This section describes the menus that are available when you edit a test.
The Edit menu
When editing text, the Edit menu works just like a standard word processor.
When you select a picture, you can use the “Copy” item on the Edit menu to copy it to the clipboard. To paste in a picture, use “Add picture...” on the Question menu or “Change to picture...” on the Answer menu.
If no text or picture among the question or answers is selected (framed), then the “Cut”, “Copy”, and “Paste” items on the Edit menu will act on the entire question. “Paste” inserts the question from the clipboard in front of the current question. To make sure that nothing is selected, click in the region between the question text and the scrolling area that contains the answers.
The Test menu
Use this menu to edit the test instructions, edit the question categories, change the default text for new questions and answers, and prepare tests for distribution.
Edit general instructions...
Opens the General Instructions window so you can edit the instructions for the entire test.
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Edit question categories...
Presents you with a dialog window that lets you add, remove, rearrange and rename question categories.
The Add and Remove buttons allow you to add and remove categories, respectively. To move a category, first select its name. Then hold down the option key and click where you want to move it to. To change a category’s name, click on it in the list and type in the new name.
You cannot remove a category that contains questions. You also need at least one category, so you cannot remove the last one. If you choose to have only one category, the Question Category popup menu will not be visible because it is unnecessary.
Edit category instructions...
Opens the Specific Instructions window so you can edit the instructions for each category. This option will only be available if you are using question categories.
Sort questions by category
Groups the questions together by category. This makes it easier to find questions in the same category. This option will only be available if you are using question categories.
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Change default text...
Lets you change the default text, font, size, and style of new questions, answers, solutions, and instructions. This is very useful if you want to use a particular font in all your tests, or if you want the various texts to use different fonts and font sizes. To avoid a limitation imposed by the Macintosh system, Tester will not let you leave the text of any of the items blank.
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Edit title info...
Helps you add a title page to the test. This will be displayed every time the test is opened for practice. You can include a title and a description along with your name, address (if the test is shareware), E-mail address (if any), and shareware fee (if any).
When you click on the OK button, Tester will save the information and show you the actual title page so you can check that it is correct.
How to select the questions...
Lets you specify how many questions to select and display when the test is opened for practice. If the test uses question categories, you will be able to specify how many questions to select from each category, and you will have several options for how to scramble the questions.
Essentially, this option duplicates the printing option that lets you select how many questions to print. In fact, the information is shared. Changing the information when printing changes the information displayed by this menu item, and visa versa. This was done so that, when a test is distributed, the person practicing the test will get identical results (in terms of the number of questions displayed) when practicing on the screen or on paper.
Since the information is shared, there is no need to use this menu item when you are developing and printing the test because the print option automatically asks you for the information when it is needed. Thus, the only time you need to use this menu item is when you are ready to lock the test and distribute it.
Please refer to “Printing: The second dialog window” for the details of how this menu item works.
Set scoring info...
Lets you specify the lowest score required to pass, whether or not to save the results of each practice session in a text file, and whether or not to provide instant feedback after an answer is selected.
The lowest score required to pass is primarily useful for multiple-choice tests since students have to check their own answers for short answer and essay questions. It is especially useful for standardized tests like driver’s license exams where the only result is pass or fail.
Saving the results of each practice session is very useful for teachers who use Tester in the classroom because they can then monitor which questions are especially easy or difficult. This in turn helps them hone the test questions and figure out what the class is having the most difficulty with. Refer to the section on the Practice Log for more information.
Providing instant feedback can be useful if the test is designed to be a drill of simple skills. The students can keep re-trying the same problem until they answer it correctly. However, if you want to collect statistics on the students’ scores, do not select this option because otherwise they will always be able to answer everything correctly before checking their answers.
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Lock test...
Lets you lock a test so that nobody can modify it. This is very useful when you are ready to distribute a test. You can lock the test to two different levels: Browse or Practice.
WARNING: Only do this on a copy of the test. Since it is supposed to keep people from tampering with the test, it cannot be undone.
Browse is recommended for distributing tests to the public. It allows them to both browse and practice the test. Since Practice only displays a certain number of randomly selected questions, they may never seeing a particular question from the question pool. Browse allows them to look at all the questions and study their solutions.
