WebAssign
Creating Questions Guide
October 2010
WebAssign Creating Questions Guide is published by Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.
© 2010 by Advanced Instructional Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
10.13.2010
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Contents i
Contents
Document Conventions
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1 Creating Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Searching for Questions
...........................................2
Creating Questions by Duplication
....................................5
Creating Questions with the Question Editor
Testing Questions
.............................5
................................................9
Formatting Text in Your Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Adding Special Characters to Your Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Adding Standard Text Prompts to Your Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Adding Images, Media, or Documents to Your Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Copying Images, Media, or Documents from Your Computer
Setting Display Text for Your Images, Media, or Documents
Displaying Images in Your Questions
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Providing Linked Documents in Your Questions
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Playing Media Files in Your Questions
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Sharing Questions With Other Instructors
Managing Permission Groups
to WebAssign
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2 Creating General-Purpose Questions
Creating Multiple-Choice Questions
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Displaying Choices in a Fixed Order
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Displaying Choices as a Drop-down Menu
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Displaying Choices Horizontally or in Tables
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Adding Item-Specific Feedback to Multiple-Choice Questions
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Creating Yes/No Questions
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Adding Search Metadata to Your Questions
Creating True/False Questions
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Creating Multiple-Select Questions
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Displaying Multiple-Select Choices in a Fixed Order
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Displaying Multiple-Select Choices Horizontally or in Tables
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Creating Matching Questions
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Matching Formatted Notation or Images
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Displaying Matching Items in a Fixed Order
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Creating Ranking Questions
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Creating Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
Creating Numerical Questions
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Requiring Units in Numerical Questions
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Checking Significant Figures in Numerical Questions
Checking Decimal Places in Numerical Questions
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Changing Tolerance for Numerical Questions
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Requiring Computed Responses in Numerical Questions
Creating Image Map Questions
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Creating Short-answer or Essay Questions
Creating PencilPad (Drawing) Questions
Creating File Upload Questions
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10/2010
ii WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
3 Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions
Creating Multi-Part Questions That Have One Question Mode
Creating Multi-Mode Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Creating Polling Questions
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Adding Expandable Sections to Multi-Part Questions
Creating Tutorial Questions
. . . 72
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Creating Scored Tutorial Questions
Creating Popup Tutorial Questions
Creating Answer-Dependent Questions
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Performing Complex Operations in Answer Keys
4 Creating Math Questions
Displaying Notation with WaTeX
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
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Creating WaTeX Arrays and Matrices
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WaTeX Example: Aligning a System of Equations
WaTeX Example: Matrices
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WaTeX Example: Arithmetic Long Division
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WaTeX Example: Polynomial Long Division
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WaTeX Example: Synthetic Division
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Displaying Notation with LaTeX
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Choosing Evaluation Modes for Your Math Questions
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Creating mathPad Questions Using Symbolic Mode
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Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using Symbolic Mode
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Changing the Default Values and Tolerance for Symbolic Evaluation
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Creating mathPad Questions Using Algebraic Mode with Mathematica
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Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using Algebraic Mode with Mathematica
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Creating a NumberLine Question
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Coding NumberLine Questions
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Coding a Question in Default Mode
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Coding a Question in Points Mode
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Answer Key Objects
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Grading
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Creating Graphing Questions
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Displaying Math Notation with HTML Substitution
Creating Number Line Questions
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Displaying Notation with <symimage>
Creating mathPad Questions
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Specifying Equations in Graphing Question Answer Keys
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Configuring the Graphing Tool Grid Display and Snap Behavior
. . . . . . . . . . . . 165
5 Creating Chemistry Questions
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Displaying Chemistry Notation in Your Questions
Creating chemPad Questions
Creating
Creating
Creating
Creating
Creating
Creating
Creating
10/2010
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chemPad Questions for Formulas
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List and Rank-Order chemPad Questions
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chemPad Questions for Reactions
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chemPad Questions for Kinetic or Equilibrium Expressions
chemPad Questions for Electrochemical Cell Notation
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chemPad Questions for Electron Configuration
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chemPad Answer Keys
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Contents iii
Creating MarvinSketch Questions
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Understanding MarvinSketch Drawing Modes
.................
Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Do Not Display an Initial Drawing
Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Display an Initial Drawing
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Displaying Chemical Structures in Your Questions with MarvinSketch
Using the MarvinSketch Key Generation Tool
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Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Use Canonical or
Combinatorial SMILES Strings
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A List of Symbols
Letter Forms
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Greek Letter Forms
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Punctuation and Spacing Symbols
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Number Forms and Mathematical Symbols
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Symbols for Chemistry and Physics
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Arrows and Miscellaneous Symbols
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B List of Prompts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Prompts for Accounting Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Prompts for Chemistry and Physics Questions
Prompts for Mathematics Questions
Prompts for Statistics Questions
Miscellaneous Prompts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
C Creating Questions Quick Reference
WebAssign Question Modes
WebAssign Tags
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Supported Perl Functions and Operators
Perl Variables Used by WebAssign
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
10/2010
Document Conventions
This document uses the following typographical conventions:
Convention
Description
Boldface
Identifies items in the user interface such as buttons or
menus. Angle brackets are used to indicate menu sublevels.
Examples
Click OK.
Type a Description.
Click Assignments > Create.
Uppercase
Identifies the names of keys on the keyboard. Standard
Microsoft key names are used; users of other operating
systems or keyboards might see different labels.
Example
Press ENTER.
Monospace
Identifies tags, functions, variables, and code that must be
typed literally. Lines of code that are wrapped because of
length are indented.
Examples
Begin your formula with the <eqn> tag.
Type the following code:
<eqn>
$helpertext='Have you tested your values using the Pythagorean Theorem?';
''
</eqn>
Monospace with
boldface
Identifies text that must be typed literally.
Example
Type 0 if you do not want your students to incur a penalty
for using the automatic extension.
10/2010
Document Conventions v
Convention
Description
Italics
Identifies placeholders for values that you must supply.
Sometimes used for textual emphasis.
Examples
<eqn $PULLDOWN=1; $Select_Option="text"; ''>
where text is the default text that you want to be displayed
in the menu.
Note:
Tip:
Important:
Best Practice:
Provides supplementary information.
Provides optional hints or shortcuts.
Provides cautionary information to help prevent problems.
Describes recommended actions to perform a task better.
10/2010
1
Creating Questions
In addition to its extensive library of textbook questions, WebAssign supports
creating your own questions for use in assignments. You can share questions
with other instructors, you can create questions based on existing questions
from the WebAssign library, and you can create questions from scratch.
Your questions can be as simple as multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank, or as
complex as having students diagram molecules or graph mathematical
equations. You can insert videos, sound files, or mathematical notation in your
questions.
If you are planning to create questions, add the WebAssign Templates as a
resource text to your class. These templates provide “best practice” examples
of a wide variety of question types and techniques.
This section contains the following topics:
• Searching for Questions
• Creating Questions by Duplication
• Creating Questions with the Question Editor
• Testing Questions
• Formatting Text in Your Questions
• Adding Special Characters to Your Questions
• Adding Standard Text Prompts to Your Questions
• Adding Images, Media, or Documents to Your Questions
• Sharing Questions With Other Instructors
• Adding Search Metadata to Your Questions
10/2010
Creating Questions 2
Searching for Questions
Before creating your own questions, it is often useful to look for existing
questions that are like the question you want. You might even find a question
that you can use without modification.
To search for an existing question:
Tip: If you know the question ID or part of the question name, click
Search in the toolbar. Select Question, type the question name or
ID, and then click Go.
1. Click Questions > Search.
2. On the Question Search page, specify the criteria you want to use when
performing your search.
Searches are not case-sensitive. Only questions that contain all of your
specified criteria are returned in the search results.
Important: You are allowed to use textbook questions in your
assignments only from textbooks you have adopted for your class.
Questions from other textbooks are not displayed in the search results.
10/2010
3 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
You cannot use operators like AND, OR, or commas to combine multiple
search terms for a criterion. Instead, use the % character as a wildcard to
match zero or more characters. For example, if you specified
velocity%acceleration in the Keywords box, you would find questions
containing any of the following values in the keywords list:
relationship between velocity and acceleration
velocityAcceleration
velocity,acceleration
Velocity, Time, Acceleration
However, you would not see questions for which acceleration precedes
velocity in the list of keywords, such as:
acceleration, time, velocity
The criteria you can use for your search on are described in the following
tables.
10/2010
Criterion
Description
Textbook
Select one of the textbooks that you have selected for your
classes to limit your search to questions in that textbook.
Chapter
Specify a textbook chapter, if known.
Name
Specify the entire question name or a word that occurs in the
question name.
Usable Only
Select Usable Only to include only questions that are
marked as usable.
Used Questions
Only
Select Used Questions Only to include only questions that
have been used in an assignment.
Keywords
Specify a single keyword to find questions including that
keyword. Be aware that textbook questions do not include
keywords.
Author
Specify all or part of the question author’s name or
WebAssign username.
Permission/
Groups
Select the permission that is set for the question. To
understand permissions, see Sharing Questions With Other
Instructors on page 23.
Mode
Select the type of question that you are searching for — for
example, Multiple-Choice or Numerical. Note that Multi-Mode
questions containing the selected type are also returned.
Last Saved
Select a date and time range when the question was most
recently saved. A common use of this criterion is to search
for questions that are new or have been recently modified.
Creating Questions 4
Click Show Additional Criteria to specify the following criteria:
Criterion
Description
Question
Specify a word or phrase in the Question field for the
question. You can use this to search not only for text that is
displayed to students, but also for code, for example if you
are trying to find questions using a particular function or
variable.
Answer
Specify a word or phrase in the Answer field for the question.
You can use this to search not only for text that is displayed
to students, but also for code, for example if you are trying to
find questions using a particular function or variable.
Solution
Specify a word or phrase in the Solution field for the
question.
Comment
Specify a word or phrase in the Comment field for the
question.
Discipline
Select one or more disciplines that are specified for the
question. Be aware that most textbook questions do not
contain discipline information.
3. Under Results Options, select how many results to be displayed per page,
how the results should be sorted, and whether to display the entire
question or summary information.
4. Click Search. Some searches might take several minutes, depending on
your search parameters.
If only one question matches your parameters, it is opened in the Question
Editor.
If more than one question is found, the results are displayed as specified by
the Results Options settings.
Tip: If you perform the same search repeatedly, set the search criteria
in the Questions Search page and then click Save. This saves the
specified criteria to your user profile. To perform the same search
again, click My Search and the saved criteria are filled in on the
Questions Search page.
10/2010
5 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
5. In the Question Search Results, you can:
• Click View to see the question in the Question Previewer.
• Click Edit to open the question in the Question Editor. Depending on the
permission for the question, you might not be able to save any changes
to the question.
• Click Duplicate to open a new copy of the question in the Question
Editor. The copy is a new question that is just like the original, except you
are the owner and can change it to suit your needs.
• Click Delete to remove a criterion and run the search again.
• Click Edit Criteria to open the Questions Search page with the existing
criteria.
• Click New Search to open the Questions Search page with no specified
criteria.
• Change the Results Options and then click Update Results to change
the number of search results per page, the results sort order, and
whether to display the entire question or summary information.
Creating Questions by Duplication
If you find a question that is similar to the one you want to create, you can
create a copy of the question. The copy is a new question that is just like the
original, except you are the owner and can change it to suit your needs.
Note: Observe copyright restrictions for textbook questions and
questions authored by others. Questions that are duplicated from
copyrighted questions should be treated as copyrighted material.
To create a question by duplication:
1. In the Question Editor, My Questions, Question Search Results, or Recently
Modified views, click Duplicate for the question you want to copy. The new
question opens in the Question Editor.
2. In the Question Editor, make your changes to the question and test it.
3. When the question works as you want it to, click Save. The question is
created and assigned a new unique question ID.
Creating Questions with the Question Editor
To create or edit questions in WebAssign, you use the Question Editor.
To create a question:
Note: Although you use different procedures and options when
creating different kinds of questions, the following steps describe the
general procedure for creating questions in WebAssign. Refer to other
sections for information about specific question types.
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1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
Tip: You can open the Question Editor from a number of other contexts
by clicking Edit or Duplicate for a question.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
Use the Name field to specify a descriptive name for the question. The
name can be up to 50 characters long, and helps you to identify the
question without having to view it.
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3. In Mode, select one of the question modes to define the basic behaviors for
your question.
Mode
Description
Multiple-Choice
Lists mutually exclusive choices with only one correct
response.
Multiple-Select
Lists non-exclusive choices, allowing your students to select
all the choices that apply.
Numerical
Provides a box for your students to type a numerical
response that is scored for numerical accuracy and,
optionally, for correctly specifying units, significant figures,
or decimal places.
Fill-in-the-Blank
Provides a box for your students to type a short response
that is scored by comparison with one or more answers.
Matching
Lists a series of items for your students to match to items in
a second list.
Essay
Provides a box for your students to type a response of any
length. Essay questions must be manually scored.
Symbolic
Scores mathematical expressions by comparing your
students’ responses to the key with variable substitution.
Algebraic
Scores mathematical expressions by comparing your
students’ responses to the key algebraically.
NumberLine
Provides a number line on which your students place points
or graph their response.
Image Map
Displays an image that your students click to identify
something in the image.
Graphing
Provides a coordinate plane on which your students graph
their response.
PencilPad
Provides a virtual pad of paper on which your students draw
their response. PencilPad questions must be manually
scored.
File-Upload
Allows your students to upload a file for their response. Fileupload questions must be manually scored.
Java
Displays a Java applet or other web-based simulation or tool
that provides the question and scores your students’
responses.
Poll
Using any of the other modes, poll questions gather
information but score all responses as correct. See Creating
Polling Questions on page 81.
4. To create a multi-part question that uses more than one question mode,
click Multi-Mode Options. See Creating Multi-Mode Questions on page 76.
5. In Question, type the question you are asking your students to answer.
Depending on the type of question you are creating, you will usually add an
answer placeholder string <_> to specify where your students will specify
their responses.
You can use HTML tags and CSS style attribute values in your question to
format its appearance, or you can use WebAssign tags to add formatting or
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boilerplate text. You can also include images, videos, sound files, or links to
documents.
Tip: To resize the Question, Answer, or Solution boxes, click the
horizontal
or vertical
resize buttons. This does not affect the
display size of the question in an assignment. Resizing these fields
affects only the question you are editing, but the field sizes are saved
with the question.
6. In Answer, specify the answer key for your question. Often, you will
specify distractors or options configuring your question’s behavior.
Important: The information you specify in Answer varies significantly
based on the selected question Mode.
For multiple-choice, multiple-select, and matching questions, you can use
HTML tags and CSS style attribute values to format answer choices, or
include images, videos, sound files, or links to documents.
7. Optionally, type a Solution. The solution helps your students understand
the steps they need to take to determine the correct answer to the
question. You can configure display of solutions in your assignment
settings.
You can use HTML tags and CSS style attribute values in your solution to
format its appearance, or you can use WebAssign tags to add formatting or
boilerplate text. You can also include images, videos, sound files, or links to
documents.
8. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
The Author and Locked information cannot be changed. Author displays
your name and email address. Locked indicates whether or not the question
has been included in a scheduled assignment. This does not prevent you
from editing the question, but you should not edit locked questions except
to correct errors.
11. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save. WebAssign
assigns a unique question ID (QID), which is displayed in parentheses after
the question name.
