Integrating Assessments in the Academy

Layer5 Cloud Academy implements Learning Paths, Challenges, and Certifications to enrich the learner experience. We support multi-level assessments to guide and evaluate progress. The content structure is hierarchical and modular, enabling scalable learning design.

Think of it as a botanical garden:

• Learning Path = the comprehensive plant collection
  • Courses = themed sections within the garden
    • Modules = individual plant exhibits or plots
• Challenges = the garden competition - focused skill challenges
• Certifications = master gardener diploma - expertise validation

Our assessment strategy is like conducting growth check-ins throughout the garden. As a content developer, you have the flexibility to place assessments anywhere – after a single activity, at the end of a module, or as a final course assessment

Why assessments matter: 🔗

In Layer5 Academy, assessments are more than just tests; they are integral checkpoints in the learning journey. They provide a structured way to validate understanding and build confidence, serving as a bridge that ensures a learner has mastered key concepts before advancing.

Well-designed assessments are crucial because they:

• Reinforce Knowledge: Help lock in new information and improve long-term retention.
• Enable Self-Checks: Allow learners to accurately gauge their own understanding and confirm they are ready to move on to more complex topics.
• Provide Instant Feedback: Offer an immediate opportunity to learn from mistakes, understand why an answer was incorrect, and solidify the correct concepts.

Key Rules 🔗

1. Each Level Can Have Assessments 🔗

Inside Layer5 Cloud Academy, to avoid confusion and clearly distinguish between assessment types at each level, we use specific naming conventions:

• Firsr Level (Root Level): Exam – assesses learning outcomes at root level
  • Second Level: Test – measures understanding within a course
    • Third Level: Quiz – short assessments tied to specific modules

Layer5 Cloud Academy
├── Learning Path                               → 🎯 Exam
│      ├── Course 1 (Rose Garden)               → 🎯 Test
│      │    ├── Module A (Rose Bed 1)           → 🎯 Quiz
│      │    │   └── [quiz.md]
│      │    ├── Module B (Rose Bed 2)           → 🎯 Quiz
│      │    │   └── [quiz.md]
│      │    └── [test.md]
│      ├── Course 2  
│      │    ├── Module A
│      │    │   └── [quiz.md]
│      │    ├── Module B
│      │    │   └── [quiz.md]
│      │    └── [test.md]
│      └── [exam.md]
├── Challenge                                  → 🎯 Exam
│      └── [exam.md]
└── Certification                              → 🎯 Exam
       └── [exam.md]

2. Assessment Quantity Per Level 🔗

Each mandatory section must contain at least one assessment.

Take Learning Path as an example:

• Learning Path Level: At leat one exam (exam.md)
• Course Level: At leat one test (test.md)
• Module Level: At leat one quiz (quiz.md)

3. Unified Assessment Structure 🔗

All assessment files follow the same format regardless of which level they’re placed in. Whether it’s a module quiz or learning path exam, the structure stays consistent.

4. Assessment Requirements and Prerequisites 🔗

By default, all assessments are required. This means learners must pass each assessment to unlock the next level.

Take Learning Path as an example:

• Pass all Module quizzes → Unlock Course test
• Pass all Course tests → Unlock Learning Path exam

Making assessments optional:

You can make any assessment optional by adding this to its frontmatter:

is_optional: true

This means the Optional sections are excluded from prerequisite checks.

What this means:

• Optional assessments don’t block progress.
• Learners can skip them and still advance.
• Example: If all modules in a course are optional, learners can go straight to the course test.

