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QBase v4.0
This HELP file can be viewed using Word or any other word processing package.
The installation program automatically updates previous versions of the main QBase program.
INTRODUCTION
QBase is an interactive MCQ examination system on CD-ROM designed for candidates revising for negatively marked MCQ examinations. The computer allows you to access the questions on the disk as mock exams or by your selection of revision topic and number of questions. The electronic format incorporates automatic marking, result analysis and the ability to save practice exams for future reference/review.
The QBase CD-ROM must be in the drive to run the program. It contains the full question set and the five or six complete MCQ examinations as presented in the book. You will be able to generate other customised practice exams using QBase. The questions will be selected at random based on your choices. These exams can be stored as files on your hard disk for later review. You should store them in the exams directory which is within the main QBase directory on your hard disk. These are identified as files with a ".exm" extension after the filename you chose when you saved the exam.
QBase has been designed to allow you to assess your level of knowledge and improve your exam technique in order to maximise your final score. It is no substitute for thorough revision. However it will highlight areas of weakness in both technique and knowledge that require further attention. The computerised marking and result analysis system eliminates the time wasted performing these tasks manually and allows you to concentrate on revision rather than marking your exam papers.
The program has been designed to be easy to use and allow you to build customised exams for revision or assessment based on your choice of subject or subjects and the number of questions you would like to be assessed on.
PLEASE NOTE
THIS IS VERSION 3.0 OF THE QBASE PROGRAM
IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THE PROGRAM IF INSTALLED INTO THE SAME DIRECTORY
*** EXAM 6 ***
This version of QBase allows 6 predefined exams to be loaded on the CD-ROM
Not all QBase publications contain 6 exams. If this is the case, selecting the Exam 6 button will result in an error message. Select OK and choose another exam or go to the main menu screen.
This change allows the program to be used for publications containing either 5 or 6 practice examinations.
To load QBase follow the instructions on the last page of the book and included in the README.txt file which is on the CD-Rom.
PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR MONITOR OPTIONS ARE SET TO DISPLAY SMALL FONTS.
See your Computer User Manual or Help File for details on how to do this.
NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 3.0
The exam analysis features of QBase have been enhanced in version 3.0 along with minor bug fixes
On the Analysis of Exam screen there are 2 new buttons
Summary - this button allows you to view and print a summary of your exam performance with reference to the number of questions answered correctly, incorrectly and as don't know. The analysis is broken down by the subjects chosen for the exam being performed and allows you to see your strengths and weakness by reference to these subjects.
Change Subject - this button allows you to examine your performance in the exams in detail by reference to individual subjects. If click on this button you can scroll through the subjects you selected for this exam and look at your performance in each subject. If you have chosen to use the confidence option for the paper, once you have selected the confidence option button, the change subject button will also give you the confidence option analysis for each subject. In both cases the subject to which the analysis refers is visible in the top right hand corner of the screen. This will read All Subjects when referring to the whole paper or the subject that is being analysed. Click the button to cycle through the subjects in your paper before returning to All Subjects.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
QUICK START MENU
5/6 MCQ examinations have been preloaded onto the CD-ROM.
These correspond to the exams as presented in the accompanying book.
Select one of the 6 buttons labelled EXAM 1....EXAM 6 to try one of these exams.
NB Some QBase publications do not have a preloaded EXAM 6. Select another exam button or main menu if this is the case.
Select MAIN MENU to enter the main program and view other options available.
Select CREATE YOUR OWN EXAM to construct your own exam (see later).
MAIN MENU
The following options are available
AUTOSET AN EXAM
The computer automatically sets a paper based on the recognised exam structure for which this CD has been developed.
CREATE YOUR OWN EXAM
Allows you to select the subjects and number of questions to be included in a practice exam.
Use the left and right arrows to select the number of questions required from each subject. You may choose any combination of subjects and number of questions.
REVIEW PREVIOUS EXAM
Allows you to review any exam that was previously saved. Use this option to return to an exam that you may not have completed due to an interruption or to review your answers at a later stage. The exam is reloaded into the system with your previous responses restored providing you saved it before returning to the Main Menu.
RESIT EXAM
Resit a previous exam. The last score is stored but your previous responses are cleared so that you can resit the exam exactly as before.
RESIT SHUFFLED EXAM
Resit a previous exam as above. The five leaves to the questions are randomly shuffled. This feature is useful when you want to reassess your performance on a previous exam. Shuffling the leaves eliminates PATTERN RECOGNITION that may falsely elevate your score.
This Function has been disabled in some versions of QBase where the attached notes refer to specific leaves of a question.
QUICKSTART MENU
Return to first menu you encountered.
EXIT
Leave QBase and return to Windows.
When you select one of these options the computer will generate the exam paper based on your selection.
You will be asked whether you would like to MONITOR YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL for each answer. Select YES if you wish to do so.
CONFIDENCE LEVEL
This option allows you to tag each of your answers with a level of certainty. The options available are:
Positive
You are sure you know the answer to this part of the question.
Educated Guess
You know something about the subject and can make an educated guess based on that knowledge.
Wild Guess
You have no idea and your response is a stab in the dark.
The Confidence Level Option will allow you to review your exam technique at the end of the paper.
Individuals vary as to the definitions of an educated guess or wild guess. This does not matter provided that you understand what level of confidence you assign and expect from the categories available.
QBASE EXAMINATION SCREEN
The questions are presented with a Main Stem and 5 Leaves/Parts labeled A to E.
Select the answer True, False or DK (Don't Know) by using the left mouse button mouse to click in the centre of the appropriate radio button. Clicking again on a selected option will your selection. The options are mutually exclusive. Only one selection is possible. There is no penalty or negative score for DK or unanswered questions.