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You can use your question in an assignment and see it in your My
Questions list only after it is saved.
Tips:
• To discard the changes in the Question Editor and load the last
saved version of the question, click Revert.
• To view the history of saved changes for the question, including the
date, time, and user, click the Last Saved date.
Testing Questions
When creating or editing a question, always test your question to ensure that
its appearance and behavior are correct before you use it in an assignment.
To test a question:
1. In the Question Editor, click Test/Preview. The Question Previewer
window opens.
2. Check the appearance of the question.
a. Verify that the question is formatted correctly in the middle of the
Question Previewer. Ensure that all the text is displayed, as well as any
media you included in the question.
b. Select the Key, Solution, Help/Hints, Mark, and Answer Format
Tips check boxes to display those items for the question. You can click
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All or None to select all or none of these check boxes. Ensure that the
key, help/hints, and solution are displayed correctly.
c. Verify that the correct method for submitting a response for the question
is displayed. This might be a tool like the WebAssign graphing tool, a text
box, or items to select.
3. Check the behavior of the question.
a. If the question uses any randomization — for example, multiple-choice
questions or questions using randomly-selected values — click Show
New Randomization. Verify that the displayed values or answer order
changes in the way you expect. Try a few different randomizations.
b. Select Mark, and then provide a correct response to the question. Click
Submit for Testing and verify that the question is marked as correct.
Notes:
• For file-upload questions, you cannot actually upload a file in the
Question Previewer. To test that functionality, add the question to
an assignment and use the Student View to submit a file on the
assignment.
• For manually-graded question types — file-upload, essay, and
PencilPad — all submissions are automatically marked as correct.
c. If more than one response might be correct, provide each alternative
correct answer. Click Submit for Testing each time and verify that the
responses are marked as correct.
d. Provide a likely incorrect response to the question and click Submit for
Testing. Verify that the response is marked as incorrect. Test a variety
of probable incorrect responses.
4. If needed, make changes to the question code and then go to step 1.
Tip: If the Question Previewer window is open, you can view your
latest changes by clicking Reload from Editor.
5. When you satisfied that the question is correct, close the Question
Previewer window and save the question in the Question Editor.
Formatting Text in Your Questions
When typing your Question, Solution, and for some modes also your Answer,
you can use HTML tags and CSS style attribute values to add formatting to your
questions.
Note: Not all HTML tags and CSS attributes are displayed in the same
way on all browsers. In addition, some tags or attributes might not
display as expected because of other formatting rules in the WebAssign
application. Always test your formatting.
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If you are not familiar with using HTML, the following information might be
useful:
• HTML is a markup language with tags enclosed in angle brackets <>.
• Most HTML tags have a start tag that identifies the formatting to be applied
and a matching end tag that begins with a forward slash, for example,
<b>your_content_here</b> • When the < and & characters are followed by a letter, you must use a
character entity reference to prevent these characters from being
interpreted as HTML markup.
To type <, type &lt;
To type &, type &amp;
• Most spaces and line breaks are considered unimportant for HTML
formatting and are ignored.
Important: Line breaks in Answer are very important for WebAssign
and determine the start of each answer or answer choice, depending
on the question mode.
See the following table for examples of some of the most commonly used
formatting.
Formatting
Example Code
Display
Bold
<b>bold text</b> bold text
Italics
<i>italic text</i> italic text
Underline
<u>underlined text</u> underlined text
Subscript
text<sub>subscript </sub>
textsubscript
Superscript
text<sup>superscript</sup> textsuperscript
Line break
line<br>new line
line
new line
New
paragraph
paragraph<p>new paragraph
paragraph
Indented text
text <div class='indent'>indented</div>
text
text <div class='center'>centered</div>
text
Right-aligned
text
text <div class='right'>right‐aligned</div>
text
Bulleted list
<ul>
<li>first list item</li>
<li>next list item</li>
<li>last list item</li>
</ul>
• first list item
• next list item
• last list item
Centered text
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new paragraph
indented
centered
right-aligned
Creating Questions 12
Formatting
Example Code
Display
Numbered list
<ol>
<li>first list item</li>
<li>next list item</li>
<li>last list item</li>
</ol>
1. first list item
2. next list item
3. last list item
Simple table no borders
<table>
<tr><td>top left</td><td>top right</td></tr>
<tr><td>bottom left</td><td>bottom right</td></tr>
</table>
Simple table with borders
<table border="1">
<tr><td>top left</td><td>top right</td></tr>
<tr><td>bottom left</td><td>bottom right</td></tr>
</table>
Adding Special Characters to Your Questions
You can use the special WebAssign symbol <s> tag to add a number of special
characters to your questions.
See Also:
• List of Symbols on page 220
Adding Standard Text Prompts to Your Questions
You can use the special WebAssign prompt <p> tag to add a number of
commonly used text prompts to your questions.
See Also:
• List of Prompts on page 231
Adding Images, Media, or Documents to Your
Questions
You can add images, media such as audio or video files, or documents to your
questions.
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For example, you might want to:
• display an image as part of your question prompt
• include a brief video that your students watch before answering the
question
• supply a template document like a spreadsheet or code example that your
students complete and then upload as their response
• provide a worked solution to the problem as a PDF document
Important: Before adding images, media, or documents to your
questions:
• Obtain the image, media, or document as a file on your computer
in a standard file format for the content — for example, JPG, GIF,
or PNG for images.
• If your content must be opened with proprietary software, ensure
that your students will have access to this software.
• Make sure that you have permission to use any materials that you
share with your students. Do not share copyrighted materials like
music files or content from a textbook you have not adopted for
your class.
To add images, media, or document files to your questions, perform the
following steps as described in this section:
1. Copy the images, media, or documents from your computer to WebAssign.
2. Set the display text that you want to use for your images, media, or
documents.
3. Add code to perform one of the following:
• Display an image in your question.
• Provide a linked document in your question.
• Play a media file in your question.
This section contains the following topics:
• Copying Images, Media, or Documents from Your Computer to WebAssign
• Setting Display Text for Your Images, Media, or Documents
• Displaying Images in Your Questions
• Providing Linked Documents in Your Questions
• Playing Media Files in Your Questions
See Also:
• Organizing your Course Materials Using Folders in the WebAssign Instructor
Guide
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Creating Questions 14
Copying Images, Media, or Documents from Your
Computer to WebAssign
You can copy image, media, or document files from your computer to your
WebAssign account for use in questions and assignments or as class resources.
To copy an image, media, or document file from your computer to
WebAssign:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
Tip: You can perform this procedure from the Assignment Editor or My
Folders pages in essentially the same way.
2. Click My Files under Page Tools.
3. In the My Files window, navigate to the folder where you want to put your
file.
Tip: The current folder is listed above the Modify Selected Items
menu. You can:
• Open any folder by clicking it.
• Create a new folder by clicking New Folder.
• Sort the list by clicking a column heading.
4. Click
Import File.
5. In the Import File window, click Browse or Choose File, depending on the
browser you are using.
6. Navigate to the file you want to use on your computer and click Open or
Choose, depending on the browser you are using.
7. Click go.
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Your file is copied from your computer to WebAssign, and then it is listed in
the My Files window.
Note: Copying a large file might take some time, especially with a
slower Internet connection.
After copying your file to WebAssign, you can use it in your questions, in your
assignment description or instructions, or as a class resource.
See Also:
• Using Resource Materials in the WebAssign Instructor Guide
Setting Display Text for Your Images, Media, or
Documents
You can configure the link, hover, or alternative text that is displayed with your
image, media, or document files in questions and assignments.
• Link text is the text of the link to the file, and is not applicable for images.
• Hover text is shown when you move the mouse pointer over an image or
link.
• Alternative text is spoken by screen reader software for the visually
impaired to describe images. This text is shown when an image cannot be
displayed. You can optionally specify the location of a text file providing a
longer description of the image.
Note: This text is not used for displaying class resources. See Using
Resource Materials in the WebAssign Instructor Guide.
Prerequisite:
• Before beginning this procedure, see Copying Images, Media, or
Documents from Your Computer to WebAssign on page 14.
To specify link, hover, or alternative text for an image, media, or
document file:
1. If needed, open your question in the Question Editor, click My Files under
Page Tools, and navigate to the folder containing your file.
Tip: You can perform this procedure from the Assignment Editor or My
Folders pages in essentially the same way.
2. In the My Files window, click the file that you uploaded. The File View
window is displayed.
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Creating Questions 16
The bottom section of the File View window displays a preview of the file
contents (for file types that are recognized by your Web browser) or the file
link.
3. Beside Attributes, select Image or Link.
• For images, select Image.
• For other media and documents, select Link.
4. Change any of the following attribute values to set the display text for your
file:
Text to Set
Attribute
Link text
link text
Hover text
title
Alternative text
alt tag
Optionally, set longdesc to the location of a text file
providing a longer description of the image.
5. Click Save.
Your changes are saved. To see your changes, close and then reopen the
FileView window.
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Displaying Images in Your Questions
You can display image files in your questions as part of the question prompt, as
choices for multiple-choice and multiple-select questions, or as part of the
worked solution.
Best Practice: Use one of the following image formats to ensure
compatibility with all Web browsers: PNG, GIF, or JPG. Keep the image
dimensions smaller than 800 by 600 pixels to ensure that the image is
displayed in the question without scrolling.
Tip: To display a chemical structure drawing, consider using
MarvinSketch. See Displaying Chemical Structures in Your Questions
with MarvinSketch on page 206.
Prerequisite:
• Before beginning this procedure, see Copying Images, Media, or
Documents from Your Computer to WebAssign on page 14.
To display an image in a question:
1. If needed, open your question in the Question Editor, click My Files under
Page Tools, and navigate to the folder containing your file.
2. In the My Files window, select the check box for each image file that you
want to display.
3. For Paste location of file (selected below) as, select Image.
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Creating Questions 18
4. Optionally, override the hover text and alternative text that you set for your
image file by selecting enter new attributes for Attributes.
Text to Set
Attribute
Hover text
title
Alternative text
alt tag
Optionally, set longdesc to the location of a text file
providing a longer description of the image.
5. For Destination Field, select Question, Answer, or Solution, depending
on where you want the image to be displayed.
Note: You can display images in Answer only for multiple-choice,
multiple-select, or matching questions.
6. Click go.
The following code is added to the end of Question, Answer, or Solution for
each image to be displayed.
<userimage(ID)> where ID is the ID number of your image file. If you chose to override the
alternative text or hover text for your image, the code will specify these
attribute values in this way:
<userimage(ID, alt => "alternate_text", title => "title_text", longdesc => "link_to_long_description")>
7. If needed, move the <userimage> tag to the location where your image
should be displayed.
8. Optionally, specify other attributes that are valid for the <img> tag in
HTML — for example, align, height, width, or style — in the same way
that the alt, title, and longdesc attributes are specified.
For example, the following code displays the image with a 2-pixel solid gray
border:
<userimage(103854, style => "border: 2px solid gray;")>
Providing Linked Documents in Your Questions
You can include links to documents in your questions as part of the question
prompt, as choices for multiple-choice and multiple-select questions, or as part
of the worked solution.
Prerequisite:
• Before beginning this procedure, see Copying Images, Media, or
Documents from Your Computer to WebAssign on page 14.
To provide a linked document in a question:
1. If needed, open your question in the Question Editor, click My Files under
Page Tools, and navigate to the folder containing your file.
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19 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
2. In the My Files window, select the check box for each document file for
which you want to include a link.
3. For Paste location of file (selected below) as, select Link.
4. Optionally, override the link text and hover text that you set for your image
file by selecting enter new attributes for Attributes.
Text to Set
Attribute
Link text
link text
Hover text
title
5. For Destination Field, select Question, Answer, or Solution, depending
on where you want the link to be.
Note: You can include linked documents in Answer only for multiplechoice, multiple-select, or matching questions.
6. Click go.
The following code is added to the end of Question, Answer, or Solution for
each linked document.
<userfile(ID)> where ID is the ID number of your document file. If you chose to override
the link text or hover text for your document, the code will specify these
attribute values in this way:
<userfile(ID, link => "link_text", title => "title_text")>
7. If needed, move the <userfile> tag to the location where your document
link should be included.
8. Optionally, specify other attributes that are valid for the <a> tag in HTML —
for example, style or target — in the same way that the title attribute is
specified.
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Creating Questions 20
For example, the following code displays the link in italics and opens the
document in a new browser window or tab:
<userfile(103854, style => "font‐style: italic;", target => "_blank")>
Playing Media Files in Your Questions
You can include media files such as video tutorials or audio clips in your
questions as part of the question prompt, as choices for multiple-choice and
multiple-select questions, or as part of the worked solution.
Prerequisite:
• Before beginning this procedure, see Copying Images, Media, or
Documents from Your Computer to WebAssign on page 14.
Note: Many formats exist for distributing media on the Internet. This
topic documents procedures for including two of the most common
video formats — Adobe Flash, which is a WebAssign system
requirement, and Apple QuickTime, which is also supported in most
Web browsers.
For information about other media formats, contact WebAssign
customer support.
Best Practices:
• Keep media files as brief as possible, ideally 3 minutes or less, in
order to keep your students’ attention. Consider editing longer
materials into multiple shorter segments.
• Keep video dimensions no larger than is needed to clearly show the
subject matter. Larger video dimensions will download more slowly
and might require your students to scroll the browser window to
watch the video.
• When using video or audio clips in your assignments, change your
assignment settings to show only one question at a time.
To include an Adobe Flash or Apple QuickTime video in a question:
1. If needed, open your question in the Question Editor, click My Files under
Page Tools, and navigate to the folder containing your file.
2. In the My Files window, click the media file that you want to play. The File
View window is displayed.
3. Click Show File Info. The file’s MIME type, path, ID, modification date,
and size are displayed.
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4. Add the following code to Question, Answer, or Solution, depending on
where you want the media to be played.
Note: You can include media in Answer only for multiple-choice,
multiple-select, or matching questions.
Media Type
Code
Flash Video
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E‐AE6D‐11cf‐96B8‐444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab"
width="width" height="height"> <param name="movie" value="location/name" />
<object type="application/x‐shockwave‐flash" width="width" height="height" data="location/name">
</object>
</object>
QuickTime
Video
<object classid="clsid:02BF25D5‐8C17‐4B23‐BC80‐D3488ABDDC6B" codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab" width="width" height="height"> <param name="src" value="location/name" />
<object type="video/quicktime" width="width" height="height" data="location/name">
</object>
</object>
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Creating Questions 22
where:
• height and width are the height and width of your video, in pixels.
• location and name are the Location and Name from the File View window.
Important:
• In order to display videos correctly on all Web browsers that are
supported for WebAssign, each of these values is specified twice.
Be sure these values are correct in both places or your content
might not display correctly on some Web browsers.
• Do not move your video to another folder. If you change the
location of the video, it will not be displayed in your question. This
is not a problem when using the <userfile> or <userimage> tags.
5. When testing your question, be sure to view it both in Internet Explorer and
in either Firefox or Safari.
