Supported Question Types: How to Author and Grade

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Joel Dennis
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Table of Contents (click a link to jump to that section on this page)
Primer: Ways to Create an Assessment and Add Questions
Multiple Choice
Multiple Correct
Multipart (All or Nothing)
Multipart (With Partial Credit)
True/False & Yes/No
Short Answer / Constructed Response
Student Work (Extended Response, Drawing, Performance) - Graded with AI, Rubric, Slider
Student Work (Extended Response, Drawing, Performance) - Steps for Students
Graphing Questions
Equation Response
Griddables
Drag and Drop
Hot Text
Hot Spot
In-Line Choice Picklist
In-Line Extended Text Answer
Matching Questions
Match Table Grid
Passages
Cluster Question Sets
Weighting Questions
Other Question Types

 

Primer: Ways to Create an Assessment and Add Questions
 

Depending on your needs, there are a few ways to start making an assessment:

  • Our full-fledged Authoring Tool: This google-slides-like interface can do everything needed to build or edit a test. See this article to get started. 
  •  Import a PDF and Add an Answer Key: This tool lets you import a PDF and quickly punch in an answer key. Students will view the PDF test and the left and enter answers on the right. Note: Doesn't support all TEI question types. See this article to get started
  • Quick Key Builder: Ideal when you have a hard copy of a mostly multiple choice test and just need to quickly enter the key without typing in the questions and answers. Note: Not all TEI types can be added, but they can be added later in the Authoring Tool. See this article to get started. 

Below, you can read about each of the Question Types that ALL In Learning offers.

 

Multiple Choice 

You can choose from 2 to 12 Answer Choices (MC2-MC12, A-L), and use alternating answer schemes (ABCD/FGHJ) when you create them in the Quick Key builder and select "Show Advanced Options."

To add Multiple Choice Questions:

  1. See the section above on "How to Add Questions."
  2. In the Create Assessment Key screen or in the Authoring Tool under Insert > Questions with Quick Key, you can add multiple choice quickly with standards attached, with alternating choices, etc.
  3. Or you can add one MC question at a time in the Authoring Tool by going to Insert > Question, and selecting the MC type.
  4. Once added, click the question thumbnail on the left to edit the question.
  5. Type in the question and answer stem fields (not needed if using a hard copy or PDF of the test)
  6. In the right panel, select the correct answer.
  7. Attach a standard.
  8. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  9. Click “Save Question”

Grading methods that support Multiple Choice:

Clickers - Clickers have buttons A, B, C, D, and E and are ideal for answering MC2-MC5 questions to engage the classroom and get formative data from exit tickets or quick checks for understanding. 

Bubble Sheets - Print bubble sheets from your class roster screen to instantly scan MC2 through MC5 question types with a document camera or our ASSIST app for iPhone, iPad, or Android. They're reusable with lamination or sheet protectors and wet erase markers. It's so easy many teachers use them for pain-free quick checks and exit tickets! 

The Student Portal - Of course, multiple choice questions are a great fit for student devices and grading is automatic. 

Manual Grading: Activate the assessment for manual grading to enter student responses directly on the teacher grading screen. If the assessment is currently active in the student portal, you must end student access first before manually inputting their answers.

 

Multiple-Correct-Answer  (Multiselect)

To add multiple questions quickly in the Quick Key Builder:

  1. Follow the steps in the Multiple Choice section above to add Multiple Choice Questions.

  2. Either in the Quick Key Builder, or when clicking a questions thumbnail to view it in the Authoring Tool, you'll see the correct answer area on the right. 

  3. Select more than one correct answer, then choose "ALL, ANY, or partial" credit.

    • ALL: 100 percent if all the correct answers are chosen
    • ANY: 100 percent if any of the correct answers are chosen.
    • Partial: Partial credit for each correct answer. If one incorrect answer is chosen, students receive a zero. 
        
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  4. Attach a standard (right).
  5. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  6. Click Save Question.

Note for Clickers: Multiple-Correct-Answer questions can be used with every grading method in ALL In Learning except for clickers.

Note for bubble sheets: If a student gets a score of incorrect on any multiple-correct-answer question, we'll prompt you to look at their bubble sheet to ensure that a reflection off of lamination or pencil lead didn't appear white (empty) to the camera. (The chance of this can be eliminated by using a mirror over your sheets to see in the camera what lights may be reflecting, and turn them off or changing the angle. See this article for more info.)