Assessment File Structure 🔗

Each assessment file must contain the following YAML frontmatter:

---
title: "Assessment Example"
id: "assessment-id"                 
passing_percentage: 70               
type: "test"
layout: "test"
is_optional: true                 
final: false                     
questions:                     
  - id: "q1"                       
    text: "Your question text here" 
    type: "single-answer"                     
    marks: 2                        
    options:                       
      - id: "a"
        text: "Option A text"
      - id: "b" 
        text: "Option B text"
        is_correct: true
---

Assessment Frontmatter Fields 🔗

Supported Assessment Types 🔗

Layer5 Academy supports three question formats:

Single Choice Questions

• Single correct answer
• True/False questions

---
questions:
  - id: "question1"
    text: "Test single choice question"
    type: "single-answer"             # choose the type
    marks: 1
    options:
      - id: "a"
        text: "Option A"
        is_correct: true    # correct option
      - id: "b"
        text: "Option B"

    # True/False:
  - id: "question2"
    text: "This is a true/false question"
    type: "single-answer"            # choose the type
    marks: 1
    options:
      - id: "true"
        text: "True"
        is_correct: true    # correct option
      - id: "false"
        text: "False"
---

Multiple Choice Questions

• Multiple correct answers

---
questions:
  - id: "question3"
    text: "Test multiple choice question"
    type: "multiple-answers"             # choose the type
    marks: 2
    options:
      - id: "a"
        text: "Option A"
        is_correct: true    # correct option
      - id: "b"
        text: "Option B"
      - id: "c"
        text: "Option C"
        is_correct: true    # correct option
---

Short Answer Questions

• Fill-in-the-blank responses
• Direct text input

---
questions:
  - id: "question4"
    text: "In Kubernetes, ___ is the default namespace."
    type: "short_answer"                # choose the type
    marks: 2
    correct_answer: "default"           # expected answer

  - id: "question5"
    text: "Which kubectl command lists all pods?"
    type: "short_answer"                # choose the type
    marks: 2
    correct_answer: "kubectl get pods"  # expected answer
---

Post-Frontmatter 🔗

After the frontmatter, you can add some content for learner orientation:

---
questions:

---
This assessment allows you to review your educational progress. Give it a try!

About Final Exam 🔗

• A final exam is the exam that evaluates whether a root section (with mandatory children) is complete.
• A final exam can only be taken after all mandatory sibling and childern pages are complete.

Rules for Final Exam Selection 🔗

1. If only one exam exists in a section, it is treated as the final exam.
2. If multiple exams exist:
   • One may be explicitly marked as final using:

     final: true
     

   • If none are marked, the last exam (by file path) is treated as final.
   • There must be only one explicitly marked final exam per section.
3. A final exam cannot be optional.
   • This applies even when only one exam is present — it cannot have is_optional: true.

Final Exam Determination Logic 🔗

A exam is considered final if:

• It has final: true in its front matter.
• It is the only exam under its parent section.
• It is the last exam (ordered by File.Path) among sibling exams, and no other exam is explicitly marked as final.
• If any sibling exam is marked as final: true, no other exam will be considered final — even if it’s last.

Scoring 🔗

The scoring process is handled automatically by the backend system. As a content creator, your main responsibility is to define the marks for each question and the overall passing_percentage for the assessment. Here is how the system processes the scores:

How Scores Are Calculated 🔗

1. Total Possible Marks: The total score for a assessment is automatically calculated by summing the marks value of every question within that assessment. You do not need to define this total manually.
2. Learner’s Score: A learner’s final score is the sum of the marks from all the questions they answered correctly.
3. Pass/Fail Status: The system calculates the final percentage using the formula (Learner's Score / Total Possible Marks) * 100. If this percentage is greater than or equal to the passing_percentage you set, the assessment is marked as “Passed”.

Scoring Rules for Question Types 🔗

• Multiple-Choice Questions: For questions with a single correct answer, the logic is straightforward. For multiple-answer questions, the scoring is strict: the learner must select all correct options and none of the incorrect options to earn the marks. There is no partial credit.
• Short Answer Questions: The learner’s input is compared against the correct_answer field. The comparison is case-insensitive, and leading/trailing whitespace is ignored to avoid penalizing minor typing variations.

The Result of Scoring 🔗

After an assessment is submitted and scored, a detailed result record is permanently saved to the learner’s grade history. If the assessment is a designated test for a Course or an exam for a Learning Path and the result is “Passed”, it will trigger the completion of that Course or Learning Path in the learner’s progress tracker.

Frequently Asked Questions 🔗