Adding activities

Question types

The most popular question types used on OpenLearn Create are as follows:

• Multiple (single) choice – a multiple choice question with one correct answer
• Multiple response – a multiple choice question with more than one correct answer
• Select missing words – completing a sentence or paragraph from a drop-down list of words
• Drag and drop questions – dragging and dropping words into text or onto an image
• Matching – pairing two words, or a word with its definition
• True/False – best used if you do not allow learners to have multiple attempts, otherwise they're too easy
• Numerical – using numbers and units
• Short answer (pattern match) – where learners type their answers

Multiple (single) choice

This option should be used for a multiple-choice question with only one correct answer.

There is a skill involved in writing good multiple-choice questions. You should use plausible distractors; you also need to offer more options of responses than the number of tries you are offering because if the quiz is set to Interactive with multiple tries and you are providing hints, learners will have more than one opportunity to try a question and will eventually get the right answer without being fully tested on their understanding of the material.

It is helpful to provide hints or feedback for every attempt as well as for completing the question.

You can choose to have a penalty for each incorrect attempt, but you also need to consider what the pass grade is for the whole quiz in relation to penalties – the quiz could quickly be difficult to pass if the pass grade is set very high, such as 80%.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Multiple (single) choice and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Multiple (single) choice question.

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
• You may want to list the correct answers, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Scroll down to Answers to add the choices.
• It's best practice (and easier) to always make the first choice the correct answer. (You may have seen that a Shuffle the choices? option is selected by default.)
• Type the correct option into the first text box in Choice 1 and use the arrows to change the Grade from 'None' to '100%'.
• Type three incorrect options into the first text boxes in Choice 2, Choice 3, etc. without changing the 'None' under Grade. You can add more choices by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
• You may also want to add feedback to each choice’s Feedback field.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
• Click on Save changes.

Multiple response

This option should be used for a multiple-choice question with more than one correct answer – this OU-designed question type improves on the multiple (single) choice in the way it marks the question.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Multiple response and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Multiple response question.

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
• You may want to list the correct answers, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Scroll down to Answers to add the choices.
• However many correct answers your question has, it's best practice (and easier) to always put them at the start of the list of answer. (You may have seen that a Shuffle the choices? option is selected by default.) • Type the correct options into the first text box in Choice 1, Choice 2, etc., and tick the Correct tickbox.
• Type the incorrect options into the first text boxes in the other Choice fields without ticking the Correct tickbox You can add more choices by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
• You may also want to add feedback to each choice’s Feedback field.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt. Click on Save changes.

Select missing words

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Select missing words and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a select missing words question.

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text. This should include an instruction at the beginning telling the learner to select the correct missing word from the drop-down options available. Beneath that should be a sentence or paragraph. Replace the words that you want to be missing from the paragraph with ‘[[1]]’, ‘[[2]]’, etc.
• You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Scroll down to Choices to add the choices.
• Don’t untick the Shuffle tickbox.
• Whichever word was replaced with ‘[[1]]’ in the Question text should be added in the Choice [[1]] Answer field.
• Do the same with words replaced with ‘[[2]]’, ‘[[3]]’, etc. with the fields for Choice [[2]] Answer, Choice [[3]] Answer, etc. If you have more than six missing words in the Question text you can add more choices by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
• All options will be available in the drop-down list; you may prefer to group certain choices together by changing the letter in the Group drop-down list.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
• Click on Save changes.

Drag and drop questions

The Drag and drop into text question type is used for dropping missing words into predefined gaps in a piece of text. The form for writing one of these questions works in the same way as the Select missing words question type.

The Drag and drop onto image question type can be used to add labels to an image, such as a map or graph.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Drag and drop onto image and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding drag and drop onto image. 

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
• You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Add the background image (such as a map or graph) to the relevant field under Preview.
• Under Draggable items you can add the text or images that you want to drag onto your background image.
• Under Drop zones you can define the correct places where the text or images under Draggable items go on your background image. You will need to enter X and Y coordinates in the Left and Top fields. This will require some trial and error, so you may need to save the question and preview it a few times to confirm that the drop zines have been defined correctly.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
• Click on Save changes.

Matching

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Matching and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Matching question. 

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
• You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Scroll down to Answers to add the choices.
• Add questions in the Question fields, each with its Answer. In the quiz there will be a list of questions with the answers shuffled in a drop-down list. You should add extra answers as distractors to make the question more challenging. You can add more questions or answers by clicking on the Blanks for 3 more choices button.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
• Click on Save changes.

True/False

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to True/False and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a True/False question. 

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
• You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Define whether the answer is true or false under Correct answer.
• You may also want to add feedback to each choice’s Feedback field.
• Click on Save changes.

Numerical

Questions that require a numerical answer should use the Numerical question type.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Numerical and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Numerical question. 

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text.
• You may want to list the correct answer, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• Add your answers under Answers. You can also include the margin of error.
• Define the Grade using the drop-down list with a percentage mark that reflects how accurate the answer is.
• You may also want to add feedback to each answer’s Feedback field.
• You can define whether units are required in the answer and which unit is correct under Unit handling and Units.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
• Click on Save changes.

Short answer (pattern match)

This question type gives learners a free-text box to type their answer into. It’s the most complex question type offered in the quiz, but – programmed correctly – it can accommodate misspellings, specification of synonyms and alternative phrases, flexible word order and check on the proximity of words. The learner’s response needs to match against any number of response matching patterns: each pattern is compared with the learner response until a match is found so that feedback and marks can be assigned. The key to using it is asking questions that can be marked accurately. We strongly recommend that you limit the response to 20 words maximum.

Scroll down the list in the Choose a question type to add box to Short answer (pattern match) and click on it to select it. Then click on the Add button.

This will take you to a new screen, Adding a Short answer (pattern match) question. 

• After filling in the Question name, add the question in Question text. The question should include at least one text box for learners; a box with twenty letter spaces, for example, will be added if you include ‘__20__’ in your question. If you need a larger answer box you include ‘__20x3__’ in your question.
• You may want to list the correct answers, or other feedback, in General feedback.
• You can define answer settings under Answer options.
• Scroll down to Answers to add your answers.
• Enter the correct answer in the Model answer field.
• The text in the Answer 1 must match field must be written using pattern match syntax. Full documentation can be found on Moodle’s website. 
• You can add further answers in the Answer 2 must match, Answer 3 must match, etc. fields.
• Define the Grade using the drop-down list with a percentage mark that reflects how accurate the answer is.
• You may also want to add feedback to each answer’s Feedback field.
• You can add more answers by clicking on the Blanks for 3 More Answers button.
• If you set up your quiz with the Interactive with multiple tries setting, you may want to add hints for the learner under Multiple tries, with or without a penalty for each incorrect attempt.
• Click on Save changes.