 

Multipart Questions (No Partial-Credit Option) 

Multipart questions are multiple-choice questions that have a part A and part B. The steps below do not have a partial credit option - the student must get both parts correct to be counted as correct.

  1.  Navigate to the Lessons/Assessments tab and click Create New > Custom Assessment, OR Actions > Edit for an existing assessment.
  2. Go to Insert > Question > Multiple Choice Question
  3. Choose the total number of answer options for both questions (example: choose 8 Part MC if your two question parts are each 4 Part MC).
  4. At the bottom of the Question Stem are, click Display Second Question Stem.

              Screenshot 2024-05-24 093502.jpg

  1.  A second box will appear. There you can input the Part B question.
  2. Scroll down and type in the different answer choices
  3. On the right under Question Properties, you can choose the correct answers for both parts of the question. (For example, in an 8 Part MC the first four choices represent Part A and the last 4 represent Part B).
  4. Below the answer key for the question, choose whether students will only be counted as correct if they select all of the correct answers or if they can select any of them.
  5. Attach a standard.
  6. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  7. Click Save Question

 

Multipart Questions (With Partial Credit)

You can use a constructed response question to let students enter the letters of their choices and AI will automatically give full credit or allow teachers to manually give partial credit. 

  1. In the Authoring Tool, go to Insert > Question > Student Work Graded with AI (even if you aren't using AI).
  2. In the Question Stem area, Enter the Question and Answer options for BOTH parts with instructions for the student to enter their answer selection for both questions (example: BD).
  3. Set the Max Value of the Slider to 2 by manually moving the slider or typing “2” in the “Max Value” text box
  4. Attach a standard.
  5. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  6. Click Save Question

To grade this multipart question, view the student's response and use the slider as follows:

  • Full credit (both correct answers) = 2 points
  • Partial credit (one correct answer) = 1 point
  • No credit (zero correct answers) = 0 points

Note:  The slider points do not correlate to question weight on the test. You can Edit Question Weight (see this article) and the slider points will be worth a fraction of the questions overall weight. 

 

True/False & Yes/No Questions

True/False & Yes/No questions work the same way as an MC2. For clickers and bubble sheets, A/B = Yes/No and True/False. Tip: For younger students with clickers, some teachers attach stickers (like green and red) next to the A and B buttons. In the Student Portal, these are displayed as T/F and Y/N. 

 

Short Answer / Constructed Response

Short Answer, Constructed Response, or Short Constructed Response questions are ideal for very short answers where the score is either correct or incorrect, not subjectively graded on a rubric or partial credit. These will be automatically graded as correct on Student Portal assessments if they are an exact match (or if they are common misspellings with the per-question "allow misspellings" option enabled).

Note: "AI grading is enabled where permitted by state and district policies. If your campus does not use AI, the following steps remain the same, but responses will not be graded automatically. Instead, teachers will need to manually determine if the student's answer is correct.

To add a Short Answer/Constructed Response Question:

  1. In the Authoring Tool, go to Insert > Question > Short Answer Question
  2. Enter in the question stem.
  3. On the right, enter the correct answer. By default it is grade by case-sensitive exact match, but you can choose whether to enable allow misspellings.
  4. Attach a standard.
  5. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  6. Click Save Question when all done.

Short Answer Questions with Bubble Sheets?

Our bubble sheet scanning software doesn't read student handwriting, but students can leave the bubbles for that question blank and write their short answer on a separate sheet for the teacher to manually score during grading. (Don't have them write on the front of the sheet as it can prohibit scanning.)


The Student Portal and Short Answer Questions

Answers will be automatically counted as correct if they are an exact, case-sensitive match OR, if the "allow misspellings" option is enabled, if they entered a common misspelling or logical variation. 

To review or modify scoring, click the arrow icon next to their name in the grading screen to see what they entered and count it as correct or incorrect. The correct answer is displayed there as well, for your reference.

   

 

Student Work (Extended Response, Drawing)

Click here for a click sheet going over student work questions

AI grading is enabled where permitted by state and district policies. If your campus does not use AI, the following steps remain the same, but responses will not be graded automatically. Instead, teachers will need to manually adjust the grading slider.

To add a Student Work (Graded with AI), or Student Work (Graded with AI STEM) question:

  1. In the Authoring Tool, go to Insert > Question and select one of the following:
    • Student Work (Graded with AI) – Use for ELA and other written-response questions that will be scored with AI.
    • Student Work (Graded with AI STEM) – Use for mathematics questions that will be scored with AI.
       
  2. In the question stem, enter the prompt for the student. Include detailed instructions as needed, such as references to passages, required techniques, or buttons students should use in the interface.

