Learning Suite - Exams Question Types


General Information

You can create a new questions by clicking "+ New question" or by clicking the + icon next to the list of questions. Questions can be moved around by clicking and dragging the question to a new position in the list of questions.

All question descriptions, and most answer boxes, have the rich text editor available in other parts of Learning Suite. This allows you to format the questions how you would like, as well as add images, files, videos, etc. You also have the option to write and add math equations using the  button at the end of the bar. For more information on using the LaTeX equation tool, see KB0025830.

Important: Many question types have issues being edited AFTER students have taken/started taking the exam. This is due to Learning Suite trying to keep the exam consistent for both students who have and who have not taken the exam. If at all possible, make sure that all changes that need to be made to an exam are done before students begin taking it. If changes need to made, or if you have any other questions, please call OIT at 801-422-4000.

 

Table of Contents

Question Blocks

Note: This is not a question pool feature like what was available in Blackboard. There is currently no feature in Learning Suite to create a pool of questions to pick from later.

One option for exam questions is to group them together in blocks of questions. This is often used when one or more questions are related, or require special instructions. For example, if a graph or story is used to answer a set of questions then that could be put in the question block description and then each question in the block can reference that material. 

To create a question block, click on "+ New question block" and a new window will appear. You can use images, links, math equations and text to give a description to your question block. It does not require a description to be saved, but it does require a title. You also have the options to:

You'll notice in the example above that there are clear blue areas where the question block begins and ends. There are a number of + icons where you can add questions. One way to add a new question to a block is to click on one of the + icons that are slightly indented between the blue ends of the question block. You can also move questions from outside the block to inside of it.

 

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True/False

After clicking "+ New Question" you can select "True/False" from the Type drop down box in the top left of the window that opens. You can then type the text for the question, but the two answer options are already filled in as True and False. They can be edited to say what you would like, but by default they are set to True and False. 

By clicking the T or F  in the "Correct" column then you can designate which answer is correct. The correct answer is the one that is worth the most points. So choosing a correct answer will give that answer 1 more point than any of the others. If you make a different answer worth more points than the correct answer, that answer will be designated as the new correct answer.

 

Feedback and Options

You can leave feedback for the answers that are chosen. You can select that the feedback is either different for each answer, or the same for all answers. The message you type in the feedback box will display for the student when they review the exam after they have finished.

True/False questions have the following other options available:

An example of a true/false question below:

 

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Multiple Choice

After clicking "+ New Question" you can select "Multiple Choice" from the Type drop down box in the top left of the window that opens. You can then type out a description for the question, as well as the possible answers for the question. Click "Add New" if you want to add another possible answer to the question. If you want less possible answers, simply click on the trash can icon next to the point value of the answer that you want to delete.

Note: You cannot have only one possible response. The lowest you can set is 2, with the most possible answers being 10.

Only one answer can be marked as correct. You can either click on the corresponding letter in the "Correct" column to choose which answer is correct, or you can add points to the different answers. The answer that is worth the most points will be designated as the correct one, but you can give partial credit to incorrect answers as well. This can be any amount that you want, for any number of answers, but again the one that is worth the most will be the correct answer.

 

Feedback and Options

You can leave feedback for the answers that are chosen. The default is that you can set feedback for the correct response, and feedback for all incorrect responses. You could also have the feedback be different for each answer, or the same for all answers. The message you type in the feedback box will display for the student when they review the exam after they have finished.

Multiple Choice questions have the following other options available:

An example of a multiple choice question below:

 

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Multiple Response

After clicking "+ New Question" you can select "Multiple Response" from the Type drop down box in the top left of the window that opens. You can then type out a description for the question, as well as the possible answers for the question. Click "Add New" if you want to add another possible answer to the question. If you want less possible answers, simply click on the trash can icon next to the point value of the answer that you want to delete.

Note: You cannot have only one possible response. The lowest you can set is 2, with the most possible answers being 10.

Multiple answers can be marked as correct, but you can mark only one if you want. You can either click on the corresponding letter in the "Correct" column to choose which answers are correct, or you can add points to the different answers. Any answer that is marked correct will given a point value of at least 1. Correct answers can be given any number of positive points, so you can potentially have multiple correct answers, but some that are worth more than others. 

Note: If you leave all other incorrect answers with point values of 0, Learning Suite will notify you that the way you have set up the question will allow students to check all responses and not be penalized for doing so. It is encouraged that you either:

  1. Assign negative point values to incorrect responses or,

  2. Check the option that all answers that the student marks must be the correct answers to receive credit.

 

Feedback and Options

You can leave feedback for the answers that are chosen. The default is set to leave different feedback for each response. You can change that so that it can be different for correct and incorrect responses, or the same for all answers. The message you type in the feedback box will display for the student when they review the exam after they have finished.

Multiple Response questions have the following other options available:

An example of a multiple response question below:

 

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Open Response

After clicking "+ New Question" you can select "Multiple Response" from the Type drop down box in the top left of the window that opens. You can type out the question here, but you cannot specify what answers are correct. Below the question text box you can adjust the response box height. This is the number of lines that are available for the student to type in. You can also set the point value for the question.

Note: If you choose to include an open response question, you will need to manually grade this question for each student after the exam has been taken by them. The final results of the exam will NOT push to the Scores page in BYU Grades without the open response question being graded. The only exception to this is if you mark that any response gets full credit for this question. In that case Learning Suite will administer the points, as the content of the response does not matter. To grade the open response questions, you will need to go to the Scoring or Results section in the Exam and open up an individual student's attempt.