Practice is recommended for tests used in a classroom. Students will then have to actually attempt the questions and check their answers before the correct answers are displayed. (Of course, they could just randomly select answers and then proceed to check them in order to find the correct answers, but then they are simply hurting themselves by not trying to learn the material.)
The Question menu
Use this menu to deal with individual questions. It is available when you are working in the Question window.
Add new
Appends a new question to the end of the test.
Duplicate
Appends a copy of the current question to the end of the test.
Revert
Reverts the current question to what it was when you selected it by using the scrollbar at the left. This option will only be available if you have made changes to the question since you selected it.
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Remove
Permanently removes the current question from the test. You cannot undo this, so the program will warn you whenever you try to do it. This option will only be available if there is more than one question in the test.
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Find...
Helps you search for questions. When you select this menu item, you will be presented with a blank question and “Find” and “Cancel” buttons will replace the scrollbar at the left. Type in the text that you want to search for and click on the “Find” button. The first question whose question text matches the text that you typed will be selected. If there is no matching question, you will be notified. During the search, case, font, size, and style are ignored.
If you are using question categories, you can also search for a particular category. Simply select the checkbox next to the question category menu and then select the category to search for.
If you decide not to search for anything after all, simply click on the “Cancel” button.
Find again
Searches for the next question that matches the latest search text. This option will only be available if the previous search was successful.
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Add picture... / Remove picture
If the question does not have a picture, this item will say “Add picture...” and will let you paste in a picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file created with a graphics program.
If there is a picture on the clipboard, you will be given the choice of either pasting this in or choosing a PICT file.
Otherwise, you will immediately be asked to choose a PICT file.
Since most graphics programs do not create the correct type of PICT file, it is safest to use the graphics program to create the picture, copy it onto the clipboard, and then use “Add picture...” to paste it directly into Tester. (You should also save the picture with your graphics program so you can easily modify it later, if necessary.) Refer to the section on using pictures for more information.
If the question does have a picture, this item will say “Remove picture” and will remove the picture from the question. To undo this, select “Revert” from the Question menu.
Change picture
Lets you change the question’s picture by pasting in a different picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” described above. This option will only be available if the question already has a picture.
The Answer Menu
Use this menu to deal with individual answers to a question. It is available when you are working in the Question window.
Add new
Appends a new answer to the end of the list of answers.
Duplicate
Appends a copy of the selected answer to the end of the list of answers. This option will only be available when you have selected an answer.
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Remove
Removes the selected answer from the question. To undo this, select “Revert” from the Question menu. This option will only be available when you have selected an answer.
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Change to picture... / Change to text
If the answer is currently text, this item will say “Change to picture...” and will let you to change the answer to a picture by pasting in a picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” on the Question menu.
If the answer is currently a picture, this item will say “Change to text” and will convert the answer to a text answer.
To undo this, select “Revert” from the Question menu.
Change picture
Lets you change the answer’s picture by pasting in a different picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” on the Question menu. This option will only be available if the answer is already a picture.
The Solution menu
Use this menu to deal with individual solutions. It is available when you are working in the Solution window.
Remove
Removes the solution from the current question. To undo this, select “Revert” from the Question menu.
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Add picture... / Remove picture
If the solution does not have a picture, this item will say “Add picture...” and will let you paste in a picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file created with a graphics program. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” on the Question menu.
If the solution does have a picture, this item will say “Remove picture” and will remove the picture from the solution.
Change picture
Lets you change the solution’s picture by pasting in a different picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” on the Question menu. This option will only be available if the solution already has a picture.
The Instructions menu
Use this menu to deal with both general and category instructions. It is available when you are working in either Instruction window.
Remove
Permanently removes the instructions displayed in the window. You cannot undo this, so the program will warn you whenever you try to do it.
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Add picture... / Remove picture
If the instructions do not have a picture, this item will say “Add picture...” and will let you paste in a picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file created with a graphics program. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” on the Question menu.
If the instructions do have a picture, this item will say “Remove picture” and will remove the picture from the instructions.
Change picture
Lets you change the instructions’ picture by pasting in a different picture from either the clipboard (if there is anything there) or from a PICT file. The procedure is the same as for “Add picture...” on the Question menu. This option will only be available if the instructions already have a picture.
The Text Menu
This menu lets you change the font, size, and style of any text that you can edit in the Question or Solution windows. It works just like a standard word processor.
