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The Aiken format is a very simple way of creating multiple choice questions using a clear human-readable format. (The GIFT format has many more options and perhaps is less prone to errors, but doen't look as straight-forward as AIKEN. ) The question must be all on one line.  Each answer must start with a single-letter character, followed by a period '.' or a bracket ')', then a space.  The answer line must immediately follow, starting with "ANSWER: " (NOTE space after : !) and then giving the appropriate letter. Here is an example of the format:
The Aiken format is a very simple way of creating multiple choice questions using a clear human-readable format in a text file. (The [[GIFT format|GIFT format]] has many more options and perhaps is less prone to errors, but doesn't look as straight-forward as AIKEN. ) The question must be all on one line.  Each answer must start with a single uppercase letter, followed by a period '.' or a bracket ')', then a space.  The answer line must immediately follow, starting with "ANSWER: " (NOTE the space after the colon) and then giving the appropriate letter.  


NOTE: The answer letters (A,B,C etc.) and the word "ANSWER" '''must''' be capitalised as shown otherwise the import will fail.  
IMPORTANT NOTES:  
* You have to save the file in a '''text format'''.  Don't save it as a Word document or anything like that.
* Non-ASCII characters like 'quotes' can cause import errors.  To avoid this always save your text file in [[UTF-8|UTF-8 format]] (most text editors, even Word, will ask you).
* The answer letters (A,B,C etc.) and the word "ANSWER" '''must''' be capitalised as shown below, otherwise the import will fail.  
 
Here is an example of the format:


<pre>What is the correct answer to this question?
<pre>What is the correct answer to this question?
Line 19: Line 24:
ANSWER: A</pre>
ANSWER: A</pre>


when importing there is a bunch of options, but I don't think any of these influence Aiken Format import:
Both these examples imported into Moodle gave questions looking like:
Get category from file [_] Get context from file [_]
Match grades [Error if grade not listed/Nearest grade if not listed]
Stop on error [Yes/No]


Both these examples imported into Moodle (1.9) gave questions looking like:
<div class="note">
Which LMS has the most quiz import formats?
Which LMS has the most quiz import formats?
Choose one answer.
Choose one answer.
  a. Blackboard
* a. Blackboard
  b. WebCT
* b. WebCT
  c. ATutor
* c. ATutor
  d. Moodle
* d. Moodle
  e. Claroline
* e. Claroline
  f. Ilias   
* f. Ilias   
so it apparently accepted even F) and ignored if it was a or A.
</div>
 
=== Importing ===
 
When importing there are many options, but these do not influence Aiken Format import:
* Get category from file [_]
* Get context from file [_]
* Match grades [Error if grade not listed/Nearest grade if not listed]
* Stop on error [Yes/No]


===Hints and Tips===
===Hints and Tips===


* Use a text editor, like PSPad, (Windows "notepad" may not save with right encoding) to write the file with questions and save as a TXT file in UTF-8 format. Use only simple '  not slant ones ´ ` ! Avoid other exotic characters like … HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS (http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2026/index.htm, three dots as a single character).
* Use a text editor, like PSPad, (Windows "notepad" may not save with right encoding) to write the file with questions and save as a TXT file in [[UTF-8|UTF-8 format]]. Use only simple '  not slant ones ´ ` ! Avoid other exotic characters like … HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS (http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2026/index.htm, three dots as a single character).
 
*[http://moodle.heroku.com Moodle XML Converter] - more extensive version of AIKEN format. Supports almost all Moodle questions types - multichoice, shortanswer, cloze, essay, order, matching, numeric, truefalse


==See also==
==See also==
Line 45: Line 57:


[[Category:Questions]]
[[Category:Questions]]
[[Category:Quiz]]
[[de:AIKEN]]
[[de:AIKEN]]
[[es:Formato Aiken]]
[[fr:Format Aiken]]

Latest revision as of 17:54, 29 August 2015

The Aiken format is a very simple way of creating multiple choice questions using a clear human-readable format in a text file. (The GIFT format has many more options and perhaps is less prone to errors, but doesn't look as straight-forward as AIKEN. ) The question must be all on one line. Each answer must start with a single uppercase letter, followed by a period '.' or a bracket ')', then a space. The answer line must immediately follow, starting with "ANSWER: " (NOTE the space after the colon) and then giving the appropriate letter.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • You have to save the file in a text format. Don't save it as a Word document or anything like that.
  • Non-ASCII characters like 'quotes' can cause import errors. To avoid this always save your text file in UTF-8 format (most text editors, even Word, will ask you).
  • The answer letters (A,B,C etc.) and the word "ANSWER" must be capitalised as shown below, otherwise the import will fail.

Here is an example of the format:

What is the correct answer to this question?
A. Is it this one?
B. Maybe this answer?
C. Possibly this one?
D. Must be this one!
ANSWER: D

Which LMS has the most quiz import formats?
A) Moodle
B) ATutor
C) Claroline
D) Blackboard
E) WebCT
F) Ilias
ANSWER: A

Both these examples imported into Moodle gave questions looking like:

Which LMS has the most quiz import formats? Choose one answer.

  • a. Blackboard
  • b. WebCT
  • c. ATutor
  • d. Moodle
  • e. Claroline
  • f. Ilias

Importing

When importing there are many options, but these do not influence Aiken Format import:

  • Get category from file [_]
  • Get context from file [_]
  • Match grades [Error if grade not listed/Nearest grade if not listed]
  • Stop on error [Yes/No]

Hints and Tips

  • Moodle XML Converter - more extensive version of AIKEN format. Supports almost all Moodle questions types - multichoice, shortanswer, cloze, essay, order, matching, numeric, truefalse

See also