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Aiken format: Difference between revisions

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m (The comments about importing did not make sense in the original order, so have been moved down and given a title. They could even be placed as a Hint or Tip.)
 
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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>


Both these examples imported into Moodle (1.9) gave questions looking like:
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 
so it apparently accepted even F) and ignored if it was a or A.


<div class="note">
Which LMS has the most quiz import formats?
Choose one answer.
* a. Blackboard
* b. WebCT
* c. ATutor
* d. Moodle
* e. Claroline
* f. Ilias 
</div>


=== Importing ===
=== Importing ===


When importing there is a bunch of options, but I don't think any of these influence Aiken Format import:
When importing there are many options, but these do not influence Aiken Format import:
  Get category from file [_]  
* Get category from file [_]  
  Get context from file [_]
* Get context from file [_]
  Match grades [Error if grade not listed/Nearest grade if not listed]
* Match grades [Error if grade not listed/Nearest grade if not listed]
  Stop on error [Yes/No]  
* 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).


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

Latest revision as of 16:40, 20 May 2016

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

See also