Creating a Question Template

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Navigating (back to Quick Links)

In Classroom, questions are the foundation of all coursework, assignments, and assessments.  If you intend to share questions with other educators in your district or simply reuse your questions in different assignments, the most efficient way is to create a Question Template.

First, log in to Classroom, and from the Home screen, select Question Templates >> New Question Template from the directory tree on the left, or select the Question Templates link from the Compose section.

You are presented with a blank New Question Template. There are tabs across the top, some with drop-down lists: Details, Standards, Depth of Knowledge, Points (Color Bands, Score Ranges, Scoring Symbols), Sub Questions, and Sharing (My Assignment Template Bank, Band, Options). Selecting any of the tabs takes you to that section of the form. 

Use the Next button to step through the form in wizard fashion, and use the Cancel button to exit at any time. Make sure you select Save & Continue or Save & Exit if you want to keep your work.

You can use the breadcrumbs across the top at any time to access previous screens. You can also use your browser's Back and Forward buttons.

Many of the fields listed on the form are optional. While this information is unnecessary to create the question, it will help other educators locate it during filtering and searching. A comma must separate keywords. Quotes must surround keyword phrases.

Formatting Questions (back to Quick Links)

Every section of a question that can contain text has a text editor. One thing to remember while composing is you are creating a document for the web. What you create will be read by various browsers on various operating systems. It is not the same as creating a document in a word processing program. There are features you may not be used to and ones you expect to be there which are not. Most of the common text formatting features are available.

The text editor tools menu also has a feature to link to another document and insert images. When you select the insert link icon, the only field required is the address or location of the page you want to link to, this is called the URL. Select the browse folders icon.

You are redirected to the Moxie Manager, a file storage utility. From here, you can upload documents or select from documents already in your library. We recommend you use a good naming convention, or very descriptive file names, as your list of documents and pictures could get very long. For more information on using MoxieManager, read the article How to add files to MoxieManager

Once you select a document to link to, the URL is filled out for you.  The Text to Display is what the student or educator will see when reading your question. The Title is information for your browser. We suggest you set the Target to New window. That way, the user will open two browser windows: your question and the document.

 Select the image icon from the editor's toolbar to add a picture to your question. The only field required is the source or the location of the image.

You are, again, directed to Moxie Manager. Upload a new image or select an image already in your library. We recommend you use a good naming convention for your images.

Once you select an image, the source address is filled out. The image description is information for the browser. You can limit the size of the picture when it is displayed by setting its dimensions. These units are in pixels. The most common display measurement for pixels is 72 pixels per inch. If you select the Constrain proportions box, the image will never change the size, even if the student or teacher increases the size of their browser window. We recommend not selecting this option as it hinders people with visual impairments.

Details (back to Quick Links)

The Details house the most information needed for the question. Select a Question Type from the drop-down menu. The question's answer choice requirements will change depending on your question type.

Next, enter the optional question Label. While optional, the question Label is handy when scoring an assignment or viewing question analytics. You can use it to identify the question briefly.

 

Scored Answer Questions (back to Quick Links)

Scored answer questions require more interaction between students and teachers. Use them for questions that require short answers, fill-in-the-blank answers, essays, and multi-part answers. The question is required.  

The Scoring Instructions section is optional, but if you intend to share the question with other educators, giving them a scoring rubric is a good idea.

When you, or another educator, use scored answer questions in an assignment or assessment, they are not automatically scored. The teacher must access the assignment and review the students' responses. The teacher assigns a score based on their response and the teacher's professional judgment. If you have entered Scoring Instructions, they are visible during assignment scoring, which makes the process easy. 

You can also include the correct answers to the question in the scoring instructions. Only the teacher can see and access correct answers.

Multiple Choice Questions (back to Quick Links)

Multiple choice questions are automatically scored if students access the assignment or assessment from the online student taker. Use multiple-choice questions when you want to present the student with answer choices.  The question and answer are required. 

You can have up to ten (10) answer choices and more than one correct answer. If you have more than one correct answer, and a student chooses any possible correct answers, Classroom considers the student's answer correct. The student will receive the full points possible for the question. In other words, there is no partial credit on multiple-choice questions.

Add another answer can be found at the bottom of the page to add additional answer choices if needed.

Correct answers must be flagged as correct and will turn green. Incorrect answers remain red. Use the trash can icon to delete an answer and start over. 

