Search for Questions to Add to Assignments

You can use multiple criteria to search for questions to add to your assignments. You can add a mix of different types of questions to your assignment, like multiple-choice, physPad, and numerical. You can add questions that another instructor shared with you using a permission group. Or, you can add questions that use a specific term in the question or answer key.

Important: You are allowed to use textbook questions in your assignments only from the textbook you have adopted for your class.

If you know the question ID of the question you want to add, see Add Questions to Assignments Using Question IDs.

To search for an existing question:

  1. In the Assignment Editor, click Question Browser.
  2. If needed, click the home icon home icon.
  3. Click search icon Question Search.
    If needed, click Show Additional Criteria.
  4. Specify the criteria you want to use when performing your search.
    Note:
    • Searches are not case-sensitive.
    • Use the % character as a wildcard to match 0 or more characters.
    • You cannot use operators like AND, OR, NOT, +, −, or commas.
    • Search results include only questions that match all of your specified criteria.

    You can use the following searches to find specific kinds of questions:

    Question Type

    Criteria to Specify

    Question types specified by the question mode, for example, Multiple-Choice

    Select the corresponding Mode.

    True/False or Yes/No

    1. For Mode, select Multiple-Choice.
    2. Type True or Yes for Answer.

    Numerical questions that specify significant figures or decimal places in the answer key

    Note: Many textbook questions do not specify significant figures or decimal places in the answer key.
    1. For Mode, select Numerical.
    2. Type either $SIGFIGS or $DECFIGS for Answer.

    Answer-dependent numerical questions
    1. For Mode, select Numerical.
    2. Type $LINK for Answer.

    mathPad

    Type $PAD='devmath' for Answer.

    calcPad

    Type $PAD='calc' for Answer.

    Expandable matrix

    Type matrix_mode for Question.

    physPad

    1. For Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.
    2. Type $PAD='phys' for Answer.

    chemPad

    1. For Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.
    2. Type $PAD='chem' for Answer.

    MarvinSketch

    1. For Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.
    2. Type $MARVIN for Answer.

    JME

    1. For Mode, select Java.
    2. Type JME for Answer.

    Questions shared with you using a permission group

    For Permission/Groups, select the permission group for the questions you want to add.
    Only questions that match all of the specified criteria are listed in the search results.
  5. Click Search.
    Some searches might take several minutes, depending on your search parameters.
  6. If needed, change the search criteria.
    • Click delete to remove a criterion and run the search again.
    • Click Edit Criteria to change the existing criteria.
    • Click New Search to start a new search with no specified criteria.
  7. Click the name of a question or Add to add it to the list of assignment questions under Manage Questions.
  8. When you are done, click Update Assignment at the bottom of the list of assignment questions.
    Important: Your changes are not made unless you click Update Assignment.

    The Question Browser closes and your changes are shown in the Assignment Editor.

Parent topic: Add Questions to Assignments