Question Types

1. Creating true or false questions
2. Creating multiple choice questions
3. Creating multi-select questions
4. Creating written response questions
5. Creating short answer questions
6. Creating multi-short answer choice questions
7. Creating fill in the blanks questions
8. Creating matching questions
9. Creating ordering questions
10. Creating arithmetic questions
11. Creating significant figures questions
12. Creating Likert questions (only available on Surveys)

Creating true or false questions

True or false (T/F) questions present a statement which respondents must determine is correct or incorrect.

Create a true or false question

1. Enter your T/F question in the Question Text field. NOTE: to add an image to your question, use the HTML editor in this field to insert an image.
2. Select the correct response/answer.
3. Enter a point value.
4. Preview.  As you type in the question text, a preview will automatically appear in the pane to the right of the question setup.
5. Click Save to return to the main page, or from the drop down menu, Save and Copy to save and create another T/F question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new T/F questions.

   • (Optional) Click the Options menu to:

   • Add Feedback. Add response/answer feedback as well as overall feedback fields.
   • Add Hint. This can aid as a prompt for students in determining the correct response.
   • Add Short Description. This will appear as a title in the list of questions for the quiz.
   • Add Enumeration. Select an enumeration style from the Enumeration drop-down list.

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Creating multiple choice questions

Multiple choice (M/C) questions present a statement or question with a list of possible answers, in which respondents must choose the best possible answer. Multiple choice questions differ from multi-select questions in that only one answer can be selected for each multiple choice question.

If you create a multiple choice question that has more than one possible solution, answers can be weighted according to the correctness of each possible answer.

Example If two answer choices out of five options are accepted as correct, both can be weighted 100% and the other three options can be weighted at 0%. If all five answer choices are accepted as correct but some are more correct than others, each can be weighted in ascending order with the most correct answers weighted more than the least correct answers.

Create a multiple choice question

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Creating multi-select questions

Multi-select (M-S) questions require respondents to identify one or more correct answers in a list of possible answers. Unlike multiple choice (MC) questions, multi-select questions enable you to choose a grading format and allow users to select more than one answer.

Create a multi-select question

1. Enter a Title (optional). Enter a Points value. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
2. Enter your M-S question in the Question Text field.
3. (Optional) Click Insert an Image to add an image to accompany your question. You can enter a description of the image in the Description field.
4. Select an enumeration style from the Enumeration drop-down list. (The default is no enumeration).
5. Select a display Style.
6. Choose a Grading format:
   • All or nothing. Users receive full points for the question if they select all of the correct answers and none of the incorrect answers. Users receive zero points if they miss any correct answers or select any incorrect answers.
   • Right minus wrong. Users receive points equal to the number of right answers they choose minus the number of incorrect answers they choose. To determine how much each answer is worth, the system takes the total number of points assigned to the question and divides it by the total number of answer choices.

     Example: If a question is worth 10 points and has 5 answer choices, each correct answer is worth 2 points, and each incorrect answer is worth 2 points (10/5 = 2). If a user gives 3 correct answers and 2 incorrect answers, 2 is the total number of points received for the question [(3-2)*2 = 2].

     Note: Users can receive a minimum of zero on a question; they cannot receive a negative mark.

   • Correct answers. Users receive points for each correct answer they select and for each incorrect answer they leave blank. Incorrect answers selected and correct answers left blank are ignored.

     Example: Consider a question with a total of six potential answers, two answers being correct (in this case, choices a) and b) are the correct choices). The total points available for this question is 4.

     Response	Score
     a) selected b) selected c) d) e) f)	6 out of 6 answers are chosen correctly. User receives full marks: 4 points.
     a) selected b) c) selected d) e) f)	4 out of 6 answers are chosen correctly. User receives a mark of 4/6 * 4 = 2.6667 points.
     a) selected b) c) selected d) selected e) f)	3 out of 6 answers are chosen correctly. User receives a mark of 3/6 * 4 = 2 points.

7. Select Randomize options to randomly generate the option orders presented to each user.
8. Enter an answer option in each Value field of your M-S question. You can click Add Option and select the number of additional answer options you want to include in your question. To reduce the number of answer options, click the corresponding Remove Entry icon.
9. In the Correct column, select the check box next to each correct answer option.

   Note: A multi-select question will not be auto-graded if no check boxes are set as Correct.

10. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Feedback, Question Hint, and Question Feedback fields.
11. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question.
12. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another M-S question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new M-S questions.

