One of my objectives for Kquestion is for it to be able to parse and generate an XML of multiple choice questions. That’s because I think typing the questions into a template will be a lot quicker than using the application, however, both methods should be available. I’m going talk about the different formats of multiple choice question and then in another post how I’ve implemented them in XML and then talk about the document type definition created for the format.
Isolated single questions
This type of question consists of question text and a list of possible answers. They are isolated in that the question and the answers are used only once.
Question: One plus Two equals: Answer 1: 5 Answer 2: 3 Answer 3: 1 Answer 4: 2 Answer 5: 4
Common answer questions
Questions of this type share a common list of answers.
Question: What is the colour of grass? Question: What colour is blood? Question: What is the colour of a tangerine? Answer 1: Red Answer 2: Orange Answer 3: Yellow Answer 4: Green Answer 5: Blue
Questions with multiple statements
Questions of this type consist of multiple statements and the student must determine which statements are true and which are false then choose the answer from a list of answers.
Question: When you get a headache; 1. You should consider taking paracetamol. 2. It would be sensible to avoid sources of loud noise. 3. You will need to make an appointment with your doctor to have a hole drilled into your head to relieve the pressure. Answer 1: If 1, 2 and 3 are correct. Answer 2: If 1 and 2 only are correct. Answer 3: If 2 and 3 only are correct. Answer 4: If 1 only is correct. Answer 5: If 3 only is correct.
There are other, more advanced, multiple choice question formats that I’ve not mentioned here but I’ll cover those at some point in the future.
next time… The XML.