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Question Editor Specification

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Question Editor Specification (CE 4.2 14 March 2002) This document outlines the features of the new editor, how these features work and possible problems / pitfalls to avoid.

Features Question types supported

? Multiple choice question (radio buttons) ? Multiple choice question (combo box) ? Multiple choice multiple answer (MCMA) questions (check boxes) ? Multiple choice multiple answer questions (list box) ? “Other” question type (allow students to type a free form response) ? Short Answer

o Marking criteria & feedback for Short Answer questions Question types implicitly supported (allows editing of question stem only)

? Custom ? Applet

Stem, option and feedback formatting

? Bold, Underline, Italic ? Left Align, Centre Align, Right Align ? Bulleted list, Numbered list ? Indent, Un-dent ? 16 Basic Colours ? Native HTML editing ? Image resizing and preview in editor

Binary objects

? Insert image inline (select image from local hard drive) ? Insert link to binary file (e.g. word document) ? Automatically stores binary objects in database

Variables

? Variable creation, deletion and insertion into the question ? Adding & deleting options ? Insertion of common Excel? functions ? In-place editing of expressions

Marking

? Weighting for each option (or combination of options in the case of MCMA) ? Feedback fo r each option (or a combination of options in the case of MCMA)


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How do I use it? Starting out The Question editor resides in the preview pane of the references editor. In normal English: select a topic from inside one of your courses and preview a question.


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One shop question shop Everything you could possibly want to do with a question is available from this editor. The tabs on the top of the editor allow you to access its functionality:

Test page Allows you to preview a question and test it to see what marks students get for certain responses.

Edit page Contains a WYSIWYG question editor with all the functionality of the old editor

Variables page Contains a list of the variables which are being used in this question

Files page Contains a list of the files which are being used in this question


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Test Page

The test page will show exactly what the question looks like to the student. The only difference is that CWI uses special stylesheets which may override the formatting you see. To test your question, select an option (or a number of options if it is multiple choice multiple response) and click “test”.

The mark and feedback will be displayed in the same window (see below)

Select an option

Click test


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To go back to previewing the question, click “Refresh”.

Click “refresh”


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Edit Page The toolbar

Bold This will format the selected text as bold. The button is disabled when you are not in a text editable part of the editor.

Italic This will format the selected text as italic. The button is disabled when you are not in a text editable part of the editor.

Underline This will format the selected text as underlined. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Left Align This will align the selected paragraph to the left. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Centre Align This will align the selected paragraph to the centre. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Right Align This will align the selected paragraph to the right. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Colour Clicking on this button will present you with a list of 16 available colours. Select the colour desired from the dropdown list and the text will be formatted that colour. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.


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Undent This will move the selected paragraph one tab to the left. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Indent This will move the selected paragraph one tab to the right. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Numbered list This will convert the selected paragraph into a numbered list. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.

Bullet This will convert the selected paragraph into a bulleted list. The button is disabled when you are not in an editable part of the editor.


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Insert Image Click on this button and then select an image (jpeg or gif) from your hard drive. The image will be uploaded into the Cecil database as a binary object, associated with the question (see files page) and inserted into text of the question. To delete an image, just select it and press the delete key. Images may be cut & pasted.

Currently, the image appears as an

unavailable image ( ). This is a feature which will be introduced in time.

The image can then be stretched if needs be. If it is not stretched, it will appear at its actual width and height. Stretching it can be dangerous as it could make the image look a little skewed.

Click back to the test page to see what the image will now look like.


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Insert File This works in much the same way as Insert Image. Click on the insert file button and select a file from your hard drive. The image will be uploaded into Cecil as a binary object, associated with the question (see files page) and then pasted into the question as a hyperlink. Return to the test page and click on the link. You will see that a new browser widow opens to display the file. If the file cannot be displayed in your browser, you will be prompted to download it.


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Add option Click on this button to add a new option to a multiple choice or multiple choice multiple answer question

Delete option Click on this button to delete the currently selected multiple choice option (or multiple choice multiple answer option). You must ensure that you actually have an option selected before this button will work.

Shuffle options When this button is down, the multiple choice (or multiple choice multiple answer) options will be shuffled every time the question is used. You must ensure that you actually have an option selected before this button will work.

Allow Other When this button is down, multiple choice (or multiple choice multiple answer) questions will have an additional option called “other” in which the respondent can type their own text based response. You must ensure that you actually have an option selected before this button will work.

Show Feedback When this button is down, a text editor at the bottom of the question appears. This is used to type the feedback for the currently selected option(s). See: “Option Feedback”. You must ensure that you actually have an option selected before this button will work.