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Creating written response questions

Written Response (WR) questions require respondents to write detailed answers in response to open-ended questions. You can enable users to respond in multiple sentences, paragraph answers, or mathematical explanations and calculations.

Create a written response question

Note written response questions cannot be auto-graded.

1. Enter your WR question in the Question Text field. NOTE: to add an image to your question, use the HTML editor in this field to insert an image.
2. Select Enable HTML Editor for student responses to allow users access to the HTML Editor when inputting their answers.
3. Select Enable inserted images and attachments to allow users to attach images or files to a written response answer.
4. Enter a points value.
5. Preview.  As you type in the question text, a preview will automatically appear in the pane to the right of the question setup.
6. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new written response questions.

7. (Optional) Click the Options menu to:

   • Add Feedback. Add response/answer feedback as well as overall feedback fields.
   • Add Hint. This can aid as a prompt for students in determining the correct response.
   • Add Short Description. This will appear as a title in the list of questions for the quiz.
   • Add Answer Key. Displays solutions to course markers.  NOTE: this feedback does NOT appear to users in the review of the question.
   • Add Custom Response Box Size. Set the size for the Input Box to control the answer input field's display size.
   • Initial text. This will provide a prompt for the learners to start typing from.

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Creating short answer questions

Short answer (SA) questions require respondents to create one word or brief sentence answers in response to open-ended questions.

Create a short answer question

1. Enter your SA question in the Question Text field. NOTE: to add an image to your question, use the HTML editor in this field to insert an image.
2. Enter answers in the blank text field(s) and select an evaluation method.
   • Text. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text with or without letter case correctness.
   • Case Sensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text that must have letter case correctness.
   • Regular Expression. Auto-grading uses meta-characters to search for one or more matching strings in the answer text's character pattern. What you set as meta-character parameters helps determine letter case sensitivity. See Cobra Learning - Understanding regular expressions for more information.
3. Click Add Blank to create additional answer boxes if your SA question requires users to submit more than one answer. To delete an answer box, click the corresponding x.
4. Enter a points value and select how they are assigned: students receive part marks (50% of the pts per blank) or students must answer all blanks correctly.
5. Preview.  As you type in the question text, a preview will automatically appear in the pane to the right of the question setup.
6. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another SA question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new SA questions.

7. (Optional) Click the Options menu to:

   • Add Feedback. Add response/answer feedback as well as overall feedback fields.
   • Add Hint. This can aid as a prompt for students in determining the correct response.
   • Add Short Description. This will appear as a title in the list of questions for the quiz.

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Creating multi-short answer choice questions

Multi-short answer (MSA) questions require respondents to answer a multi-solution question and input their answers into individual input boxes. The answer provided by a respondent in each Input Box is checked against each possible answer stored in the Answer fields.

Example The question "Name 3 state capitals" will display three input boxes to users. Each answer users submit will be checked against 51 possible correct answers stored in the answer fields.

Multi-short answer questions differ from short answer (SA) questions in that the multi-short answer question enables you to create multiple answer boxes which all relate to one answer set; short answer questions also support multiple answer boxes, but each requires a distinct set of possible answers. The short answer question type is ideal if you need to create a multi-part question that cannot share the same answer pool.

Create a multi-short answer question

1. Enter a Title (optional). Enter a Points value. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
2. Enter your MSA question in the Question Text field.
3. (Optional) Click Insert an Image to add an image to accompany your question. You can enter a description of the image in the Description field.
4. Set the number of Input Boxes. Set the number of Rows and Columns to control each inbox box's display size.

   Note: We recommend that the required number of answers corresponds with the number of input boxes provided.

5. Click Add Answer to create additional solutions. To reduce the number of possible solutions for an answer, click the corresponding Remove Entry icon.
6. For each possible solution, enter an Answer and set a weight in the Weight (%)field.

   Note: An MSA question's maximum points value is reflected by a 100% weight. As a best practice, we recommend that each possible answer's weight calculation equals 100% divided by the number of answers required by the question.

7. Select an Evaluation method:
   • Case Insensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text with or without letter case correctness.
   • Case Sensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text that must have letter case correctness.
   • Regular Expression. Auto-grading uses meta-characters to search for one or more matching strings in the answer text's character pattern. What you set as meta-character parameters helps determine letter case sensitivity. See Cobra Learning - Understanding regular expressions for more information.
8. Click Check Answers to validate answer fields with regular expressions.
9. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Question Hint and Question Feedback fields.
10. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question.
11. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another MSA question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new MSA questions.