  3. Click Add Rubric to select one of the provided state rubrics (or district-coordinated rubrics) to use for scoring and feedback.

    Note: The point values within a rubric do not determine the question's weight on the assessment. Set the question's weight separately. The rubric points determine how the student's score is calculated as a percentage of the question's total point value.

  4. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and save it. To associate multiple questions with the same passage, open the first question containing the passage and click Add Question to Passage.
  5. Attach a standard.
  6. Click Save Question when you are finished.

View AI feedback and adjust grades in the grading screen

The AI will automatically grade student responses. Follow the steps below to view the AI feedback, 

  1. Click the arrow to the right of the student name then click End access and take over grading. Make sure to click this after the student is done. It will permanently remove them from the assessment.  
  2. Click View/Edit score & feedback
  3. If needed, move the slider to adjust the AI grading.
  4. Click Close

Grading a Student Work completed on paper

ALL In Learning's handwriting tool scans in written work for the AI to grade. Click here for detailed steps.

Viewing and Printing Student Responses in a Reports

Teachers and admins can view student responses in their Reports by clicking the Student Work Analysis tab. From there, they can review feedback or bulk print all student responses.
    

Note: To print responses for individual students, select specific pages in the print menu. Each student’s response appears on a separate page.

 

Student Work (Extended Response, Drawing) - Steps for Students

If testing with computers, Chromebooks, or tablet devices, students can submit essays, drawings, or performance questions. These submissions are automatically graded with a simple point slider (see above sections for instructions on adding and grading these question types).    

In the Student Portal site on the student device, when students launch an assessment with a student work question, they will see a text box where they can type in their work or select Draw Answer

   

Type In Work
To type in an Extended Response, students will click directly in the text box. They'll then type using familiar word-processing tools. 

When finished, they'll click Submit Work for Grading and see the message indicating their work has been submitted with the option to Edit and Replace if needed.

Note: Student work is saved automatically, but they can manually save as well by clicking Save Work. 

Draw Answer

To draw an answer, students will click on Draw Answer button. They'll then draw using the "Pencil" option with five different line widths, an erasure, and several colors.  

When finished, they'll click Submit Work for Grading and see the message indicating their work has been submitted with the option to Edit and Replace if needed.                  

 

Graphing Questions

Use Quadratic, Linear, and Exponential equation questions with an interactive graph for students to plot their answers. 

  1. Go to Insert > Question > Graphing
  2. Enter the question stem using the equation editor for any equations.
  3. Scroll down and select your graph settings.
  4. Click the correct points on the graph. For linear equations that have a solution set, click  Solution Set Mode.
  5. Click Save Question. 

 

Equation Response

Students answer by writing a basic equation.

  1. In the Authoring Tool, go to Insert>Question>Equation
  2. Type in your question
  3. Scroll down to see the calculator and toggle Simple or Complex
  4. Enter in the solution. (Students must enter this exactly to receive full credit.)
  5. Click Save Question when you are finished

 

Griddable Bubble Sheet Questions

While griddable grading is planned for a future update of ALL In Learning, currently we have a simple workaround:

When creating your test in ALL In Learning, use the Short Answer question type for that question and input the correct answer. Students can use a separate hard copy sheet with the griddable grid needed. If part of a Bubble Sheet graded test, first scan the ALL In Learning bubble sheet, and then click the arrow next to the student's name to mark their griddable correct or incorrect while examining their griddable sheet. See this section above for details on short answer questions.

 

Drag and Drop Questions 

See instructions here for creating Drag & Drop questions. Or see this quick video. 

 

Hot Text

Click here for a click sheet covering Hot Text

Hot Text questions require students to click the correct word or phrase in the text. Below are the steps for using the Hot Text question type. 

Note: Any equation created by the Math EQ Equation Editor cannot be selected.

  1. In the Authoring Tool, click Insert > Question > Hot Text.
  2. Type out the question in the Question Stem field.
  3. Highlight the sentence or word you would like the student to click. (Note: You can highlight multiple words or sentences for multiple correct answers.)
  4. Under the Question Stem, click Add New Correct Text Selection From Selected Text. Correct answers will appear in a green box below the Question Stem.
  5. To add a distractor, highlight a word or sentence in the Question Stem field then click Add Distractor From Selected Text. Distractors will appear in a red box below the Question Stem.
  6. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  7. Attach a standard.
  8. Click Save Question when all done.
  9. As students work on a Hot Text question in the Student Portal, they can click the words or sentences directly in the question to highlight them as correct.