Example Question with Flash Video
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1545601
Name
Template2 1.MEDIA.01.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
Watch the following video and then answer the question.<br>
<div style="margin: 10px; width: 680px; border: 1px solid gray;">
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E‐AE6D‐11cf‐96B8‐444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab"
width="680" height="555"> <param name="movie"
value="/userimages/mplopez@webassign/Media/adding_media_to_questions.swf" />
<object type="application/x‐shockwave‐flash" width="680" height="555"
data="/userimages/mplopez@webassign/Media/adding_media_to_questions.swf">
</object>
</object>
</div>
What tag do you use to add video to a question? <br>
<_>
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23 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Answer
object
userfile
userimage
Display to
Students
See Also:
• Setting Randomization and Display Options for Assignments in the
WebAssign Instructor Guide
• System Requirements for WebAssign in the WebAssign Instructor Guide
Sharing Questions With Other Instructors
You can change sharing permissions for your questions to control whether or
not other instructors can use your questions in their assignments, or to
collaborate with specific instructors when creating questions.
Important: Changes to questions can affect scoring for both current
and past scheduled assignments. To avoid creating a situation in which
assignments might have to be rescored, do not allow other instructors
to use your questions until after you are done making changes.
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You can choose among several permission values, each of which should be used
for specific goals.
• By default, new questions are set to Protected. This lets other instructors
use your question in their assignments only if you provide the question ID,
and ensures that other instructors cannot find your question by searching.
Only you can edit the question or find it in search results.
• If you do not want to share your question with any other instructors,
choose Private. This ensures that only you can find, use, or edit the
question.
• If you want to let all instructors use your question in their assignments,
choose either Copyright (if your question contains copyrighted materials)
or Public (if all content in your question is in the public domain). Other
instructors can find the question by searching and can use the question in
their assignments. Only you can edit the question.
• If you want to collaborate with other instructors at your school when
creating a question, choose a group permission. With group permission,
you can select or create a group of instructors who can edit the question
and find it in search results. Instructors who are not in the group cannot
find your question by searching, and can use the question in their
assignments only if you or another instructor in the group provides the
question ID.
When you use Protected or Group permissions and you want other instructors
to be able to use your question in their assignments, you must provide them
with the question ID (the number shown in parentheses after the question
name). With the question ID, other instructors can add your question to their
assignments in the Question Browser.
Notes:
• If you are not the original author of a question and you change the
permission to anything other than Group, only the original author
of the question will be able to edit the question.
• Other instructors can duplicate any question that you allow them to
use or to edit.
To set the question permission:
1. If needed, click Show Additional Information in the Question Editor.
2. For Permission, select the permission you want to use.
3. Click Save to apply your changes.
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25 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Managing Permission Groups
You can create groups of instructors at your institution in order to collaborate
when creating assignments or questions. You can add instructors to, or remove
yourself from, any group of which you are a member. Only group creators can
rename groups, remove other group members, or delete groups.
Tip: From the Assignment Editor, Assignment Templates Manager, or
Question Editor, you can open the Groups window by clicking Manage
My Groups or My Groups. After creating or renaming a group, close
and reopen the assignment, template, or question to see your
changes.
To create a permission group:
1. Click Tasks > My Groups.
2. In the Groups window, click Create New Group.
3. Type a name for the group in Group Name.
4. Under Members, select each of the instructors that you want to add to the
group. You are automatically added as a member of any new group that
you create.
5. Click Save. The new group is listed in the Groups window.
To add instructors to a permission group:
1. Click Tasks > My Groups.
2. In the Groups window, click the name of a group.
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Creating Questions 26
3. Click Add new member.
4. Under Members, select each of the instructors that you want to add to the
group.
5. Click Save.
To remove yourself from a permission group:
Note: If you remove yourself from a group, you will not be able to edit
assignments or questions that were shared with you using that group.
1. Click Tasks > My Groups.
2. In the Groups window, click the name of a group.
3. Click remove beside your name.
To remove another instructor from a permission group (group creator
only):
1. Click Tasks > My Groups.
2. In the Groups window, click the name of a group.
3. Click remove beside the instructor’s name.
To rename a permission group (group creator only):
1. Click Tasks > My Groups.
2. In the Groups window, click the name of a group.
3. Edit the name in Group Name and click Update.
To delete a permission group (group creator only):
Note: When a group is deleted, only the original author can edit
assignments or questions that were shared using that group.
1. Click Tasks > My Groups.
2. In the Groups window, click the name of a group.
3. Remove every instructor from the group, including yourself.
Adding Search Metadata to Your Questions
If you make your questions publicly available, you might want to add search
metadata to your questions that indicate the covered subject matter or
discipline. You might also want to indicate whether the question is still being
edited or provide a comment about the question.
To add search metadata to a question:
1. If needed, click Show Additional Information in the Question Editor.
10/2010
27 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
2. Under Additional Information, specify any of the following information:
Field
Description
Keywords
A comma-delimited list of keywords describing the question.
Classification
For math, physics, and chemistry questions, one or more topics
in the discipline that relate to the question.
Adding a classification includes your question in the collections
listed in the Question Browser for any instructors who can find
the question in search results (see Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23).
Usable/Draft
Whether the question is ready to be included in assignments
(Usable) or is still being edited (Draft). This does not prevent
the question from being included in an assignment.
Comment
Any information about the question.
Discipline
One or more disciplines to which the question applies.
3. Click Save to apply your changes.
10/2010
Creating Questions 28
10/2010
2
Creating General-Purpose
Questions
In WebAssign, you can create a wide variety of questions for use in your
classes. This section provides step-by-step instructions with examples for
creating many kinds of general-purpose questions. These questions reflect the
kinds of questions most commonly used in the classroom, but do not include
some advanced or discipline-specific question types.
This section contains the following topics:
• Creating Multiple-Choice Questions
• Creating True/False Questions
• Creating Yes/No Questions
• Creating Multiple-Select Questions
• Creating Matching Questions
• Creating Ranking Questions
• Creating Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
• Creating Numerical Questions
• Creating Image Map Questions
• Creating Short-answer or Essay Questions
• Creating PencilPad (Drawing) Questions
• Creating File Upload Questions
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 30
Creating Multiple-Choice Questions
Multiple-choice questions present mutually exclusive choices with only one
correct response. By default, the choices are displayed in random order when
the question is used.
To create a multiple-choice question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Multiple-Choice.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer choices should be displayed.
Best Practice: Although technically you can omit the answer
placeholder string <_> for multiple-choice questions if you want the
answer choices to be listed at the end of your question, this string is
required for most other question types and it is a good practice always
to include it.
5. In Answer, type the correct answer on the first line and press ENTER.
Then, type one or more incorrect answers, pressing ENTER after each one.
Notes:
• Incorrect answers are sometimes referred to as distractors.
• 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.
• To show feedback for each choice — sometimes called a
rejoinder — see Adding Item-Specific Feedback to Multiple-Choice
Questions on page 34.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10/2010
31 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
10. 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 Multiple-Choice Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1077495
Name
Template2 2.MC.01.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
What is the primary function of leaves?<br> <_>
Answer
to trap light energy for photosynthesis
to provide protection for the plant
to provide water for the plant
to enable the plant to grow taller
Display to
Students
This section contains the following topics:
• Displaying Choices in a Fixed Order
• Displaying Choices as a Drop-down Menu
• Displaying Choices Horizontally or in Tables
• Adding Item-Specific Feedback to Multiple-Choice Questions
Displaying Choices in a Fixed Order
By default, the answer choices for multiple-choice questions are listed in
random order.
You can force the choices to be displayed in a specific order by setting the
$ORDERED variable to the number of the correct choice and entering the answer
choices in the sequence in which they should be displayed.
To list answer choices in a specific sequence:
1. Start the first line of Answer with the following code:
<eqn $ORDERED=n; ''>
where n is the number of the correct choice. The choices are numbered
beginning with 1 for the choice on the first line of Answer.
2. Type the choices in Answer in the sequence in which they should be
displayed.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 32
Example Ordered Multiple-Choice Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158608
Name
Template2 2.MC.02.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
In what year was President Kennedy elected?
<_>
Answer
<eqn $ORDERED=2; ''>1959
1960
1961
1962
Display to
Students
Displaying Choices as a Drop-down Menu
Sometimes, you might want to list the choices for a multiple-choice question as
a drop-down menu. This can be especially useful for sentence-completion
questions or in tables, where you want the student to select an answer in a
specific context.
You can do this by setting the $PULLDOWN variable in your answer. You can also
use the $Select_Option variable to specify the default text that is displayed in
the menu before your students select a response.
To display answer choices as a drop-down menu:
1. Include the answer placeholder string <_> in Question at the location
where you want the answer choices to be displayed.
2. Start the first line of Answer with the following code:
<eqn $PULLDOWN=1; $Select_Option="text"; ''>
where text is the default text that you want to be displayed in the menu.
Tip: Specifying $Select_Option="text" is optional. If you do not
specify default text for the menu, ‐‐‐Select‐‐‐ is displayed.
Example Drop-down Multiple-Choice Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158615
Name
Template2 2.MC.03.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
<_> is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time.
10/2010
33 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Answer
<eqn $PULLDOWN=1; $Select_Option='‐‐‐'; ''>Acceleration
Velocity
Motion
Displacement
Display to
Students
Displaying Choices Horizontally or in Tables
By default, the choices for a multiple-choice question are displayed as a vertical
list. Sometimes, you might want to arrange the choices horizontally or in a
table.
You can use the $SET_EACH_POSITION variable together with answer placeholder
strings <_> to specify the location of each answer choice in your question.
To specify the positions of answer choices:
1. Include an answer placeholder string <_> in Question for each choice. Put
the answer placeholder strings <_> where the choices should be displayed.
2. Start the first line of Answer with the following code:
<eqn $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''> Example Horizontal Multiple-Choice Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158695
Name
Template2 2.MC.04.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
What is the sum of the first five natural numbers? <br>
<_> <_> <_>
Answer
<eqn $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>15
120
18
Display to
Students
Example Tabular Multiple-Choice Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1247290
Name
Template2 2.MC.05.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Creating General-Purpose Questions 34
Question
Identify the wood duck. <p class="right">(Public domain images from http://photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov)</p>
<div class="indent">
<table>
<tr valign="top"><td><_></td><td><_></td></tr>
<tr valign="top"><td><_></td><td><_></td></tr>
</table>
</div>
Answer
<eqn $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''><userimage(103859, align => 'top')>
<userimage(103853, align => 'top')>
<userimage(103855, align => 'top')>
<userimage(103857, align => 'top')>
Display to
Students
Adding Item-Specific Feedback to MultipleChoice Questions
You can help your students learn by providing feedback — sometimes called
rejoinders — after your students submit responses for multiple-choice
questions. For each distractor, your feedback should help your students
understand why that response was not correct without giving away the answer.
You can also provide feedback for the correct answer to reinforce or supplement
the concept.
Note: Item-specific feedback is displayed to your students only after
they submit a response to the question, and only if you enable
displaying Hints, Tutorials & eBook Links for the assignment.
To add item-specific feedback to a multiple-choice question:
1. (Optional) Include the <HINT> tag in Question to specify where the
feedback should be displayed. If you omit <HINT>, the feedback is
displayed below the question.
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35 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
2. Specify the feedback for each choice by prepending each line in Answer
with the following code:
<EQN $hints{choice_number}='feedback'; ''>choice where
• choice_number is the number of the choice, starting with 0 for the first
choice.
• feedback is the text you want to display after students submit that choice
as their response.
• choice is the text of the answer or distractor.
Best Practice: Although you could specify the feedback for each
choice in Question, defining it in Answer as described helps to ensure
that your feedback matches the answer choices you are providing.
3. In the last answer line, add the following statement inside the <EQN> tag
after you define the last value for $hints:
$HINT=$hints{$thisanswer};
This sets the value of $HINT to the correct feedback text based on the
response that your student submits.
4. If you want to display feedback after your student submits the correct
answer, add the following statement inside any <EQN> tag in Answer:
$HINT_ON_CORRECT=1;
Otherwise, your feedback will be displayed only after your student submits
incorrect responses.
Example Multiple-Choice Question with Item-Specific Feedback
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1236642
Name
Template2 2.MC.06.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
What is the best unit for measuring the length of a pencil?
<div class="indent">
<_> <HINT>
</div>
Creating General-Purpose Questions 36
Answer
<EQN $hints{0}='Centimeters are a good unit of length for measuring a pencil.';''>cm
<EQN $hints{1}='Kilograms are used to measure mass.';''>kg
<EQN $hints{2}='Milliliters are used to measure volume.';''>ml
<EQN $hints{3}='Amperes are used to measure electric current.';''>A
<EQN $hints{4}='Candelas are used to measure the intensity of light.'; $HINT_ON_CORRECT=1; $HINT=$hints{$thisanswer};''>cd
Display to
Students
Creating True/False Questions
True/false questions are multiple-choice questions with only two choices: True
and False.
Best Practices:
• Use the $ORDERED variable and list the answer choices with True
first, followed by False.
• Only allow one submission when including these questions on an
assignment.
To create a True/false question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Multiple-Choice.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer choices should be displayed.
5. In Answer, type one of the the following:
• If the correct response is True, type:
<eqn $ORDERED=1; ''>True
False
• If the correct response is False, type:
<eqn $ORDERED=2; ''>True
False
To show feedback for each choice — sometimes called a rejoinder — see
Adding Item-Specific Feedback to Multiple-Choice Questions on page 34.
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37 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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 True/False Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1077683
Name
Template2 2.TF.01.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
If an object moves at constant velocity, then there must be at least one force acting on the object. <br>
<_>
Answer
<eqn $ORDERED=2; ''>True
False
Display
to
Students
Creating Yes/No Questions
Yes/no questions are multiple-choice questions with only two choices: Yes and
No.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 38
Two best practices should be observed for yes/no questions:
• Use the $ORDERED variable and list the answer choices with Yes first,
followed by No.
• Only allow one submission when including these questions on an
assignment.
To create a Yes/no question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Multiple-Choice.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer choices should be displayed.
5. In Answer, type one of the the following:
• If the correct response is Yes, type:
<eqn $ORDERED=1; ''>Yes
No
• If the correct response is No, type:
<eqn $ORDERED=2; ''>Yes
No
To show feedback for each choice — sometimes called a rejoinder — see
Adding Item-Specific Feedback to Multiple-Choice Questions on page 34.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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.
10/2010
39 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Example Yes/No Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158782
Name
Template2 2.YN.01.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
Is our Sun a red giant star?<br>
<_>
Answer
<eqn $ORDERED=2; ''>Yes
No
Display
to
Students
Creating Multiple-Select Questions
Multiple-select questions present several non-exclusive choices, allowing your
students to select all the choices that apply. By default, the choices are
displayed in random order when the question is used.
To create a multiple-select question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Multiple-Select.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer choices should be displayed.
Tip: Use the code <p:selectall> to insert the text “Select all that
apply.”
5. In Answer, use the following procedure to specify the correct and incorrect
answers:
a. Type one or more correct answers, pressing ENTER after each one.
b. Type <INCORRECT> before the first incorrect answer.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 40
c. Type one or more incorrect answers, pressing ENTER after each one.
Notes:
• Incorrect answers are sometimes referred to as distractors.
• 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.
• If you want to write a question with no correct answer displayed,
add a correct answer with text like None of these. If you do not
specify any correct answers, students who do not attempt the
question receive credit for it.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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 Multiple-Select Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1073354
Name
Template2 2.MS.01.
Mode
Multiple‐Select
Question
Which of the following people were United States Presidents? (<p:selectall>) <br>
<_>
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41 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Answer
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
George Bush
<INCORRECT>Joseph Stalin
Winston Churchill Display to
Students
Displaying Multiple-Select Choices in a Fixed
Order
By default, the answer choices for multiple-select questions are listed in
random order.
