Choose a simulation's purpose: Training, Assessment, Exam or Screening
A simulation's purpose says what it is for: practice, finding out where a learner stands, a graded exam, or selecting candidates. When you choose a purpose, Cesura switches off the settings that contradict it and locks them, so a learner can't be coached through an exam or read a screening report written about them. The character and the grader are also told what the simulation is for.
Choose a purpose
- Open the simulation in the editor and go to General Info.
- Under What this station is for, choose Training, Assessment, Exam or Screening. The text under the field explains the purpose you picked.
- If the purpose changes any settings, the dialog Switch this station to <purpose>? opens. It lists each setting the purpose changes in this simulation. Only settings that actually change are listed.
- Click Apply, or Cancel to keep the current purpose.
- Click Save.
You can change the purpose again at any time.
What each purpose does
| Purpose | What it is for | What it locks |
|---|---|---|
| Not set | No purpose chosen. Nothing is locked, and the grader is not told what this station is for. | Nothing |
| Training | Practice the learner repeats. They read their own report, and the feedback names what to try next time. Grades are hidden. | Nothing |
| Assessment | The learner finds out where they stand. They run it with no real-time guide and read their own report, which comes back as a named level per criterion and overall. | The Realtime Guide is off |
| Exam | A graded exam. The examinee does not see the report when the run ends. The report is written to them, scored per criterion and overall, for whoever runs the exam to release. | The Realtime Guide is off. The processing chat (Feedback Chat) is off. The learner's report is hidden. PDF download is off. |
| Screening | Selecting people. The candidate never sees the report. It is written for the organization, which reads it to compare candidates. | The Realtime Guide is off. The processing chat (Feedback Chat) is off. The learner's report is hidden. PDF download is off. |
Whatever the purpose, and with no purpose set, the character never helps the learner do the work being assessed: it does not hint, ask leading questions, or supply what the learner should have said, even if its profile says otherwise. Help during a run comes from the Realtime Guide.
Exam or Screening?
Exam and Screening lock the same settings. The difference is who the report is written for:
- Exam — the report addresses the examinee. You review it, and you decide when and whether to release it. See Set up a simulation as an exam.
- Screening — the report is written about the candidate, for your organization to compare candidates. It is never meant for the candidate.
Grade display
Each purpose also sets how grades appear in the report. Training hides grades. Assessment shows a named level for each criterion and overall. Exam and Screening show numeric grades for each criterion and overall. This is a starting point, not a lock: you can change it afterwards on the Report Display page. No purpose locks the Overall Grade Method either; you choose it on the Feedback Report page.
Locked settings
A locked control is greyed out, with the reason next to it, for example: Locked by the station's purpose (Exam): PDF download is turned off, because the participant cannot export a report they are not shown.
Exam and Screening lock the Feedback Chat on both pages that switch it: Show to learner on Feedback Chat Intro, and Enable Feedback Chat Phase on Feedback Chat.
To change a locked setting, change the purpose first. Cesura refuses to save a simulation whose settings contradict its purpose.
Switch back to a less strict purpose
Switching to a purpose that locks less, or to Not set, does not switch anything back on by itself. The dialog lists the settings the previous purpose held off, each with a checkbox:
- Turn the real-time guide back on
- Show the participant their report again
- Bring back the processing chat after the run
- Let the participant download the PDF again
Tick the ones you want back, then click Apply. Anything you leave unticked stays exactly as it is.
Find simulations by purpose
In the Library, use Filter by purpose to show only simulations with one purpose, or All purposes to clear the filter. The list view also shows a Purpose column.
Good to know
- Simulations created before purposes existed show Not set. Nothing in them is locked until you choose a purpose.
- Hiding the report from learners applies to every report they open afterwards, including runs they finished before you changed the purpose. The runs and their evaluations are kept, and you and your instructors still see the full report.