Working with Problem Components#
This section introduces the core set of problem types that course teams can add to any course by using the problem component. It also describes editing options and settings for problem components.
For information about specific problem types, and the other exercises and tools that you can add to your course, see About Problems, Exercises, and Tools.
Adding a Problem#
To add interactive problems to a course in Studio, in the course outline, at the unit level, you select Problem. You then choose the type of problem that you want to build on the Problem Type Selection page.
The simple problem types include relatively straightforward CAPA problems such as single select and text or numeric input. The advanced problem types can be more complex to set up, such as math expression input, open response assessment, or custom JavaScript problems.
Adding Graded or Ungraded Problems#
When you establish the grading policy for your course, you define the assignment types that count toward learners’ grades: for example, homework, labs, midterm, final, and participation. You specify one of these assignment types for each of the subsections in your course.
As you develop your course, you can add problem components to a unit in any subsection. The problem components that you add automatically inherit the assignment type that is defined at the subsection level. For example, all of the problem components that you add to a unit in the midterm subsection are graded.
For more information, see Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection.
Editing a Problem in Studio#
When you select Problem, Studio adds a blank problem to the unit and brings you to the problem editor. From here, you can select 1 of 5 simple problem types or select Advanced problem types for a list of advanced problem types.
For simple problem types, the simple editor opens. In this editor, you can quickly create problems with question and answer formats. Options for scoring, hints, feedback, and more can be entered.
For advanced problem types, the advanced editor opens. In this editor, you use EdX Open Learning XML Guide. elements and attributes to identify the elements of the problem. Options for scoring, feedback and more can be entered.
For open response assessment problem types, you define the problem elements and options by using a graphical user interface. For more information, see Create an Open Response Assessment Assignment.
For drag-and-drop problem types, you build an interactive assessment in a customized interface in which you define areas that learners can drag into target zones on a background image. For more information, see Create a Drag and Drop Problem.
You can switch from the simple editor to the advanced editor at any time by selecting the Switch to advanced editor from the simple editor’s settings.
Note
After you save a problem in the advanced editor with complex OLX, you may not be able to open it again in the simple editor.
The Simple Editor#
When you select one of the simple problem types, you will be directed to the simple editor.
Question and Explanation Fields#
The question and explanation fields (and other text fields as well) offer a number of formatting tools to craft your problem.
Undo/Redo: Undo or redo changes made to the text field.
HTML Tags: Applies HTML tags to the selected block of text.
Label: Applies a “Question” label to the selected text which is picked up by screen readers. Screen readers read all of the text that you supply for the problem, and then repeat the text that is identified by this label immediately before reading the answer choices for the problem. This label can be removed by selecting the block of text and clicking this button again.
Formatting: Applies various formatting to the selected text such as bold, italicize, underline, color, text alignment, bullet points and indentation.
Add Image and Links: Allows you to add images and links to your text field.
Blockquote and Code: Applies blockquote or code formatting to the selected text. This can be removed by selecting the text and clicking this button again.
Various Inserts: Insert tables, emoticons, special characters and page breaks using these buttons.
Clear Formatting: Clears all formatting applied to the selected text.
Accessibility Checker: allows you to check HTML in the editor for various accessibility problems.
More: Depending on page size, some of the toolbar may not show. Click this button to expand or shrink the toolbar.
The explanation field is almost identical to the question field, only missing the Label button for marking questions.
Answer Fields#
Enter your answers below in this section. While what you see below is the general layout of the answer fields, there are some minor differences between problem types.
Correct Answer: The selected or checked answer(s) are the correct answers. Due to the nature of dropdowns only allowing a single selection, the dropdown problem type has radio buttons which allow you to select only one correct answer. As you cannot enter incorrect answers for numeric input problems, the numeric input problem type automatically comes with checked answers. The other problem types allow you to select any number of correct answers.
Answer Feedback: Opens up the feedback panel for an answer option. For more information, see the following Adding Feedback section.
Delete Answer: Removes the corresponding line of answer buttons and fields.
Add Answer: Adds a new line of answer buttons and fields.
Adding Feedback#
You can add feedback that displays to learners after they submit an answer. See best practices for feedback.
For example, the following single select problem provides feedback in response to the selected option when the learner selects Submit. In this case, feedback is given for an incorrect answer.
While editing a problem block, you can apply Answer-specific feedback for all problem types. Group feedback can only be applied to multi-select problems.
Answer-specific feedback can be added under each answer by pressing the feedback icon to the right of the answer text. Feedback entered in these fields are given when the learner selects that answer or when the learner does not select that answer.
Note
The “is not selected” feedback field shown above is only available for the multi-select problem type.
Group Feedback can be found on the collapsible settings to the right of the problem editor. Feedback entered in this field will display if and only if the learner selects all of the checked answers. Click the Add group feedback button to add additional feedback for different groups of checked answers. Group feedback can only be applied for the multi-select problem type.
Note
Feedback for incorrect answers in the numerical input problem type is not supported.
Adding Mathematics#
To add mathematics, you can use LaTeX, MathML, or AsciiMath notation. Studio uses MathJax to render equations. For more information, see MathJax for Mathematics.
Power Paste#
Many course authoring teams rely on copying and pasting content from documents such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Correct formatting in Studio and the LMS can be most easily realized through Power Paste. To learn how to use Power Paste, see Paste without Formatting in a Text Component.
See also
About Problems, Exercises, and Tools (concept)
Guide to Problem Types (reference)
Guide to Problem Settings (reference)
Gradebook Assignment Types (reference)
Best Practices for Providing Feedback (concept)
Adding Feedback and Hints to a Problem (reference)
Configure a Hint in a Problem (how-to)
Awarding Partial Credit for a Problem (reference)
Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection (how-to)
Adding Tooltips to a Problem (reference)
The Learner View of a Problem (reference)
The Advanced Editor (reference)
Add Hints via the Advanced Editor (how-to)
Modifying a Released Problem (reference)
Maintenance chart
Review Date |
Working Group Reviewer |
Release |
Test situation |