Subject: EDQ #16 Fun-Fill-In Quizzes
Posted by: agony
Date: Mar 10 24
Fun-Fill-In is one of the new formats that has taken some time and experimentation to figure out what the guidelines should be. After taking a look to see what works and what does not, here's what the editors have come up with.
We'd like to see the upper limit of blanks to be filled in at about fifteen. There's a certain amount of flexibility, but if you plan to go more than one or two past that, there should be a good reason. The lower limit is pretty firmly set at ten.
There is no set-in-stone character limit for answers, but they should be short. At most a short phrase, preferably one word.
There should be a blank at least every couple of sentences. No large blocks of texts with no or very few blanks.
Watch out for ambiguity in the answers - make sure an answer could not fit in more than one spot. Also make sure that players can't just use their knowledge of grammar to find the answers. For example, there is only one blank that would likely be filled with an adjective, and there is only one adjective in the answers.
The blanks should be related to the trivia content of the quiz, rather than to the framing story (if there is one). Remember that this is a trivia quiz, and the blanks should not be just random words, but should be part of testing knowledge of trivia. It is absolutely fine to set up the quiz as a story, but it should not be *just* a story - the focus should be on trivia.
We expect a substantial and meaty info section for a quiz of this type. While we don't expect this info section to be ten times as long as one for a normal ten question Multiple Choice quiz, we do expect a least a few paragraphs of solid factual info.
The info should be connected to the answers. For example, if your quiz asks for the names of towns in a certain country, the info section should include facts about those towns, and not just some general stuff about the country.
As always, we aim for flexibility while still upholding our standards. If you have an idea for a FFI quiz that might stretch some of these guidelines, contact an editor in the category you are thinking of, and discuss it.
Posted by: agony
Date: Mar 10 24
Fun-Fill-In is one of the new formats that has taken some time and experimentation to figure out what the guidelines should be. After taking a look to see what works and what does not, here's what the editors have come up with.
We'd like to see the upper limit of blanks to be filled in at about fifteen. There's a certain amount of flexibility, but if you plan to go more than one or two past that, there should be a good reason. The lower limit is pretty firmly set at ten.
There is no set-in-stone character limit for answers, but they should be short. At most a short phrase, preferably one word.
There should be a blank at least every couple of sentences. No large blocks of texts with no or very few blanks.
Watch out for ambiguity in the answers - make sure an answer could not fit in more than one spot. Also make sure that players can't just use their knowledge of grammar to find the answers. For example, there is only one blank that would likely be filled with an adjective, and there is only one adjective in the answers.
The blanks should be related to the trivia content of the quiz, rather than to the framing story (if there is one). Remember that this is a trivia quiz, and the blanks should not be just random words, but should be part of testing knowledge of trivia. It is absolutely fine to set up the quiz as a story, but it should not be *just* a story - the focus should be on trivia.
We expect a substantial and meaty info section for a quiz of this type. While we don't expect this info section to be ten times as long as one for a normal ten question Multiple Choice quiz, we do expect a least a few paragraphs of solid factual info.
The info should be connected to the answers. For example, if your quiz asks for the names of towns in a certain country, the info section should include facts about those towns, and not just some general stuff about the country.
As always, we aim for flexibility while still upholding our standards. If you have an idea for a FFI quiz that might stretch some of these guidelines, contact an editor in the category you are thinking of, and discuss it.
8 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
Snowman 
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Thanks for this - it is incredibly useful. One question from me (for now). Can you replace the same word more than once? I've had a daft idea for a quiz but it depends on repetition to work. Reply #1. Mar 12 24, 12:31 PM |
LadyNym
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Thank you for providing these truly valuable guidelines. I have to admit that Fun Fill-It is not my favourite format, because it looks a bit too much like work - being a format that is very frequently used in language teaching and testing. On the other hand, I find it much more versatile (and likely user-friendly) than formats such as Order and Label. In the few FFI quizzes I have written so far, I have used 20 blanks, but in my next effort I will try to keep them to 15, and see how it works. Reply #2. Mar 12 24, 12:42 PM |
looney_tunes
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snowman, that is something we also don't know - nobody has been brave enough to test it! We could plan someone to write a quiz with duplicates (which we know work fine in Match format), and be prepared to make a change if the correction notes start to arrive, but not if the quiz really depends on it. You may have to hold off on that one until the answer can be given with confidence. Reply #3. Mar 12 24, 2:23 PM |
| Snowman
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Thanks l_t. That's fair enough. I think my idea would be too extreme to be a test case. I've got plenty of others quizzes to get on with so I'll bide my time. Reply #4. Mar 12 24, 2:37 PM |
| looney_tunes
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Update - Terry says the template just looks for the correct text, not for a specific instance of it, so duplicate answers should not be any problem. I am planning to write a couple of FFI quizzes in the near future (that being the only template not yet used in two categories), so I will make a point of testing it out. That won't be for a week or two, though. Reply #5. Mar 12 24, 2:40 PM |
| LadyNym
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To answer Snowman's question, I did take at least one quiz where two words were repeated twice. The quiz was based on a very famous speech, so the repetition was inevitable. Reply #6. Mar 12 24, 3:10 PM |
| looney_tunes
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While the information should be about the answers, that does not necessarily mean you need to explain the meaning of each of the words you removed/replaced. Your information needs to leave players better-informed than they previously were about the subject matter. This could mean expanding on the concepts introduced, or discussing the significance of some points, or (if you started with some well-known bit of writing) more about the source itself. Your choice of words to remove should be made so that restoring them makes some kind of point on which you can expand in your information. Reply #7. May 29 24, 10:56 PM |
agony
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I've been editing quite a few of these quizzes in Music lately, using song lyrics. This can be a very good format for lyrics, but there are a few things to keep in mind. (These tips also would apply if you were quoting a speech, or a famous paragraph from a novel or play or something along those lines). Try to choose a song that has some interchangability - by that I mean, words that can be blanked out that are the same type of word as another blank. So a song with several names, or colours, or actions. What you want to avoid is a player going "well, this is the only name in the choices, and here we have "I love [-----]" in the lyrics, so that's where the name goes". But if the lyric is "I love [----] but I'm married to [----]", and among the choices are both "Julie" and "Rose", well, the player has to actually know the song. We know that it's very hard to do this perfectly. But try if possible to not just blank out random words, but put some thought into your blank choices. Reply #8. Jul 06 25, 8:02 AM |
8 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
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