When it's done poorly -- as it is in almost every computer-based test I've
ever looked at -- you get choices that can't be distinguished from one
another even by a subject-matter expert. Then the student is left to try to
eliminate any obviously wrong answers and take a random guess among the
remaining ones. That doesn't tell you whether the student knows anything at
all about the subject.

Did I mention that I despise "educationese"? For example, is there such a
thing as a "nonselectable-response option"? If not, then why obfuscate
"options" by tacking on "selectable-response"?

Excuse me, I have to go take my curmudgeon pills now...

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
That's what I would have assumed--i.e., the incorrect but seductively
designed answers. Creating these is quite an art, and it can be very
difficult to come up with as many as three in some cases.


"Tom Ferguson" wrote in message
...
Technically, the "distractors" are all of the "selectable-response
options" for one "item" of a "multiple-choice test" (ed. sometimes
erroneously called an objective test) except the correct or, more
accurately, the wanted one.

P. M. Sadler, "Psychometric Models of Student Conceptions in
Science," Journal of Research in Science Teaching (1998. V. 35, N.
3, pp. 265-296).

--

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User


"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
If you link your outline numbering scheme to specific styles (such
as the List Number series) as described in
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numb...Numbering.html,
then you should be able to format your document by applying these
styles as appropriate (this is when the Styles & Formatting task
pane comes in really handy). But if numbering was typed manually,
you'll need to remove it manually after applying the numbered
style. If all the incorrectly numbered "distractors" (never heard
them so described before) are numbered with a), b), c), it should
be a simple matter for Find and Replace to search for these
combinations in turn and replace them with nothing. If the number
is followed by a tab character, your search text would be, for
example:

a)^t

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

"Colleen" wrote in
message ...

Hi. I am revising an exam in Word 2003 which has had some exam
questions pasted into it from another exam, most of which has
different formatting and wierd numbering and lettering. My
question is, what is the best way to go through and change all the
"distractors" from a) b) c) to A. B. C. throughout? Should I take
out all the numbering and formatting, then re-do them? My other
question is, I have (finally!) grasped the concept of outline
numbering, and set myself up an outline numbered list to look like
the exam question; question # followed by distractors. I have not
quite figured out however if I can make it into a "style" for exam
questions, that I can apply to this new exam. Hopefully I am
making sense! Thanks for any help, Colleen.


--
Colleen