WebRespond: Question File

The question file contains information about a specific question for a quiz or survey. You can choose between a multiple choice and a true false format. With the proper options the appearance of the questions can be fixed or allowed to take a random value.

The master file uses a tagged information format similar to HTML. Each piece of information must be enclosed within a recognizable tag. If any text lies outside a recognizable tag, it will be ignored. This allows you to make comments within your master file without affecting the readability of the file by WebRespond.

The acceptable format for a tag consists of three parts

  1. Opening - This consists of a left angle bracket, a tag name and a right angle bracket. If you want to open a tag called "Title", you must use a tag opening of <Title>.
  2. Message - This consists of a string of text. Depending on the tag, this text may have to conform to a specific value.
  3. Closing - This consists of a left angle bracket, a forward slash, a tag name and a right angle bracket. If you want to close a tag called "Title", you must use a tag closing of </Title>.
Putting these three parts together we could set the question title to "Blood Pressure" by using the tag <Title>Blood Pressure</Title>. Notice that the name of the tag's opening must match the name of the tag's closing. Embedding of tags within other tags is not supported at this time. Case is not important when naming a tag (i.e. Title, title, TITLE, ... ); however, the tag's opening and closing names must match exactly (including case).

Tags used by the Question File

The easiest way to set up a question file is to modify one of the following template files: True False. , Multiple Choice, Short Answer, Computation & Essay.  The following tags are recognizable in the question file and are listed in order of importance. You can get by with just the <Type>, <Question>, <Correct>, or <Incorrect> tags, but you will have better control over your quiz if you use some of the other tags. The following tags have no immediate use; however, they may be used to document various aspects of the question file. Some of these tags help to categorize the subject material being asked. In future versions of WebRespond it is hoped that these categories may be used to diagnose areas where the student is weakest.

Example: Multiple Choice Question File

A sample multiple choice question file is included so you may become familiar with the look of the file. Also an image of WebRespond displaying the question is given so you may see the connection between the specified tags and the appearance of the question.
<comment>A sample quiz question for illustrating WebRespond</comment>
<name>biology.m1</name>                 *** name matches the file name
<type>multiple choice</type>            *** this is a multiple choice question
<title>Cellular Systems</title>         *** title of the question
<author>Steven Gollmer</author>         *** name of the author
<date>September 18, 1997</date>         *** date the quiz was written
<subject>Biology</subject>              *** this is a biology question
<topic>Cytology</topic>                 *** more specifically cytology
<concept>Organelles</concept>           *** more specifically organelles
<assoc>Cell metabolism</assoc>          *** linked to metabolic processes
<question>Which of the following organelles supplies
energy for the cell?</question>         *** this is the question to be asked
<correct>Mitochondria</correct>         *** here's the right answer
<incorrect>Golgi Complex</incorrect>    *** here's a wrong answer
<incorrect>Vacuole</incorrect>          *** here's a wrong answer
<incorrect>Nucleolus</incorrect>        *** here's a wrong answer
<order>random</order>                   *** place the answers in random order
The image included below was taken while this quiz question was displayed. Notice that the title appears in a larger font and is at the top center. Four possible answers may be chosen and the presented order is not the same as the order in the question file. At the lower left corner you can see that the student decided to chose answer A.



Example: True False Question File

A sample true false question file is included so you may become familiar with the look of the file. Also an image of WebRespond displaying the question is given so you may see the connection between the specified tags and the appearance of the question.
<comment>A sample quiz question for illustrating WebRespond</comment>
<name>busstat.t1</name>                 *** name matches the file name
<type>true false</type>                 *** this is a true false question
<title>Data Collection</title>          *** title of the question
<author>Steven Gollmer</author>         *** name of the author
<date>September 18, 1997</date>         *** date the quiz was written
<subject>Business Statistics</subject>  *** this is a business stats question
<topic>Statistical Measures</topic>     *** more specifically statistical measures
<concept>Variance</concept>             *** more specifically variance
<correct>Increasing the number of data samples 
does not guarantee that the variance of the data
will decrease.</correct>                *** a correct answer
<incorrect>Increasing the number of data samples
always causes the variance of the data
to decrease.</incorrect>                *** an incorrect answer
The image included below was taken while this quiz question was displayed. Notice that the title appears in a larger font and is at the top center. One of the possible answers is displayed. At the lower left corner you can see that the student decided the answer was true.


Example: Short Answer Question File

A sample short answer question file is included so you may become familiar with the look of the file. Also an image of WebRespond displaying the question is given so you may see the connection between the specified tags and the appearance of the question.
 