How to grade Hot Text questions

Questions will automatically be counted as correct if the student selected the correct word or phrase. 

Hot Text questions cannot be manually graded. If you need to input a student answer, go to the classes tab and click Log in as for each student.


Hot Spot

Click here for a click sheet going over hot spots

Hot Spot questions require a student to select a particular point (or multiple points) in an image. Below are the steps for using the Hot Spot question type.

  1. In the authoring tool, click Insert>Question>Hot Spot
  2. Type out the question in the Question Stem field. Then, insert an image, copying and pasting it directly into the Question Stem field or clicking the image icon on the toolbar to upload an image from your files.
  3. Highlight the image by clicking directly on it or clicking and dragging your cursor over the image.
  4. Scroll down and click Convert Image to Hot Spot Canvas
  5. Click on a specific place on the image to add a Hot Spot. You may add multiple Hot Spots to one image. Note: To answer the question, students will click on a Hot Spot or Hot Spots. If the question has multiple correct answers, the number of correct answers will determine how many Hot Spots the student can select. For example, if there are two correct answers, the student can click a maximum of two Hot Spots.
  6. There are five options for editing each Hot Spot. 
    • Highlight: Turns the Hot Spot circle red, indicating which Hot Spot you are currently working with.
    • Increase Size and Decrease Size: Widens or shrinks a specific Hot Spot circle (i.e., the area the student can click). You can increase and decrease size of all Hot Spots at once with the Increase Size All and Decrease Size All buttons.
    • Distractor: Makes a specific Hot Spot a wrong answer 
    • Delete Hot Spot: Deletes Hot Spot.
  7. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  8. Attach a standard.
  9. Click Save Question.

How to grade Hot Spot questions

Hot Spot questions are graded automatically based on how many Hot Spots are in the question. For example, if there are 5 Hot Spots, the student can receive full credit (5 out of 5) or partial credit (4 out of 5), etc. 

Hot Spot questions cannot be manually graded. If you need to input a student answer, go to the classes tab and click Log in as for each student.

 

In-Line Choice Picklist (Drop Down) 

Below are the steps for using the in-line choice picklist question type. 

See a video of these steps here.

See the click sheet here

  1.  In the Authoring Tool, click Insert>Question>Hybrid Technology Enhanced 
  2. Type out the question in the Question Stem field
  3. Highlight the text within the question that you would like a drop-down selection for. The word, sentence, and/or number you highlight should be the answer to the question. For example. You could write "2 x 2 = 4." For this, highlight the "4."
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the Question Stem field and click Add New Drop-Down Selection From Selected Text
  5. This will add a light blue section titled Drop Down Answer with the item you highlighted.
  6. Click Add New Drop Down Selection Distractors to add wrong answer choices
  7. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  8. Attach a standard.
  9. Click Save Question. 

How to Grade Drop Down questions

Questions will automatically be counted as correct or incorrect. 

For assessments activated via manual grading, teachers can mark the question correct or incorrect by opening the grading screen and clicking Score>Grade Responses.

 

In-Line Short Text Answer 

Below are the steps for using the In-line short text answer.

Note: Any equation created by the Math EQ Equation Editor cannot be highlighted as an answer

  1.  In the authoring tool, click Insert>Question>Hybrid Technology Enhanced
  2. Type a question in the Question Stem
  3. Type in the desired short answer response
  4. Highlight the short answer response and click Add Short Answer From Selected TextScreenshot 2024-05-24 111728.jpg
    A light blue box titled Short Answer will appear with the correct answer inside.
  5. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  6. Attach a standard.
  7. Click Save Question.

How to grade In-Line Short Text Answers 

Questions will automatically be counted as correct if the student answer matches the highlighted correct answer.

For assessments activated via manual grading, teachers can mark the question correct or incorrect by opening the grading screen and clicking Score>Grade Responses.

 

In-Line Extended Text Answer

Below are the steps for using In-Line Extended Answer

  1. In the authoring tool, click Insert>Question>Hybrid Technology Enhanced
  2. Type a question in the Question Stem
  3. Click and drag your cursor over the question stem to highlight it.
  4. Scroll down and click Add Long Answer From Selected Text. The answer box will appear right below the text you highlighted.
  5. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  6. Attach a standard.
  7. Click Save Question.

How to grade Long Answers

Questions will automatically be graded.

For assessments activated via manual grading, teachers can mark the question correct or incorrect by opening the grading screen and clicking Score>Grade Responses.


