Skip to navigation Skip to content
DTeach Teaching and learning innovation

CloudDeakin guides

Assessment

Quizzes – Question library

The Question Library is a central, shared repository for the questions you create, copy, and import.

By creating questions in the Question Library you can make them available to any number of quizzes, surveys, and self-assessments. You can use the Question Library to build an archive of questions that can then be reused and shared, to avoid re-inputting shared questions.

The assessment tools – quizzes, surveys, and self-assessments – share the questions stored in the Question Library. The questions that can be accessed by these tools are dependent on the tool type. Certain question types cannot be used by some tools. For example, surveys cannot use all quiz question types and quizzes cannot use some survey type questions.

Creating questions in the question library

It is strongly recommended that you create all your quiz questions from within the Question Library. This gives you the ability to reuse questions on various quizzes and to create random sections within quizzes.

  1. Click on Assessments and then click on Quizzes link in the unit navigation bar.
  2. Click the Question Library button. The Question Library page displays.
  3. Consider to create sections by clicking on New and select Section. Enter a name and complete other fields as you wish, then click Save.
    Note: Section is similar to folders, it helps to organise your questions so that it is easy to identify in the future. For example, create a section for all the questions from Topic 1.
  4. Click on the Section that you’ve created.
  5. Click New and select the applicable question type. Question types available including:
    a. True/False
    b. Multiple choice
    c. Multi-select (multiple response)
    d. Written Response
    e. Short answer
    f. Multi-short answer
    g. Fill in the Blanks
    h. Matching
    I. Ordering
    j. Arithmetic
    k. Significant figures
    l. Likert

Common features among all quiz question types

The following features apply to all question types in the quizzes tool:

  • Many question types give the option of inserting an image. Click the Add Image button to insert an image.
  • If you want question feedback displayed to users, enter feedback in the Add Feedback.
  • To display hints, enter the text in the Add Hint.

Create a multiple choice question (MCQ)

  1. Click New and choose Multiple Choice Question from the drop down box.
  2. Enter your Question Text in the text box.
  3. If you want to use an image in the question, click Add Image and select an image to include.
  4. Type in the question options in the text boxes. If you want to add more options, click the Add Answer button.
  5. Select the correct answer.
  6. If you want to randomise the question options (answer choices), check the box beside Randomise answers for each student. Randomising the options ensures that each user taking the quiz will receive the question options in a different order.
  7. Assign a Default Points.
  8. Use the Options button to get access to Add Feedback, Add Hint, Add Short Description, Add Custom Weights and Add Enumeration.
  9. When done, click on Save.

Create a true or false question (T/F)

  1. Click New and choose True or False Question from the drop down box.
  2. Enter your Question Text in the text box.
  3. If you want to use an image in the question, click Add Image and select an image to include.
  4. Select the correct answer.
  5. Assign a Default Points.
  6. Use the Options button to get access to Add Feedback, Add Hint, Add Short Description and Add Enumeration.
  7. Click Save.

Create a written response question (WR)

  1. Click New and choose Written Response Question from the drop down box.
  2. Enter your Question Text in the text box.
  3. If you want to use an image in the question, click Add Image and select an image to include.
  4. If you wish to allow students to submit files, video or audio, tick the box Enable inserted images and attachments.
  5. Assign a Default Points.
  6. Use the Options button to get access to Add Feedback, Add Hint, Add Short Description, Add Answer Key, Add Custom Response Box Size and Add Initial Text.
  7. Click Save.

Note: Written Response questions cannot be auto-graded, even if the “allow attempt score to be seen immediately on completion” and “allow automatic export to grades” features are selected in the quiz properties. These must be manually graded like any essay question. 

Create a short answer question (SA)

  1. Click New and choose Short Answer from the drop down box.
  2. Enter your Question text in the text box.
  3. Type the Answer in the text field.
  4. Click the Add Blank link for additional answer text fields.
  5. Assign a Default Points.
  6. Select how points are assigned.
  7. Click Save.

Create a multi-short-answer question (MSA)

The answers provided by a respondent for a MSA question are checked against each answer box. This question type allows you to create a question such as, “Name 3 state capitals” and create 3 input boxes and 5 potential answers so that the user can enter any 3 answers in any answer box and receive full marks. This question type differs from the Short Answer Question in that the short answer question supports multiple answer boxes, but requires distinct answer lists for each answer box.

  1. Click New and choose Multi-Short-Answer Question from the drop down box.
  2. Assign a Title (optional), Points value and a Difficulty level.
  3. Enter your Question text in the text box.
  4. Choose the size of the Input Box by using the drop-down lists beside Rows and Columns.
  5. Click the Add Answer icon.
  6. Type the answer in the text field and choose the Weight.
  7. Continue adding all accepted answers and weights.
  8. The Check Answers button is used to validate any regular expression you include in the answer fields.
  9. Click Save.

Create an arithmetic question (2+2)

The Arithmetic question type is a useful way to present unique questions to each user. Numbers can be randomly chosen for each variable in the question based on specified number ranges.