You can force the choices to be displayed in a specific order by setting the
$ORDERED variable to indicate the numbers of the correct choices and entering
the answer choices in the sequence in which they should be displayed. You do
not use the <INCORRECT> tag when displaying multiple-select choices using this
method.
To list answer choices in a specific sequence:
1. Start the first line of Answer with the following code:
<eqn $ORDERED=[n,o,p]; ''>
where n, o, and p are the numbers of the correct choices. The choices are
numbered beginning with 1 for the choice on the first line of Answer. You
can specify any number of choices. For example, <eqn $ORDERED=[1,4]; ''>
indicates that choices 1 and 4 are correct.
Tip: You can specify the range of correct choices from n through p as
[n..p]. For example, <eqn $ORDERED=[1..3]; ''> indicates that choices
1, 2, and 3 are correct.
Note: If you use the $ORDERED and $SET_EACH_POSITION variables
together, you must specify $ORDERED first, and then
$SET_EACH_POSITION.
2. Type the choices in Answer in the sequence in which they should be
displayed.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 42
Example Ordered Multiple-Select Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158784
Name
Template2 2.MS.02.
Mode
Multiple‐Select
Question
Which of the following are rational numbers? (<p:selectall>)<br>
<_>
Answer
<eqn $ORDERED=[1,2,3,4]; ''>‐321
0
2/3
321
None of these
Display to
Students
Displaying Multiple-Select Choices Horizontally
or in Tables
By default, the choices for a multiple-select question are displayed as a vertical
list. Sometimes, you might want to arrange the choices horizontally or in a
table.
You can use the $SET_EACH_POSITION variable together with answer placeholder
strings <_> to specify the location of each answer choice in your question.
To specify the positions of answer choices:
1. Include an answer placeholder string <_> in Question for each choice. Put
the answer placeholder strings <_> where the choices should be displayed.
2. Start the first line of Answer with the following code:
<eqn $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>
Note: If you use the $ORDERED and $SET_EACH_POSITION variables
together, you must specify $ORDERED first, and then
$SET_EACH_POSITION.
Example Tabular Multiple-Select Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158786
Name
Template2 2.MS.03.
10/2010
43 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Mode
Multiple‐Select
Question
Select the metric units:
<table>
<tr><td><_></td><td><_></td><td><_></td><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><td><_></td><td><_></td><td><_></td><td><_></td></tr>
</table>
Answer
<eqn $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>meter
second
gram
liter
<INCORRECT>mile
yard
acre
pound
Display
to
Students
Creating Matching Questions
On paper, a matching question has two columns of items, and students draw
lines or otherwise identify the item in the second column that matches each
item in the first column.
In WebAssign, only the first column of items is displayed; each item in the first
column has a drop-down list of the items in the second column.
Paper
WebAssign
Note: Although you can add extra unmatched items to one of the
columns, there must be a one-to-one correspondence between items
in the two columns. You cannot create a matching question in which
choices are reused. To do this, create a series of multiple-select or
multiple-choice questions.
By default, the choices in each column are displayed in random order when the
question is used.
To create a matching question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 44
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Matching.
4. In Question, type your question.
5. In Answer, type each first-column item on a separate line followed by the
characters {tab} and its matching second-column item. Press ENTER after
each line.
Notes:
• The characters {tab} can be entered by typing on your keyboard or
by clicking Add tab. You can abbreviate this notation as {}. You
cannot enter these characters by pressing the Tab key on your
keyboard.
• 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.
• Because second-column items are displayed in a drop-down list,
they are displayed without any text formatting. If you need to
include text formatting, such as chemical or math notation, see
Matching Formatted Notation or Images on page 45.
6. If you want to specify additional distractors — second-column items that do
not match any first-column item — type them in Answer on separate lines
following the correct answers. Press ENTER after each line.
7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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.
10/2010
45 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Example Matching Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1077498
Name
Template2 2.MATCH.01.
Mode
Matching
Question
Match the city with the country.
Answer
Paris {tab} France
London {tab} Great Britain
Madrid {tab} Spain
Moscow {tab} Russia
Athens {tab} Greece
Turkey
Italy
Belgium
Display to
Students
Matching Formatted Notation or Images
You can include images and formatted text, such as subscripts, in first-column
items in matching questions. However, you cannot include formatted text or
images in the drop-down list of second column items. In order to match
second-column items that contain images or formatting, you must use labels
for the second-column items.
You can use the $LABEL variable to set alphabetic or numeric numbering of your
second-column items. These labels are displayed beside the second-column
items in the question, and the labels are listed in the drop-down menu.
To set labels for second-column items:
1. Start the first line of Answer with one of the following:
10/2010
Label type
Code
Lowercase alphabetic (a,b,c...)
<eqn $LABEL="a"; ''>
Uppercase alphabetic (A,B,C...)
<eqn $LABEL="A"; ''>
Numeric (1,2,3...)
<eqn $LABEL="1"; ''>
Creating General-Purpose Questions 46
Example Matching Question With Formatted Notation
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1158804
Name
Template2 2.MATCH.02.
Mode
Matching
Question
Match the chemical with the formula.
Answer
<eqn $LABEL="a"; ''>water {tab} H<sub>2</sub>O
benzene {tab} C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>6</sub>
sodium chloride {tab} NaCl
ethanol {tab} CH<sub>3</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>OH
carbon dioxide {tab} CO<sub>2</sub>
CO
MgCl<sub>2</sub>
H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>
Display to
Students
Displaying Matching Items in a Fixed Order
By default, the choices in each column of a matching question are displayed in
random order when the question is used.
You can use either the $ORDERLEFT or $ORDERRIGHT variable to force items in
either the left or right column to be listed in the order in which you specify them
in Answer.
To list matching items in a specific sequence:
1. Start the first line of Answer with one of the following:
List to be displayed in order
Code
Left (prompt) list
<eqn $ORDERLEFT=1; ''>
Right (drop-down) list
<eqn $ORDERRIGHT=1; ''>
Note: Although you can use both $ORDERLEFT and $ORDERRIGHT
variables together, doing so is not recommended. If both lists are
displayed in a fixed order, students will quickly catch on that the nth
item in the left list always matches the nth item in the right list.
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47 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
2. Type the items in Answer in the sequence in which they should be
displayed for the specified list.
Example Ordered Matching Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1159108
Name
Template2 2.MATCH.03.
Mode
Matching
Question
Match the inventor and the invention.
Answer
<eqn $ORDERLEFT=1; ''>Babbage {tab} analytical engine
Bell {tab} telephone
Edison {tab} phonograph
Franklin {tab} lightning rod
Newton {tab} reflecting telescope
Volta {tab} battery
Whitney {tab} cotton gin
magnifying glass
printing press
Display to
Students
Creating Ranking Questions
Ranking questions require your students to put a list of items in the correct
sequence based on some characteristic of the items.
If you can think about the sequence in which you want your students to rank
items as its own list — from low to high, or some other progression based on
the ranking characteristic — you can see your ranking question as a special
case of a matching question, with the ranking characteristic defining the left list
and the items to be ranked as the right list.
To create a ranking question:
1. Decide how you want to identify the endpoints for ranking, and if you need
to label any other points in the series. For example, you might want to use
“dimmest” and “brightest” as endpoints, or you might want your students
to rank items from 1 to 10. The list describing your ranking characteristic
does not need to specify text for every item being ranked.
2. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 48
3. In Name, type a name for the question.
4. In Mode, select Matching.
5. In Question, type your question.
6. In Answer, type the following code:
<eqn $ORDERLEFT=1; ''>
7. On the same line, type the first item in your ranking characteristic list,
followed by the characters {tab} and the item having the corresponding
rank. Then, press ENTER.
For example, if you were ranking types of electromagnetic radiation by
energy levels and the lowest energy item was microwave:
<eqn $ORDERLEFT=1; ''><i>lowest</i> {tab} microwave
Notes:
• The characters {tab} can be entered by typing on your keyboard or
by clicking Add tab. You can abbreviate this notation as {}. You
cannot enter these characters by pressing the Tab key on your
keyboard.
• 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.
• Because second-column items are displayed in a drop-down list,
they are displayed without any text formatting. If you need to
include text formatting, such as chemical or math notation, see
Matching Formatted Notation or Images on page 45.
8. Type successive items in your ranking characteristic list on separate lines,
each followed by the characters {tab} and the item having the
corresponding rank. Press ENTER after each line.
Important: If your ranking characteristic list does not specify text for
every item being ranked — for example, in the middle of a ranking
from slowest to fastest — type &nbsp; for the ranking characteristic list
item. This will ensure that the list item is displayed correctly.
9. After typing the final ranking characteristic followed by {tab} and the final
item to be ranked, do not press ENTER. Unlike other matching questions,
ranking questions must have the same number of items in both lists.
10. Optionally, 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.
11. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
12. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
10/2010
49 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
13. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
14. 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 Ranking Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1078579
Name
Template2 2.RANK.01.
Mode
Matching
Question
Rank the following types of electromagnetic radiation from lowest energy to highest energy.
Answer
<eqn $ORDERLEFT=1; ''><i>lowest</i> {tab} microwave
&nbsp; {tab} infrared
&nbsp; {tab} ultraviolet
&nbsp; {tab} visible
<i>highest</i> {tab} x‐ray
Display to
Students
Example Ranking Question with Equality
Sometimes, you need to allow your students to specify multiple items as being
equal to each other in rank. You can use distractors to facilitate this behavior.
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1247378
Name
Template2 2.RANK.02.
Mode
Matching
Creating General-Purpose Questions 50
Question
The figure shows a series of sound waves leaving a moving source.
<div class="indent"><userimage(103873)></div>
Rank the locations by frequency heard by a stationary listener at each letter location. Answer
<eqn $ORDERLEFT=1; ''><i>lowest</i> {tab} B
&nbsp; {tab} A and D
&nbsp; {tab} C
<i>highest</i> {tab} E
A
D
A and B
A and C
A and E
B and C
B and D
B and E
C and D
C and E
D and E
Display to
Students
Creating 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 Creating Numerical Questions on page 52 or
Creating Math Questions on page 107.
By default, spaces and character case are not considered when scoring fill-inthe-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 casesensitive. You can hide answer format tips for your assignments.
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51 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
To create a fill-in-the-blank question:
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. Optionally, set the $CASE, $SPACE, or $size variables at the beginning of
Answer to check the character case or spaces in responses or to set the
size of the answer box.
To do this:
Begin Answer with this:
Make the question case-sensitive
<eqn $CASE=1; ''>
Make the question space-sensitive
<eqn $SPACE=1; ''>
Make the answer box n characters wide
<eqn $size=n; ''>
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; ''>
The default size of the answer box is 10. Changing the size of the answer
box does not restrict the length of your students’ responses.
6. In Answer, type one or more correct answers to the question on a single
line, separated by the characters {tab}.
Notes:
• The characters {tab} can be entered by typing on your keyboard or
by clicking Add tab. You can abbreviate this notation as {}. You
cannot enter these characters by pressing the Tab key on your
keyboard.
• 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. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 52
search results. To change the permission, see Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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
Creating Numerical Questions
A numerical question is a fill-in-the-blank question that is graded for numerical
accuracy. Numerical questions have the following default behaviors:
• The form and precision of the response are not considered, and responses
within ±2% of the answer you specify are considered to be correct. For
example, if the answer is 3, then 3, 3.0, and 3.01 are all accepted as
correct responses.
• Students can use basic mathematical operators — addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, and exponentiation — in their response, so they can
be awarded credit for correctly stating the problem as a mathematical
expression without actually performing the computation.
You can configure numerical questions to:
• require students to enter units
• require students to use a specific number of significant digits
• require students to use a specific number of decimal places
• accept answers within a different tolerance value than the default
• require students to respond with a computed answer
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53 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
By default, answer format tips tell your students whether units, significant
figures, or decimal places are checked. You can hide answer format tips for
your assignments.
To create a numerical question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Numerical.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer box should be displayed.
5. Optionally, add the following code at the beginning of Answer to change
the width of the answer box to n characters:
<eqn $size=n; ''>
The default size of the answer box is 10.
6. In Answer, type the correct numerical answer to the question.
Important: Observe the following rules regarding the format of your
numerical answer:
• Do not use commas, spaces, or other separators between digits.
• You can use scientific (“e”) notation, for example, 1.51e7.
• You can type one or more words such as NONE, INFINITY, DNE, or
NO SOLUTION; numerical questions are not case- or spacesensitive, but your students must type the words exactly to be
marked correct.
These rules also apply to your students when they respond to your
question.
7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 54
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 Numerical Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1077998
Name
Template2 2.NUM.01.
Mode
Numerical
Question
How many miles will a car travel in 3 minutes if its speed is constant at 60 mph? <br>
<_> miles
Answer
<eqn $size=2; ''>3
Solution
Since there are 60 minutes/hour, at 60 mph the car is traveling at 1 mile/minute.
Display to
Students
Requiring Units in Numerical Questions
You can require your students to enter a unit with their response by adding the
correct unit after the numeric value in Answer.
If you specify units, any equivalent answer specifying equivalent units is
accepted. For example, your student could respond 1 mi or 5280 ft. You can
configure your assignments to award partial credit for specifying compatible
units even if the numerical part of the response is incorrect.
Note: WebAssign cannot restrict the allowable units for numerical
questions, for example, to require entry of MKS system units. If you
need your students to enter a specific unit, create a multiple-part
question that uses a numerical question for the value and a fill-in-theblank question for the unit.
By default, answer format tips tell your students whether units are checked.
You can hide answer format tips for your assignments.
To require students to enter a unit with their response:
1. In Answer, type the correct numerical answer followed by a space and the
unit, for example, km or m/s^2.
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55 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
2. When testing your question, test with alternative units. WebAssign supports
most standard units and unit abbreviations in common use. However, to
ensure that the unit in your question is supported, test it with each of the
following criteria:
• correct and incorrect responses using the unit you specified
• correct and incorrect responses using standard abbreviations or variant
spellings of the unit you specified
• correct and incorrect responses using at least one different compatible
unit
Example Numerical Question With Units
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1159423
Name
Template2 2.NUM.02.
Mode
Numerical
Question
How far will a car travel in 3 minutes if its speed is constant at 60 mph? <br>
<_>
Answer
3 miles
Display to
Students
Checking Significant Figures in Numerical
Questions
You can require your students to specify the correct number of significant
figures in their response by setting the $SIGFIGS variable in Answer.
If you check significant figures, you might want to award partial credit for
responses that use the correct number of significant figures even if the
student’s calculation is not correct. See Setting Significant Figure Checking
Options for Assignments in the WebAssign Instructor Guide.
When your question checks significant figures, the default tolerance for the
question is ±1 at the last significant digit. For example, if the answer is 330 to
2 significant digits, the responses 320, 330, and 340 would all be accepted.
By default, answer format tips tell your students whether significant figures are
checked. You can hide answer format tips for your assignments.
To check students’ responses for significant figures:
1. In Answer, type the following code before the correct numerical answer:
<eqn $SIGFIGS=digits; ''>
where digits is the correct number of significant figures.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 56
2. Type the correct answer on the same line. Ensure that your answer is
specified to the correct number of significant figures. If it is not, it will be
rounded to the correct number of significant figures and the tolerance will
be based on the rounded answer.
Example Numerical Question With Significant Figure Checking
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1079760
Name
Template2 2.NUM.03.
