FAQ: How do I write a question? - gasboys.net - resource sharing for anaesthetic trainees

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How do I write a question?

It may look a bit 'technical,' but trust me it is not. A simple question will contain a stem, a true option and one or more false options.

All you need to do is type components in, putting some verticals bars ( | ) in between. That vertical bar is called a pipe character. The catch is you need to put two pipe after the stem, and you must finish with a pipe.

So a simple question looks like:

Dogs are||mammals|reptiles|fish|

Now that’s not hard is it?

Then you just need to add a reference, and any explanatory notes and tick the yes/no boxes to put the question into the appropriate subjects.

Here are some more examples, colour coded, showing the full format.

question stem | option prefix | true option | false option | (more false options | ) | option suffix

What you type is:

Vapour refers to the gaseous form of substances | | below | above | their critical temperature

This becomes:
Vapour refers to the gaseous form of substances:
(a) above their critical temperature
(b) below their critical temperature

All you need to do is mentally divide the question definition into parts separated by the '|' character. So the above example divides into these parts:

Vapour refers to the gaseous form of substances
(blank)
below
above
their critical temperature

The first part becomes the question stem. The second part becomes the prefix shared by all options. The third part becomes the true answer. The final part, that is the part following the final '|' is the suffix shared by all options. The fourth part up to the last '|' are the false options.

Often there is no prefix shared by all the options so there two '|'s between the question stem and the true option.

If there is no suffix shared by all the options the question definition ends in a '|'

As another example, consider this:

Histamine||contracts|does not affect|relaxes|mesangial cells

Histamine | | contracts | does not affect | relaxes | mesangial cells

Histamine:
(a) contracts mesangial cells
(b) does not affect mesangial cells
(c) relaxes mesangial cells

Note how these fact definitions have a trailing '|':

Following delivery, MAC returns to normal within | 3 | days | hours | minutes | months | weeks |

Following delivery, MAC returns to normal within:
(A) 3 days
(B) 3 hours
(C) 3 minutes
(D) 3 months
(E) 3 weeks

Gut bacteria deactivate nitrous oxide by | anaerobic | reduction | oxidation |

Gut bacteria deactivate nitrous oxide by:
(A) anaerobic oxidation
(B) anaerobic reduction

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