Formulas: Multiple choice
Why make a Formulas multiple choice question?
In addition to the answer box placeholders, the Formulas question type provides for two other types of placeholder which are used for multiple choice questions:
- Dropdown menu placeholder
- Radio buttons placeholder
The Formulas multiple choice question allows you to use all the power of the Formulas calculation engine to build the list of choices.
The syntax for this placeholder is {_n:choices:MCE} where _n is the placeholder name (_0, _1, _2, etc.) as for the answer box placeholders, choices is a list of strings to appear as the menu choices and MCE must appear as is.
Use a dropdown menu placeholder to make a multiple choice question.
General Question name* A formulas question with a dropdown menu multiple choice question Variables Global variables cities=["Calgary","Halifax","Montréal","Ottawa","Toronto","Vancouver"]; Main question Question text* Geography {#1} Part 1 Part's mark* 1 Answer type Number Answer* 3 Grading criteria* Absolute error == 0 Placeholder name #1 Part's text What is the capital city of Canada? {_0:cities:MCE}
The Formulas question should look like this (the choices are highlighted by moving up and down in the menu):
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Radio buttons placeholder
The syntax for this placeholder is {_n:choices} where _n is the placeholder name (_0, _1, _2, etc.) as for the answer box placeholders and choices is a list of strings to appear as the menu choices. The list of buttons is only vertical.
Use a radio buttons placeholder to make a multiple choice question.
General Question name* A formulas question with a radio buttons multiple choice question Variables Global variables planets=["Earth","Jupiter","Mars","Mercury","Neptune","Saturn","Uranus","Venus"]; Main question Question text* Astronomy {#1} Part 1 Part's mark* 1 Answer type Number Answer* 3 Grading criteria* Absolute error == 0 Placeholder name #1 Part's text What is the closest planet to the sun? {_0:planets}
The formulas question should look like this (the student must click a choice from the list):
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Shuffled choices
With Formulas multiple choice questions, the shuffling of choices is not a built-in option but it can be easily programmed.
Make a Formulas multiple choice question with shuffled choices.
General Question name! Spectral colors wavelengths Variables Random variables # THE SIZE OF c MUST MATCH THE NUMBER OF CHOICES c=shuffle([0,1,2,3,4,5]); Global variables # MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWERS mc=[" Red"," Orange"," Yellow"," Green"," Blue"," Violet"]; # POSITION OF THE CORRECT ANSWER (counting from 0) a=3; # i.e. Green is the correct answer # Define the global array c as being equal to the random array c. (The names could be different, but they don't need to be different). c=c; # Initialize t to any array of the right size. c does the work. t=c; # Record the position of the correct answer. ADJUST THE END VALUE OF i. for (i:[0:6]) { t[i]=a==c[i]?i:0; } tt=0; for (i:[0:6]) { tt=tt+t[i]; } colors=[mc[c[0]],mc[c[1]],mc[c[2]],mc[c[3]],mc[c[4]],mc[c[5]]];Main question Question text* Physics {#1} Part 1 Part's mark* 1 Answer type Number Answer* tt Grading criteria* Absolute error == 0 Placeholder name #1 Part's text What pure spectral color has an approximate wavelength of 530 nm (measured in air or vacuum)? {_0:colors}
The formulas question should look as shown below. The choices are shuffled hence in a different order for each student.
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When shuffled choices are required, it is probably easier to use Moodle's core Multiple choice question. The point here is that with the Formulas question, multiple choice questions can be programmed.