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Creating fill in the blanks questions

Fill in the blanks (FIB) questions require respondents to fill in one or more missing words for an incomplete sentence, statement, phrase, list, or key terminology.

Create a fill in the blanks question

Note As a best practice, we recommend that answers in blank fields be no more than one or two words to ensure auto-grading accuracy.

1. Enter a Title (optional). Enter a Points value. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
2. (Optional) Click Insert an Image to add an image to accompany your question. You can enter a description of the image in the Description field.
3. Click Add Blank to create additional blank fields. Click Add Text to create additional text fields. Your listed order of blank and text fields correspond with the sequence displayed to users.
4. Enter the start of your text in the first Text field.
5. Set the display Size for the Blank field.
6. Click Add Answer if you accept more than one possible solution for the Blank field. To reduce the number of possible solutions for each Blank field, you can click the Remove Answer icon for a corresponding Answer option.
7. For each possible solution of a Blank field, enter an Answer and set a weight in the Weight (%)field. You can set different weightings if some solutions are more correct than others.

   Note: An FIB question's maximum points value is reflected by a 100% weight. As a best practice, the combined weight of your answers should equal 100%. If your FIB question has multiple blank fields and each blank field has several possible answers, we recommend the combined weight of each blank field's most correct answer equals 100%.

8. Select an Evaluation field for each possible answer:
   • Case Insensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text with or without letter case correctness.
   • Case Sensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text that must have letter case correctness.
   • Regular Expression. Auto-grading uses meta-characters to search for one or more matching strings in the answer text's character pattern. What you set as meta-character parameters helps determine letter case sensitivity. See Cobra Learning - Understanding regular expressions for more information.
9. Click Check Answers to validate answer fields with regular expressions.
10. You can click the Remove Blank and Remove Text icons to delete blank and text field entries.
11. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Question Hint and Question Feedback fields.
12. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question.
13. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another FIB question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new FIB questions.

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Creating matching questions

Matching (MAT) questions require respondents to choose from a set of possible match choices from drop-down lists and correctly pair them with related items. This question type enables you to assess users' recognition of information and demonstrate comprehension of specific relationships.

Create a matching question

1. Enter a Title (optional). Enter a Points value. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
2. Enter your MAT question in the Question Text field.
3. (Optional) Click Insert an Image to add an image to accompany your question. You can enter a description of the image in the Description field.
4. Choose a Grading format:
   • Equally weighted. The total points value is divided equally among all possible correct matches. Users receive equally weighted points for each correct answer.
   • All or nothing. Users receive the total points value for correctly matching every answer or else they receive none at all.
   • Right minus wrong. Users receive points equal to the number of right answers they choose minus the number of incorrect answers they choose. To determine how much each answer is worth, the system takes the total number of points assigned to the question and divides it by the total number of answer choices.

     Example: If a question is worth 10 points and has 5 answer choices, each correct answer is worth 2 points, and each incorrect answer is worth 2 points (10/5 = 2). If a user gives 3 correct answers and 2 incorrect answers, 2 is the total number of points received for the question [(3-2)*2 = 2].

     Note: Users can receive a minimum of zero on a question: they cannot receive a negative mark.

5. Click Add Choice to create more answer choices. Enter an answer choice in each choice Value field.
6. Click Add Match to create more matches. Enter a match choice in each match Value field.
7. Select the corresponding choice number in the Correct Choice drop-down list next to a match value. This creates a matched pair.
8. To reduce the number of choices and matches available in your MAT question, click the corresponding Remove Option icon.
9. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Question Hint and Question Feedback fields.
10. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question. Users select their match choices from the drop-down list.
11. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another MAT question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new MAT questions.

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Creating ordering questions

Ordering (ORD) questions require respondents to arrange a series of items into a correct sequence or order.

Create an ordering question

1. Enter a Title (optional). Enter a Points value. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
2. Enter your ORD question in the Question Text field.
3. (Optional) Click Upload an Image to add an image to accompany your question. You can enter a description of the image in the Description field.
4. Choose a Grading format:
   • Equally weighted. The total points value is divided equally among all possible correct order items. Users receive equally weighted points for each correct answer.
   • All or nothing. Users receive the total points value for correctly ordering every answer or else they receive none at all.
   • Right minus wrong. Users receive points equal to the number of right answers they choose minus the number of incorrect answers they choose. To determine how much each answer is worth, the system takes the total number of points assigned to the question and divides it by the total number of answer choices.

