Preparation of scrambled text for use in self‐assessment exercises

Self-assessment exercises are being increasingly used in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education. Through their use the reader is able to assess his own competence in a given area, to discover his knowledge or understanding of a subject and to use this information as a guide to further learning. Perhaps most important, however, such exercises increase the reader’s motivation to learn by inviting his participation. Self-assessment exercises come in many forms and the essential component of feedback is presented through a variety of techniques. Some are simple, for example, answers are printed elsewhere in the book or at the bottom of a page, while others rely on more sophisticated techniques. If answers are too readily available then there is a tendency for the learner to look at the author’s answer before he has committed himself to his own answer. Concealing the answer on a different page can make the feedback process tedious and mitigate against effective learning for the learner may have to resort to tackling questions in blocks in order to save time leafing back between questions and answers. There is clearly a need to