.
3. Use Multiple choice or Short answer. Long-answer questions are not supported in Fun Quizzes.
4. For every question, add the correct answer, a friendly explanation, another similar question and its correct answer. MCQ similar questions also require their own options.
5. Use a short reading page before selected questions when learners need a scenario, paragraph or diagram first. Reading pages are currently added through JSON.
6. Preview, check every explanation and publish. Learners can pause and continue later.

Optional reading page

Add reading_page to the question that should follow the reading. It appears as a separate “Read first” screen.

"reading_page": {
  "title": "Scenario: chromatin remodelling",
  "text": "A remodeler uses ATP to expose a hidden promoter...",
  "image": "chromatin.png"
}

5. How CSV and Excel files should look

Use the first worksheet in an .xlsx file or save a UTF-8 .csv. The first non-empty row must contain headings. Files can be up to 5 MB and contain up to 500 questions.

CSV example

type,question,option_a,option_b,option_c,option_d,correct_answer,marks,image_url
mcq,Which structure contains DNA?,Nucleus,Ribosome,Membrane,Cytoplasm,A,1,
short,What molecule carries genetic information?,,,,,DNA,2,
long,Explain semiconservative replication.,,,,,,10,

Select the spreadsheet, choose Import into builder, correct any row errors, review the imported questions, add images or Fun Quiz fields, and publish.

6. How quiz JSON should look

Open Advanced options: import the original JSON format. Choose the assigned module separately; the module code is not taken from the JSON. Then select the JSON and any referenced image files.

Ordinary quiz JSON

{
  "title": "Cell Biology Revision",
  "is_fun": false,
  "questions": [
    {
      "type": "mcq",
      "question": "Which organelle produces most ATP?",
      "options": ["Mitochondrion", "Ribosome", "Lysosome"],
      "answer": "Mitochondrion",
      "marks": 1,
      "image": "mitochondrion.png"
    },
    {"type": "short", "question": "Genetic material?", "answer": "DNA", "marks": 2},
    {"type": "long", "question": "Explain membrane transport.", "marks": 10}
  ]
}

Fun Quiz JSON

{
  "title": "Fun Quiz: Cell Challenge",
  "is_fun": true,
  "fun_level": "challenger",
  "questions": [
    {
      "type": "mcq",
      "question": "Where are chromosomes stored?",
      "options": ["Nucleus", "Golgi apparatus", "Cell membrane"],
      "answer": "Nucleus",
      "marks": 1,
      "explanation": "Eukaryotic chromosomes are housed in the nucleus.",
      "similar_question": "Where does ATP production mainly occur?",
      "similar_options": ["Mitochondrion", "Nucleus", "Lysosome"],
      "similar_correct_answer": "Mitochondrion"
    }
  ]
}

JSON rules

• Use double quotes and valid JSON—no trailing commas or comments.
• fun_level must be starter, explorer, challenger, expert or genius.
• Fun Quiz questions must include explanation, similar_question and similar_correct_answer. Similar MCQs also need similar_options.
• The MCQ answer must exactly match one option. The app may shuffle the display order safely.
• Question images use image. Use a direct URL, attach a file with the identical filename, or reference an image shipped in the app’s image library.
• Short-answer keys, including similar keys, contain no more than two words.

7. Create and manage video lessons

1. Open Lessons and choose an assigned module.
2. Create a lesson JSON containing the title, description and comprehension questions.
3. Select that JSON, a browser-friendly video (MP4 or WebM is safest), and any question images referenced by filename. The current video upload limit is 80 MB.
4. Upload the lesson. MCQ and short answers are auto-marked; long answers require tutor marking. Learners find the lesson under the selected module code.
5. Review private learner answers separately from public lesson comments. Tutor comments are visibly identified.

