Multiple Choice

This tool allows teachers to create simple automated assessment questions, including multiple choice and true/false questions.
These questions can be used for summative assessment with scores, or formative assessment with feedback.

View of the Multiple Choice Monitoring Basic tab.

The Basic Tab for the Multiple Choice Activity allows you to specify a title for the activity, give learners a set of instructions for completing the activity, and create the Questions and Responses for Multiple Choice testing.

• Title: All Activities have a web page title which is presented at the top of the activity page when displayed in the Learning Environment. This is NOT the same title as the Title that can be set using the Properties Inspector.
• Instructions: All Activities have a text area that is presented beneath the title. This is where the main activity text to be displayed to learners is entered. The text can be formatted using the Rich-Text Editor. Image, Video, Audio and URL content can also be displayed in the Instructions area.
• Specific Feature - Questions
  • To create a new Question, click "+ Create Question" at the bottom of the page.
  • Question text: This is the actual question to be answered, or the "Stem."
  • Choices: The text of each individual answer should be entered in an answer box.
    • To create a new answer option, click "Add Candidate."

• • • The correct answer is designated by selecting the "Correct" radio button that corresponds to the correct answer.
  • To change the order in which answers are displayed, use the Green up and down arrows.
  • To delete an answer, click the Red cross.
  • Each question can be allocated a numeric weighting, from 1 to 10.
  • Question Feedback: This is optional text that will be shown alongside this question after the "Test" is completed by the Learner.

View of the Multiple Choice Monitoring Advanced tab,
with 2.1 Features highlighted.

There are several features that are unique to the Multiple Choice Advanced Properties sheet.

• One Question Per Page: This feature, when enabled, will cause each Multiple Choice question to appear to Learners one-by-one on separate pages, instead of as a list of questions on one page. Once all questions have been answered, the summary page will display all of the questions, answers and feedback (if any) on the one screen. The default setting is Off.
• Allow Retries: The check box allows the teacher to set whether learners only get one attempt at the questions or can re-attempt the test.
  Retries can be linked to a pass mark, which requires learners to achieve a certain score before progressing to the next activity. The default setting is off.
• Add Notebook... : This option is available on all Activities. Enabling this option creates a Notebook as part of the Activity, which Learner's can use to reflect on the activity just completed. The reflections are personal (i.e.: they are not shared with other learners). The default is off.

LAMS v2.1 Additional Features

The Multiple Choice activity has undergone some changes in the update to LAMS v2.1. There are several new features on the Advanced Authoring tab.

• Show Group's top and average mark: This feature displays statistics on the top mark and average mark to each individual learner.
  The statistics are calculated when the Learner completes the Quiz by clicking Continue, but can be updated by clicking the button on the Progress Bar. The default setting is Off.
• Present Answers in Randomized Order: This option, when selected, simply shuffles the order of the responses to each question. This is useful if Learners will be taking the quiz in an environment where they can see other Learner's screens. The default setting is Off.
• Display Answers after Last Question: As an extension of the previous option, sequence authors can choose to hide the correct responses to the Multiple Choice Quiz. This prevents one Learner from completing the Quiz and revealing the correct answers to the rest of the class. The default setting is On.
  This option is enabled by default, but disabling this option adds a button to the Monitoring environment which "unlocks" the correct answers for Learners. 
  Monitors can choose to display the correct answers at any time during the running of sequence, or even choose to withhold the correct answers from Learners indefinitely.

View of the Instructions tab. This is the same for all activities.

The Instructions tab contains the same features for all Activities.

It allows the Author to create specific instructions for the activity, as well as upload files that may be useful for running the activity (ie: support documents, etc.). It is a resource that can be used by teachers who are running the sequence for their learners. (In the Monitoring Environment, the Instructions for an Activity can be viewed by double clicking the activity on the Sequence tab and then selecting the Instructions tab.

There are two types of Instruction possible, Offline and Online, depending on the mode that the teacher wishes to run the activity. The feature is useful for teachers who are sharing sequences with their colleagues as it provides an area where the Author can describe any learning objectives and/or the specific purpose of the activity.

The Multiple Choice Summary tab provides Monitors with the list of questions and answers in the activity, with the correct answer indicated.
It also displays the total marks for each learner who has attempted the activity.

In LAMS 2.1, the Summary tab also contains the command to make the correct answers visible to Learners. This can be applied to the activity as a whole, or based on individual groupings (if a grouping has been applied to the quiz.) See the Authoring section above for more details.

At Left: Monitor view of Multiple choice Summary screen. The Red Square indicates the view when no Learners have attempted the activity.
The blue square is the Monitor view when at least one Learner has attempted. Note the Grey command button on both versions which unlocks the correct answers for Learners.

The Instructions tab.

In the Authoring Environment, Authors can use the Instructions Space to attach support files for a specific activity, or leave comments for othe Monitors about how a given activity should be run.

These comments and files can be viewed from here - the Instructions Tab.