Using Random Questions in Exams
Now it's not like we're saying you should dress like the Pope with Pink hair, although we get a good response with that one, however, a better response is when it hasn't been copied from thy neighbor!!
And a good way to not have this happen is to use randomly selected questions. These will pull different questions from the question bank, each time the Test is given, preventing users from being able to 'copy from thy neighbor!'
Benefits for using Randomly Selected Questions:
- Create Tests quickly
- Provides a different Test each time it's given
- Great for when giving multiple attempts to same user
- Helps prevent cheating
Do's and Don'ts
The Do's and Don'ts using randomly selected questions.
Do
- Select a larger number of questions to pull questions from - this will then greaten the randomization of questions each time the Test is taken.
- Add learning materials to each question you want that material to pertain to.
- Sort your questions into categories. This will help when choosing the correct questions to pull for a specific group of users.
Do not
- Select most or all questions in a category to pull from. This lessens the chance of different questions each time.
- Add learning material to only one question, if wanting it to be for multiple questions. These will not follow in order.
- Use only one generic Category for all Questions. Separate categories gives you control on which Tests will use which Questions.
Consider this
Randomize Questions vs. Randomly Selected Questions
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Random Questions
These are the fixed questions that you set to always display in a Test, however you can choose to randomize them. Each time the Test is given, the same questions will appear, but will be a different order.
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Randomly Selected Questions
Different questions are pulled at random from a Question Bank. The more questions you have to pull from, the greater the randomization will be.
Fixed Questions
Questions that always display in a Test
Fixed questions are questions that you specifically select to be added into a Test. Each time the Test is given, these will be the same set of questions.
Benefits of Adding Fixed Questions:
- Testing multiple users to Compare subject knowledge
- Great for structured Tests
- Set the order of how questions display
- Using the same questions are great for extracting data for research purposes
How to write: Good exam feedback