  1. Click New and choose Arithmetic Question from the drop down box.
  2. Assign a Title (optional), Points value and a Difficulty level.
  3. Enter your Question Text in the text box. To refer to variables, type the variable surrounded with curly braces. Example: “2 trains are travelling away from each other at {x} miles per hour and {y} miles per hour respectively. How far apart are they after 15 minutes”
  4. Type the formula that you use to calculate the correct answer in the Formula field. Make sure that you enclose all variables in curly braces. Example: ({x}+{y})/4
    The following functions are supported in the Formula field:
    Enumerations Description
    +,-,*,/,\,^,%    Basic mathematical operators
    {x}^{y}            x to the power of y
    abs({n})         Absolute value of n
    cos({n})         The cosine of n (in radians)
    sin({n})          The sine of n (in radians)
    sqr({n})          The square root of n
    tan({n})          The tangent of n (in radians)
    log({n})          The log base 10 of n
    ln({n})            The log base e of n
    atan({n})        The inverse tangent of n
    sec({n})          The secant of n
    cosec({n})      The cosecant of n
    cotan({n})       The cotangent of n
    Factorial         Factorials
    exp                 The power of natural log (e)
  5. Select a number from the Answer Precision drop-down list to define the number of decimal places answers must be accurate to. To ensure the accuracy of the decimal places, tick the box of enforce precision.
  6. Type a Tolerance value and choose either Units or Percent to define how accurate answers must be. For example, a tolerance of 3% would allow answers to be off by 3%, or a tolerance of 5 units would allow answers to be off by 5 units (units are defined in the field below).
  7. Type the unit that the answer to the question should be in (if any) in the Units field (for example, MPH, meters, inches, etc.).
    a. Check the case sensitive box if the unit is case sensitive.
    b. If you want to assign points for using the correct unit in an answer, choose a percentage value from the Worth drop-down list.
  8. In the Variables section, define all of the variables you used in the Question Text.
    a. Type the name of your variable (for example, x) in the Name column.
    b. Type the minimum value for the variable in the Min column.
    c. Type the maximum value for the variable in the Max column.
    d. Select the applicable number of decimal places for the variable in the Decimal Places drop-down list.
    e. In the Step field, type the increment that the system should use when choosing random numbers from the range you specified in 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 questions.
  9. Click Add Variable to add more variables or Remove to delete extra variables.
  10. Click the Test button to test your formula. A new page will display containing an example of your formula.
  11. Click Save.

Example: If 50% is chosen in the Worth drop-down list, the user would receive 50% of the points for the question for answering with the correct value, and would receive the other 50% if they answered using the correct unit. Note that if you have selected the case sensitive option, users must type the unit in the proper letter case to have their answer considered correct.

Create a significant figures question (x10)

The Significant Figures question type is most applicable to science and maths related units. This question type is similar to Arithmetic questions type, but allows users to enter their answers in scientific notation format. The questions are then graded based on what users entered as their significant digits.

Example: A user might submit an answer of 1.9 x 104. In this example, “1.9” are the significant digits.

  1. Click New and choose Significant Figures from the drop down box.
  2. Assign a Title (optional), Points value and a Difficulty level.
  3. Enter your Question Text in the text box. To refer to variables, type the variable surrounded with curly braces, e.g., “Answer the following: {x} x {y} =”
  4. Type the formula you use to calculate the correct answer in the Formula text field. Refer to step 4 in the Arithmetic question instructions for a list of supported functions.
  5. Choose the number of significant figures that the system should accept in answers from the Significant Figures drop-down list (this is the number of digits that are accepted in the non-exponent field). Choose a percentage value from the Default drop-down list if you want to assign only a certain portion of marks for this question for entering the correct significant digits. Example: You might choose to assign 70% of the points for this question for getting the significant figures correct, and 30% for getting the unit correct.
  6. Select the Tolerance level. Type the applicable value in the corresponding text field. For example, a tolerance of 3% would allow answers to be off by 3%, or a tolerance of 1.2 x 102 units would allow answers to be off by that much.
  7. If your question uses a certain kind of unit (for example, MPH, mm, etc.), type the unit in the Units text field.
  8. If you want to assign points for using the correct unit in the answer, choose a percentage value from the Worth drop-down list.
    Example: If 30% is chosen in the Worth drop-down list, a user would receive 30% of the points for the question for using the correct unit, and the remaining 70% would be earned by answering with the correct significant figures.
  9. Check Case Sensitive if the unit is case sensitive.
  10. In the Variables section, define all of the variables you used in the Question Text.
    a. Type the name of your variable (for example, x) in the Name column.
    b. Type the minimum value for the variable in the Min column.
    c. Type the maximum value for the variable in the Max column.
    d. In the Step field, type the increment that the system should use when choosing random numbers from the range you specified in the Min and Max fields.
    Example: If you create variable X with Min=100, Max=200 and Step=5, the system sets values for X that are increments of 5 over 100 (105, 110, 115, etc., up to 200).
    Note: The Min, Max, and Step values must all be entered in scientific notation. Enter the significant digits in the first text field, and the exponent in the second text field that is to the upper-right of “x10”.
  11. Click Test to ensure that your formula has been entered properly. The system provides a test case of the equation in a new page.
  12. Click Save.