Matching Questions

Matching questions can take all shapes and sizes and methods and there's not a specific Matching Question option. However, there are several good ways to do matching questions with ALL In Learning:

  1. Short Answer questions (See Short Answer Questions section above).
  2. Multiple Choice by using up to MC12 (A-L) and grading the questions manually or with Engage & Learn. (See Multiple Choice section above for more information.
  3. Multiple Choice 5 (MC5) by altering the questions so that they can fit into an MC4 or MC5 framework to be easily scanned or answered with clickers.

Match Table Grid

Match Table Grid (or "Matrix") questions look like a table with questions (or prompts) on the left side and answers along the top. To respond, students refer to the question on the left and click to the box to the right in their chosen answer column.

Match Table Grid is often used for an overarching question (or scenario) with multiple related sub questions or prompts. It's also used for surveys with repeated answers such as "Strongly agree," "Agree," etc.

  1. In the authoring tool, click insert>Question>Match Table Grid
  2. Type out a question in the Question Stem Field.
  3. Below the Question Stem Field, you’ll see a blank table to fill out.
  4. The top left text box is a label that describes the row of prompts or questions below it.
  5. The top text boxes defaulted to “Option” are answers that represent the checkboxes in their respective rows. For example, if the question is “Choose the part of speech that matches each word,” you could type “Noun” in one box and “Verb” in the second box.
  6. By default, the table has three text boxes at the top. To add another text box, click either the blue plus on the right or the green Add Column button.
  7. Choose the correct answer by clicking the appropriate text boxes. Here is a completed table from the examples above.
  8. Click the red trash cans to delete a row or column.
  9. Click the green Inline labels to add the labels next to each checkbox.
  10. To add a passage, click Add Passage, enter the passage in the passage area to the left, and be sure to save it. (To link multiple questions to one passage, go to the first question that had the passage entered and click Add Question to Passage in place of step one above.)
  11. Attach a standard.
  12. Click Save Question.

How to grade a Match Table Grid

Match Table Grides are automatically graded with a simple slider.

Match Table Grids cannot be manually graded. If you need to input a student answer, go to the classes tab and click Log in as for each student.

 

Passages

Creating passages with attached questions is simple. A passage can have multiple questions attached, but a question can also have multiple passages attached to a question (which may consist of figures, diagrams, images, etc.).

  1. Start by adding the first (or only) question that will be attached to your passage(s).
  2. Select the question thumbnail on the left to see the authoring tool.
  3. Click the Add Passage option on the right. 
    Screenshot 2024-05-24 113418.jpg
    This will open the Passage authoring tool, where you can type or copy/paste your passage. Click Save Passage Data when finished and click the "X" at the upper right to close the passage authoring window.
  4. To edit the passage, click Edit Passage.
  5. To add more passages to this question, click the +Add tab.
  6. To view or edit one of multiple passages, select the tab with the passage name you entered.
  7. To add more questions for the passage(s), click Add Question for this passage. Note that clicking the thumbnail (left) for any question added this way will allow you to click "view passages" and see the same passages are attached.

Note: Additional questions can be added to a pre-existing passage by clicking View Passage> Add question for this passage. 

 

Cluster Question Sets

A Cluster Question Set is a set of questions related to a passage or stimulus (like text, chart, or image). This is how our passages work. Passages can be text or images, and are grouped with a set of questions of various types, each aligned to their own standards. See passages here.

 

Weighting Questions

To change question weighting, and how Rubrics affect question weighting, please see our help desk article on this subject.

 

Other Question Types

Surveys

Almost any question type can be used for a survey - multiple choice, short answers, extended responses, etc.

Clickers are a terrific tool to do surveys for engagement and in-class fun or discussion. These can be pre-written question activated for Clickers or WebClickers, or they can be on-the-fly with no prep.

Need Anonymity?
If you are using clickers or bubble sheets, you can create an anonymous roster to use, which has invented or encrypted student names.

If you are using student devices and the Student Portal, students must log in. Therefore, the only way for the teacher not to be able to see who submitted a specific response is for another designated teacher account (which their teacher cannot access) to have a class with those students in it (this can be manually created and managed and would not sync with your SIS) and to activate the assessment for that class to launch in the student portals.  
 

Character Recognition

At this point, character recognition images or drawings is not an available grading option. For essays and other character-type questions, we recommend using Student Work questions (see above).


If you have questions about other question-type options, please let us know so we can include them here.

 

 

 

Keywords: Inline Drawn Draw TEI

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