     Example: If a question is worth 10 points and has 5 answer choices, each correct answer is worth 2 points, and each incorrect answer is worth 2 points (10/5 = 2). If a user gives 3 correct answers and 2 incorrect answers, 2 is the total number of points received for the question [(3-2)*2 = 2].

     Note: Users can receive a minimum of zero on a question; they cannot receive a negative mark.

5. Enter an order item in each Value field. You can click Add Item to create additional ordering items. To delete an order item, click the corresponding Remove Entry icon.
6. Set the correct ordering in the Correct Order drop-down list. The first item in the correct order should be "1".
7. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Feedback, Question Hint, and Question Feedback fields.
8. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question.
9. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another ORD question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new ORD questions.

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Creating arithmetic questions

Arithmetic questions enable you to assess users' knowledge and comprehension of mathematics and number theory. You can ensure each respondent receives a unique question by including set variables that randomly generate numbers within the problem.

Note: As a best practice, we recommend that you create written response (WR) question types for arithmetic problems that require users to demonstrate their calculations and show their work.

Automatic decimal rounding rule: Round to Half Even

Cobra Learning automatically applies the Round to Half Even rounding rule when assessing answers that contain decimal places that end with "5". Currently, there are no options to change rounding rules. Applying the Round to Half Even rule, answers with decimal places that end with "5" will round down instead of round up.

Example One: 3.41 * 25 = 85.25
If you create an arithmetic question and set the Answer Precision to 1, the correct answer using Round to Half Even is 85.2.

Example Two: -3.41* 25 = -85.25
If you create an arithmetic question and set the Answer Precision to 1, the correct answer using Round to Half Even is -85.2.

Create an arithmetic question

1. Enter a Title (optional).
2. Enter a Points value.
3. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
4. Enter your arithmetic question in the Question Text field. Enclose variables with curly braces to generate random numbers.

   Example: If you set variables x, y, and z with a Min 1 to Max 5 number range in 1-step increments, the question “You have {x} green marbles, {y} red marbles, and {z} blue marbles. How many marbles do you have in total?” will randomly generate a rational number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) for {x}, {y}, and {z}.

5. (Optional) Click Insert an Image to add an image to accompany your question. You can enter a description of the image in the Description field.
6. Enter the solution's Formula and enclose all variables in curly braces.

   Example: The formula for the example question in Step 4 is {x}+{y}+{z}.

   The Formula field supports the following operations, functions, and constants:

   Enumerations	Description
   +, -, *, /, \, ^	Basic arithmetic operators
   %	Modulo (remainder) operator
   {x}^{y}	x to the power of y
   abs({n})	Absolute value of n
   cos({n})	Cosine of n (in radians)
   sin({n})	Sine of n (in radians)
   sqr({n})	Square root of n
   tan({n})	Tangent of n (in radians)
   log({n})	Log base 10 of n
   ln({n})	Log base e of n
   atan({n})	Inverse tangent of n
   sec({n})	Secant of n
   cosec({n})	Cosecant of n
   cotan({n})	Cotangent of n
   Factorial({n})	Factorial of n, or (n!)
   exp	The power of natural log (e)
   pi	pi 3.14159 (accurate up to 50 decimal places)
   e	e 2.71828 (accurate up to 50 decimal places)

7. Select an Answer Precision from the drop-down list to define the number of acceptable decimal places. Select enforce precision if correct answers must contain a specific number of decimal places.
8. Select and enter a tolerance level in the units +/- or percent +/-field to accept near-accurate, estimated, and rounded answers.

   Example: A percent +/- tolerance of 3 would allow answers to be off by 3%. A units +/- tolerance of 0.5 would allow answers to be off by 0.5 units.

9. Enter a unit type (mm, cm, grams, inches, etc.) in the Units field to assess if answers include correct units of measurement. Select a percentage from the Worth % of Points drop-down list to assign a weighted points value to the measurement unit.
10. Set the Evaluation Options for your Units field:
    • Case Insensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text with or without letter case correctness.
    • Case Sensitive. Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text that must have letter case correctness.
    • Regular Expression. Auto-grading uses meta-characters to search for one or more matching strings in the answer text's character pattern. What you set as meta-character parameters helps determine letter case sensitivity. See Cobra Learning - Understanding regular expressions for more information.
11. You can click Add Variable to create additional variables. To reduce the number of variables, click the corresponding Remove Entry icon.
12. Enter a Name, a minimum value in Min, and a maximum value in Max for each variable. You can set the number of decimal places in the Decimal Places drop-down list.
13. Enter a number in the Step field to set the system's incrementing steps as it generates numbers from the range set by the Min and Max fields.

