[QTI] Questions about extendedTextInteraction

[Steve Lay]

Daniel Cassidy wrote:
> 1) The expectedLines attribute is not clearly specified, since no
>    definition is given as to what constitutes a 'line':
> 
>     * It could simply refer to the expected number of linebreaks in
>       the candidate's response. However, assuming line wrapping is
>       in use, it is difficult for a delivery engine to use this
>       information to size the response box since the height will
>       depend on the length of the lines entered by the candidate
>       as well as the number of lines.
> 
>     * It could refer to the expected number of lines of text taking
>       line wrapping into account, but this is meaningless unless
>       the length of a line is defined.
> 
>    Assuming both expectedLines and expectedLength are both
>    specified, would it be reasonable to interpret an
>    extendedTextInteraction as roughly equivalent to the following
>    HTML element?
> 
>        <textarea rows="expectedLines"
>            cols="ceil(expectedLength / expectedLines)"

Yes, this is what was envisaged.

>    What about in the case where expectedLines is specified but
>    expectedLength is not? In this case I cannot determine any
>    sensible way to interpret expectedLines.

What about the case where expectedLength isn't specified either?  If you 
have to choose a size for the box I assume you would choose based on a 
default value, or perhaps by looking at the correct answer (dangerous in 
that it gives the candidate a clue).

Likewise, if you know the lines but the not the length you will have to 
consider a default again.

> 2) If an extendedTextInteraction has multiple cardinality, how
>    should it behave? Should it consist of multiple separate input
>    boxes, or is it expected that the candidate's response into a
>    single input box should be split up in some way?

Multiple boxes, yes.

> 3) The specification seems to fall short of allowing the test author
>    to clearly specify their intentions when using the maxStrings
>    attribute. That is, if the author specifies maxStrings="5", they
>    could mean one of two things:
> 
>     * A correct answer consists of exactly five strings. A candidate
>       entering less than five strings cannot expect to get full
>       marks.

Use minStrings for this.

>    Presumably if maxStrings is unspecified the delivery engine must
>    always provide some interface to provide an additional response
>    if the candidate wishes?

Yes, I have seen implementation where the next box appears when you type 
in the last one (if you see what I mean).

> 4) How do expectedLength and expectedLines apply to an
>    extendedTextInteraction with multiple cardinality?

For each box.

Steve