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Questions are an important part of any course. Not only do they allow learners to practice and apply their knowledge, but they also power tests, passages, and can be connected to lessons. Categories are the structure of all question content. Both pages on BluePrint show practice and test questions. BluePrint offers a variety of answer types and allows you to connect groups of questions to the same content, called passages. As you create question categories and questions, learners will see this in the Practice section on the left navigation bar.
There are two ways to create questions and categories: Manually through BluePrint or through the import functionality.
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If you are familiar with data importing and have a large amount of question content, you may want to use the data import feature. To learn more about importing in questions and categories, click here.
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Otherwise, you can create your categories in the Question Categories section in BluePrint. Every question belongs to a category; sub-categories are optional. In both BluePrint and the Learning Platform, question subcategories appear nested within their parent categories.
To Create Questions and Categories in BluePrint:
- Log into BenchPrep
- Click the Menu Option on the upper right
- Click BluePrint
- Click Courses
- Click the Name of the Course that you wish to create questions for
- Click the down arrow to expand the Questions section
- Select Questions to create questions, or Question Categories to create categories
- Select the appropriate question type and follow respective instructions to create the question from the table below
Review Understanding "Question Content" vs "Answer Content" section to learn about the question & answer relationship.
Pro-Tips:
- If an additional content category level is required for questions, consider assigning external IDs to questions if you only need to keep track of them within BluePrint or using standard tags to display additional categorization for your learners. More about standard tags can be found here.
- Consider aligning categories with study tasks, learning objectives, or topics if your content lacks categorization.
- As you create your questions, make sure your content is aligned to the correct categories and is in the correct order (if question randomization is disabled) before making your course live for learners. Any changes to categories later on will affect the display and organization of course content.
Question and Answer Types
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Question Type |
Learner Experience |
Recommendations |
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Multiple Choice - One Answer Allowed |
The student/learner sees multiple answers to select, but only one is correct. |
Use this answer type for questions with one correct answer. When you specify an answer, we recommend using this format, "Solution: the correct answer is B,” followed by the rationale.
To learn more about Multiple Choice - One Answer Allowed, click here. |
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Multiple Choice - Multiple answers allowed |
The student/learner sees multiple answers to select and more than one of those answers are correct. They must select ALL correct answers to get credit.
A learner only receives full credit if all correct answers are selected. Scoring does not allow for partial credit. |
Use this answer type for questions with multiple correct answers. Specify the correct answer. We recommend using this format,"Solution: the correct answer is A and C,” followed by the rationale.
To learn more about Multiple Choice - Multiple answers allowed, click here. |
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Multiple Choice - One answer, Multiple Valid Answers |
The student/learner is presented with multiple correct answers, but only needs to select one of the presented answers. |
Use this answer type for questions with multiple correct answer choices where the learner should only select one. Specify the correct answer. We recommend using this format,"Solution: the correct answer is A, D, or E,” followed by the rationale.
To learn more about Multiple Choice - One answer, Multiple Valid Answers, click here. |
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Numeric Entry |
The learner will see an empty box to the right of the question to type in their response. The text field accepts numeric answers:
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Use this if a learner should type out a numeric phrase, such as a simple math expression or answer to a mathematical equation. For fraction answers, use the Text Entry answer type.
To learn more about Numeric Entry questions, click here. |
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Range |
This question type is similar to the Numeric Entry question type. If the correct answer falls within a range (say 3.0–4.0) where any entry within this range is correct, then you can use this question type. |
To learn more about Ranges, click here. |
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Text Entry (Also Math Entry) |
Like Numeric Entry, learners will see a text field to the right of the question. Unlike Numeric Entry, they can type any string of characters. This question type instructs students to type the correct answer, usually a single word or a short phrase. The answer validates the students response, awarding them a “correct” or “incorrect” based on their entry. |
When the system validates a user's answer, case and spaces are not considered; however, best practice is to input answers on BluePrint as lower case with normal spacing. If there are multiple correct ways to enter an answer (besides case and spacing), enter each as a separate answer. If the answer is an expression, enter every mathematical equivalent as a separate correct answer. Note: Only the first two possibilities will display to an end-user in question review mode. Do not create questions as Text Entry in order to include words with numbers (e.g. "about 17" or "13 or 15"). Currently, Text Entry is the only answer type that validates fractions. Separate the numerator and the denominator with a forward slash "/". For answers with exponents, complex fractions, or other complex math, consult BenchPrep.
To learn more about Text Entry, click here. |
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Free Response |
This is similar to the “Text Entry” question type, but there is no validation component. This question type is meant for longer responses, reflective statements, feedback, and/or summative purposes. For example, a question might ask a student to explain the advantages and disadvantages of using a certain system. Students receive a “Completed” status when finished — there is no “Correct” or “Incorrect” validation for this type. |
Use this if you'd like a learner to submit a short, written response. This answer type is always marked as complete in question review mode. We recommend formatting a correct response in the solution field with "Sample Response" at the top (styled as Heading 4). Underneath should be a sample explanation, pointers, and other information the learner should have covered in their response.
To learn more about Free Response, click here. |
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Table Entry |
This is a powerful question type that has multiple applications. Defining this is more complicated than a simple one/two sentence response. We have an article in this section dedicated to Table Entry question types should you want to learn more! |
To learn more about Table Entries, click here. |
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Ordered Drag Drop |
This question type instructs a learner to correctly order a list of options. For example, it might ask a learner to correctly order the steps an electrician needs to take in order to replace a circuit. |
To learn more about Ordered Drag and Drop, click here. |
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Unordered Drag Drop |
This question type is like the ordered drag and drop question, but order doesn’t matter. For example, a question might ask you to drag and drop the relevant tools needed to replace a circuit into the correct (digital) toolbox, and to ignore the ones that are unnecessary. |
To learn more about Unordered Drag and Drop, click here. |
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Hotspot |
This question type allows you to designate a certain area on an image or graph as being “correct,” and based on a learner’s mouse-click, awards them a “correct” or “incorrect” response. For example, you might ask a student to identify the source of a current in an image of a circuit. If they click on the correct source, they get the question right. |
To learn more about Hotspot, click here. |
| Hot Area | This question type expands upon the hotspot question type and allows you to designate multiple areas on an image or graph. Learners will then be able to select one or more areas to answer the question. | To learn more about Hot Area, click here. |
