Test Pilot questions may be of several types and each has its share of configurable options. The first question designing screen is where options common to all question types may be entered. These include:
- the type of question (e.g. yes/no, true/false, etc. )
- the text of the question
- the group number of the question (an arbitrary number from 1 to 26)
- associated media (e.g. picture, sound, video, etc.)
When designing, questions are shown one at a time. The values in the fields and controls shown relate to the currently displayed question. Navigation between questions is accomplished using the blue arrow buttons at the top right of the window. You may arbtrarily jump to another question using the question selection screen.
The example below shows a yes/no question that is assigned to group one and has no associated media.
Each question may be one of eight different types. The highlighted type (in red) specifies the type of the currently displayed question. To create a new question, click on the New Question button and then click on the appropriate question type panel. Supported types are:
- Yes or No - a two choice question with an optional not applicable choice
- True or False - also a two choice question with an optional not applicable choice
- Multiple Choice - a question with up to twenty possible responses along with an optional Other choice.
- Essay / Fill in the Blank - a question with a text or numeric response
- Check all that apply - similar to multiple choice but with multiple answers (up to 20)
- Matching - up to twenty pairs of matched items which are scrambled and presented
- Survey - similar to multiple choice; no correct answer and several predefined sets of choices
- Section Break - not a question but a simple break in a test where additional instructions or media may be displayed.
Each of these types of question have their own set of options which are accessed by clicking on the Response Handling tab at the top of the panel. Additional options on this panel include:
- Text - this is the actual text of the question. You simply enter it in the box. The text will be formatted as specified in the Look and Feel Controls.
If you are well versed in the web page language HTML, you may optionally override the default formatting by checking the HTML checkbox and entering your own HTML.
If you have a column of figures that you wish to be formatted in a column for a mathematical operation, check the mathematical columnar formatting box. All checarcters will be given the same width to aid
you in formatiing. Each number should be entered in the text box on a line by itself. Use spaces to adjust alignment.
You may also choose to indent your question's text by checking the indent checkbox. It will then line up vertically with the user response items below it.
You may also choose to slightly enlarge or shrink the question's text in relation to your default text size selection by using the bigger and smaller radio buttons.
- Group - this is a popup menu of a number ranging from 1 to 26. It is an arbitrary value that you may assign to your questions. It permits you to categorize your questions. For example, on a mathematics test, you could have a group of trigonometry questions and a group quadratic equation questions. Using the question selection screens, you can select questions by group and choose random selections from groups. You may even assign names to the groups for your editing convenience.
- Omit - if this checkbox is checked, it instructs the database to omit it from any file exported for the web server effectively removing the question from any assessments.
- ID - this is a unique numerical id assigned to each question. On the question selection screen, it may be altered to affect the order of presentation. Questions which are not randomly selected are sorted first by group and then by this ID number.
- Media - Each Test Pilot question may have a media item associated with it. The media could be a simple picture or graphic, a sound, a video, Internet streaming video or audio or a Shockwave or Flash animation. It must be prepared in a web-ready format. You must specify it as a URL or simple filename. In the case of a simple filename, the file itself must accompany the file exported by the database to the web server. You will not need to write any HTML; Test Pilot automatically generates the necessary code to include your media in your assessments. Read more about using media with your Test Pilot questions.
- Keywords - this is a list of words that may be associated with this question. It makes possible the powerful ability to make up assessments by selecting questions by keyword. Selections are single word comparisons, so if you have multiple word keys, it is suggested to run them together as a single word as shown in the above example. This is not to suggest that you cannot have multiple keys, only that each key must be a single word.
- Comments - this is a free form area where you can place information about the question. It could be used as a bibliography field where you could keep track of where the question came from. The information entered here is not used elsewhere by Test Pilot.
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