[QTI] 'ListInteraction' as an extension to QTI

[Jim Saiya]

Michael,

 

Great work on this interaction type.  I have some questions on the synonym feature and how it might be handled during parsing and evaluation.  

 

Would more than two choices be allowed to be related in a 'synonym set?'  

 

Would a question writer be able to use any one of the members of a synonym set in the correctResponse element?  Say, opposed to only the 'root' choice that does not (or maybe does) have the synonym attribute.

 

Would all synonyms have to point to a 'root' choice?  In other words, what would happen if two or more synonyms point to one another creating a circular reference?

 

What if the choice referenced in a hiddenChoice element was a member of a synonym set?  Would that exclude all of the members in the set, or just that one?  I don't see why you would want to block only one, but it might have a purpose.  

 

I thought I'd just say these out loud while I'm thinking about it so they could be covered in the spec.  ;-)

 

Jim Saiya

Senior IET System Developer

 

American Association of Airport Executives

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703 824-0500, Ext. 199

FAX: 703 820-1395

jim.saiya at aaae.org

www.aaae.org

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ims-qti-bounces at lists.ucles.org.uk [mailto:ims-qti-bounces at lists.ucles.org.uk] On Behalf Of Michael Pfähler
Sent: Monday, 22 September, 2008 4:43 AM
To: ims-qti at lists.ucles.org.uk
Subject: Re: [QTI] 'ListInteraction' as an extension to QTI

 

Steve,

thank you very much for your answer. I've now officially suggested the listInteraction to IMSGlobal.
It surely will take time until it eventually finds its way into the QTI specification.

As there are probably many developers on this mailing list, that are potentially interested, please read on for my suggestion of a 'listInteraction'.
( A potential rendering <http://home.in.tum.de/%7Epfaehlem/simpleregexsearch.html>  of a listInteraction (uses javascript))

If the time for the assessment is limited, the candidate does not have enough time to read all potential choices. Therefore, the candidate has to be aware of the correct answer in order to be able to answer the question correctly. Nevertheless, such a question can be easily evaluated.
This question type therefore combines the strengths of freetext and multiple choice questions.

The potential QTI data format that we propose for a listInteraction is as follows:
(For clarity, standard qti namespace declarations and attributes are not mentioned within the examples) 

Within a Content Package that contains a listInteraction, you'll find these resources at minimum:
- an AssessmentItem that contains a listInteraction
- a dedicated xml file containing a list of many choices. This list can be referenced by several assessmentItems
(- imsmanifest.xml :))

- the list xml file is straight-forward and could look like this:

<choiceList identifier="l39" > 
    <choice identifier="l39a1">Abdomen</choice> 
    <choice identifier="l39a2" synonym="l39a3">Appendix</choice> 
    <choice identifier="l39a3">Blind gut</choice>
      ...
    <choice identifier="l39a603">Virus hepatitis</choice>
    <choice identifier="l39a604">Virus infection</choice> 
</choiceList>

The attribute 'synonym" allows synonymous entries to be referenced.

- The listInteraction is embedded as a blockElement within the assessmentItem:

<assessmentItem>
   <responseDeclaration cardinality="single" identifier="q16030" baseType="identifier">
        <correctResponse>
           <value>l39a16</value>
       </correctResponse>
   </responseDeclaration>
   <itemBody>
      <listInteraction responseIdentifier="q16030" maxChoices="1" listIdentifier="l39" listHref="list39.xml">
         <prompt>Which laboratory value determines the best differential diagnosis?</prompt>
         <extraChoice identifier="q16030a1">xyz factor</extraChoice>
         <hiddenChoice identifier="l39a261" />
      </listInteraction>
  </itemBody>
</assessmentItem>

While the list can be referenced by several assessmentItems, the responseDeclaration is specific to the interaction, i.e. a list can be reused amongst several items that require different correct answers. Within the listInteraction new choices can be added on a "per interaction basis" ('extraChoice'). It is also possible to blank out choices from the list for a specific question as they may be confusing within the question's context ('hiddenChoice'). However, this addition/suppression of choices on an interaction basis is optional.
The listInteraction references its corresponding list by an identifier and by a hyperlink. This may be redundant but I can imagine it to be useful in some cases.

- The list should be mentioned as a resource within the content package description. Maybe 'imsqti_answerlist_xmlv2p2' could be used as value for the attribute 'type' (in case it find's its way into QTI 2.2 :)).

... and this is it! Of course, such a list could be modeled simply as a ChoiceInteraction. However, you can not semantically define synonyms and redundancy is high if you reuse the answer list across several assessmentItems.

We are currently using a customInteraction to express this question type in QTI. If you are interested in finding this question type within the official QTI specification, please let me know. Please share your ideas and thoughts with all through this mailing list.

Thanks,

Michael



On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 9:03 AM, Steve Lay <swl10 at cam.ac.uk> wrote:



Michael,

Sorry this reply is a bit slow.

The QTI specification is developed and maintained by the IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS GLC).  The correct way to submit a request for future inclusion, or to report a problem, is to use the "Specification Problem and Suggestion Reporting" option on the IMS website.  It is under the "SPECIFICATIONS" menu or you can go straight there:

http://www.imsglobal.org/problemtracking/index.cfm

You will need to set up an ID on the system to make the suggestion but there is no cost involved and it only takes a few moment so please don't be put off by the initial redirect!

It is also a great idea to discuss possible extensions, such as new interaction types, with a list like this though.  Even if ideas are not incorporated into the specification quickly (these processes tend to be slow for good reasons) there is nothing stopping you publishing information about your extension and trying to gain support amongst other developers.  In fact, exactly what you are doing!

I suggest you post some examples of the proposed mark up in action, and perhaps point people to screen shots of what the interaction looks like in practice.

Steve

- -

Michael Pfähler wrote:



Hello everybody,

I'm working as a developer for an item banking system for medical items that is being developed by three German universities ( www.ims-m.org <http://www.ims-m.org/> ). We are trying to use QTI 2.1 as an interface to other systems, e.g. to assessment systems.



Our item banking system manages a set of different question types. One of them is called a 'long menu question'. The candidate chooses the correct answers to a long menu question from a large list of answers (>500), so that such a question is both easily evaluable and at the same time avoids easy recognition of the correct answer.

Syntactically such a long menu question could simply be expressed as a choiceInteraction. However, there are semantic differences (definition of synonyms, sharing a list across items). We currently use a customInteraction to export long menu questions. However, we think that the QTI standard could benefit from the integration of a dedicated 'listInteraction'.

We already detailed a data format for this 'listInteraction' that I would like to share with you.

I would greatly appreciate if you could point me to the appropriate entity that is responsible for such suggestions and at the same time, I would like to hear your opinions on the potential inclusion of this new question type into the current or a future QTI specification.

Thank you very much,
Regards,

Michael



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-- 
Michael Pfähler
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