Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

How do I create a Fill in the Blank question in New Quizzes?

When creating a quiz, you can create a Fill in the Blank question in New Quizzes. Fill in the Blank questions can have multiple blank spaces and include various answer types.

Each blank space is given a point value calculated by dividing the total points possible by the number of blank spaces. Correct answer choices are awarded this point value and no points are subtracted for incorrect answers. For example, a Fill in the Blank question with four blanks that is worth 1 point would assign a point value of 0.25 to each blank. If a student selects two correct answers and two incorrect answers, they would be awarded a total of 0.50 points for the question.

You can also duplicate Fill in the Blank questions to create a new question.

00:00: How do I create a Fill in the Blank question in New Quizzes?

00:04: To create a question, click the Add button anywhere in the quiz.

00:09: Click the Add Fill in the Blank button.

00:12: In the Question Title field, add a question title. Question titles

00:16: are optional and are not visible to students.

00:20: In the Question Stem field, add the question stem.

00:23: The question stem contains additional instructions and information for

00:27: your Fill in the Blank question.

00:29: Enter a statement and surround a word with backticks to indicate where a user will

00:34: fill in the answer (e.g., "Roses are `red`,

00:36: violets are `blue`"). You can use the Rich Content Editor or the HTML

00:41: view to format and add content to your question stem.

00:45: And the answer type menu, select the answer type to use for a blank space.

00:49: Fill in the blank answer types are open entry drop

00:53: down or word Bank.

00:55: For Open Entry answer types, you will need to select a Text Match

01:00: option from the Text Match menu. The following options are available:

01:05: Contains: Allows for the text to exist anywhere in student responses.

01:09: However, student answers must match the specified spelling

01:13: and case. For example, if the blank is "panda", an answer of "It's

01:17: a panda" will be marked correct, while an answer of "Panda" will be marked incorrect.

01:22: Close enough uses levenshtein distance to determine if the response is close

01:27: enough to the correct answer levenshtein distance is the number of Single

01:31: Character edits needed to change one word to another.

01:34: You can choose to ignore case.

01:38: Exact Match: Requires case and spelling to match

01:41: exactly.

01:43: Specify Correct Answers: Allows for multiple correct answers to

01:47: be specified. For example, if the response is "panda"

01:51: and the correct answers specified are "panda" and "Panda", an

01:55: answer of "panda" or "Panda" will be marked correct,

01:57: while an answer of "PANDA" will be marked incorrect.

02:01: Regular Expression Match: Requires using specialized text strings

02:05: that describe search patterns. The following step includes a few examples

02:09: of basic concepts used in regular expressions.

02:13: Regular expressions are not recommended for beginners and cannot

02:17: be explained in full in this guide. To begin learning more about

02:21: regular expressions, read the Regular Expression Wikipedia entry.

02:26: For Dropdown answer types, enter the answer choices in the Possible Choices

02:31: fields. Click the button next to the correct answer.

02:35: To add additional answers, click the Add Answer link. To delete

02:39: an answer, click the Delete icon.

02:42: To delete an answer, click the Delete icon.

02:46: For wordbank answer types. Enter the answer choices in the correct answer

02:50: Fields. Enter words in the word Bank distractors, section

02:54: 2.

02:56: Enter words in the Word Bank Distractors section.

03:00: To add additional distractor words, click the Add Distractor link.

03:05: To delete a distractor word, click the Delete icon.

03:10: To reuse wordbank choices. Click the allow wordbank choices to be reused

03:14: checkbox.

03:16: To allow students to use an on-screen calculator for this question.

03:20: Click the show on screen calculator, checkbox? If

03:25: you select this option, you can enable a basic calculator or scientific calculator.

03:29: The basic calculator displays numbers and basic math

03:33: functions. Add subtract multiply divide, the

03:37: scientific calculator, displays more options for advanced calculations.

03:43: To align the question to an outcome, click anywhere in the Align to Outcomes

03:47: section.

03:49: If you want to save a question to use in other quizzes, you can add it to an item

03:53: bank. To add the question to an item bank,

03:56: click the Add to Bank link.

03:59: To customize the point value for the question, type the point value in the Points field

04:03: or use the arrows to increase or decrease the point value.

04:08: To leave feedback for students, click the Feedback icon.

04:12: To save the question, click the Done button.

04:15: This guide covered how to create a fill in the blank question in New Quizzes.