Show Weighting When this button is down, a gutter on the left of the question appears. This can then be used to assign weightings to the selected option(s). See “Option Weighting”. You must ensure that you actually have an option selected before this button will work.


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Display Type (properties) This button is used to change the display type of the options in the question. You must ensure that you actually have an option selected before this button will work. When in a multiple choice question, the display choice is either option buttons or a combo box: When in a multiple choice question, the display choice is either check boxes or a list box: Changing the display option does not change the display in the editor. Rather, the display is changed in the test page. To see the results of your change, click on the test page. A Multiple choice question as radio buttons:

A multiple choice question as a combo box:

A multiple choice multiple answer question as check boxes:

A multiple choice multiple answer question as a list box:


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Operators

Variable

Insert Expression An expression is a mathematical expression such as 1+1. Cecil will evaluate these expressions when the respondent opens the question. Expressions may contain variables which you create (see variables page) and a number of common Excel? functions. To insert an expression into your question, move the cursor to where you want to insert the expression then click the button to bring up the expression window: You can double click on a variable to insert it into the question. You can also click on one of the operators to insert it into your expression. When an expression is entered into a question, it is highlighted in grey. e.g. _x +_y And this is the rest of the question Be careful, sometimes, you may get a situation where there is a white space between two parts of your expression: _x +_y This will cause the expression to evaluate incorrectly. Delete the extra white space. Also, you may find that your ordinary text is highlighted grey as well: _x +_y And this is the rest of the question Cecil will interpret all the grey text as an expression and this could cause an error. Please ensure that your normal text is not highlighted.

Old editor Click on this to bring up the old question editor if you require the old functionality or have a wave of nostalgia.


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Option Feedback When the button is down, a feedback editor appears at the bottom of the question. Select the option you wish to set the feedback for and enter the feedback into the feedback editor.

If the question is multiple choice multiple answer, check the check boxes next to the combination of options you want to set feedback for.

Selected Option

Feedback for Selected Option

Show Feedback

Button

Feedback for Selected Combination

Selected Combination

Show Feedback

Button


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Option Weighting When the button is down, a weighting gutter appears on the left of the question. Select the option you wish to set the weighting for and enter the value into the weighting spin box to the left of the question.

If the question is multiple choice multiple answer, check the check boxes next to the combination of options you want to set the weighting for.

Show Weighting

Button

Weighting for selected combination of options

Selected Option

Show Weighting

Button

Weighting for selected option

Selected Combination


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Variables Page Clicking on the variables tab brings up a list of all the variables for this question: You can add and delete variables from the list in much the same way as you add or delete anything from Cecil. Click on the “New… ” button to bring up the new variable dialog box: The first step is to name the variable. In this example we will use “x”. Note: the variable’s name may be x but in your question it will appear as “_x”.

The second (and last) step is to specify the type of variable.


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Variable types:

Numeric range With a numeric range, you specify minimum and maximum values for your variable, an increment and a set of excluded values. e.g. to get all odd numbers between 1 and 11 (inclusive) the minimum is 1, maximum is 11, the increment is 2 and there are no excluded values.

Numeric set With a numeric set, you specify a comma separated set of numbers for your variable. e.g. a set of prime numbers less than 10 would be: 2, 3, 5, 7

Text set A text set is much the same as a numeric set, except that each element in the set is a word instead of a number. e.g. A set of house pets may be “cat”, “dog”, “fish”


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Files Page All the images and documents you insert into your question are displayed in the files page. Here you may delete or even edit the files you are associating with this question.


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Short Answer Questions Should you find yourself editing a short answer question, you will be able to set the criteria by which they are marked. A short answer question is marked by a list of exclusive criteria which each have their own weighting and feedback. How do you define the criteria by which Cecil can apply these weightings and feedback? This is done through what is known as Regular expressions. Cecil has a regular expression builder which we will talk about later.

Push the button in or double click a potential answer to get the potential answer editor


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Setting Properties Choose options1

1 At the beginning: The word must be at the start of the response At the end: The word must be at the end of the response Both at the end and at the beginning: The response must contain nothing but the answer required Case sensitive: The answer must have the same capital and lower case letters as the word required

Set the weighting (out of 100) for this criteria

Click the “… ” to open the regular expression editor

Type the word you’re looking for here

The actual regular expression appears here

Advanced users: Go to the “Expert” tab if you know about regular expressions and wish to edit it yourself.

Advanced users


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Setting Feedback Click on the Feedback tab to edit the feedback which the students will see when they respond correctly to this criteria.

You may format the text of your feedback in much the same way as announcements in Cecil.

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question editor specification · question editor specification page 4 of 20 test page the test page...

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