This article introduces you to the question builder in EXAMIND.
What Is the Question Builder?
The Question Builder is the page where you build questions. It can be accessed through the Question Bank, which is within a Course.
There are 2 ways to access the Question Builder:
There are 2 ways to access the Question Builder:
- By clicking the New Question button on the bottom right of the Question Bank.
- By clicking on the title of an existing question in the Question Bank.
If you access the Question Builder via clicking the New Question button you will be prompted to give the new question a "Question Title" otherwise you will enter directly into the Question Builder. After entering the new Question Title, click on Create Question (as seen below).
You will then be brought to the Details page within the Question Builder:
Within the Details page you can edit the Question Title, assign Keyword Tags, classify the question based on the Bloom's Taxonomy Level, and enter the estimated time a student needs to answer the question. If the question was imported into EXAMIND, we will automatically assign a Bloom's Taxonomy Level and Estimated Time Needed.
Below is a brief explanation of each item within the Details page:
Below is a brief explanation of each item within the Details page:
Question Title
Give your question a meaningful title to stay organized. The question title is used throughout the instructor platform for ease-of-use. Students will not see the question title. You are encouraged to keep the question title under 30 characters to keep things simple and organized. However, you are allowed to exceed the 30 character limit.
Keyword Tags
Question tags are useful for organizing and sorting your questions. There are no limits to question tags, as you can put as many as you want. We recommend tagging questions with difficulty and a reference (such as a chapter in the textbook, the assessment the question is used in, or the topic of the question). To create a tag, enter the text and then select "return" and the text will turn into a chip to indicate that a keyword tag has been created.
Give your question a meaningful title to stay organized. The question title is used throughout the instructor platform for ease-of-use. Students will not see the question title. You are encouraged to keep the question title under 30 characters to keep things simple and organized. However, you are allowed to exceed the 30 character limit.
Keyword Tags
Question tags are useful for organizing and sorting your questions. There are no limits to question tags, as you can put as many as you want. We recommend tagging questions with difficulty and a reference (such as a chapter in the textbook, the assessment the question is used in, or the topic of the question). To create a tag, enter the text and then select "return" and the text will turn into a chip to indicate that a keyword tag has been created.
Bloom's Taxonomy Level
Select from the dropdown box the Bloom's Taxonomy Level that is associated with the question. The Bloom's Taxonomy aims to classify learning stages from remembering facts to creating new ideas based on the student's acquired knowledge. The taxonomy serves as a proxy for question quality and the overall quality of the instructor's assessment design. If an exam is primarily made up of "remembering" and "understanding" question levels, we recommend that the instructor consider revising questions or adding new questions that move up the taxonomy to better assess a student's critical thinking skills rather than using questions that focus on a student's rudimentary memorization skills.
Estimated Time Needed
The estimated time needed can be edited by entering the time (in number of minutes) that an average student needs to answer the question. This feature provides insight when building an assessment. If the estimated time needed to answer each question in the assessment exceeds the amount of time allotted for the assessment the instructor should consider revising the questions so that students have adequate time to complete their assessment.
Select from the dropdown box the Bloom's Taxonomy Level that is associated with the question. The Bloom's Taxonomy aims to classify learning stages from remembering facts to creating new ideas based on the student's acquired knowledge. The taxonomy serves as a proxy for question quality and the overall quality of the instructor's assessment design. If an exam is primarily made up of "remembering" and "understanding" question levels, we recommend that the instructor consider revising questions or adding new questions that move up the taxonomy to better assess a student's critical thinking skills rather than using questions that focus on a student's rudimentary memorization skills.
Estimated Time Needed
The estimated time needed can be edited by entering the time (in number of minutes) that an average student needs to answer the question. This feature provides insight when building an assessment. If the estimated time needed to answer each question in the assessment exceeds the amount of time allotted for the assessment the instructor should consider revising the questions so that students have adequate time to complete their assessment.
Anatomy of the Question Builder
There are 2 windows/tabs inside the question builder:
- Edit
- Review
Within the Edit tab you are provided with a question text editor to create your question and an explanation box.
Question Text Editor
This is where you create the question that will be displayed to students. Scroll down for more information on how to work with the question text editor.
Explanation Box
This is for internal notes to explain how you arrived at your answer. This will not be shown to students. If the question was imported earlier, EXAMIND will automatically create an explanation. Otherwise, you can enter your own explanation for the question.
This is where you create the question that will be displayed to students. Scroll down for more information on how to work with the question text editor.
Explanation Box
This is for internal notes to explain how you arrived at your answer. This will not be shown to students. If the question was imported earlier, EXAMIND will automatically create an explanation. Otherwise, you can enter your own explanation for the question.
Understanding the Question Text Editor
EXAMIND's question text editor is designed to act like a word document with special powers. This means that you can make questions as long as you want by mixing any question type together. You can also add variables to your questions with the Dynamic Engine.
To add a question type, simple type in your question stem. Press enter and select the "+" button that appears to the right. You will see a list of question types that can be added.
To add a question type, simple type in your question stem. Press enter and select the "+" button that appears to the right. You will see a list of question types that can be added.
EXAMIND supports the following question types:
- Fill-in-the-blank
- Journal Entry
- Matching
- Multiple Answer
- Multiple Choice
- Short Answer
- Multi-step (Combinations of question types within one question)
To learn how to build each of these basic question types select the question type you are interested in.
Within the question text editor and explanation box you can use the text editor buttons located at the top of the box to customize text:
Note - When you hover over the text editor buttons a quick description will appear.
Review Tab
In the Review tab you can preview the question to make sure the question is working correctly and looks right. In the Review tab you have the ability to preview variation of the question by clicking on "Change Variables". Each time you click on "Change Variables" a new version of the question will appear if there are dynamic variables within your question. Also, if something isn't working or you need assistance you can click on the "Get Help" button at the bottom of the Review tab and send us your question/edits and we can help you solve your problem.
You now have a good understanding of the question builder. Let us know how we're doing at the bottom of each page!