Assessing student work>>Creating and managing questions>>Adding and removing questions

Authoring assessment questions offline

You can author assessment questions in a text file (.txt) and then upload them to an assessment. The file can include any combination of Multiple-Choice, Multiple-Answer, True/False, Ordering, Matching, Fill-in-the-Blank, and Essay questions.

To author questions offline:

  1. Use a text editor, such as Notepad, to open or create a .txt file.

  2. Write your questions following the question syntax and formatting guidelines below. Separate fields in the file using TAB spaces.

  1. Save the file as a .txt file.

  2. Upload the file to CourseCompass.

Question syntax and format guidelines for each question type

The syntax for each question type follows these conventions:

Question Type

Structure

Example

Multiple-choice

MC <TAB> question text {<TAB> answer text <TAB> correct or incorrect}

MC   What color is an orange?   Yellow   incorrect   Orange   correct   Green   incorrect   Red   incorrect

Multiple-answer

MA <TAB> question text {<TAB> answer text <TAB> correct or incorrect}

MA   Which cities are in France?   Paris   correct   Milan   incorrect   Nice   correct   Berlin incorrect

True/false

TF <TAB> question text <TAB> true or false

TF   Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.   true

Ordering

ORD <TAB> question text {<TAB>   answer text in correct order}

 

Note: Enter the answers in the correct order. The system will randomly order the answers.

ORD   Place these weekdays in the correct order.   Monday   Tuesday   Wednesday   Thursday   Friday

Matching

MAT <TAB> question text {<TAB> answer text <TAB> matching text}

 

Note: The system will randomly order the answers and their matches.

MAT   Match the traffic signal to the action it signals.   Red light   Stop   Green light   Go   Yellow light   Proceed with caution

Fill-in-the-blank

FIB <TAB> question text {<TAB> answer text}

FIB   The ____________ stage of cognitive development begins at birth.   Sensorimotor   Sensory Motor

Essay

<TAB> question text <TAB> [sample response]

ESS   Describe the characteristics of mammals.   Mammals are warm-blooded, have hair, have mammary (milk-secreting) glands, have sudoriferus (sweat) glands, have sebaceous (fat-secreting) glands, have heterodont dentition (different types of teeth).