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by Tim
Fahlberg, Adjunct Professor of Mathematics,
Northwest College, Tim.Fahlberg@CoolSchoolTools.com
Creating
Dynamic Social Studies Questions
If you have been following my column over the past year and half, you
know that ExamView is a great tool to create dynamic questions for math
and science. However, its capabilities extend beyond math and science
into social studies, language arts, foreign languages, and many others
subject areas. This month we'll explore how to create dynamic social
studies questions.
Getting
Started
I encourage you to read and study the ExamView
My Way article in the April 2003 newsletter. This article provides
a primer for understanding dynamic questions. If you want to learn how
to create dynamic math questions, check out the Dynamic
Corner article in the September 2003 newsletter.
Before
you begin, click here to download the following question bank (Dynamic
Corner-Part III.bnk) Windows or (Dynamic
Corner-Part III) Macintosh. The bank includes the sample
questions. (Remember that you will need ExamView 4.0 or a more recent
version.)
Example
1: Identify the President
As you can see, this multiple choice question shown below includes the
question and a rationale. The rationale is an explanation of how to
determine the correct answer. You can present this information to students
during an online test or study guide at that 'teachable' moment. You
can provide a little help or step-by-step instructions -it's up to you.
Who served as president of the United States ... (Question #1)
Who
served as president of the United States ... --"Variables
Who served as president of the United States ... -- Algorithm Definitions
A
Closer Look at the Algorithm Definitions
Below is an explanation of the algorithms used in this question. The
names you use for the algorithm definitions (or variables) are not critical
as long as you do not use function names. As for the functions (e.g.,
list, range, choose, etc.), you can get a detailed description by reviewing
the online Help information in the program.
Notes:
[1] To view the variables, first double-click a question. Then choose
the Algorithm Definitions option from the Edit menu. Double-click any
variable to view the entire description. For example, select RationaleList
to see the following: list("President Lincoln was elected to two
terms of office. The war began and ended during his administration.","Andrew
Johnson became president after Lincoln was assassinated following the
Civil War.","This war with Great Britian began when Jefferson was president
and ended when Madison was president."). [2] To simplify the algorithms,
the number of possible alternatives was limited to three for demonstration
purposes.
- WhichEvent,
EventList, TheEvent are variables used to generate a random event
from a list of three events.
- CorrectList,
Correct are variables used to generate the correct aswer to the
question.
- R1List, R1,
R2List, R2, R3List, R3 are variables used to generate the three
distracters (wrong answers) when the multiple choice version of this
bimodal question is used.
- RationaleList,
Rationale are variables used to generate and display the rationale
for the correct answer depending upon which random event was chosen.
- SCRAMBLE
= TRUE is a special variable that causes the program to randomly
scramble the answer choices each time you recalculate a question.
Example
2: Identifying Foundational Documents
As you review the algorithms for this question, you will see that the
choose function is used extensively. The algorithms identify
what information appears in the table, identifies the correct answer
choice, and sets the correct rationale.
Highlight
the question and choose to recalculate it using the calculator found
on the toolbar. Notice how the "?" appears in the table to indicate
the missing document. You could use this model for other similar kinds
of questions.
Choose
a document to complete the table. (Question #2)
Choose
a document to complete the table. -- Algorithm Definitions
A Closer Look at the Algorithm Definitions
To make this question different from question #1 you could use an "if"
statement for Doc1, Doc2, and Doc3. For example,
| Doc1 could
be defined |
If(WhichDoc=1,"?","Magna
Carta") |
| Doc2 could
be defined |
If(WhichDoc=2,"?","English
Bill of Rights") |
| Doc3 could
be defined |
If(WhichDoc=3,"?","Declaration
of Independence") |
The
first parameter of the If statement is the condition. If the
condition is true, the second parameter is assigned to the variable.
If the condition is false the third parameter is assigned to the variable.
In the case of Doc1, if WhichDoc is equal to 1
then Doc1 would be equal to ?. If WhichDoc is equal
to 2 or 3, Doc1 is equal to Magna Carta.
Example
3: Completing a Time line
This question demonstrates how you can turn a static time line into
a dynamic one by using an algorithm to display a particular image. When
you "recalculate" the question, you will see how the time line and the
choices change.
Complete
the time line (Question #3)
Complete
the time line – Setting up the display of the time line
If you were to create a static question using a time line, you would
most likely using a drawing program such as Paint to create a picture
of the time line and then simply insert it into an ExamView question.
To make this question dynamic, imagine that you had a stack of three
images-each with a different version of the time line. Based on a variable
whose value in this case could be 1, 2, or 3 you would show the corresponding
time line and the appropriate choices.
Let's
take a close look at this question…
To build a
dynamic question of this type, you would need to do the following:
- Create separate
images; in this case three time lines.
- Choose to create
a new question and choose Insert> Graph> Cartesian.
If
you double-click the image in this question, you will see the Format
Graph window with the three functions as shown below. Notice that there
are three time lines (timeline1, timeline2, and timeline3). Timline
1 will be shown only if the WhichEvent variable is equal to 1.
- Select the Picture
option from the drop down menu and click New.
- Using the Select
button browse to find a picture. Name the picture using any name except
a variable or function name. Change the Width and Height to size the
image. Change the Left x and Top y to alter the location of the image.
- You may wish
to identify when the image should appear by placing a condition in
the "Display picture (only if" window.
As
shown below, timeline1 is set to appear when the WhichEvent variable
is equal to 1.
Complete
the time line –Algorithm Definitions
- WhichEvent,
EventList are variables used to generate a random event from a
list of three events. Notice that the variable
- Correct
is a variable used to generate the correct answer for this question.
- R1, R2, R3
are variables used to generate the three distracters (wrong answers).
- Rationale
is a variable used to generate and display the rationale based on
the time line shown.
- isunique(Correct,
R1, R2, R3) is a condition that makes sure that none of the four
multiple choice answers are the same. You should design your questions
to use as few conditions as possible. It makes the software appear
to run faster.
- SCRAMBLE =
TRUE is a special variable that causes the program to randomly
scramble the answer choices each time you recalculate a question.
As
you can see, this question combines standard algorithms and variables
with a stack of images. You can use this combination to create lots
of interesting dynamic questions. For example, you could have a "stack"
of images with the pictures of presidents and have your students identify
the president. Or you could include a stack of states or countries.
Note:
Probably the most challenging aspect of this program is displaying appropriate
distracters. Try creating a similar dynamic question as a completion
(fill-in-the-blank) or short answer question. You will need only two
variables (e.g., WhichEvent and Correct).
Conclusion
I sincerely hope this article inspires you to consider writing your
own dynamic ExamView questions. As you have learned, the dynamic capabilities
built into ExamView can be used in areas other than math or science.
The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
On
a final note, I also encourage you to share your work with other teachers
to help them save time preparing effective assessments.
Tim Fahlberg (Tim.Fahlberg@CoolSchoolTools.com)
Adjunct Professor of Mathematics
Northwest College
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