Generation of good-quality distractors is a key and time-consuming task associated withmultiple-choice questions(MCQs),one of the assessment items that have dominated the educational field for years.Recent advances in...Generation of good-quality distractors is a key and time-consuming task associated withmultiple-choice questions(MCQs),one of the assessment items that have dominated the educational field for years.Recent advances in language models and architectures present an opportunity for helping teachers to generate and update these elements to the required speed and scale of widespread increase in online education.This study focuses on a text-to-text approach for joints generation of distractors for MCQs,where the context,question and correct answer are used as input,while the set of distractors corresponds to the output,allowing the generation of three distractors in a singlemodel inference.By fine-tuning FlanT5 models and LongT5 with TGlobal attention using a RACE-based dataset,the potential of this approach is explored,demonstrating an improvement in the BLEU and ROUGE-L metrics when compared to previous works and a GPT-3.5 baseline.Additionally,BERTScore is introduced in the evaluation,showing that the fine-tuned models generate distractors semantically close to the reference,but the GPT-3.5 baseline still outperforms in this area.A tendency toward duplicating distractors is noted,although models fine-tuned with Low-Rank Adaptation(LoRA)and 4-bit quantization showcased a significant reduction in duplicated distractors.展开更多
There are several types of cloze. The MC cloze is widely used in national examinations. MC cloze is similar to multiple choice, but not exactly the same. To develop an MC cloze, a suitable passage should be chosen fir...There are several types of cloze. The MC cloze is widely used in national examinations. MC cloze is similar to multiple choice, but not exactly the same. To develop an MC cloze, a suitable passage should be chosen first, then some of the words should be deleted, and finally the distractors for each item are set. To test whether the cloze is validable and reliable, the students are asked to take a pretest. The results are analyzed by GITEST. The data demonstrates that the difficulty level and the discrimination are not good enough. Some of the distractors are too tricky while some others are too weakly distractive.展开更多
The increasing use of distributed energy resources changes the way to manage the electricity system.Unlike the traditional centralized powered utility,many homes and businesses with local electricity generators have e...The increasing use of distributed energy resources changes the way to manage the electricity system.Unlike the traditional centralized powered utility,many homes and businesses with local electricity generators have established their own microgrids,which increases the use of renewable energy while introducing a new challenge to the management of the microgrid system from the mismatch and unknown of renewable energy generations,load demands,and dynamic electricity prices.To address this challenge,a rank-based multiple-choice secretary algorithm(RMSA)was proposed for microgrid management,to reduce the microgrid operating cost.Rather than relying on the complete information of future dynamic variables or accurate predictive approaches,a lightweight solution was used to make real-time decisions under uncertainties.The RMSA enables a microgrid to reduce the operating cost by determining the best electricity purchase timing for each task under dynamic pricing.Extensive experiments were conducted on real-world data sets to prove the efficacy of our solution in complex and divergent real-world scenarios.展开更多
This paper revises and expands the model Delta for estimating the knowledge level in multiple choice tests (MCT). This model was originally proposed by Martín and Luna in 1989 (British Journal of Mathematical and...This paper revises and expands the model Delta for estimating the knowledge level in multiple choice tests (MCT). This model was originally proposed by Martín and Luna in 1989 (British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 42: 251) considering conditional inference. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to obtain the unconditioned estimators by means of the maximum likelihood method. Besides considering some properties arising from the unconditional inference, some additional issues regarding this model are also going to be addressed, e.g. test-inversion confidence intervals and how to treat omitted answers. A free program that allows the calculations described in the document is available on the website http://www.ugr.展开更多
As far as we are concemed, one of the elements of assessing EFL/ESL （English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language） learners＇ language proficiency in institutions and universities in our country ＂lran...As far as we are concemed, one of the elements of assessing EFL/ESL （English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language） learners＇ language proficiency in institutions and universities in our country ＂lran＂ are multiple-choice reading comprehension tests. We also know that, it comprises one major section of the standard and TOEFL （Test of English as a Foreign Language） tests. Taking into account its importance and the problems which EFL learners have answered them, I get motivated to uncover some of the test-taking strategies which they employ to answer multiple-choice reading comprehension questions when dealing with familiar versus unfamiliar topics. To get a better conclusion, I choose 20 advanced male and female candidates whose English proficiency is at an acceptable level and at least at the same age level, and they major in English language from different colleges and universities. They are given two reading comprehension passages （familiar and unfamiliar）, each one with five final questions and allotted time to answer the questions. Two main instruments in this study are a retrospective think-aloud protocol and a semi-structured interview. The results of the reading comprehension tests and interview part revealed that advanced learners＇ high scores in the familiar topic were not because of their strategy use but because of their high linguistic and background knowledge on the topic. I also concluded that the number, kind, and sequence of strategies employed, were greatly dependent on the degree of testees＇ familiarity on the topic. In other words, test-takers used more strategies to compensate for their lack of linguistic knowledge.展开更多