Mode
Numerical
Question
If the space shuttle maintains a constant speed of 7740 m/s for 32.5 minutes, how far will it have traveled? <br>
<_> km
Answer
<eqn $SIGFIGS=3; 7740*1e‐3*(32.5*60)>
Display to
Students
Checking Decimal Places in Numerical Questions
You can require your students to specify a certain number of decimal places in
their response by setting the $DECFIGS variable in Answer.
If you check decimal places, you might want to award partial credit for
responses that use the correct number of decimal places even if the student’s
calculation is not correct. See Setting Significant Figure Checking Options for
Assignments in the WebAssign Instructor Guide.
When your question checks decimal places, the default tolerance for the
question is ±1 at the last digit. For example, if the answer is 1.33 to 2 decimal
places, the responses 1.32, 1.33, and 1.34 would all be accepted.
By default, answer format tips tell your students whether decimal places are
checked. You can hide answer format tips for your assignments.
To check students’ responses for decimal places:
1. In Answer, type the following code before the correct numerical answer:
<eqn $DECFIGS=n; ''>
where n represents the nearest decimal value to which the answer should
be specified, such as 10, 1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, or 0.0001.
Important: Always set $DECFIGS to a power of 10. You can use “e”
notation, such as 1e2.
2. Type the correct answer on the same line. Ensure that your answer is
specified to the correct number of decimal places. If it is not, it will be
rounded to the correct number of decimal places and the tolerance will be
based on the rounded answer.
10/2010
57 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Example Numerical Question With Decimal Place Checking
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1159495
Name
Template2 2.NUM.04.
Mode
Numerical
Question
Write the quotient of 3 and 7 to 5 decimal places.<br>
<_>
Answer
<eqn $DECFIGS=0.00001; 3/7>
Display to
Students
Changing Tolerance for Numerical Questions
You can set the tolerance for your numerical questions as a numerical value by
adding {tab} and the tolerance value after the answer.
Important: Tolerances set in the question are ignored if different
tolerance values are set for the sections or assignments for which the
question is scheduled. See Setting Numerical Tolerance for
Assignments in the WebAssign Instructor Guide.
The default tolerance for numerical questions that do not check significant
figures or decimal places is ±2%. For numerical questions that do check
significant figures or decimal places, the default tolerance is ±1 at the last digit.
To set the tolerance as a numerical value:
1. In Answer, type the following code immediately after the correct numerical
answer:
{tab} tolerance where tolerance is the non-negative numerical tolerance value by which
your students’ responses can differ from your answer and be considered
correct. For example, to specify an answer of 56 and accept answers
between 55.97 and 56.03, type 56 {tab} 0.03.
Notes:
• The characters {tab} can be entered by typing on your keyboard or
by clicking Add tab. You cannot enter these characters by pressing
the Tab key on your keyboard.
To specify the tolerance as a percentage of a non-randomized
answer, manually calculate the tolerance by multiplying the answer
by the percentage tolerance you want to use.
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 58
Example Numerical Question With Specified Tolerance
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1159554
Name
Template2 2.NUM.05.
Mode
Numerical
Question
34 + 10 + 5 = <_>
Answer
49 {tab} 0
Display to
Students
Requiring Computed Responses in Numerical
Questions
You can require your students to specify their response as the result of a
computation instead of allowing them to use mathematical operators in their
response. You can also require your students to reduce fractional responses.
By default, answer format tips tell your students about the kind of response
that is required. You can hide answer format tips for your assignments.
To require students to perform computations before entering their
response:
1. In Answer, type the one of the following codes before the correct
numerical answer:
Allowed Form
of Responses
Example
Responses
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
integer
decimal
any fraction
word
scientific notation
64
6.4
6/4
NO SOLUTION
6.4e2
Code
Notes
<eqn $SIMPLIFIED=1; ''>
Depending on the
question, you might
want to set the
tolerance to 0.
Tolerance is always 0
when this code is used.
• integer
• decimal
• any fraction
• 64
• 6.4
• 6/4
<eqn $FRACTION=1; ''>
• integer
• reduced fraction
• 64
• 3/2
<eqn $PROPERFRACTION=1; ''>
Only exact decimal
values are scored as
correct. For example,
0.33333 is not the
same as 1/3.
Tolerance is always 0
when this code is used.
Include <p:reduce> in
Question to let your
students know to
reduce fractions.
2. Type the correct numerical answer on the same line.
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59 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Example Numerical Question Requiring a Computed Response
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1203080
Name
Template2 2.NUM.06.
Mode
Numerical
Question
34 + 10 + 5 = <_>
Answer
<eqn $SIMPLIFIED=1; ''>49 {tab} 0
Display to
Students
Example Numerical Question Requiring a Fraction or Decimal
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1204532
Name
Template2 2.NUM.07.
Mode
Numerical
Question
<watex>\frac{1}{2} + \frac{7}{8} = </watex><_>
Answer
<eqn $FRACTION=1; ''>11/8
Display to
Students
Example Numerical Question Requiring a Reduced Fraction or
Integer
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1203084
Name
Template2 2.NUM.08.
Mode
Numerical
Question
<p:reduce>
<div class="indent">
<watex>\frac{1}{2} <s:divide> \frac{7}{8} = </watex><_>
</div>
Answer
<eqn $PROPERFRACTION=1; ''>4/7
Display to
Students
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 60
Creating Image Map Questions
An image map question requires your students to identify something in an
image by clicking the image. Image map questions are particularly useful when
you want your students to identify a named anatomical part in an illustration or
geographical feature in a map.
To create an image map question:
1. Create the image file that you want to use for your question.
Best Practice: Keep the image dimensions smaller than 800 by 600
pixels to ensure that the image is displayed in the question without
scrolling.
2. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
3. In Name, type a name for the question.
4. In Mode, select Image Map.
5. In Question, type your question.
6. Click My Files under Page Tools.
7. If you have not already uploaded your image to WebAssign, use the
following steps to do so.
a. In the My Files window, click
Import File.
b. In the Import File window, click Browse.
c. Navigate to the file you want to use on your computer and click Open.
d. In the Import File window, click go.
e. Close the Import File window.
8. In the My Files window, navigate to the file you want to use and select its
check box.
9. Set Paste location of file (selected below) as to ID Only.
10. Set Destination Field to Question.
11. Click go. The unique WebAssign ID number for the image is added to
Question on a new line.
12. Edit the line with the image ID number to add an answer placeholder string
for the image map question like the following:
<_ src="ID">
where ID is the ID number of the image you want to use. You can move this
answer placeholder string to wherever it should be displayed in the
question.
13. Click Redisplay. The question and image are displayed in the Display
section of the Question Editor.
14. Click Coordinates below the image.
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61 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
15. In the Coordinates window, select a shape and define the boundaries for a
part of the image that your students should click to correctly answer the
question.
Note: Each shape defines a single key for the answer. You can define
multiple keys to allow students to click any of several areas of the
image for a correct response.
• To add a rectangular key, click rectangle. Click the image to set the
upper left point of the key. Click the image to set the lower right point.
• To add a circular key, click circle. Click the image to set the center of the
circle. Click the image at the edge of the circle to set the radius.
• To add a polygonal key, click polygon. Click the image at each vertex of
the polygon, specifying adjacent vertices consecutively.
Click Draw Key to preview the key on your image. The key you defined is
drawn in bright green on the image, and its definition is added to a list of
Keys below the image.
If a key is not correct, select its check box and click Remove Selected.
Tip: To fine-tune the dimensions for a key that is not quite correct, add
a new key of the same shape. Using the not-quite-correct key as a
reference, type the new coordinate values instead of clicking the
image.
Repeat this step until you have defined all the keys you need for the
question.
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Creating General-Purpose Questions 62
16. When the keys are drawn correctly on the image, select the check boxes for
the keys you want to use and click Add Selected Key to Answer. The
Coordinates window closes and the keys are added to Answer.
Important: If you need to use the Coordinates window more than
once to add keys to your question, you will need to manually edit the
keys in Answer to ensure that all of the keys for each question part are
listed on a single line and are delimited with the {tab} characters.
This is necessary because although all of the keys for a question part
must be listed on the same line, each time you click Add Selected
Key to Answer, the keys are added on a new line. 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.
If you need to manually edit the keys in Answer, the following reference
information about how image map keys are specified might be useful:
Shape
Key
Rectangle
rect:left_x,top_y,right_x,bottom_y Circle
circle:center_x,center_y,radius Polygon
poly:x1,y1,x2,y2,x3,y3...
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63 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
17. Optionally, 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.
18. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
19. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
20. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
21. 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 Image Map Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1159575
Name
Template2 2.MAP.01.
Mode
Image Map
Question
Click the cochlea to identify it. <br>
<_ src="92012">
Answer
circle:310,175,24
Display to
Students
10/2010
Creating General-Purpose Questions 64
Creating Short-answer or Essay Questions
Short-answer and essay questions are free response questions that allow your
students to demonstrate their knowledge by providing an extended textual
answer in their own words. There is no qualitative difference between the two
kinds of questions; whether you describe the question as short-answer or essay
generally is a reflection of the length of the expected response.
Short-answer and essay questions are not automatically graded by WebAssign;
they must be manually graded.
To create a short-answer or essay question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Essay.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer box should be displayed.
5. Optionally, set the $rows or $cols variables at the beginning of Answer to
change the size of the answer box.
To do this:
Begin Answer with this:
Make the answer box n rows high
<eqn $rows=n; ''>
Make the answer box n characters wide
<eqn $cols=n; ''>
You can combine these declarations using a single <eqn> tag by separating
each declaration with a semicolon. For example:
<eqn $rows=10; $cols=60; ''>
The default size of the answer box is 6 rows by 65 characters. The size of
the answer box does not constrain the length of the student’s response, but
it can suggest to students whether a brief or extended answer is expected.
Tip: If an extended answer is required, you might suggest to students
that they can compose their answer using their preferred wordprocessing software, and then copy and paste the text into the answer
box when they are ready to submit their response.
6. In Answer, type a key that will help the grader determine whether or not
the student’s response is correct. You might state the points that should be
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65 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
awarded for correctly addressing particular topics, or refer to a grading
rubric. The key must be on a single line.
Notes:
• Even if you will be grading the essay answers yourself, you must
type a key in Answer for the question to display correctly. You can
use two periods for the answer key if you do not want to include
meaningful text.
• 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. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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 Short-answer or Essay Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1070062
Name
Template2 2.ESS.01.
Mode
Essay
Question
Define economics in your own words.<_>
Creating General-Purpose Questions 66
Answer
<eqn $rows=3; $cols=60; ''>Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Display to
Students
Creating PencilPad (Drawing) Questions
PencilPad questions allow your students to create and submit a drawing in
WebAssign.
PencilPad questions are not automatically graded by WebAssign; they must be
manually graded.
To create a PencilPad question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select PencilPad.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer box should be displayed.
5. In Answer, type a key that will help the grader determine whether or not
the student’s answer is correct. The key must be on a single line.
Notes:
• Even if you will be grading the PencilPad answers yourself, you
must enter something in Answer.
• If a key 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.
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67 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Tip: Because PencilPad questions require students to submit a
drawing, you might want to add an image to the key to help the grader.
a. Under Page Tools, click My Files. If you have already uploaded
your image to WebAssign, skip to step g.
b. In the My Files window, click
Import File.
c. In the Import File window, click Browse.
d. Navigate to the file you want to use and click Open.
e. In the Import File window, click go.
f. Close the Import File window.
g. In the My Files window, navigate to the file you want to use and
select its check box.
h. Set Paste location of file (selected below) as to Image.
i. Set Destination Field to Answer.
j. Click go. A <userimage> tag is added to Answer on a new line.
k. Move the <userimage> tag to the same line as the key for your
question.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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.
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Creating General-Purpose Questions 68
Example PencilPad Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1078917
Name
Template2 2.PP.01.
Mode
PencilPad
Question
Draw a picture of a sine wave. Identify the Crest, Trough, Amplitude, and Wavelength.<br>
You can use the letters C, T, A, W for labels.<_>
Answer
<userimage(92022)><br>Student must correctly identify all parts for credit.
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69 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Key
Display
Display
to
Students
Creating File Upload Questions
File upload questions allow your students to submit a file — for example, a
spreadsheet, presentation, or research paper — as their response.
File upload questions are not automatically graded by WebAssign; they must be
manually graded.
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Creating General-Purpose Questions 70
To create a file upload question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select File-Upload.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer box should be displayed. Describe any
restrictions on the file type or size that will be accepted.
5. Optionally, set the $FILEUPLOADMAX, $ACCEPTFILETYPE, or $size variables at
the beginning of Answer to specify any restrictions on the size or type of
file to be uploaded, or to set the size of the file upload box.
• By default, files that your students upload must be no larger than
100 KB. Although you can increase this size if needed, encourage your
students to submit the smallest file size they can. This both helps your
students who might have limited connection speeds, and it helps you,
because you will need to download all of your students’ files to score
them. Students who upload extremely large files might experience
timeouts depending on their Internet connection and browser settings.
• By default, your students can submit any file type. When restricting
allowable file types, let your students know ahead of time what file
formats will be accepted. You should ensure that you will be able to
safely open and view any files that your students submit. At the same
time, unless the assignment requires use of a specific application or
creation of a specific type of file, you might not want to impose arbitrary
restrictions on the tools that your students can use.
To do this:
Begin Answer with this:
Set the maximum allowed
file size to n bytes
<eqn $FILEUPLOADMAX=n; ''>
Restrict file uploads to
files with the specified
filename extensions
<eqn $ACCEPTFILETYPE=['.ext', '.ext']; ''>
Make the file upload box n
characters wide
<eqn $size=n; ''>
You can combine these declarations using a single <eqn> tag by separating
each declaration with a semicolon. For example:
<eqn $FILEUPLOADMAX=52488; $ACCEPTFILETYPE=['.doc', '.docx','.odt','.pdf']; ''>
6. In Answer, type a key to help the grader evaluate the student’s response.
This will often reference a rubric used to assess the submitted file. This
information and any <eqn> tags should all be on a single line.
Note: 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.
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71 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Even if you will be grading the questions yourself, you must enter
something in Answer in order for the file upload box to be displayed when
the question is used.
7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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 File Upload Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1078920
Name
Template2 2.FILE.01.
Mode
File‐Upload
Question
Upload your research project. <_><br>
Your can upload a PDF, Word, or OpenOffice Writer file. It must be less than 512 KB in size.
Answer
<eqn $size=5; $FILEUPLOADMAX = 524288; $ACCEPTFILETYPE = ['.doc','.docx','.odt','.pdf']; ''>Use the rubric.
Display
to
Students
10/2010
3
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial,
and Answer-Dependent
Questions
Single-part questions work well for assessment and practice of simple factual
material. But you can provide a richer learning experience for your students by
creating multi-part, tutorial, or answer-dependent questions.
• Multi-part questions have multiple question parts, and can be created
using just one question mode or by combining multiple question modes
(multi-mode questions).
• Tutorial questions help your students work step by step through a series
of question parts designed to provide instruction about a concept or
procedure.
• Answer-dependent questions let your students provide numerical data or
estimates and perform calculations based on the provided data.
You can format your questions with expandable headings to group question
parts, and you can perform complex algorithmic evaluations to dynamically
update your answer keys based on data that your students provided in earlier
parts of the question.