Add Question

To create a question, click the Add button anywhere in the quiz.

Add Fill in the Blank Question

Click the Add Fill in the Blank button.

Add Question Title and Stem

In the Question Title field [1], add a question title. Question titles are optional and are not visible to students.

In the Question Stem field [2], add the question stem. The question stem contains additional instructions and information for your Fill in the Blank question.

Enter a statement and surround a word with backticks to indicate where a user will fill in the answer (e.g., "Roses are `red`, violets are `blue`"). You can use the Rich Content Editor or the HTML view to format and add content to your question stem.

Note: To create a backtick using a U.S. keyboard, press the `(backtick) key located below the escape key.

Select Answer Type

In the Answer Type menu [1], select the answer type to use for a blank space. Fill in the Blank answer types are Open Entry [2], Dropdown [3], or Word Bank [4].

Select Text Match

For Open Entry answer types, you will need to select a Text Match option from the Text Match menu. The following options are available:

Contains [1]:Allows for the text to exist anywhere in student responses. However, student answers must match the specified spelling and case. For example, if the blank is "panda", an answer of "It's a panda" will be marked correct, while an answer of "Panda" will be marked incorrect.
Close Enough [2]: Uses Levenshtein Distance to determine if the response is close enough to the correct answer. Levenshtein Distance is the number of single-character edits needed to change one word to another. You can choose to ignore case.
Exact Match [3]: Requires case and spelling to match exactly.
Specify Correct Answers[4]: Allows for multiple correct answers to be specified. For example, if the response is "panda" and the correct answers specified are "panda" and "Panda", an answer of "panda" or "Panda" will be marked correct, while an answer of "PANDA" will be marked incorrect.
Regular Expression Match [5]: Requires using specialized text strings that describe search patterns. The following step includes a few examples of basic concepts used in regular expressions. Regular expressions are not recommended for beginners and cannot be explained in full in this guide. To begin learning more about regular expressions, read the Regular Expression Wikipedia entry.

Regular Expression Match Examples

You can use the question mark (?) to indicate zero or one occurrences of the preceding element, the asterisk (*) to indicate zero or more occurrences of the preceding element, and the plus sign (+) to indicate one or more occurrences of the preceding element. For example, colou?r matches both "color" and "colour"; "ab*c" matches "ac", "abc", "abbc", etc.; "ab+c" matches "abc", "abbc", "abbbc", etc.

You can use a vertical bar (|) to separate alternatives, such as "gray|grey".

You can use parentheses ("()") to define the scope and precedence of the operators. For example, gr(a|e)y matches "gray" and "grey".

Select Possible Choices

For Dropdown answer types, enter the answer choices in the Possible Choices fields [1]. Click the button next to the correct answer [2].

To add additional answers, click the Add Answer link [3]. To delete an answer, click the Delete icon [4].

Select Word Bank

For Word Bank answer types, enter the answer choices in the Correct Answer fields [1]. Enter words in the Word Bank Distractors section [2].

To add additional distractor words, click the Add Distractor link [3]. To delete a distractor word, click the Delete icon [4].

Set Options

To reuse word bank choices, click the Allow word bank choices to be reused checkbox [1]. To allow students to use an on-screen calculator for this question, click the Show on-screen calculator checkbox [2].

If you select this option, you can enable a basic calculator [3] or a scientific calculator [4]. The basic calculator displays numbers and basic math functions (add, subtract, multiply, divide). The scientific calculator displays more options for advanced calculations.

Notes:

The on-screen calculator option is intended to be used while displaying one question at a time. If the quiz does not display one question at a time, students may be able to use the calculator for all questions.
If enabled at both the individual question level and in the Quiz Settings, the on-screen calculator will display within the question instead of at the top of the page.

Align to Outcome

To align the question to an outcome, click anywhere in the Align to Outcomes section.

Add to Item Bank

If you want to save a question to use in other quizzes, you can add it to an item bank.

To add a question to an item bank, click the Add to Bank link.

Note: After a question has been added to an item bank, it can only be edited in the item bank. You can still set unique point values and options in the quiz for an item bank question.

Add Point Value and Feedback

To customize the point value for the question, type the point value in the Points field [1] or use the arrows to increase or decrease the point value [2].

To leave feedback for students, click the Feedback icon [3].

Save Question

To save the question, click the Done button.

Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

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