Dichotomous Specification

Owned by Neill Magill
Oct 25, 2022
2 min read

Purpose

Dichotomous questions are a hybrid of true/false and multiple choice questions.  The question appears with a lead-in and a number of stems below it:  students must choose true or false for each stem.  If only one stem has a true correct answer, then consider using a multiple choice question

Pre-Exam

The dichotomous question type resembles the multiple choice in that four options are presented:

  • Presentation:   Either True/False or Yes/No.  An Abstain option is available for both presentations (and should be used for negative marking)
  • Option Order: Display Order, Alphabetic or Random.  The first option displays the stems as entered originally, the second sorts them and the last randomizes them.
  • Marking Method: Mark per Question or Mark per Option.  The former requires that all stems be answered correctly before awarding a mark.  The latter awards a mark for each stem answered.  The Marks if Correct default to 1, but may be set up to 20.  The Marks if Incorrect default to zero but may be set down to -10.
  • General Feedback:  Text to be displayed as candidate feedback when appropriate

Options

Up to 20 options may be allocated to the question.  Each option has the following fields:

  • Stem:  The text to be displayed
  • Change Media: Allows a graphic to be loaded
  • Feedback if Correct: What the student sees if the stem is answered correctly
  • Feedback if Incorrect:  What the student sees if the stem is answered incorrectly 
  • Answer: A radio button with the options T or F indicating the correct answer.

 

The following screenshot shows how the options are entered:

Completing the Question

The student sees the question presented as below.  He must choose an option for each stem.

Post Exam

Marking

Marking depends entirely upon what marking method was selected.  Mark per Question assumes that all stems have been answered correctly before the mark was awarded.  Mark per Option awards a mark on the basis of each stem.  Negative marks may be awarded, in which case either the question or each stem will carry an Abstain option.