There is also an area to add a distractor rationale to an answer choice. This allows the educator another opportunity to provide instruction and gives the student immediate feedback on their selection. 

True/False Questions (back to Quick Links)

True/False questions are automatically scored if students access the assignment or assessment from the online student taker. Use true/false questions when you want to present the student with only two answer choices.  The Answer Choices can only be True or False. The question and answer are required. 

The correct answer needs to be flagged as correct and will turn green. The incorrect answer remains red. 

There is also an area to add a distractor rationale to an answer choice. This gives the student immediate feedback on their selection.

Fill in the Blank(s) (back to Quick Links)

Fill in the Blank(s)  consists of a phrase, sentence, or paragraph with a blank space.  The student will be given a text field to compose their answer inside of the question text body. You must define at least one blank for the question to be valid. The question and answer are required. 

An optional Text Passage area is included if the student needs to read a short paragraph or sentence to be able to answer the question. 

The Scoring Instructions section is optional, but if you intend to share the question with other educators, giving them a scoring rubric is a good idea. When you, or another educator, use scored answer questions in an assignment or assessment, they are not automatically scored. The teacher must access the assignment and review the students' responses. The teacher assigns a score based on their response and the teacher's professional judgment. If you have entered Scoring Instructions, they are visible during assignment scoring, which makes the process easy. 

You can also include the correct answers to the question in the scoring instructions. Only the teacher can see and access correct answers.

Container (back to Quick Links)

Contains only a required text box. This is used as Directive Question. For example, a list of information for reference for the student, instructions to read the passage, and then answer the following questions or instructions for multiple parts where sub-questions have been added (Part A, Part B, Part C).

Multi-Select (back to Quick Links)

Multiple-Select questions are automatically scored if students access the assignment or assessment from the online student taker. Use multiple-select questions when you want to present the student with answer choices.  The question and answer are required. You must have at least two (2) answer choices. 

You can have up to ten (10) answer choices and more than one correct answer. If you have more than one correct answer, a student must choose all possible correct answers for the point to be earned. For example,  if two answers were correct, the student must pick both to get the point.

Add another answer can be found at the bottom of the page to add additional answer choices if needed.

Correct answers must be flagged as correct and will turn green. Incorrect answers remain red. Use the trash can icon to delete an answer and start over. 

There is also an area to add a distractor rationale to an answer choice. This allows the educator another opportunity to provide instruction and gives the student immediate feedback on their selection. 

Survey Smiley Rating (back to Quick Links)

This is more of a method of collecting opinions or experiences. It can be used for younger students where the selections are always the same with a frown ☹️ , straight face 😐, and smile 🙂 icon the students would pick.

Survey Multiple Choice (back to Quick Links)

This is more of a method of collecting opinions or experiences. Similar to Multiple Choice Questions.

Standards Tab (back to Quick Links)

Classroom was designed to be a standards-based gradebook. Standards should be added to all questions to utilize this feature to its fullest extent. Adding standards to questions is not required; however, we highly recommend it, as you may benefit from their analysis.

Select the Add Standards from the Standards tab to access the drop-down menu of the built-in standards banks in Classroom.

Select which bank of standards you would like to access. A pop-up window will appear. Select your standard by clicking the “+” icon. Click on the blue hyperlink to learn more about it. Standards may be filtered to make them easier to find. To learn more about browsing standards, read the article Standards.

Once selected, the standard will be added to Your Selected Standards below. A number icon will reflect the number of standards added. Click OK when finished.

Depth of Knowledge Tab (back to Quick Links)

Depth of Knowledge is based on Norman Webb's levels, which categorize questions according to the complexity of thinking a student must express to correctly answer them. Use this optional tag when creating questions to promote student learning at a higher level, creating questions that increase in complexity through the graduated use of these levels. Select Basic Skills / Concepts, Extended Thinking, Recall / Reproduction, or Strategic Thinking / Reasoning from the drop-down menu.

Points Tab (back to Quick Links)

Questions are usually worth points, and the sum of those points usually equals the assignment or assessment score. Every question in Classroom has a default of one (1) point. This indicates whether or not the student met the standard assigned to the question. On a Question Template, there must be at least one point. 

However, question points are flexible. You can have MORE than one point and change the color of the met/not met or passing indicator. 

For Scored Answer questions, you add performance levels by altering the default Passing minimum and maximum scores. Start with the maximum points the question is worth and work backward. Classroom will fill in the maximum values of the other performance levels when you enter a minimum value. You can even use decimal values (Decimal Precision)! Click Go when finished.