This section contains the following topics:
• Creating Multi-Part Questions That Have One Question Mode
• Creating Multi-Mode Questions
• Adding Expandable Sections to Multi-Part Questions
• Creating Tutorial Questions
• Creating Answer-Dependent Questions
• Performing Complex Operations in Answer Keys
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73 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Creating Multi-Part Questions That Have One
Question Mode
When all parts of your question use the same question mode — for example,
numerical — you can add additional answer placeholder strings <_> in
Question and additional answer keys in Answer. For multiple-choice, multipleselect, and matching questions, you also need to indicate where each new set
of answer choices begins.
For most question modes, each answer box is created by adding the answer
placeholder string <_> in Question, and each answer key is specified using a
single line in Answer. Each new answer placeholder string <_> and answer key
create a new question part.
For multiple-choice, multiple-select, and matching questions, however, each
answer key is specified using multiple lines, so you must indicate the beginning
of each new answer key in one of the following ways:
• For multiple-choice questions, add the <MCPART> tag at the start of each new
answer key.
• For multiple-select questions, add the <MSPART> tag at the start of each new
answer key.
• For matching questions, no tag is provided. Instead, create the question as
a multi-mode question with multiple matching parts. See Creating MultiMode Questions on page 76.
To create a multi-part question that uses only one question mode:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select the question mode that you want to use.
4. In Question, type your question. Use an answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the answer box should be displayed for each question part.
Tip: Optionally, add the <MARK> tag to specify where the
correct/incorrect mark should be displayed for each question part. This
might be necessary when displaying answer choices horizontally or in
tables for multiple-choice or multiple-select questions.
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 74
5. In Answer, provide an answer key for each question part.
• For a multiple-choice question, type <MCPART> at the beginning of each
new set of choices after the first question part.
• For a multiple-select question, type <MSPART> at the beginning of each
new set of choices after the first question part.
• For a matching question, create the question as a multi-mode question
with multiple matching parts. See Creating Multi-Mode Questions on
page 76.
• For all other question modes, provide each answer key on a single line as
described in the documentation for that question type.
Note: 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.
Important: Each line in Answer is significant.
• Do not specify <MCPART> or <MSPART> on a separate line.
• Do not add blank lines in Answer, for example, by pressing ENTER
after the last answer key.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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.
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75 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Example Multi-Part Numerical Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589520
Name
Template2 3.MULTP.01.
Mode
Numerical
Question
Find the following for a sphere having a diameter of 8 cm. Specify units.<br>
Volume: <_><br>
Surface area: <_>
Answer
268.08 cm^3
201.06 cm^2
Display
Example Multi-Part Multiple-Choice Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1589518
Name
Template2 3.MULTP.02.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
Identify the organ system to which each organ belongs.<br>
heart <_><br>
lungs <_><br>
kidneys <_>
Answer
<EQN $PULLDOWN=1; $ORDERED=1; ''>circulatory system
digestive system
endocrine system
excretory system
lymphatic system
nervous system
reproductive system
respiratory system
<MCPART><EQN $PULLDOWN=1; $ORDERED=8; ''>circulatory system
digestive system
endocrine system
excretory system
lymphatic system
nervous system
reproductive system
respiratory system
<MCPART><EQN $PULLDOWN=1; $ORDERED=4; ''>circulatory system
digestive system
endocrine system
excretory system
lymphatic system
nervous system
reproductive system
respiratory system
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 76
Display to
Students
Example Multi-Part Multiple-Select Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589516
Name
Template2 3.MULTP.03.
Mode
Multiple‐Select
Question
Identify the primary colors: <br><_> <_> <_> <_> <_> <_> <MARK>
<br><br>
Identify the secondary colors: <br><_> <_> <_> <_> <_> <_> <MARK>
Answer
<EQN $ORDERED=[1,3,5]; $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>red
orange
yellow
green
blue
purple
<MSPART><EQN $ORDERED=[2,4,6]; $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>red
orange
yellow
green
blue
purple
Display to
Students
Creating Multi-Mode Questions
When different parts of your question use different question modes — for
example, numerical and multiple-choice — you can create a multi-mode
question to specify a list of the modes used in your question, and indicate
where each new mode begins with <SECTION> tags in both Question and
Answer. You use this method also when creating multi-part matching
questions.
To create a multi-mode question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. Beside Mode, click Multi-Mode Options.
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77 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
4. In the Multi-Mode Options window, click the question modes that you want
to use in your question in the order in which they will be used, or type the
mode abbreviations in the Current Modes box at the bottom.
Each mode that you add is shown in the Current Modes list on the right.
You can click
the list.
to delete a mode from the list, or drag a mode to rearrange
Important: When your question has consecutive multiple-choice,
multiple-select, or matching question parts, you must specify the mode
for each question part, for example, MM to create a question with two
matching parts.
For other question modes, you can choose to specify the mode either
for each question part or only when the question mode changes. For
example, to create a question with three numerical question parts
followed by a multiple-choice part, you could select either NNNC or
simply NC.
Tip: The Poll mode lets you create polling questions with other modes.
See Creating Polling Questions on page 81.
When the list of modes is correct, click Save.
5. In Question, type your question.
• After the first question mode, type the <SECTION> tag at the start of each
additional question mode. If you specified consecutive instances of the
same mode — for example, MM for two matching parts — type a
<SECTION> tag at the beginning of each subsequent question part.
Note: By default, the <SECTION> tag adds a line break. If you do not
want a line break added, type <SECTION NOBR>.
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 78
• Use an answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box
should be displayed for each question part.
Tip: Optionally, add the <MARK> tag to specify where the
correct/incorrect mark should be displayed for each question part. This
might be necessary when displaying answer choices horizontally or in
tables for multiple-choice or multiple-select questions.
Note: Omit the answer placeholder string <_> for matching question
parts.
6. In Answer, provide an answer key for each question part as described in
the documentation for that question type.
After the first question mode, type the <SECTION> tag at the start of each
additional question mode. If you specified consecutive instances of the
same mode — for example, MM for two matching parts — type a <SECTION>
tag at the beginning of each subsequent question part.
Each <SECTION> tag in Question must have a corresponding <SECTION> tag
in Answer.
Note: 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.
Important: Each line in Answer is significant.
• Do not specify <SECTION>, <MCPART>, or <MSPART> on a separate line.
• Do not add blank lines in Answer, for example, by pressing ENTER
after the last answer key.
7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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79 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
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 Multi-Mode Question (Fill-in-the-Blank and MultipleChoice)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589516
Name
Template2 3.MULTM.01.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...BC
Question
Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, and Bivalvia are all classes of phylum <_>. <SECTION>These animals are <_>.
Answer
Mollusca
<SECTION><EQN $PULLDOWN=1; ''>invertebrates
vertebrates
Display
Example Multi-Mode Question (Algebraic, Numerical, and
Multiple-Choice)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1589510
Name
Template2 3.MULTM.02.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...QNC
Question
What is the formula for the volume of a sphere (use <i>r</i> for the radius)? <br>
<i>V</i> = <_>
<SECTION>What is the volume of a sphere with a radius of 5? <br>
<_>
<SECTION>If the radius doubles, what happens to the volume? <br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='devmath'; ''>r: 4/3 * pi * r^3
<SECTION>523.599
<SECTION>The volume increases by a factor of 2<sup>3</sup>
The volume remains the same
The volume doubles
The volume quadruples
It depends on the sphere
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 80
Display
Example Multi-Part Matching Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589512
Name
Template2 3.MULTM.03.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...MM
Question
Order the <b>terrestrial</b> planets by their characteristics.<br><br>
<b>Average orbital distance from the Sun <MARK></b>
<SECTION><b>Mass <MARK></b>
Answer
<EQN $ORDERLEFT=1; ''><i>nearest the sun</i> {tab} Mercury
&nbsp; {tab} Venus
&nbsp; {tab} Earth
<i>furthest from the sun</i> {tab} Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
<SECTION><EQN $ORDERLEFT=1; ''><i>least massive</i> {tab} Mercury
&nbsp; {tab} Mars
&nbsp; {tab} Venus
<i>most massive</i> {tab} Earth
Uranus
Neptune
Saturn
Jupiter
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81 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Display
Creating Polling Questions
You can configure one or more question parts as polling questions in order to
grant students credit for any response. You can use polling questions to gather
opinions from your students (as in a poll) or to record observational
information, for example, the results of an experiment, when any response
should be considered correct.
Note: To gather numerical data from experiments, see Creating
Answer-Dependent Questions on page 97.
Your students’ responses, marks, and scores are shown normally for polling
questions, as per your assignment settings. The only difference is that polling
questions are marked correct for any response. Your students receive no credit
if they do not respond to the question.
To configure a question mode as a polling question:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
2. Beside Mode, click Multi-Mode Options.
3. In the Multi-Mode Options window, add the Poll mode before the mode that
you want to use as a polling question.
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 82
You can use either the mode buttons or the mode abbreviation:
• Click Poll in the list of Available Modes, and then drag it above the mode
you want to use in the Current Modes list on the right.
• Type P before the mode you want to use in the Current Modes box at
the bottom.
Notes:
• The entire question mode is configured as a polling question. To
add subsequent question parts that are not polling questions, add
a new mode after the configured mode. Remember to add
<SECTION> tags in Question and Answer.
• When you configure multiple-choice or multiple-select modes as
polling questions, the order of the choices is not randomized.
When the list of modes is correct, click Save.
4. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
5. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.
Example Polling Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589513
Name
Template2 3.MULTM.04.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...PCE
Question
Was your experiment successful?
<_>
<SECTION>Explain
<_>
Answer
Yes
No
<SECTION>Student explanation
Display
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83 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Adding Expandable Sections to Multi-Part
Questions
Because multi-part and multi-mode questions can be long, you can use the
<accordion> and <part> tags to subdivide your question into sections that your
students can individually expand or collapse. This lets your students work
through the question in whatever order they choose. Each expandable section
can include one or more question parts or instructional content.
Note: To make your students work through a question in order from
beginning to end, use the <tutorial> tag to create a tutorial question.
Important: Do not use the <accordion> and <tutorial> tags in the
same question. The one exception to this rule is that in a question that
uses the <accordion> tag, you can create a popup tutorial.
To add expandable sections to a multi-part or multi-mode question:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
2. In Question, add <accordion> and <part> tags as needed.
Enclose a set of expandable sections with the <accordion> tag. You must
use the closing </accordion> tag at the end of the expandable sections.
Enclose each expandable section with the <part> tag. You must use the
closing </part> tag at the end of each section.
Note: The <part> and <SECTION> tags are not interchangeable. You
must specify the <SECTION> tag wherever the question mode changes.
For example:
<accordion>
<part>My first part: <_></part>
<part><SECTION>My second part: <_></part>
</accordion>
3. Optionally, add <part_label> or <part_title> tags for each section.
By default, the title bar for the first expandable section displays the part
label Part 1, and subsequent parts are numbered consecutively. You can
use the <part_label> tag to change the part label for any part, or the
<part_title> tag to add text that follows the part label.
For example, the following code displays A - Introductory Material in the
section title bar:
<part><part_label>A</part_label>
<part_title>Introductory Material</part_title> 4. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
5. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 84
Example Accordion Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589521
Name
Template2 3.ACC.01.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...CCCCE
Question
<b>Battle of Guilford Courthouse</b>
<accordion><part><part_label>Part I</part_label><part_title>Multiple‐
Choice</part_title>
When did this battle take place? <_><br>
<SECTION>Where did this battle take place? <_><br>
<SECTION>Who were the commanders? Americans:<_> <SECTION NOBR>British:<_><br>
</part>
<part><part_label>Part II</part_label><part_title>Short‐Answer</part_title>
<SECTION>What was the outcome of this battle, and why was it a turning point in the Revolutionary War? <_><br>
</part></accordion>
Answer
<EQN $PULLDOWN=1; ''>March 15, 1781
July 4, 1776
April 19, 1775
October 9, 1781
June 16, 1775
<SECTION><EQN $PULLDOWN=1; ''>Greensboro, NC
Yorktown, VA
Charlestown, MA
Manhattan, NY
Cowpens, SC
<SECTION><EQN $PULLDOWN=1; ''>Nathanael Greene
George Washington
Dr. Joseph Warren
Israel Putnam
William Prescott
<SECTION><EQN $PULLDOWN=1; ''>Lord Cornwallis
Sir William Howe
Sir Henry Clinton
Banastre Tarleton
General John Burgoyne
<SECTION>Although Cornwallis technically won the battle, his forces were severely weakened, leading to his eventual surrender to Washington at Yorktown.
Display
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85 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Creating Tutorial Questions
You can transform part or all of a multi-part or multi-mode question into a
tutorial that guides your students step by step through the solution of a
problem.
Tutorial questions have a distinctive user flow:
• Students must either correctly answer, skip, or use all of their submissions
for each step before viewing the next step.
• Students cannot go back to complete steps they have skipped.
• The answer key is always displayed for steps after all submissions have
been used or the step is answered correctly or skipped.
• Students can click tutorial hint icons
to display hints.
Notes:
• You cannot turn off display of answer keys or tutorial hints within a
tutorial question.
• To let your students work through a question in any order, see
Adding Expandable Sections to Multi-Part Questions on page 83.
As the name suggests, you use tutorial questions principally to help your
students learn, not to evaluate their progress. Frequently, tutorials are used to
help students understand how to solve a problem posed in the question.
Because of this, sometimes you might not want your tutorial questions to count
toward your students’ assignment scores. You can create both scored tutorials
and unscored popup tutorials.
• Scored tutorial questions are shown in the assignment itself and count
toward the assignment score. In the Assignment Editor, you can set the
point value for the entire tutorial or for each question part.
• Popup tutorial questions are shown as buttons in the assignment, and
do not count toward the assignment score. When your students click the
button, the tutorial opens in a new window.
Your tutorial might be the entire question or only part of the question. You can
create more than one tutorial in a single question, and you can mix scored and
popup tutorials in the same question.
Important: For scored tutorial questions to work correctly, you must
allow question part submission in your assignment.
This section contains the following topics:
• Creating Scored Tutorial Questions
• Creating Popup Tutorial Questions
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 86
Creating Scored Tutorial Questions
You can transform part or all of a multi-part or multi-mode question into a
scored tutorial that guides your students step by step through the solution of a
problem. Scored tutorial questions are shown in the assignment itself and count
toward the assignment score. In the Assignment Editor, you can set the point
value for the entire tutorial or for each question part.
Notes:
• To create a tutorial that is not scored and is displayed in a separate
window, see Creating Popup Tutorial Questions on page 90.
• To let your students work through a question in any order, see
Adding Expandable Sections to Multi-Part Questions on page 83.
Important:
• Do not use the <accordion> and <tutorial> tags in the same
question. The one exception to this rule is that in a question that
uses the <accordion> tag, you can create a popup tutorial.
• For scored tutorial questions to work correctly, you must allow
question part submission in your assignment.
Your tutorial might be the entire question or only part of the question. You can
create more than one tutorial in a single question, and you can mix scored and
popup tutorials in the same question.
Skipping and Points
For scored tutorials, the decision about whether to allow students to skip
tutorial steps affects not only your students’ learning experience, but also the
points that they can earn for the tutorial.
By default, your students are allowed to skip tutorial steps, but they cannot go
back later to complete the skipped steps. This means that students who skip a
step permanently forgo any points they could have earned on the step, but they
have an opportunity to earn points on any remaining steps in the tutorial.
