Multi-Blank

For a multi-blank question students provide a text answer. This answer can be graded automatically or manually by an instructor. You can insert multiple blanks into a question. Each blank represents an answer group, which can contain multiple acceptable answers. You can also allow partial credit for a multi-blank question.

To create a multi-blank question:

1. Click the New Question button and choose Multi-Blank.

2. Enter a question Title.
   Note: When creating a new question, if you do not enter a question Title, it will auto-populate with the stem of the question when you click OK. If you do not want the Title to auto-populate for new questions, deselect the Automatically populate question titles option in your profile. 

3. Enter the question content in the word processor window.

4. Place your cursor where you want to insert a blank.

5.  Choose Insert Answer Group from the Insert menu.

6. Select New Group and click OK. The Answer Group dialog box opens.
   
   Note: If there are no existing answer groups, you will not be asked to create a group.

7. (Optional) Enter a Name for the group and select a Color to represent the group in the question.
   
   Note: The group names can only contain alphanumeric characters and must be unique within the question.

8. Enter the possible answers on separate lines and click OK. The group name is inserted into the question to indicate an answer blank.
   
   Note: You can enter **Any answer accepted** and the answer for the blank will be counted as correct regardless of what students enter. You can enter a variable to an answer group by typing the variable name in the text surrounded by two number signs on either side of it (e.g., ##VAR1##).

9. (Optional) Select an Answer blank size. Choose Single line for a traditional completion block. Choose Multiple lines to allow students to enter an open-ended answer.
   
   Note: If any of the groups in the question are set to Multiple lines, the question will automatically be set to be manually scored.

10. (Optional) If you want students to receive points even when they do not enter all the correct answers, select Allow partial credit and enter a Points value.
    
    Note: If the point value is not divisible by the number of answer blanks, the decimal portion of the score is ignored. For example, suppose a question is worth 5 points and there are 4 blanks in the question. With partial credit allowed, if students enter 3 of the blanks correctly, they will only receive 3 points.

11. (Optional) Click the Answer and Grading tab and select an Evaluation Mode.

    • Select Automatically scored to have the system score the questions. In most cases, you will want the question automatically scored.

    • Select Manually scored to have instructors the questions. This is used mainly for longer responses. If any of the groups in the question are set to Multiple lines, the question will automatically be set to be manually scored.

12. If students will need to enter special characters or formatting into their answers, select the appropriate palette from the Student text entry mode list. Enter the special characters into the answer groups using the Insert Symbol button .
    
    Note: You can only use one student entry palette across all the answer groups in a question. If you need to use characters contained on multiple palettes, select Complete from the Student text entry mode list to make all the special characters available to students.

13. (Optional) Click the Rationale tab to enter the reasoning behind the question or detailed information on the solution.

14. (Optional) Click the Info tab to enter additional question information.

    • If the question is connected to a table, picture, or other shared information, select a preface from the Preface drop-down list.

    • Click Info and Objectives to enter question information such as difficulty levels, references, and standards.

    • Select the Electronic only or Print only option to limit the question to only web or printed tests.

15. Click OK to record the question.

To insert an existing answer group into the question:

1. Place the cursor where an answer blank should be inserted and select Insert Answer Group from the Insert menu.

2. Select a group in the Select Answer Group dialog box and click OK. A group box is inserted into the text to indicate an answer blank.
   
   Note: You can insert the same answer group into a question multiple times. When you insert a group that contains more than one answer multiple times, students only receive credit for each of the answers in the group once.

Notes:

• Instead of following the directions in steps 3 and 4 above, you can enter the entire statement/question (including the answers) in the Question tab, highlight the answer text, and click the button.

• You can edit an answer group by double-clicking it in the question or by going to the Answer and Grading tab.

• For any question type that requires text input, a character palette is displayed during an online test. This palette allows students to enter foreign characters and select symbols into their answers.

• You can insert the same answer group into a question multiple times. When you insert a group that contains more than one answer multiple times, students only receive credit for each of the answers in the group once.

• If you are authoring content that may be exported for use in a learning management system (LMS), keep in mind that some LMSs will not support the full functionality of this question type.