SHOW NOTES
Show the notes for this question including references.
Some versions of QBase do not contain notes and this button has been disabled or removed.
SHOW ANSWERS
Show the answers for approximately 1 second if you wish to cheat and have a look.
The answers are permanently displayed when you review the paper at the end of the exam.
CHECK SCORE
Shows your score without telling you which parts are right or wrong. Useful in when revising and trying to work out where you might have gone wrong.
SHOW IMAGE
Some questions may have a picture or table associated with them. This button will be visible if that is the case. Use the Windows close box (top right of picture) to close the picture.
THESE OPTIONS ARE PROVIDED TO ASSIST YOUR REVISION. IF USING THE PROGRAM FOR FORMAL SELF ASSESSMENT WE SUGGEST THAT YOU RESERVE LOOKING AT THE ANSWERS AND NOTES UNTIL THE END OF THE EXAM WHEN YOU REVIEW THE PAPER.
PREVIOUS/NEXT QUESTION
Navigate forwards and backwards through the questions. Hold the mouse button down to scroll through the questions quickly.
EXAM COMPLETED
Select this option once you have finished the exam OR HAVE BEEN INTERRUPTED. The paper will automatically be marked and you will go to the ANALYSIS OF EXAM SCREEN.
You will be given the option to SAVE THIS EXAM before returning to the main menu.
If you wish to do so, select YES and enter the exam name in the standard Windows dialog box. If you have previously saved this exam, using the same name will overwrite the previous attempt. You can select into which folder/directory you save the exam. In order to keep all you practice exams together, you should save them into the EXAMS folder/directory which resides in your QBase folder/directory. All exams are saved with your responses and level of confidence information for later review.
IF YOU WISH TO SAVE AN EXAM THAT YOU HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO COMPLETE.
Irrespective of where you are in your paper. Select the EXAM COMPLETED option. This will mark the paper as it stands and give you an assessment based on your current responses. By selecting the button labelled "Main Menu" you will be asked to save the exam as above. Choose a name and save the exam. If you wish to return to complete the exam at a later stage, when you next load QBase, choose the REVIEW PREVIOUS EXAM option to restore your exam as it was when you left it. Note that you will be back to question 1and both your responses and level of confidence will be restored. Scroll through the questions until you reach the point where you left the paper previously.
ANALYSIS OF EXAM SCREEN
The results of this and previous attempts (if any) at this exam are shown on this screen.
The computer automatically marks the paper as you go to this screen. If you selected to perform the exam with the CONFIDENCE OPTION on, this information is accessed via the Confidence Info button (see later).
SCORE ANALYSIS
Select this option to view the breakdown of how you performed in this paper. This shows questions grouped according to score from the maximum of 5 to the minimum of -5. The histogram is a graphical display of the distribution of your results.
You can review all the questions by selecting REVIEW ALL or a subset by checking the appropriate check boxes on the left of the screen and clicking the REVIEW SELECTED button.
On reviewing the questions the correct answers are highlighted in RED. The filled in radio buttons represent your responses, as before. Your score for this question is shown in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. You may view the notes or image associated with this question by selecting the appropriate button.
Select END REVIEW to return to the ANALYSIS OF EXAM SCREEN.
SUMMARY
Select this option to produce a printed summary/assessment of your performance on the whole paper. This includes the number of correct, wrong and don't knows as well as the percentage score both overall and analysed according to the possible subjects in the exam.
CONFIDENCE INFO
The aim of the Confidence Option is to improve your exam technique and maximise your score by showing the effectiveness of your guessing strategy. If you selected the MONITOR CONFIDENCE LEVEL at the start of the exam, this button will analyse your technique. The exam is remarked and the confidence information displayed.
The boxes at the top of the screen show the number of parts answered for each level of certainty as well as the number correct/incorrect. The graphs represent the number of parts answered correctly as a percentage of the total number for that level of certainty. The exam is negatively marked. A value on the graph of greater than 50% represents a positive score and less than 50% a negative score (as you would have answered more incorrectly than correctly). The absolute score is show in the boxes at the bottom. Responses where the level of certainty is not stated are not included in the calculation.
You should aim for over 90% correct in the answers you think you are sure of. With your educated and wild guesses you should aim to be above the 50% line in order to maximise your score. Failure to reach the 50% line will result in a negative score. This information is also presented to you on the left of the screen in a text box. Click the HINTS button to view this and then inside the text box to hide it once again. Please not that the HINTS apply to your performance on the whole examination and not each subject!
This information will allow you to assess your performance and plan your strategy for the exam. The more times you try it the greater the accuracy of the assessment of your technique.
CHANGE SUBJECT
The analysis functions of this version of QBase have been enhanced to allow subject based analysis to help your revision. The default analysis scores and assesses your performance on the whole exam.
If you select the Change Subject option the program will scroll through all the possible subjects in the exam and display the score accordingly. The current subject or ALL SUBJECTS is displayed in red in the top right hand corner of the screen.
If you have already analysed the Confidence Info, selecting the Change subject button will also display information about your level of confidence for each of the subjects in the exam. This information will show whether your technique for different subjects varies and may help you assess both your performance in and knowledge of a particular subject for this exam.
Please note that this version of the program scrolls through only those subjects present in your exam.
When you have finished reviewing the analysis of the paper and your responses select MAIN MENU to return to the main options screen.
Remember to save your exam once you have attempted it. This will allow you to return to it for revision purposes at a later stage and resit the exam as before or with the leaves shuffled. You should save exams in the Exams directory within the QBase folder on your hard disk.
Edward Hammond MA BM BCh MRCP FRCA
March 1999
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