Create fill in the blanks questions (FIB)

It is recommended that the total weight of your answers equals 100%, but this is not required. For example, if the question has a Point value of 3, and the question contains 3 answers with a Weight (%) of 50%, 100%, and 33.33%, then the first answer is worth 1.5 points (50% of the question’s Point value of 3), the second answer is worth 3 (100% of the question’s Point value of 3), and the third answer is worth 1 (33.33% of the question’s Point value of 3). Therefore, if a user answers all the answers correctly, the total points awarded for the question would be 5.5.

  1. Click New and choose Fill in the Blanks Question from the drop down box.
  2. Assign a Title (optional), Points value and a Difficulty level.
  3. Enter the Text that appears before the first blank in the first text field.
  4. Choose your blank size in the drop-down list.
  5. If you want to add more answers, click Add Answer.
  6. Enter a Weight (%) for each answer. The answer Weight (%) is a percentage of the assigned Point value for the question. For example, if the question has a Point value of 3, and the question contains 3 answers with a Weight (%) of 33.33% each, then each question is worth 1 point. (Each answer is worth 1/3 of the question’s Point value.)
  7. Enter the text that appears after the first blank in the next text field.
  8. If you want to add more text and blank options, click Add Text, Add Blank.
  9. Click Save.

Create a multi-select question (M-S)

Use multi-select questions to have users identify several correct answers out of a list of possible answers.

Example: Identify all of the prime numbers in the following list: 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 15.

    1. Click New and choose Multi-Select Question from the drop down box.
    2. Enter your Question Text in the text box.
    3. If you want to use an image in the question, click Add image to insert an image.
    4. Type the answer options in the answers text boxes. Click Add Answer to add more answer options.
    5. Check the Randomise answers for each student box to display the answers in random order to each user.
    6. Assign a Default Points.
    7. Choose a Grading format:
      a. All or nothing – Users receive full points for the question only if they select all of the correct answers and none of the incorrect answers. They receive zero points if they miss any correct answers or select any incorrect answers.
      b. Correct Selections – Users receive points for each correct answer they select and for incorrect answers they leave blank. Incorrect answers selected and correct answers left blank are ignored.
      c. Correct Answers, Limited Selections – For this grading type, points are evenly distributed across correct answers only. The number of selections allowed is limited to the number of correct answers. Users earn partial points for each correct answer selected.
      d. Right minus wrong – Users receive points equal to the number of right answers they choose minus the number of incorrect answers they choose. For example, if each answer is worth one point and a user selects 3 correct answers and 1 incorrect answer, they will receive 2 points for the question (3 minus 1).
      Note: To determine how much each answer is worth, the system takes the total number of points that the question is worth and divides it by the number of correct answers.
    8. Use the Options button to get access to Add Feedback, Add Hint, Add Short Description and Add Enumeration.
    9. Click Save.

Note: A check box label “None of the other options” is automatically added to every multi-select question in a quiz. If none of the answers to a multi-select question are checked as correct when the question is created, then the “None of the other options” choice is considered the correct answer. Users are unable to have the “None of the other options” box and other answer boxes checked at the same time. If no boxes are checked by a user the question is considered unanswered.

Create a matching question (MAT)

  1. Click New and choose Matching Question from the drop down box.
  2. Assign a Title (optional), Points value and a Difficulty level.
  3. Enter Question Text in the text box.
  4. Choose a Grading format:
    a. Equally weighted – user receives marks for each correct answer.
    b. All or nothing – user must have all the possible correct answers or else they receive no marks.
    c. Right minus wrong – the number of right answers chosen is subtracted from the number of wrong answers chosen to get an overall mark for the question.
  5. Type the question choices in the text boxes. If you want to add more choices, click the Add Choice button.
  6. Type the matches in the text boxes. If you want to add more choices, click the Add Match button.
  7. Use the drop-down list beside a match to select a corresponding choice number. This will create the matched pairs.
  8. Click Save.

Create an ordering question (ORD)

  1. Click New and choose Ordering Question from the drop down box.
  2. Assign a Title (optional), Points value and a Difficulty level.
  3. Enter question in the Question Text box.
  4. Choose a Grading format:
    a. Equally weighted – user receives marks for each correct answer.
    b. All or nothing – user must have all the possible correct answers or else they receive no marks.
    c. Right minus wrong – the number of right answers chosen is subtracted from the number of wrong answers chosen to get an overall mark for the question.
  5. Type in the question items in the text boxes. If you want to add more choices, click the Add Item button.
  6. Choose the Correct Order by using the drop-down lists.
  7. Click Save.
Managing quizzes
Rubrics

Connect with us: @dulearnfutures  | Tales4Teaching podcast | Contact us

back to top