 

Feedback and Options

Feedback is different for open response questions. When you go to grade the question then you can leave comments under the point value that you assign. This is typically what is done as it allows for individualized feedback for each student. If desired, you can leave generic feedback that each student will see regardless of their response. This can be enabled by checking the Add feedback option at the bottom of the window.

Open Response questions have the following other options available:

An example of a open response question below:

 

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Fill in the Blank

After clicking "+ New Question" you can select "Multiple Response" from the Type drop down box in the top left of the window that opens. You can begin typing a question and then add a blank into the description to have students fill in. Typically these are given in the context of a sentence. You can have as many blanks as you want, but each blank is actually treated as an individual question. i.e. a "question" with 3 blanks at the start of the exam would be designated as questions 1-3 of the exam. 

There are several different types of ways that the answers can be graded. If you leave the answer area blank, then the response from the student will be treated as an open response question, and need to be graded manually. There are 5 different computer-scored answer types that you can use though:

  1. Text - This includes regular phrases or words. Every possible combination of the answer needs to be entered to ensure correct computer-scored answer matching. Ex: blue, Blue

  2. Number - This includes any numerical entries. There are three number types:

    1. Normal - This allows you to enter normal numbers. Ex: 12.5

    2. Range - This allows you to enter a range of numbers that are considered correct. End values can be included or excluded. Ex: [12.5 - 13.5]

    3. Tolerance - This allows you to enter an amount of error that is accepted in students' responses. The acceptable amount of error can be a normal number or a percentage. Ex: 15.5 +/- 5%

  3. Date - This allows you to enter a specific date format as the correct answer. The format listed is Month, Day, Year.

  4. Wildcard - This allows you to enter a * or ? into the correct response to enhance computer-scored answer matching. For example, if 123??? is entered as the correct response, "123" followed by any combination of three numbers is considered correct. Ex: 123456 or 123789

    • Note: Be sure to only enter * or ? into the wildcard option. If entered into any other fill in the blank type students must include those characters in their answer to receive credit.
       
    • * means that any number of characters can be entered and be counted as correct. ? needs to be entered for each digit desired. In the above example, if the student answered 12345678 with the wildcard being 123??? then the answer is incorrect. However if the wildcard was 123* then their response would be correct. 

  5. Regex is an abbreviation for "regular expression" and is a more complex version of wildcard. This allows you to enter a wide variety of characters to create sequences that enhance answer matching. For example, a regex such as ^gr[ae]y$ will match either "gray" or "grey." Students' responses must match anything that begins with ^ and ends with $. Click here for more information about regular expressions.

    • Note: Regex is currently a beta version

 

Feedback and Options

You can leave feedback for answers that are entered. The default is to leave feedback that is the same for all answers, but you can also change it to being different for correct and incorrect answers.

Fill in the Blank questions have the following other options available:

An example of a fill in the blank question below:

 

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Matching

After clicking "+ New Question" you can select "Multiple Response" from the Type drop down box in the top left of the window that opens. You can type a description explaining the matching problem. Each match will count as a separate question, like the blanks with fill in the blank. You can add as many new pairs as you like, but they will all be new questions in the exam. You need to give a name to each column for the prompts and the match list. 

To create the match list, click "Edit Match List" and type in each match one at a time. If you use the gray boxes next to the prompt then you can assign the corresponding match. You can have more match possibilities than are listed as correct. Those will show as (not used) but they will still show as possible options for the students.

 

Feedback and Options

You can leave feedback for answers that are entered. The default is to leave feedback that is the same for all answers, but you can also change it to being different for correct and incorrect answers.

Matching questions have the following other options available:

An example of a matching question below:

 

Note: It is possible to make certain questions worth negative point values, but an individual question can never be worth less than 0 points. 

Important: If anyone has taken or started the exam, Learning Suite will not allow the professor to delete answers for matching questions. Any matching answers that the professor wishes to delete must be done before any student has taken or started it.

 

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Hot Spot Questions

BYU Learning Suite Exams allow for the option to have Hot Spot question types. A Hot Spot question is an image based question where the student is required to select a location on the image to match the question. Follow the steps below to learn how to add a hot spot question to your exam. For more information about Hot Spot Questions, visit https://lsinfo.byu.edu/hot-spot-questions

 

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Dynamic Questions

As of Fall 2020, Faculty can choose X questions from Y question bank to randomly generate exams. This option can increase exam security since students will get different versions of the exam. To access this feature professors will go from the exam questions page to: Add from Question Bank > Select the question bank they want for their test > Random Sample>Advanced > Check the box with dynamic questions.

 

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Math Equations

Sometimes math equations will expand until they fill the screen. We recommend that students use a different browser, and that instructors take a screenshot of the equation and upload that instead. See this article for more information.

 

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Matching Questions not Randomizing

This is typically due to having more than 20 responses. Whether or not that is the case, still do the following:

  1. Use the Learning Suite template.

  2. Document the error message and circumstances of the problem, as well as any work that you have done.

 

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Broken Images in Questions

Try deleting the image from the instructor side and re-adding it from the files, OR downloading the image, re-uploading to Learning Suite, and putting the image back in the question. See this article.

 

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Exam Feedback Disappeared

With past updates to Learning Suite, there is now a dropdown menu for feedback. If your exam was created before the update, you may not see the feedback anymore. If you select the correct type of feedback that you want, the old feedback will reappear.  

If the exam was created after the update, try a different browser and clearing cache and cookies of the browsers that you use. If the feedback is still not there, then you will need to re-enter the feedback as there is a not a log of feedback that has been entered for Learning Suite to retrieve information from. 

 

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