Reading is one of the most important skills to acquire language knowledge. Reading ability is the most important way of measuring one's language ability. Learning how to read is very important. For most teachers a...Reading is one of the most important skills to acquire language knowledge. Reading ability is the most important way of measuring one's language ability. Learning how to read is very important. For most teachers and students, it is also important to get a clear understanding of reading and reading ability and their relation. This article is just written to solve this problem and discuss the use of the multiple- choice in reading comprehension test.展开更多
In 2016, there is a reform of the TEM-4 cloze test, which changes from multiple choice cloze test toward banked cloze test. The study takes multiple choice cloze test in 2015 before reform and bank cloze test after re...In 2016, there is a reform of the TEM-4 cloze test, which changes from multiple choice cloze test toward banked cloze test. The study takes multiple choice cloze test in 2015 before reform and bank cloze test after reform in 2016 as research subjects, and research data are from true test results of 48 test-takers. The performance analysis was done by using FACETS(Version 2.7) and SPSS 19.0. This research aims at exploring the relationships between two different cloze forms and the differentiated performance of test-takers, and also testing reliability and validity of two cloze forms. Results show that multiple choice cloze test and banked cloze test have great difference on reflecting test-takers' English ability. Banked cloze test can better reflect test-takers' English ability if more items are added.展开更多
It is well known that hierarchies of mathematical programming formulatlons with different numbers of variables and constraints have a considerable impact regarding the quality of solutions obtained once these formulat...It is well known that hierarchies of mathematical programming formulatlons with different numbers of variables and constraints have a considerable impact regarding the quality of solutions obtained once these formulations are fed to a commercial solver. In addition, even if dimensions are kept the same, changes in formulations may largely influence solvability and quality of results. This becomes evident especially if redundant constraints are used. We propose a related framework for information collection based on these constraints. We exemplify by means of a well-known combinatorial optimization problem from the knapsack problem family, i.e., the multidimensional multiple-choice knapsack problem （MMKP）. This incorporates a relationship of the MMKP to some generalized set partitioning problems. Moreover, we investigate an application in maritime shipping and logistics by means of the dynamic berth allocation problem （DBAP）, where optimal solutions are reached from the root node within the solver.展开更多
基金supported by the Universidad de Alcalá(UAH)under Grant PIUAH21/IA-010Comunidad Autonóma de Madrid under Grant CM/JIN/2021-034.
文摘Generation of good-quality distractors is a key and time-consuming task associated withmultiple-choice questions(MCQs),one of the assessment items that have dominated the educational field for years.Recent advances in language models and architectures present an opportunity for helping teachers to generate and update these elements to the required speed and scale of widespread increase in online education.This study focuses on a text-to-text approach for joints generation of distractors for MCQs,where the context,question and correct answer are used as input,while the set of distractors corresponds to the output,allowing the generation of three distractors in a singlemodel inference.By fine-tuning FlanT5 models and LongT5 with TGlobal attention using a RACE-based dataset,the potential of this approach is explored,demonstrating an improvement in the BLEU and ROUGE-L metrics when compared to previous works and a GPT-3.5 baseline.Additionally,BERTScore is introduced in the evaluation,showing that the fine-tuned models generate distractors semantically close to the reference,but the GPT-3.5 baseline still outperforms in this area.A tendency toward duplicating distractors is noted,although models fine-tuned with Low-Rank Adaptation(LoRA)and 4-bit quantization showcased a significant reduction in duplicated distractors.
文摘There are several types of cloze. The MC cloze is widely used in national examinations. MC cloze is similar to multiple choice, but not exactly the same. To develop an MC cloze, a suitable passage should be chosen first, then some of the words should be deleted, and finally the distractors for each item are set. To test whether the cloze is validable and reliable, the students are asked to take a pretest. The results are analyzed by GITEST. The data demonstrates that the difficulty level and the discrimination are not good enough. Some of the distractors are too tricky while some others are too weakly distractive.