If you disallow skipping, your students must either answer each step correctly
or use all of their submissions for the step before going on to the next step.
Each method has its merits. Skipping steps gives your students an opportunity
to move through the tutorial more quickly if they do not understand a step.
Disallowing skipping encourages your students to attempt each step, even if
only by guessing.
Tip: If you disallow skipping, the number of allowed submissions for
the tutorial question is very important. Too many submissions might
cause students to give up on a step that they do not understand; too
few submissions might not give students enough opportunity to figure
out a step for themselves before showing the correct answer.
To create a scored tutorial from a multi-part or multi-mode question:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
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2. In Question, add the <tutorial> tag at the beginning of your tutorial.
You can set several attributes to change the way your tutorial behaves.
Attribute
Description
order="ascending"
Shows steps in ascending order with the current step at the
bottom. (By default, steps are displayed in ascending order
with the current step at the top.)
order="descending"
Shows steps in descending order with the current step at
the top. (By default, steps are displayed in ascending order
with the current step at the top.)
skip="no"
Requires students to answer each step correctly or use all
their submissions before going on to the next step. (By
default, students can skip tutorial steps.)
skip_text="text"
Renames the Skip button to text (if you allow students to
skip tutorial steps.)
For example:
<tutorial order="ascending" skip_text="Show the answer (no points earned) and move to the next step">
3. After the <tutorial> tag, use the <premise> tag to set a title for the tutorial
and display the overall problem or concept the tutorial addresses. You must
use the closing </premise> tag at the end of the premise.
Notes:
• You must specify a title attribute for the <premise> tag.
• Do not include any answer boxes in the premise.
• The premise is always displayed at the top of the tutorial.
• The premise is optional, but strongly recommended.
For example:
<premise title="Multiplying Fractions">
When you multiply fractions, you multiply the numerators and you multiply the denominators.<br><br>
<watex>\[ \frac{3}{4} * \frac{13}{16} = \]</watex>
</premise>
4. Enclose each tutorial step with the <step> tag. You must use the closing
</step> tag at the end of each step.
You can set several attributes to change the way each step is displayed.
10/2010
Attribute
Description
button="text"
Requires students to click a button with the specified text in
order to see the step. (By default, each step is displayed as
soon as the student either correctly answers or skips the
previous step.)
label="text"
Replaces the default label Step n of m with the specified
text.
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 88
Attribute
Description
title="text"
Displays the specified text after the step label.
skip_text="text"
Renames the Skip button to text (if you allow students to
skip tutorial steps.)
Note: The <step> and <SECTION> tags are not interchangeable. You
must specify the <SECTION> tag wherever the question mode changes.
For example:
<step button="Start" label="Part I" title="Multiply the Numerators">
3 ∙ 13 = <_>
</step>
5. Optionally, add tutorial hints in any step with the <hint> tag. You must end
each hint with the closing </hint> tag.
Tutorial hints are shown as a lightbulb icon
and display either Hint or a
label that you specify with the label attribute. When your student clicks the
icon, the contents of the <hint> tag are displayed in place of the label.
Notes:
• The <hint> tag can be used only in <step>.
• Each step can contain only one <hint> tag.
• The <hint> and <HINT> tags are not interchangeable.
For example:
<hint label="Show hint">Use the Pythagorean Theorem.</hint>
6. Optionally, use the <conclusion> tag to display information after your
students complete or skip the last step. You must end the conclusion with
the closing </conclusion> tag.
Note: You must specify a title attribute for the <conclusion> tag.
For example:
<conclusion title="Conclusion">You have finished the tutorial.</conclusion>
7. End the tutorial with the closing </tutorial> tag.
8. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
9. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.
Example Tutorial Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589515
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89 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Name
Template2 3.TUT.01.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...QN
Question
<tutorial skip="no" order="ascending">
<premise title="Using the Substitution Method">
<watex>For simple systems of equations, you can often use the substitution method to solve for \[x\] and \[y\].\vspace{1em}\[ x + y = 6 \\ x ‐ y = 2 \]</watex></premise>
<step><watex>Solve for \[x\] in terms of \[y\].\vspace{1em}
\[ x + y = 6 \\ x = <_> \]</watex></step>
<step><watex>Rewrite the second equation, substituting \[ 6‐y \] for \[ x \]. \vspace{1em}\[ x ‐ y = 2 \\ <_> = 2 \]</watex></step>
<SECTION><step><watex>Solve for \[y\].\vspace{1em}\[ 6 ‐ y ‐ y = 2 \\ y = <_> \]</watex></step>
<step><watex>Substitute 2 for \[y\] in either equation and solve for \[x\].\vspace{1em}
\[ x + 2 = 6 \\x ‐ 2 = 2 \\ x = <_> \]</watex></step>
</tutorial>
Answer
Display to
Students
10/2010
<EQN $PAD='devmath'; ''>y:6‐y
<EQN $PAD='devmath'; ''>y:(6‐y)‐y
<SECTION><EQN $size=2; ''>2
<EQN $size=2; ''>4
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 90
Creating Popup Tutorial Questions
You can transform part or all of a multi-part or multi-mode question into an
unscored popup tutorial that guides your students step by step through the
solution of a problem. Popup tutorial questions are shown as buttons in the
assignment, and do not count toward the assignment score. When your
students click the button, the tutorial opens in a new window.
Notes:
• To create a tutorial that is scored, see Creating Scored Tutorial
Questions on page 86.
• To let your students work through a question in any order, see
Adding Expandable Sections to Multi-Part Questions on page 83.
Important: Do not use the <accordion> and <tutorial> tags in the
same question. The one exception to this rule is that in a question that
uses the <accordion> tag, you can create a popup tutorial.
Your popup tutorial will usually be only part of the question. You can create
more than one tutorial in a single question, and you can mix scored and popup
tutorials in the same question.
Each popup tutorial is shown in the assignment as a button at the location of
the <tutorial> tag.
When your students click the button, the popup tutorial opens in a new window.
If your popup tutorial includes randomized values, your students can click Try
Another Version at the bottom of the tutorial to see different values. You
cannot turn off the Try Another Version link.
Tip: To reuse a popup tutorial in multiple questions, consider creating
it as a scored tutorial and using the <PRACTICE> tag in each of your
questions to display the tutorial as a practice question for no credit.
This method also allows you to rename the button to something other
than Tutorial.
To create a popup tutorial from a multi-part or multi-mode question:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
2. In Question, add the <tutorial type="popup"> tag at the beginning of your
tutorial.
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91 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
You can set several attributes to change the way your tutorial behaves.
Attribute
Description
button="text"
Sets the window and page title that are displayed in the
popup tutorial. (By default, the window and page title are
set to Tutorial.)
order="ascending"
Shows steps in ascending order with the current step at the
bottom. (By default, steps are displayed in ascending order
with the current step at the top.)
order="descending"
Shows steps in descending order with the current step at
the top. (By default, steps are displayed in ascending order
with the current step at the top.)
skip="no"
Requires students to answer each step correctly or use all
their submissions before going on to the next step. (By
default, students can skip tutorial steps.)
skip_text="text"
Renames the Skip button to text (if you allow students to
skip tutorial steps.)
For example:
<tutorial type="popup" button="Multiplying Fractions Tutorial" order="ascending" skip_text="Show the answer (no points earned) and move to the next step">
3. After the <tutorial> tag, use the <premise> tag to set a title for the tutorial
and display the overall problem or concept the tutorial addresses. You must
use the closing </premise> tag at the end of the premise.
Notes:
• You must specify a title attribute for the <premise> tag.
• The contents of the <premise> tag are always displayed at the top
of the tutorial.
• The <premise> tag is optional, but strongly recommended.
For example:
<premise title="Multiplying Fractions">
When you multiply fractions, you multiply the numerators and you multiply the denominators.<br><br>
<watex>\[ \frac{3}{4} * \frac{13}{16} = \]</watex>
</premise>
4. Enclose each tutorial step with the <step> tag. You must use the closing
</step> tag at the end of each step.
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 92
You can set several attributes to change the way each step is displayed.
Attribute
Description
button="text"
Requires students to click a button with the specified text in
order to see the step. (By default, each step is displayed as
soon as the student either correctly answers or skips the
previous step.)
label="text"
Replaces the default label Step n of m with the specified
text.
title="text"
Displays the specified text after the step label.
skip_text="text"
Renames the Skip button to text (if you allow students to
skip tutorial steps.)
Note: The <step> and <SECTION> tags are not interchangeable. You
must specify the <SECTION> tag wherever the question mode changes.
For example:
<step button="Start" label="Part I" title="Multiply the Numerators">
3 ∙ 13 = <_>
</step>
5. Optionally, add tutorial hints in any step with the <hint> tag. You must end
each hint with the closing </hint> tag.
Tutorial hints are shown as a lightbulb icon
and display either Hint or a
label that you specify with the label attribute. When your student clicks the
icon, the contents of the <hint> tag are displayed in place of the label.
Notes:
• The <hint> tag can be used only in <step>.
• Each step can contain only one <hint> tag.
• The <hint> and <HINT> tags are not interchangeable.
For example:
<hint label="Show hint">Use the Pythagorean Theorem.</hint>
6. Optionally, use the <conclusion> tag to display information after your
students complete or skip the last step. You must end the conclusion with
the closing </conclusion> tag.
Note: You must specify a title attribute for the <conclusion> tag.
For example:
<conclusion title="Conclusion">You have finished the tutorial.</conclusion>
7. End the tutorial with the closing </tutorial> tag.
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8. Click Save.
Note: You cannot preview your tutorial changes until you save your
question.
9. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
10. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.
Example Question with Popup Tutorial
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1251029
Name
Template2 3.TUT.02.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...CCNC
Question
Two cars display fuel economy in different ways. Determine which car uses less fuel to travel the same distance. (Use the following conversion factors: 1 mile = 1.609 km; 1 gallon = 3.785 L.)<br><br>
<_><br>
<tutorial type="popup" button="Converting Fuel Economy" order="ascending">
<premise title="Converting Fuel Economy">
Two cars display fuel economy in different ways. Which car uses less fuel to travel the same distance? <ul><li>a car rated at 13 L/100 km</li>
<li>a car rated at 22 miles/gallon</li></ul></premise>
<SECTION><step title="Determine the units to use">Which units best answer the question "how much fuel is required to travel the same distance?"<br>
<_> <_> <MARK></step>
<SECTION NOBR><step title="Switch gallons and miles">
22 miles/gallon = <_> gallons/mile <MARK></step>
<step title="Change gallons to liters">
0.0455 gallons/mile = <_> L/mile <MARK> (1 gallon = 3.785 L)</step>
<step title="Change miles to 100 km">
0.1720 L/mile = <_> L/100 km <MARK> (1 mile = 1.609 km) Note that 100 km is used as a unit.</step>
<SECTION><step title="Compare values">Which car uses less fuel to travel the same distance? <_></step>
</tutorial>
Answer
10/2010
A car rated at 5.8 L/100 km
A car rated at 34 miles/gallon
<SECTION><EQN $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>L/100 km
miles/gallon
<SECTION>0.04545
0.1720
27.68
<SECTION>a car rated at 13 L/100 km
a car rated at 22 miles/gallon (27.68 L/100 km)
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 94
Display to
Students
Example Question with Reusable Popup Tutorial Using
<PRACTICE>
Reusable popup tutorials comprise two questions: the actual tutorial question,
and any question that displays the tutorial link.
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The following table summarizes an actual question that uses the <PRACTICE> tag
to show a tutorial question.
QID
1589511
Name
Template2 3.TUT.03.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
Two cars display fuel economy in different ways. Determine which car uses less fuel to travel the same distance. (Use the following conversion factors: 1 mile = 1.609 km; 1 gallon = 3.785 L.)<br><br>
<_><br>
<span class="tutorialButton iButton"><PRACTICE qid="1589517" link="Tutorial: Converting Fuel Economy" title="Converting Fuel Economy" style="none"></span>
Answer
A car rated at 5.8 L/100 km
A car rated at 34 miles/gallon
Display to
Students
The following table summarizes an actual tutorial question that can be shown
using the <PRACTICE> tag.
QID
1589517
Name
Template2 3.TUT.04.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...CNC
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 96
Question
<tutorial order="ascending">
<premise title="Converting Fuel Economy">
Two cars display fuel economy in different ways. Which car uses less fuel to travel the same distance? <ul><li>a car rated at 13 L/100 km</li>
<li>a car rated at 22 miles/gallon</li></ul></premise>
<step title="Determine the units to use">Which units best answer the question "how much fuel is required to travel the same distance?"<br>
<_> <_> <MARK></step>
<SECTION NOBR><step title="Switch gallons and miles">
22 miles/gallon = <_> gallons/mile <MARK></step>
<step title="Change gallons to liters">
0.0455 gallons/mile = <_> L/mile <MARK> (1 gallon = 3.785 L)</step>
<step title="Change miles to 100 km">
0.1720 L/mile = <_> L/100 km <MARK> (1 mile = 1.609 km) Note that 100 km is used as a unit.</step>
<SECTION><step title="Compare values">Which car uses less fuel to travel the same distance? <_></step>
</tutorial>
Answer
<EQN $SET_EACH_POSITION=1; ''>L/100 km
miles/gallon
<SECTION>0.04545
0.1720
27.68
<SECTION>a car rated at 13 L/100 km
a car rated at 22 miles/gallon (27.68 L/100 km)
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97 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Display to
Students
Creating Answer-Dependent Questions
You can create multi-part numerical questions that require your students to
enter their observed or estimated data and to perform calculations based on
their data. These questions are often used for lab classes to record the results
of an experiment and perform analysis of the data.
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 98
A well-designed answer-dependent question implements the following
behaviors:
• Allows students to enter observed or estimated numerical data. Any
response that falls within a defined range of values is scored correct.
• Optionally, provides feedback to students for observed or estimated
numerical data based on whether the value is lower than, higher than, or
within the range of acceptable values.
• Requires students to perform calculations based on the provided data
points.
• Enforces sequential entry of data and calculations so students cannot enter
the results of calculations before entering the required data. The answer
boxes for calculations are not enabled until your students enter the data
required for the calculation.
• Indicates to students when a calculation was performed correctly based on
underlying data that are not within the range of acceptable values. Each
calculation is scored correct only if the calculation was performed correctly
and the underlying data are within the range of acceptable values.
Like all numerical questions, answer-dependent questions can require students
to specify units or to use a specified number of significant digits or decimal
places in their responses.
To create an answer-dependent question:
1. Create a multi-part or multi-mode question with numerical question parts
for students to enter observed or estimated data and calculations based on
that data.
2. Add the following code at the beginning of Question:
<eqn include('/userimages/feedback/physlabs1.pl')>
This code is required in order to use the userinput() function described in
this topic.
3. Optionally, to provide feedback to students for observed or estimated
numerical data based on whether the response is lower than, higher than,
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99 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
or within the range of acceptable values, add the following code in
Question to specify the information that you want to provide:
<eqn>
%feedback = ( low => 'feedback_text', high => 'feedback_text', acceptable => 'feedback_text' );
''
</eqn>
where feedback is the name of a hash variable that contains any
feedback_text that you specify for responses that are lower than, higher
than, or within the range of acceptable values.
Tip: A hash is a special kind of array consisting of name/value pairs. In
Perl, hash names are prefixed with %.
You do not have to specify feedback for all three conditions. You might
choose, for example, only to specify text for low and high conditions.