<name>nursing.s1</name>                 *** name matches the file name
<type>short answer</type>               *** this is a short answer question
<title>Blood Pressure</title>           *** title of the question
<author>Steven Gollmer</author>         *** name of the author
<date>October 22, 2000</date>           *** date the quiz was written
<subject>Nursing</subject>              *** this is a nursing question
<topic>Physiology</topic>               *** more specifically physiology
<concept>Cardio-Pulminary</concept>     *** more specifically cardio-pulminary
<question>The blood pressure for a young adult male
is 110/70 mm. Hg.  What are the names given to each of
these numbers?</question>               *** this is the question to be asked
<label>110 mm. Hg</label>               *** this is the label of the first short answer blank
<width>15</width>                       *** this is the width of the answer blank
<answer>systolic</answer>               *** this is the answer for the first answer blank
<label>70 mm. Hg</label>                *** this is the label of the second short answer blank
<width>15</width>                       *** this is the width of the answer blank
<answer>diastolic</answer>              *** this is the answer for the second answer blank


The image included below was taken while this quiz question was displayed. Notice that the title appears in a larger font and is at the top center. Two answer blanks appear below the question with labels to the left of the blank.



Example: Essay Question File

A sample essay question file is included so you may become familiar with the look of the file. Also an image of WebRespond displaying the question is given so you may see the connection between the specified tags and the appearance of the question.
<name>physed.e1</name>                  *** name matches the file name
<type>essay</type>                      *** this is an essay question
<title>Swimming Strokes</title>         *** title of the question
<author>Steven Gollmer</author>         *** name of the author
<date>October 22, 2000</date>           *** date the quiz was written
<subject>Physical Education</subject>   *** this is a physical education question
<topic>Swimming</topic>                 *** more specifically swimming
<concept>Swimming Strokes</concept>     *** more specifically swimming strokes
<question>In the space provided below describe the
four swimming strokes that are commonly used in racing.</question>
                                        *** this is the question to be asked
<width>30</width>                       *** the text area is 30 characters wide
<height>6</height>                      *** the text area is 6 rows high
<align>center</align>                   *** the text area is centered in the question area
<answer>Butterfly</answer>              *** the first key word
<answer>Freestyle</answer>              *** the second key word
<answer>Back crawl</answer>             *** the third key phrase
<answer>Breast stroke</answer>          *** the fourth key phrase
The image included below was taken while this quiz question was displayed. Notice that the title appears in a larger font and is at the top center. The text area is centered below the question and provides a space for the student to enter a block of text.



Example: Computation Question File

A sample computation question file is included so you may become familiar with the look of the file. Also an image of WebRespond displaying the question is given so you may see the connection between the specified tags and the appearance of the question.
<Name>physics.c1</Name>                 *** name matches the file name
<Type>computation</Type>                *** this is a computation question
<Title>Orbital Period</Title>           *** title of the question
<Author>Steven Gollmer</Author>         *** name of the author
<Date>October 26, 2001</Date>           *** date the quiz was written
<Subject>Physics</Subject>              *** this is a physics question
<Topic>Gravity</Topic>                 *** more specifically gravity
<Concept>Kepler's Laws</Concept>       *** more specifically Kepler's Laws
<Question>A satellite is placed into a circular orbit at an altitude of &height;
 above the earth's surface.  How many minutes does it take for the satellite to
make one orbit?</Question>
                                        *** this is the question to be asked
<Variable>height</Variable>             *** the variable height is being defined
<Vunits>km</Vunits>                     *** the unit on height is kilometers
<SigFigs>3</SigFigs>                    *** the variable is expressed to 3 sig figs
<Granularity>1</Granularity>            *** numbers within 1 of zero are considered zero
<Bounds>50,1200</Bounds>                *** the variable ranges between 50 and 1200 km
<Label>Time Period:</Label>             *** this is the label of the first short answer blank
<Width>12</Width>                       *** the entry field is 12 characters long
<Align>left</Align>                     *** the entry field is aligned to the left of the screen
<Mode>equation</Mode>                   *** the correct answer is the result of an equation calculation
<Aunits>min</Aunits>                    *** the units on the answer is minutes
<Accuracy>0.05</Accuracy>               *** the answer should be within 5% of the calculated answer
<Answer>@sqrt(4*&pi;^2*(6.37e6+1000*&height;)^3/(6.67e-11*5.97e24))/60</Answer>
                                        *** the answer is an equation that is parsed by WebRespond
The image included below was taken while this quiz question was displayed. Notice that the title appears in a larger font and is at the top center. The entry field has the answer label to the left and the units of the answer to the right.