Inline Choice Interaction

Inline Choice allows the Test-taker to complete a “fill the blank” question with one choice taken from a selected list of answers. This is usually combined with other interactions (note that there is no question line for either block interaction).

This interaction is one of two Block-related interactions, the other being Text Entry (covered in its own section). In order to begin creating either an Inline Choice or Text Entry interaction, it is first necessary to select the Inline Interactions bar, and then drag the Block interaction, represented by a letter A icon, out of the left-hand Library Panel and into the canvas area, dropping it into the blue text block that will appear. This will create a field in which text may be cut and pasted from a favorite source (a Word document or website, for instance), or typed in.

For a quick glimpse of how to create an Inline Choice item in TAO, please watch the video below.

Step 1: Once the text is placed, create an Inline Choice element by dragging from the Library Panel to a space next to where the test-taker will be expected to fill the blank.

This results in a pop-up window that provides three choices by default. Enter in the choices of response by highlighting the default entries (choice #1, etc.) and typing in a replacement. If you want fewer choices, click the trash can next to one of the choices. This will cause the choice to disappear. If you wish more choices, click the blue Add Choice field below the other choices, and this will add another field. Click either the trash can or blue field as many times as needed to produce the number of entries desired, and replace the default choice text.

Additionally, you'll notice above this in the Interaction Properties pull down frame is the option to Shuffle Choices. This allows the test publisher to negate the use of test-taker strategies of guessing like "always select B if you don't know" and to reduce cheating. Where the order isn't important, this is recommended. (Realize that to use this option, you won*t want to prefix answers with A., B. … or 1., 2. … etc.)

Step 2: Click on each Inline Choice element, and in the Header bar of the resulting pop-up window, click Response to select the right answer.

This produces the same selection of options that the Test-taker will see. Simply select the correct response to set the right answer.

Step 3: Remove the text that the Inline Choice blank is supposed to replace.

This necessary step effectively completes the replacement of text by the Inline Choice blank.

Step 4: Click anywhere outside of the Work Space. This will produce in the Properties Panel a check box that can be set if the interaction is to be time dependent (completed within a certain interval) by the Test-taker. Check if this is the case.

Time dependence is useful for limiting the time in which a Test-taker has to get through interactions within the examination. This will be covered in greater detail in Test Settings.

Step 5: Now you can click the preview option in the Action Bar to see what your Inline Choice interaction looks like.

For more on how to preview, review its section.