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Select a blank question

In Select a Blank questions participants indicate their answer by selecting the word(s) or phrase(s) missing from the question wording from a pull-down list of choices.

Adding the question wording 

To create or edit the wording for your Select a Blank question, click where it says Click here to change the question wording and enter the question wording you desire. You can use the text formatting toolbar to present the question wording in any way you wish. Refer to Using the text formatting toolbar for more information on how to do this. 

When you have entered the question wording and description, we recommend that you check the spelling of your text. To do so, click the Spell check button. 

The following options are available when saving a question: 

  • Click Save to save all changes and continue editing the question. A message appears confirming the question has been saved. 
  • Click the drop-down arrow next to the Save button and then: 
  • select Save and new Multiple Choice to save all changes and begin creating a new Multiple Choice question, 
  • hover over Save and new..., and then select the type of question to create, 
  • or select Save and exit to save all changes and exit the question editor. 

If changes have been made to a question, a revision comment must be entered first before exiting the question editor. 

Click Exit to leave the question editor. If any changes have been made to the question, a message appears warning that these changes will not be saved. 

Setting the delivery style 

It is possible to choose how you want to deliver your Select a Blank question. You can deliver the question in the following delivery styles: 

  • Scored provides the ability to add specific scoring and feedback values to the question choices. 
  • Unscored provides a simple question layout for survey-based assessments with the ability to add feedback but not set scores. 

Creating a blank 

Note: If you select a word by double-clicking it, you may notice that the trailing space (the space immediately after the last letter of the word you've selected) is also selected. This is normal, and trailing spaces will not actually be included in the blank itself. There are cases, however, when a word is followed by a space and then a non-text embedded element (such as an image), where not only is the trailing space included in the blank but the image and its trailing space as well. To avoid this, you can left-click and drag your mouse over the exact characters you want to include in the blank. You can also deselect trailing spaces (or any individual characters) by selecting a word and then holding Shift and pressing the left arrow key on your keyboard once. 

After you have entered the question wording for your Select a Blank question, to create a blank: 

  • Highlight the word or phrase in the question wording that you want to be the blank. 
  • Click Create a blank. 
  • In the example in the above screenshot, the word "Vancouver" has now becomes a blank and its own selectable object in the question wording field. Beneath the question wording, you will have the option to set the following values for this blank: 
  • In the Correct value field, you can edit the blank. Any changes will be reflected in the blank in the question wording field. 
  • To set the incorrect blanks that can be selected, click the Edit button to the right of the Incorrect values field. 
  • Enter the incorrect blanks, one per line, and then click OK to save them or Cancel to clear them. 

 To create more blanks, highlight the word or phrase in the question wording that you want to be a blank and then click Create a blank. New blanks will appear below already-existing blanks. 

Warning: The same blank option cannot be selected by a participant more than once in a Select a Blank question. Keep this in mind when creating Select a Blank questions. 

To delete a blank: 

  • You can delete the blank from the question wording field by selecting it and pressing Delete on your keyboard. 
  • When you leave the question wording filed, a prompt will appear to confirm deletion. Click OK to cancel the blank or Cancel to abort the deletion. 

If you want to clear all of the blanks you have created, click Reset all blanks. 

  • A prompt will appear to confirm deletion. Click OK to reset all blanks or Cancel to abort the deletion of all blanks. 

If you double-click on a blank in the question wording, the corresponding blank text field will be selected, and you can immediately begin editing it if you desire. 

Scoring answers 

By default, the Select a Blank question is set to Score per blank, which means a score is awarded for each blank. 

  • To set a score for correctly entering a blank, enter the desired score in the Correct score field. 
  • To set a score for incorrectly entering a blank, enter the desired score in the Incorrect score field. 

If you uncheck the Score per blank option, a score will only be awarded if all blanks are entered correctly. 

  • To set a score for correctly identifying all blanks, enter the desired score in the Correct score field. 
  • To set a score for incorrectly identifying all blanks, enter the desired score in the Incorrect score field. 

Showing feedback 

You can choose to present feedback to participants based on the blanks they enter, although you do not have to do so. For example, you may wish to provide more details to the participant on why a particular blank is correct or incorrect, such as, "Sorry, that city is not the capital of B.C.." 

If you're using the Score per blank option, you can enter correct and incorrect feedback for each blank. 

  • To specify feedback for correctly entering a blank, enter it in the Enter optional feedback here field of the Correct score section for that blank. 
  • To specify feedback for incorrectly entering a blank, enter it in the Enter optional feedback here field of the Incorrect Score section for that blank. 

If you aren't using the Score per blank option, you can enter feedback for correctly or incorrectly entering all blanks. 

  • To specify feedback for correctly or not correctly entering all blanks, enter the text you desire in the appropriate Enter optional feedback here field. 

Adding a comment box 

Adding a comment box to a question enables participants to provide a response to your Select a Blank question. 

  • To add a comment box to a question, click Add comment box. The comment box will be added to the bottom of the question. 
  • You can specify prompt text for the comment box by entering it in the Add your comment field. 

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