Multiple Choice Quizzes in CommonMark

Extensions
1

We’ve been developing a commonmark format for multiple choice quizzes.

The idea is to take commonmark that looks like:

???

# This is a quiz title.  It is an H1 that succeeds an opening quiz delimiter and a newline.

?: What is 1+1?  This is the first question.  A newline is required between this and the title above.

Standard markdown will be parsed as expected between the question, and the answer block.

__The parends below are reserved characters that indicate radio buttons.__

( ) 3
(X) 2
( ) 11
( ) 1

?: A newline is required between this question, and the answer block above.  Select numbers 3 and 4.

#### The square brackets below are reserved characters that indicate checkboxes.

[X] 3
[X] 4
[ ] 9
[ ] 7

???

And be able to transform it into something like https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ii3pe4nb1ej41p4/2015-06-10%20at%201.48%20PM.png:

??? is the delimiter we used for the beginning/end of a Quiz Fence.

Questions are blocked by having a title, beginning with: ?:

For example: ?: A newline is required between this question, and the answer block above. Select numbers 3 and 4.

For radio boxes, use ( ) to create an option for the answer.

( ) 3
(X) 2
( ) 11
( ) 1

Where the (X) marks the correct answer.

For checkboxes, use [ ] to create options for the answer.

[X] 3
[X] 4
[ ] 9
[ ] 7

We’re working on describing the format more, just wanted to post early and see if anyone is working on an extension that’s similar or has any thoughts.

You can see an actual quiz we use on Learn.co here: https://github.com/learn-co-curriculum/git-github-learn-quiz

And an example of the features here: https://gist.github.com/aviflombaum/ee8f5ac12cd40fefdd5a

I suppose the next step would be to recommend a consistent HTML transformation.

Cool, <3 CommonMark (and MD).

Avi and the Flatiron School team.

2

There’s some discussion about creating an extension for form inputs in this topic. Perhaps these ideas could be combined?

3

The EdX Quiz Simple Editor uses a syntax derived from Markdown to specify its quizzes:

>>Lateral inhibition, as was first discovered in the horseshoe crab:<<

( ) is a property of touch sensation, referring to the ability of crabs
to detect nearby predators.
( ) is a property of hearing, referring to the ability of crabs to detect
low frequency noises.
(x) is a property of vision, referring to the ability of crabs' eyes to
enhance contrasts.
( ) has to do with the ability of crabs to use sonar to detect fellow
horseshoe crabs nearby.
( ) has to do with a weighting system in the crab's skeleton that allows
it to balance in turbulent water.

[Explanation]
Horseshoe crabs were essential to the discovery of lateral
inhibition, a property of vision present in horseshoe crabs as well as in
humans that enables enhancement of contrast at edges of objects as was
demonstrated in class. In 1967, Haldan Hartline received the Nobel prize
for his research on vision and in particular his research investigating
lateral inhibition using horseshoe crabs.
[Explanation]

It also has syntax for shuffling and pinning questions when shuffling anwers:

To make the location of an answer fixed in a shuffled list, add @ between the parentheses formatting for that answer.


>>What Apple device competed with the portable CD player?<<
    (!) The iPad
    ( ) Napster
    (x) The iPod
    ( ) The vegetable peeler
    (@) All of the above