文摘The increasing use of distributed energy resources changes the way to manage the electricity system.Unlike the traditional centralized powered utility,many homes and businesses with local electricity generators have established their own microgrids,which increases the use of renewable energy while introducing a new challenge to the management of the microgrid system from the mismatch and unknown of renewable energy generations,load demands,and dynamic electricity prices.To address this challenge,a rank-based multiple-choice secretary algorithm(RMSA)was proposed for microgrid management,to reduce the microgrid operating cost.Rather than relying on the complete information of future dynamic variables or accurate predictive approaches,a lightweight solution was used to make real-time decisions under uncertainties.The RMSA enables a microgrid to reduce the operating cost by determining the best electricity purchase timing for each task under dynamic pricing.Extensive experiments were conducted on real-world data sets to prove the efficacy of our solution in complex and divergent real-world scenarios.
文摘This paper revises and expands the model Delta for estimating the knowledge level in multiple choice tests (MCT). This model was originally proposed by Martín and Luna in 1989 (British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 42: 251) considering conditional inference. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to obtain the unconditioned estimators by means of the maximum likelihood method. Besides considering some properties arising from the unconditional inference, some additional issues regarding this model are also going to be addressed, e.g. test-inversion confidence intervals and how to treat omitted answers. A free program that allows the calculations described in the document is available on the website http://www.ugr.
文摘As far as we are concemed, one of the elements of assessing EFL/ESL （English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language） learners＇ language proficiency in institutions and universities in our country ＂lran＂ are multiple-choice reading comprehension tests. We also know that, it comprises one major section of the standard and TOEFL （Test of English as a Foreign Language） tests. Taking into account its importance and the problems which EFL learners have answered them, I get motivated to uncover some of the test-taking strategies which they employ to answer multiple-choice reading comprehension questions when dealing with familiar versus unfamiliar topics. To get a better conclusion, I choose 20 advanced male and female candidates whose English proficiency is at an acceptable level and at least at the same age level, and they major in English language from different colleges and universities. They are given two reading comprehension passages （familiar and unfamiliar）, each one with five final questions and allotted time to answer the questions. Two main instruments in this study are a retrospective think-aloud protocol and a semi-structured interview. The results of the reading comprehension tests and interview part revealed that advanced learners＇ high scores in the familiar topic were not because of their strategy use but because of their high linguistic and background knowledge on the topic. I also concluded that the number, kind, and sequence of strategies employed, were greatly dependent on the degree of testees＇ familiarity on the topic. In other words, test-takers used more strategies to compensate for their lack of linguistic knowledge.
文摘Reading is one of the most important skills to acquire language knowledge. Reading ability is the most important way of measuring one's language ability. Learning how to read is very important. For most teachers and students, it is also important to get a clear understanding of reading and reading ability and their relation. This article is just written to solve this problem and discuss the use of the multiple- choice in reading comprehension test.
文摘In 2016, there is a reform of the TEM-4 cloze test, which changes from multiple choice cloze test toward banked cloze test. The study takes multiple choice cloze test in 2015 before reform and bank cloze test after reform in 2016 as research subjects, and research data are from true test results of 48 test-takers. The performance analysis was done by using FACETS(Version 2.7) and SPSS 19.0. This research aims at exploring the relationships between two different cloze forms and the differentiated performance of test-takers, and also testing reliability and validity of two cloze forms. Results show that multiple choice cloze test and banked cloze test have great difference on reflecting test-takers' English ability. Banked cloze test can better reflect test-takers' English ability if more items are added.
文摘It is well known that hierarchies of mathematical programming formulatlons with different numbers of variables and constraints have a considerable impact regarding the quality of solutions obtained once these formulations are fed to a commercial solver. In addition, even if dimensions are kept the same, changes in formulations may largely influence solvability and quality of results. This becomes evident especially if redundant constraints are used. We propose a related framework for information collection based on these constraints. We exemplify by means of a well-known combinatorial optimization problem from the knapsack problem family, i.e., the multidimensional multiple-choice knapsack problem （MMKP）. This incorporates a relationship of the MMKP to some generalized set partitioning problems. Moreover, we investigate an application in maritime shipping and logistics by means of the dynamic berth allocation problem （DBAP）, where optimal solutions are reached from the root node within the solver.
