Technology-enhanced items (TEIs) look unfamiliar the first time and routine by the tenth. The format is never the hard part — the reasoning is the same as a standard question. What changes is that you usually have to make several decisions in one item, and each one can be right or wrong on its own.
Select all that apply
You are given a list and asked for every option that fits — a set of findings, interventions or hazards.
- Judge each option on its own. Read the stem, then ask "true or false for this patient?" of each line separately. Do not look for a pattern in how many to pick.
- Watch the qualifier in the stem. "Indicates a need for immediate transport" is a narrower question than "is abnormal".
- Do not add an option to feel safe. An extra wrong choice is as costly as a missing right one.
Ordered response
You arrange steps into the correct sequence — for example, the order of a primary assessment or the steps of a skill.
- Anchor the first and last steps before arranging the middle. Scene safety and standard precautions almost always come first.
- Think in the patient's priorities: life threats before detail, assessment before treatment, reassessment after an intervention.
Option boxes (drop-downs)
A sentence or chart with blanks, each completed from a short drop-down list. Each blank is its own decision. Read the whole sentence first — the later blanks often clarify what the earlier ones are asking.
Grid (matrix) items
A table where each row is a finding or action and you mark a column for each — for instance, "indicated" or "not indicated", or which condition a finding points to. Work row by row, and resist marking a row because of how its neighbors went.
A habit that works for every type
Practice every type before the exam so the interface never costs you time. CinnaEMS includes ordering, option-box, grid and select-all items throughout its bank and case studies, each with a rationale for every part. You can try a few select-all questions free, no account needed.