Create Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

Fill-in-the-blank questions provide an answer box for students to type a short textual response, and are used when the correct answer can be stated in a word or short phrase for which only a small number of acceptable variations exist.

How-ToInstructor HelpWebAssign

By default, spaces and character case are not considered when scoring fill-in-the-blank questions; thus, Isaac Newton, isaac newton, and iSaaCnewtOn would all be considered equivalent answers. You can force WebAssign to consider character case, spaces, or both.

By default, answer format tips tell your students if your question is case-sensitive. You can hide answer format tips for your assignments.

  1. Click Questions Create.

    The Question Editor opens.

  2. In Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.

  3. In Question, type your question.

    Use the answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be displayed.

  4. You can combine these declarations using a single <EQN> tag by separating each declaration with a semicolon.

    For example:

    <EQN $CASE=1; $SPACE=1; $size=20; ''>
  5. In Answer, type one or more correct answers to the question on a single line, separated by the characters {tab}.

  6. Type a Solution.

    The solution helps your students understand the steps they need to take to determine the correct answer to the question. Your assignment settings specify when to show the solution.

Example Fill-in-the-Blank Question The following table summarizes an actual question. QID 1069783 Name Template2 2.FITB.01. Mode Fill-in-the-Blank Question Who wrote the <i>Principia Mathematica</i>? <br> <_> Answer <eqn $CASE=1; $size=20; ''>Newton {tab} Isaac Newton {tab} Sir Isaac Newton Display to Students