[ExI] standard form for creating a test, was: RE: humanities plus schmooze

[spike]

>... On Behalf Of BillK
...
(Although I believe people have commented that in the right light you
resemble a slimline George Clooney).  ;)  BillK
_______________________________________________

You are far too kind sir, but I fear you have misunderstood.  They surely
commented that in the right light (none) I resemble a slimline Swedish chef
from the Muppet Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OfsABOGw3c

This resemblance is unfortunate, for I aspired to have the Skipper's looks,
with Mr. Howell's money and the professor's brains.  Instead I got Mary
Ann's money, with Mrs. Howell's brains and Gilligan's looks.

On a very slightly different topic, I need some advice from some of you
web-search hipsters for a real-world product.  I am creating a standardized
rocket science technical test based on a concept I have been thinking about
for years.  I have a number of questions on a sub-topic which I put in order
from easiest to hardest, say seven levels.  A test taker is given a middle
level question, call it sergeant level.  If she answers correctly, the next
question is a harder one, at the lieutenant level.  Another correct answer
gets her promoted to major and still another gets her general.  But if she
misses sergeant, the next question is corporal, another miss gets her to
private, another miss gets her demoted to civilian.  With this scheme, a
profile emerges after only a few questions.

OK, so to design this test, I must write the questions, then develop the
code to do the ranking.  I have most of the rocket science questions
written, but now I am writing the code.  It is one of those classic cases
where a feller has two tasks, one which he knows how to do and one which he
doesn't.  He does the one he knows first, and enjoys it.  I know how to do
rocket science, but being one with Mrs. Howell's brains in the coding
department, the other task is tedious, error prone and probably redundant.
This idea is so obvious, hipsters must have worked on this same problem
before I was born and there is likely a standardized product somewhere which
is a framework to do the ranking.  I would take this standard form, plug in
the rockets science and I am done.

****Question code hipsters:  is there a standard product or a software
framework that allows me to insert or paste in my test questions, ordered
from easiest to hardest, where the code notes the response and does the
ranking and deciding which question to ask next?****  

I have no idea how to web-search for such a thing, because I don't know what
that testing concept is called, if it is called anything.  This idea is too
obvious to not have already a jillion people having worked on it and
produced some excellent foundation on which I could build.  This code must
exist somewhere, perhaps as a commercial product, ja?

I offer the following grand prize to those who can help: my everlasting
gratitude and admiration.

spike