Question Writer Manual/Extras/Importing Questions/text format

Text Format

Question Writer supports the import of questions from text files. These may be saved from MS Word in .txt or .rtf files or from Notepad, but you must follow the format as described on this page. Question Writer text import supports the following question types: Multiple Choice Multiple Response True or False Paragraph Fill in the Blank Matching Explanation Sequencing Partial Credit The import format for multiple choice questions has required elements and optional elements, each of which is described below. This is followed by an explanation of the formatting required for true-false, paragraph, short answer, matching and multiple response questions. As well as importing the question and answer text you can also import your question feedback and any image that you wish to include in the question.

Multiple Choice (required elements)

Each question must begin with a question number with dot “.” or parentheses ”)”. There must be at least one space between the number and question wording.

Example: 3) Who was the 1st president of USA?
Example: 3. Who was the 1st president of USA?

Each answer choice must start with a letter (a-z) and dot ”.” or parentheses “)”.

a. Bill Clinton
b. Richard Nixon
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. George Washington

Multiple Choice (optional elements)

Title

Each question can include a title. The title will be included as part of the question body. The title must be placed before the question wording and prefaced by “Title:”.
Example:

Title: 1st president of USA

3) Who was the 1st president of USA?
a. Bill Clinton
b. Richard Nixon
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. George Washington

Correct answers can be indicated in two ways:

• An asterisk character “*” can be placed in front of the correct choice (no space between it and ordering letter)
• A list of correct answers can be placed at the end of a quiz file. Its start is indicated with a keyword “Answers:“. Answer should be placed directly following this line (no blank lines between!). These answers are the last element of a document, everything that is placed after answers will be ignored.

Example:
Answers:
1. A
2. D
3. D
4. C

If you do not provide any answers, Question Writer will set the correct answer as the first option by default.

Question Feedback

Another optional element is question feedback. This can be placed right after the question. Feedback for a correct answer must start with “@” character. It must be followed be a space!

Example:
Title: 1st president of USA
3) Who was the 1st president of USA?
a. Bill Clinton
@ No. He was 42nd president!
b. Richard Nixon
@ Far away… he was 37th…
c. Thomas Jefferson
@ Close, but still not right – he was the 3rd president of the United States.
d. George Washington
@ Exactly!

Feedback doesn’t need to be specified for every available option. Also, general feedback for the whole question can be placed right after the question wording – before the first choice. It is also prefaced by a “@” character with a space for Incorrect answer feedback and by a "~" for correct answer feedback.

Example:
Title: 1st president of USA
3) Who was the 1st president of USA?
~ Correct, George Washington was the 1st president. He took the office on April 30, 1789 and left it on March 4, 1797. He was not a member of any party.
@ No, in fact George Washington was the 1st president. He took the office on April 30, 1789 and left it on March 4, 1797. He was not a member of any party.
a. Bill Clinton
b. Richard Nixon
c. Thomas Jefferson
*d. George Washington

Importing an Image with the Question

You can include an image for display with the question by adding:

Example:
[img: "filename.jpg"]

immediately after the question number. The image must be saved in the same folder as the text file for importing.

Importing Multiple Response Questions

Simply follow the guidance for Multiple Choice questions and indicate all the correct answer options. Question Writer will recognise this as a Multiple Response question.

Importing True or False Questions

Importing "true or false" questions is similar to importing multiple choice questions (see above). These examples show the right way to do it.

Example:
3) Was George Washington the 1st president of USA?
*a) True
b) False

Example:
3) Was George Washington the 1st president of USA?
*a. T
b. F

The “True” or “T” choice must be placed first, before the “False” or “F” answer. This helps the Question Writer to correctly identify the question as true or false question type. If the order is different, the question will be interpreted as a multiple choice question.

Other elements of a question (title, feedback) can be added in the same way as described above for multiple choice. The same rules apply when indicating the correct answers.

Importing Essay Questions

When importing an essay question, all elements must be prefaced by an expression “Type:P”.
Example:
Type: P
Title: Richard Nixon resignation.
4. Why did Richard Nixon resign from the presidency?

Question Writer doesn’t support sample answers for essay questions, so the answer should be left blank.

Example:
a)

Example:
Answers:
1. A
2. B
3. C
4.
5. B

Importing Fill in the Blank Questions

Fill in the Blank questions must begin with a “Type:S” expression. All other parts of a question are handled in the same way.
Example:
Type: S
Title: Election in 1961?
5. Who was elected as the 35th president of USA in 1961?

Question Writer allows only one correct answer for each question, but it allows multiple forms of that answer.
Example:
Type: S
Title: Election in 1961?
5. Who was elected as the 35th president of USA in 1961?
a. JFK
b. John F. Kennedy
c. John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Answers can also be placed at the end of document, in a similar way to multiple choice questions.

Multiple forms of an answer are indicated by repeating the question number.
Example:
Answers:
…
4. A
5. JFK
5. John F. Kennedy
5. John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Importing Matching Questions

The process of importing a "matching" question is again similar to importing multiple choice questions, but there are some key differences. The first line of formatting must start with "Type: MT".

Each answer (which contains both portions of a match) must begin with a letter followed by a dot "." or a parentheses ")". Both parts are separated by an “=” character. Each pair should not contain new line characters, blanks etc.

Example:
Type: MT
Title: Presidents and parties
4) Match the correct president and political party he was a member of.
a. Dwight D. Eisenhower = Republican
b. Woodrow Wilson = Democratic
c. William H. Harrison = Whig

Spaces before or after the "=" symbol are optional, but it is important that an answer only uses it for a purpose of separation. If you plan to list correct answers for other questions at the bottom of the document, simply skip the number for all questions that are of the matching variety.

Importing Explanation Questions

This kind of question should be prefaced with “EX” character in the type section.

Example:
Type: EX
Title: Quiz explanation.
4. You have 10 minutes for all questions – please be accurate and fast.

This question type shouldn’t have a particular answer specified, so it must be left blank just like the answer for paragraph question.

Importing Sequencing Questions

To import a sequencing question, use the ‘Type: SEQ’:

Example:
Type: SEQ
Title: Italian cities’ population.
5. Order these Italian cities by population – largest population at the top.

Example:
A. Rome
B. Milan
C. Naples
D. Turin
E. Palermo
F. Genoa

The correct answer is indicated by the way in which the elements are ordered. If you plan to list correct answers for other questions at the bottom of the document, skip the number for any sequencing questions.

Importing Partial Credit Questions

Partial credit question type must be prefaced with a type declaration "Type: PC".

The maximum number of answers that can be selected can also be defined. The syntax of this part is = Max{x} where x is the integer. If no maximum is declared, the default value is 1. Note: This doesn’t need to be the number of correct answers, just the maximum number the user may select.

Each of answers must be followed by a “=” sign and the number of points. If there are no points specified, the default value is 0.

Example:

Type: PC
Title: Example partial credit question.
6. Which of the following answers is the most correct? = Max{2}
a. The best answer = 10
b. More or less fine = 5
c. Not too good = 1
d. Wrong! = 0

Partial credit questions can also include general feedback. However it is only possible to define the correct answers (and points) for Partial Credit questions in the question, not at the end of the document.

Sample Import File

You can find a sample of an .rtf document containing questions on the Question Writer Website [1]. You can use this to try out importing questions to a quiz, or even as a template to prepare your own questions and answers for importing.

You can also export or publish a file in text format, and use that file as a reference for future import files.