    Example: If you create variable {x} with Min=100, Max=200 and Step=5, the system will only choose values for {x} that are increments of 5 above 100 (105, 110, 115, etc., up to 200) when generating numbers for your question.

14. Now you can click Test beside your formula to test the formula. Click Done to continue editing your question.
15. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Question Hint and Question Feedback fields.
16. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question. Click Done to end the preview.
17. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another arithmetic question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new arithmetic questions.

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Creating significant figures questions

Significant figures questions require respondents to answer in scientific notation and provide solutions that contain a specified number of significant figures. Math and science courses commonly use this question type. You can ensure each respondent receives a unique question by including set variables that randomly generate scientific notations within the problem.

Create a significant figures question

1. Enter a Title (optional). Enter a Points value. Select a difficulty level in the Difficulty drop-down list.
2. Enter your significant figures question in the Question Text field. Enclose variables with curly braces to generate random numbers.

   Note: The number of significant figures automatically calculated in a solution equals the number of significant figures you set for the question.

3. Click Insert an Image to upload an image to accompany your question. You can enter an optional description of the image in the Description field.
4. Enter the solution's formula in the Formula field and enclose variables in curly braces. NOTE: you can test the formula and/or select the question mark icon for a list of supported functions.
5. Select how many Significant Figures answers must contain. Select a percentage from the Deduct % of points for incorrect significant figures drop-down list to assign a weighted points value to the correct number of significant figures.
6. Select a Tolerance option to accept near-accurate, estimated, and rounded answers.
7. Enter a unit type (mm, cm, grams, inches, etc.) in the Units field to assess if answers include correct units of measurement. Select a percentage from the Worth % of Points drop-down list to assign a weighted points value to the measurement unit.
8. Set the Evaluation Options for your Units field:
   • Case Insensitive: Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text with or without letter case correctness.
   • Case Sensitive: Auto-grading searches for a matching character pattern in the answer text that must have letter case correctness.
   • Regular Expression: Auto-grading uses meta-characters to search for one or more matching strings in the answer text's character pattern. What you set as meta-character parameters helps determine letter case sensitivity. See Cobra Learning - Understanding regular expressions for more information.
9. Click Add Variable to create additional variables. To reduce the number of variables, click the corresponding Remove Entry icon.
10. Enter each variable Name used in your formula along with their corresponding minimum value in Min, and maximum value in Max.
11. Enter a number in the Step field to set the system's incrementing steps as it generates numbers from the range set by the Min and Max fields.
12. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Question Hint and Question Feedback fields.
13. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question.
14. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another significant figures question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new significant figures questions.

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Creating Likert questions (on Surveys only)

Create Likert (LIK) questions to measure subjective information such as personal opinions, knowledge, abilities, and attitudes. Likert questions enable you to create surveys that evaluate the intensity of respondents' feelings towards statements presented to them.

Seven measurement scales available to Likert questions include:

• One to Five (1 to 5)
• One to Eight (1 to 8)
• One to Ten (1 to 10)
• Agreement Scale (Disagree–Agree)
• Satisfaction Scale (Dissatisfied–Satisfied)
• Frequency Scale (Never–Always)
• Importance Scale (Unimportant–Important)
• Opposition Scale (Oppose–Support)

You can only access Likert questions through the Surveys tool and the Question Library. Similar to self assessments, all question types you import into surveys will automatically omit points value and difficulty level indicators.

Create a Likert question

1. Enter a Title (optional).
2. Enter your question's response instructions in the Introductory Text field.

   Example: "Respond to the following three statements using a scale of Disagree to Agree. Select "N/A" if the statement is not applicable to you."

3. Click Insert an Image to upload an image to accompany your question. You can enter an optional description of the image in the Description field.
4. Select a measurement Scale.
5. Select Include an N/A option to include a "Not Applicable" response option in your scale.
6. Enter a statement in each Value field. You can click Add Option and select the number of additional statements you want to include in your LIK question.
7. To delete a statement, click the corresponding Remove Entry icon.
8. (Optional) Provide comments and suggestions in the Question Feedback field.
9. (Optional) Click Preview to view your question.
10. Click Save to return to the main page, click Save and Copy to save and create another LIK question that retains the copied properties, or click Save and New to continue creating new LIK questions.

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