Lesson JSON

{
  "title": "Introduction to Mitosis",
  "description": "Watch the lesson, then answer the questions.",
  "questions": [
    {"type": "mcq", "question": "When are chromosomes duplicated?", "options": ["S phase", "G1", "M phase"], "answer": "S phase", "marks": 1},
    {"type": "long", "question": "Explain chromosome separation.", "marks": 6}
  ]
}

8. Review submissions and mark answers

1. Choose a published quiz and select See students who took this quiz.
2. Filter by learner or marking status. MCQ and short answers already contain automatic marks.
3. Open a submission. Award marks to long answers or override an automatic mark when justified.
4. Select Save marks. Fully marked work becomes a final result for the learner.
5. Download one learner’s script or all scripts as PDF. The PDF includes questions, images, responses, expected answers, marks and totals.

9. Live classroom

• Create or join a classroom using the room code and share it with learners.
• Choose microphone, camera and screen-sharing controls as required.
• When recording, the browser lets you select the entire screen, a window or a tab. Only the source you approve is recorded.
• Recordings download to the tutor’s device when stopped; the app does not keep a transcript.
• Use a stable connection and test audio before learners join.

10. Learners, messages and community

The learner roster shows people enrolled in your assigned modules. Private messages are intended for individual academic support and remain separate from public lesson comments and Community discussions. Use Community for group conversation; use direct messages for a learner-specific issue. Never publish private marks or personal information in a public post.

11. PDF and document tools

• Preview, merge, reorder or remove PDF pages before building the result.
• Split PDFs into page groups.
• Convert between PDF, pictures, Word and PowerPoint formats.
• Recognise text from pictures or scanned PDFs. OCR runs page-by-page in the browser to protect server memory and privacy.
• Preview results before selecting Download. Office and ZIP files show a result summary because browsers cannot render them directly.

12. Publishing checklist

• Correct module selected
• Clear title and instructions
• Every MCQ has one correct option
• Short keys use no more than two words
• Marks are positive and total is sensible
• Images are readable and relevant
• Math displays correctly in Preview
• Fun explanations are complete
• Similar questions test the same concept
• Reading scenarios are concise
• Long questions have clear marking expectations
• Learner view has been previewed

Design quizzes with images and “Read first” scenarios

Use this pattern when a learner must study a case, experiment or source before answering, and then use a graph, structure or diagram with the question itself.

Complete Fun Quiz example

{
  "title": "Fun Quiz: Photosynthesis Investigation",
  "is_fun": true,
  "fun_level": "challenger",
  "questions": [
    {
      "type": "mcq",
      "reading_page": {
        "title": "Scenario: investigating photosynthesis",
        "text": "A learner moves a lamp closer to an aquatic plant and counts the oxygen bubbles released each minute. Temperature and carbon dioxide concentration are kept constant.",
        "image": "photosynthesis_scenario.png"
      },
      "question": "Which variable is deliberately changed?",
      "image": "lamp_distance_graph.png",
      "options": [
        "Light intensity",
        "Temperature",
        "Carbon dioxide concentration",
        "Plant species"
      ],
      "answer": "Light intensity",
      "marks": 1,
      "explanation": "Moving the lamp changes light intensity while the stated factors are controlled.",
      "similar_question": "Which variable is measured by counting bubbles per minute?",
      "similar_options": [
        "Rate of photosynthesis",
        "Light intensity",
        "Water temperature",
        "Distance from the lamp"
      ],
      "similar_correct_answer": "Rate of photosynthesis"
    }
  ]
}

What learners see

Keep the files together

photosynthesis_quiz_files/
  photosynthesis_quiz.json
  photosynthesis_scenario.png
  lamp_distance_graph.png

1. Save the JSON as a UTF-8 .json file and keep the scenario concise.
2. Make every filename in the JSON match the local image exactly, including capital letters, spaces and the .png/.jpg extension.
3. In the Quiz builder, open Advanced options: import the original JSON format and choose an assigned module.
4. Select the JSON. Under Question images referenced by the JSON, select every image named in image or reading_page.image.
5. Choose Import and publish JSON, then preview the reading screen, the question image and the answer feedback.

Answer rules for Fun Quizzes

• The primary answer must exactly match one primary option.
• Every similar MCQ needs similar_options and similar_correct_answer; that answer must exactly match one similar option.
• When a learner opens a similar question and selects View correct answer, BioscientistApp shows the similar question and its answer—not the original answer.
• Use double quotes, no comments and no trailing commas.