Instructor HelpSkip to start of content.

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.

Note For questions that should be evaluated numerically or mathematically, create one of the numerical or math question types, not fill-in-the-blank. See Create Integer or Decimal Number Questions or Create Math Questions.

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 Name, type a name for the question.
  3. In Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.
  4. In Question, type your question.

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

  5. Optional: Set grading and display options for the answer box.
    Option Begin Answer With: Notes
    Make the question case-sensitive 
    <EQN $CASE=1; ''>
    		 By default, answers are not case-sensitive.
    Make the question space-sensitive 
    <EQN $SPACE=1; ''>
    		 By default, spaces are ignored when grading answers.
    Make the answer box n characters wide 
    <EQN $size=n; ''>
    		 By default, the answer box is 10 characters wide.

    Changing the size of the answer box does not restrict the length of your students' responses.

    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; ''>
  6. In Answer, type one or more correct answers to the question on a single line, separated by the characters {tab}.
    Note
    • To add the {tab} operator, either type the characters {tab} or click Add tab.You cannot enter {tab} by pressing the Tab key.
    • If an answer extends beyond the right side of the Answer box, it is wrapped to the next line, but it is still considered a single line so long as you do not press ENTER.
  7. Optional: 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.

  8. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question. See Test Questions.
  9. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
  10. Optional: Click Show Additional Information and change the question's sharing permission or add descriptive information.
    • By default, other instructors can use your question only if you provide them with the question ID, and only you can edit the question or find it in search results. To change the permission, see Share Questions With Other Instructors.
    • If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide descriptive information to help others search for it. See Add Search Metadata to Questions.
  11. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.

    WebAssign assigns it a unique question ID (QID), which is displayed in parentheses after the question name.

    You can use your question in an assignment and see it in your My Questions list only after it is saved.

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

Question as displayed to students