Creating Fill in the Blank Questions
Fill in the Blank questions present students with questions with one or more blank spaces that must be filled in. For each blank, an instructor can specify one or more correct values and must enclose the correct answer in square brackets in the question text. Fill in the Blank questions are very useful to test students’ factual memory.
Make sure you are on the Build tab, select Assessment under Course Tools. After browsing to Assessments, click Go to Question Database.
On the Question Database screen, select Fill in the Blank from the drop-down menu under Create Questions. The Create Fill in the Blank Question screen appears.
There are several areas that must be filled in when creating this type of question. The following are descriptions for these areas.
Title
In the Title textbox, enter a descriptive title for the question. The title should easily identify questions when searching the Question Database. When students view questions, titles may or may not show depending on the assessment settings.
Question Text
In the Question textbox, enter the question. For each word or phrase you want students to enter, enclose the text in square brackets. You can have as many sets of brackets as you want. You can also include as many words within the brackets; however, be warned that if there is more than one word it will be harder for Vista to grade the question.
If you want to use HTML coding but do not know the tags, you can use the HTML Creator by clicking On. If you want to use HTML coding, either through the creator or your own coding, make sure the Use HTML checkbox is selected.
You can also insert an equation by using the Equation Editor. The equation will be inserted within the question. In addition, you can also add an image by clicking Browse next to Image. The image will be shown below the question text. If the image is not listed under the File Manger area, you will need to upload the image from your local computer first. This can be done in one step by clicking Browse.
Answers
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For each answer, specify the percent value in the Value (%) textbox that the answer contributes toward the full marks of the question. If you have more than one answer to the question, make sure the values for all the correct answers equal 100%. If you want them to be equal, select a correct answer for each questions and
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For each answer, select a Grading scheme:
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Equals – students must match your answer exactly.
- Contains – answers must contain the letters you ask for.
For example, if you enter “for,”
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Regular Expression – Use PERL coding to evaluate student answers.
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If you want to add an alternate correct answer, click Create Alternate. The screen will show the alternate textbox. You can determine the percentage of points for these answers. The percentage for alternate answers cannot exceed the percentage for the original answer, but it does not have to be the same.
Whichever schema you choose, Vista will not stray from what you specify as the correct answer(s). Therefore, be specific and include all possible answers you think students will enter. |
Settings
From the Answer box width drop-down list, select the maximum number of characters students can enter in the answer boxes. You can select between 10 and 100 characters.
You should make the box a little longer than the word. You can also decide whether or not case sensitivity is important. If you choose No for case sensitivity, students will not be penalized for using uppercase or lowercase letters.
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You can provide students with general feedback instead of or in addition to specific answer feedback. For example, you can give a chapter and/or page number where answers can be found. If you want to use HTML coding, click the Use HTML checkbox. General feedback displays when students view their graded assessment, if you choose to release it to them.
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If you want to enter notes for all designers to use when grading the assessment, add the information in the Section Designer notes box. This will be displayed to students when they review their results, if you choose to release it to them.
All questions are automatically stored in the Question Database. Since the Question Database might contain many questions, it is a good strategy to organize questions into categories.
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To add questions to an existing category, click Specify an existing category, and from the drop-down list select the category. Note that Uncategorized Questions is the default category. If you do not specify a category, questions will be placed there automatically.
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To add questions to a new category, select Create a category and in the textbox enter a category name.
Preview
Previewing the question allows you to check that everything is correct. Now you can save the question by clicking Save. If you added a new category, you will find it has been added (for example, “Geography chapter 2,” as shown in the following figure). You may need to open a category by clicking the plus (+) sign. Once a category is open, you can view a list of all added questions (for example, “Olympics and Beijing –- question 1,” as shown in the following figure).