This inserts a color band between the met/not met default. This performance level is similar to what is commonly used on assessments. 

You can change the color band's label, color, and min and max value (performance level)—Mark which level indicates a met standard using the Passing radio button. Select Add Color Band to insert additional performance levels.  If you need to adjust the Decimal Precision, select the action gear.

   

If the student correctly answers a multiple choice or true/false question, they will receive the maximum points. If you use color bands on a Scored Answer question, the student result will fall within a single performance range.

Classroom does provide flexibility with question points at the assignment level. Some features prevent a question from being scored and allow questions to be scored based on their performance level value or color band.

Sub Questions Tab (back to Quick Links)

Click Compose a Sub Question. These secondary questions are related to a primary inquiry question and are used to break down and further explore a particular aspect of the main question.  They help to clarify the main question and provide a more specific direction.

Click the blue hyperlink, the pencil icon to Edit, or the trash can icon to Delete.

Change the order of sub-questions with the three lines to the question's left.

Sharing Tab (back to Quick Links)

The Sharing Tab provides access to further options such as My Assignment Templates Bank,  Banks, and Options.

My Assignment Templates Bank (back to Quick Links)

The reason for creating a question is included in an assignment or assessment. The My Assignment Templates Bank allows you to add a question to an existing Assignment Template. 

Select My Assignment Templates to see a list of your existing assignments. 

Then select the “+” symbol to the right of any assignment which should include this question. You can add the question to more than one assignment at a time. You will see it is added to the Your Selected Assignment Templates below. A number will appear, showing the number of assignments you have selected. Now click Add Selected.

The question is now included in the assignments you chose. Using the question repeatedly in various assignments is another way to reinforce student learning and mastery of standards, especially if you have added distractor analysis to your question's answer choices. If a student encounters a question early in the term and answers it incorrectly but is presented with the correct answer, they are likely to remember not only the correct answer the next time they see the question but why the answer is correct.

 Banks (back to Quick Links)

In Classroom, shared banks are places where educators can deposit the questions and assignments or assessments they have created in order to share them with other educators in the district. When you create a New Question Template, you can submit it to a Shared Question Template bank. A bank manager reviews the question for accuracy and relevancy. If approved, your question will become part of the shared bank.

To submit your question template to a bank, select Add Question Template Banks. A district can create as many banks as they need, and each bank can have its own bank manager. 

Click the “+” icon to the right on the appropriate bank from the list and then choose Add Selected. You can submit to more than one bank. You will see it is added to the Your Selected Question Template Banks below. A number will appear, showing the number of assignments you have selected. Now click Add Selected.

Your question will show Export Pending Approval. Once the bank manager reviews it, it may say "Export Approved" or "Export Rejected." If your question is rejected, the bank manager can add a comment as to why. You can always correct the question and re-submit it if necessary. 

PLEASE NOTE:  If approved, your question is duplicated and deposited into the bank. This new question has a new identification in Classroom, and all connection to you is lost. Therefore, you cannot modify or delete your original question to modify or delete question in the shared bank. Only a bank manager can modify or delete a question in a shared bank. SDS highly recommends that you or a colleague carefully review your questions before submitting them to a shared bank. Bank managers look to your professional judgment and experience when composing a question; therefore, their review may not be as thorough as yours.

Sharing Options (back to Quick Links)

Grade Level and Subject are also optional fields, but SDS suggests you add them to assist during filtering and searching.

In adaptive testing, students would confront increasing or decreasing difficulty levels depending on whether they answered questions correctly. Identify the question using Difficulty Level (High, Medium, and Low).  

Complexity (Analysis, Apply, Comprehension, Create, Evaluate, and Know)  is based on Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels. Use this optional tag when creating questions to focus on a domain.                            

Depth of Knowledge (Basic Skills / Concepts, Extended Thinking, Recall / Reproduction, or Strategic Thinking / Reasoning)  is based on Norman Webb's levels, which categorize questions according to the complexity of thinking a student must express to correctly answer them. Use this optional tag when creating questions to promote student learning at a higher level, creating questions that increase in complexity through the graduated use of these levels.         

Knowledge Type can either be Declarative or Procedural.

Keywords can be added to the details of any question, and again, while optional, they help refine searches. SDS recommends you add keywords to your questions if you intend to share them with other educators in the district. A comma must separate all keywords.