To provide different kinds of feedback for different question parts, you can
define multiple hashes. Each hash must have a unique name.
Note: For your feedback to be displayed, you must reference the hash
for an answer key as described in the following step. Your assignment
settings must also allow hints to be shown.
4. To allow students to enter observed or estimated numerical data for a
question part, specify the answer key as a range of values with the
userinput() function.
You can set a default value that is shown if no response is provided, units,
and feedback for responses that are lower than, higher than, or within the
range of acceptable values. Use the following code:
<EQN $response=userinput(low,high,default,'unit',\%feedback)> unit where:
• response is the name of a variable that stores your student’s response
for later calculations.
• low and high define the lower and upper limits of the range of acceptable
values.
• default is a value in between low and high that is displayed as the default
answer key if no response was provided.
• unit is an optional unit specification for question parts that require
students to enter units. You must specify the units in two places — in the
userinput() function to indicate units for the low, high, and default
values, and at the end of the answer key to make the question part check
units in your students’ responses.
• feedback is the optional name of a hash variable that defines values for
feedback to be shown if the student’s response is lower than, higher
than, or within the range of acceptable values. Always prefix feedback
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 100
with \% — userinput() requires you to reference the hash name with this
syntax rather than passing the hash directly.
Tip: You can omit both low and high (but not one or the other), if
needed. If you do this, your student’s response must match default to
be scored as correct; however, you can provide feedback based on
whether the response is higher or lower than default.
For example, the following code in Answer accepts student measurements
for the mass and displacement of two objects and provides different
feedback for measurements of mass and volume:
<EQN $mass1=userinput(0,10000,5000,'g',\%mass_feedback)> g
<EQN $volume1=userinput(0,5000,2500,'ml',\%vol_feedback)> ml
<EQN $mass2=userinput(0,10000,5000,'g',\%mass_feedback)> g
<EQN $volume2=userinput(0,5000,2500,'ml',\%vol_feedback)> ml
5. To require students to perform calculations based on the provided data
points, specify the answer key as a calculation in terms of the variables
used to store your student’s observed or estimated numerical data for other
question parts.
For example, the following code in Answer accepts two values between 20
and 100, and then requires your students to multiply them:
<EQN $A=userinput(20,100,50)>
<EQN $B=userinput(20,100,50)>
<EQN $SIMPLIFIED=1; $A * $B>
To require your students to perform the computations instead of stating
their response as a mathematical expression, set the $SIMPLIFIED,
$FRACTION, or $PROPERFRACTION variables to 1 as you would for any other
numerical question.
6. To enforce sequential entry of data and calculations, and to indicate to
students when a calculation was performed correctly based on underlying
data that are not within the range of acceptable values, define the
relationship between the prerequisite data and calculation answer keys
using the $LABEL and $LINK variables.
In each line in Answer that defines an answer key for student data, set
$LABEL to a unique identifier for the answer box.
Important: The value that you set for $LABEL:
• must be unique for each answer box
• must not be the same as any variable name in the question
One way to ensure this is to use a unique prefix, such as box_, for all
$LABEL values.
For example:
<EQN $LABEL='box_A'; $A=userinput(20,100,50)>
<EQN $LABEL='box_B'; $B=userinput(20,100,50)>
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101 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
In each line in Answer that defines an answer key for a calculation based
on student data, set $LABEL to a unique identifier for the answer box. Then,
set $LINK to identify the prerequisite answer boxes (using their $LABEL
identifiers) followed by a colon and the calculation to be performed. For
example:
<EQN $LABEL='box_C'; $LINK='box_A, box_B: box_A * box_B'; $SIMPLIFIED=1; $A * $B>
Specifying $LINK in this way enables two behaviors:
• The current answer box is not enabled until your student enters values in
the answer boxes labeled box_A and box_B.
• If the values in either box_A or box_B are not within the range of
acceptable values, but the student correctly calculates the value of
box_A * box_B, the current answer box displays an icon
indicating that
the calculation was correct even though the data were not.
Tip: If you do not want to indicate that the calculation is correct before
your students provide correct data, set the formula in $LINK to no_icon.
For example:
<EQN $LABEL='box_C'; $LINK='box_A, box_B: no_icon'; $SIMPLIFIED=1; $A * $B>
You can use any text value that is not a valid response to a numerical
question, but no_icon is easy to remember.
The values of $LABEL and $LINK are never displayed to your students.
7. When testing your question, be sure to test each of the following
conditions:
• Data that are lower or higher than the range of acceptable values
• Calculations that are made correctly based on out-of-range data
• Data that are within the range of acceptable values
• Incorrect calculations
• Correct calculations that are made based on data that are within the
range of acceptable values
• Data and calculations that correctly and incorrectly specify units
8. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.
Example Answer-Dependent Question Without Feedback
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1589519
Name
Template2 3.ANDS.01.
Mode
Numerical
Question
<eqn include('/userimages/feedback/physlabs1.pl')>
Multiply two numbers between 20 and 100. <br><br>
<_> &times; <_> = <_>
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 102
Answer
<EQN $A=userinput(20,100,50)>
<EQN $B=userinput(20,100,50)>
<EQN $A * $B>
Display to
Students
Example Answer-Dependent Question With Feedback and Units
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589509
Name
Template2 3.ANDS.02.
Mode
Numerical
Question
<eqn include('/userimages/feedback/physlabs1.pl')>
<eqn>
%feedback = (low => 'Check your measurements.', high => 'Check your measurements.');
''
</eqn>
For both of the samples at your lab station, measure the volume and mass.<br>
Then, calculate the density. Specify units for all values.<br><br>
<table frame="void" rules="all">
<thead>
<tr><th>Sample</th><th>Mass</th><th>Volume</th><th>Density</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><th>A</th><td><_></td><td><_></td><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><th>B</th><td><_></td><td><_></td><td><_></td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Answer
<EQN $LABEL='box_massA'; $massA=userinput(0,20,10,'kg',\%feedback)> kg
<EQN $LABEL='box_volA'; $volA=userinput(0,200,10,'cm^3',\%feedback)> cm^3
<EQN $LABEL='box_densityA'; $LINK='box_massA,box_volA: box_massA/box_volA'; $massA/$volA> kg/cm^3
<EQN $LABEL='box_massB'; $massB=userinput(0,20,10,'kg',\%feedback)> kg
<EQN $LABEL='box_volB'; $volB=userinput(0,200,10,'cm^3',\%feedback)> cm^3
<EQN $LABEL='box_densityB'; $LINK='box_massB,box_volB: box_massB/box_volB'; $massB/$volB> kg/cm^3
Display to
Students
See Also:
• Creating Numerical Questions on page 52
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103 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Performing Complex Operations in Answer Keys
When you create multi-part or multi-mode questions, especially answerdependent questions, you sometimes need to determine answer keys for later
parts of the question based on your student’s responses to earlier parts of the
question. But, your answer key must be specified on a single line in Answer. To
perform complex or repetitive parsing or computations for answer keys, you
can use the postcalc() function.
The postcalc() function lets you define a variable in Question that holds the
code that you want to evaluate in Answer. You can pass values to your code,
and postcalc() returns the result of the last statement in your code. This helps
you accomplish two things:
• You can define a complex, multi-line algorithm that is evaluated to define
an answer key based on your student’s responses to other parts of the
question.
• You can reuse a formula with different values for multiple lines in your
answer key.
To use the postcalc() function in an answer key:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
2. Add the following code at the beginning of Question:
<eqn include('/userimages/feedback/physlabs1.pl')>
This code is required in order to use the postcalc() function.
3. In Question, define a variable that contains the code that you want to be
evaluated in your answer key. For example:
<eqn>
$mycalc='decform($a**2 + $b**2,3)';
''
</eqn>
Your code can include multiple statements, and you can format it using
multiple lines.
Values that are passed to your code from the postcalc() function are
assigned to the special variables $_[0], $_[1], and so on.
Important:
• Be sure to escape single or double quotation marks in your code
that would end the variable definition. You can do this by preceding
the quotation mark with a backslash as in the following example:
$mycalc='$a=\'test\'; $b=3*$firstresult';
• Do not use the postcalc() function in your code.
4. In Answer, add the postcalc() function where your code should be
evaluated. For example:
<EQN postcalc($mycalc)>
10/2010
Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 104
To pass values to your code, list them after the variable that contains your
code. For example:
<EQN postcalc($mycalc,6)>
The postcalc() function returns the result of the last statement in your
code, so you can use it for variable assignment. For example:
<EQN $mychoices[2] = postcalc($mycalc,6)>
5. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
6. When your question displays and functions correctly, click Save.
Example Question Using postcalc() to Calculate the Answer Key
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1589522
Name
Template2 3.POSTC.01
Mode
Numerical
Question
<eqn include('/userimages/feedback/physlabs1.pl')>
<eqn>
%total_feedback = (low => "Count more cells for an accurate sample.");
%ID_feedback = (low => "Check your identification.", high => "Check your identification." );
$calc_range = '$LINK=\'box_total: no_icon\'; decform(userinput(max(0,$total*($_[0]‐0.05)), $total*($_[0]+0.05), $total*$_[0], \%ID_feedback),0)';
''
</eqn>
View the slide of an onion root tip and count the cells in each phase of cell division. <br><br>
<table frame="void" rules="none" border="0">
<tr><th>TOTAL</th><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><th>Interphase</th><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><th>Prophase</th><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><th>Metaphase</th><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><th>Anaphase</th><td><_></td></tr>
<tr><th>Telophase</th><td><_></td></tr>
</table>
Answer
<EQN $LABEL='box_total'; $total=decform(userinput(60,1000,100,\%total_feedback),0)> {tab} 0
<EQN $LABEL='box_inter'; $inter=postcalc($calc_range,0.56)> {tab} 0
<EQN $LABEL='box_proph'; $proph=postcalc($calc_range,0.28)> {tab} 0
<EQN $LABEL='box_metap'; $metap=postcalc($calc_range,0.08)> {tab} 0
<EQN $LABEL='box_anaph'; $anaph=postcalc($calc_range,0.06)> {tab} 0
<EQN $LABEL='box_telop'; $telop=postcalc($calc_range,0.03)> {tab} 0
Display to
Students
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105 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Example Question Using postcalc() to Parse Responses
The following table summarizes a question that uses postcalc() to determine
characteristics of the student’s triangle based on the lengths of its sides.
QID
1589514
Name
Template2 3.POSTC.02
Mode
Multi‐Mode...NS
Question
<eqn include('/userimages/feedback/physlabs1.pl')>
<eqn>
@clues=(' ',
'Are all three sides equal?',
'Are two sides equal?',
'Are any sides equal?',
'Is there a right angle?',
'Is there an obtuse angle?',
'Are all the angles acute?'
);
@reinforcement=(' ',
'A triangle with three equal sides is <i>equilateral</i>.',
'A triangle with two equal sides is <i>isosceles</i>.',
'A triangle with three different sides is <i>scalene</i>.',
'When one angle is 90&deg;, it is a <i>right triangle</i>.',
'When one angle is greater than 90&deg;, it is <i>obtuse</i>.',
'When all angles are less than 90&deg;, it is <i>acute</i>.'
);
$triangle='
@squares = sort {$a <=> $b} ($AB**2,$AC**2,$BC**2); if (@squares[0] == @squares[2]) {@choices=(1,2)}
elsif (@squares[0] == @squares[1]) {@choices=(2)}
elsif (@squares[1] == @squares[2]) {@choices=(2)}
elsif ((@squares[0] != @squares[1]) && (@squares[0] != @squares[2]) && (@squares[1] != @squares[2])) {@choices=(3)}
if (abs(@squares[2] ‐ @squares[1] ‐ @squares[0]) < @squares[2] * 0.05) {@choices=(@choices,4)}
elsif (@squares[2] > @squares[0] + @squares[1]) {@choices=(@choices,5)}
elsif (@squares[2] < @squares[0] + @squares[1]) {@choices=(@choices,6)}
$HINT=join(\'<br>\',@clues[@choices]); $CORRECT_HINT=join(\'<br>\',@reinforcement[@choices]); $ORDERED=[@choices]
';
''
</eqn>
<tutorial order="ascending" skip="no">
<premise title="Types of Triangles">
On a sheet of paper, draw a triangle. Label the vertices A, B, and C. </premise>
<step title="Measurement">
Measure each side of your triangle. <br>
AB = <_> inches<br>
AC = <_> inches<br>
BC = <_> inches
</step>
<step title="Identification">
<SECTION>Which terms describe your triangle? (<p:selectall>)<br>
<_>
</step>
</tutorial>
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Creating Multi-Part, Tutorial, and Answer-Dependent Questions 106
Answer
<EQN $AB=userinput(1,100,5)>
<EQN $AC=userinput(1,100,5)>
<EQN $BC=userinput(1,100,5)>
<SECTION><EQN postcalc($triangle); ''>equilateral
isosceles
scalene
right
obtuse
acute
Display to
Students
10/2010
4
Creating Math Questions
You can create questions for your math and science courses that allow your
students to enter formatted mathematical notation or work with number lines
or two-dimensional graphs. And, you can display correctly formatted
mathematical notation in your questions using several different methods.
Note: To create questions requiring your students to enter numerical
answers, see Creating Numerical Questions on page 52.
This section contains the following topics:
• Displaying Notation with WaTeX
• Displaying Notation with LaTeX
• Displaying Notation with <symimage>
• Displaying Math Notation with HTML Substitution
• Creating mathPad Questions
• Creating Number Line Questions
• Creating Graphing Questions
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Creating Math Questions 108
Displaying Notation with WaTeX
WebAssign provides a markup language — WaTeX — that you can use to display
well-formatted math notation in your questions and assignments. WaTeX is
similar in some respects to LaTeX in that both markup languages let you focus
more on content and spend less time solving layout problems. But because
WaTeX is rendered in HTML and LaTeX is rendered as a static image, WaTeX has
some clear benefits for online coursework:
• WaTeX display can be enlarged with the browser settings to accommodate
students with visual impairments.
• WaTeX markup allows you to put answer boxes in your markup, so you can,
for example, prompt students to provide the numerator of a fraction, the
argument of a trigonometric function, or the bounds of an integral. You can
also use WaTeX to format matrix or long division problems.
To use WaTeX markup in your questions or assignments, add the following
code:
<watex>markup</watex>
where markup is any WaTeX markup described in the following table.
Notes:
• As in HTML, successive whitespace characters in WaTeX are
ignored. To add multiple spaces, you can use <s:space>.
• For multiple-choice, multiple-select, and matching questions, you
can use WaTeX in Answer. If your markup is very long, you might
want to assign it (using double quotes) to a variable in Question
and then reference that variable in Answer.
Using Math Mode
When writing math questions, you will usually want to use WaTeX math mode,
which is delimited by \[ and \]. Math mode provides the following behaviors
that simplify entering math notation:
• Alphabetic characters that are not part of a function name or Perl variable
are presumed to be variables and are italicized.
• Hyphens are replaced by minus signs.
• Exponents can be typed using a caret (^).
• Subscripts can be typed using an underscore (_).
When using math mode:
• Begin math mode by typing a backslash followed by a left bracket (\[).
• End math mode by typing a backslash followed by a right bracket (\]).
• To type non-italicized text such as words or units, or to add HTML or
WebAssign tags, use \pre{} as described below.
• You cannot use any of the WebAssign HTML substitution tags (see
Displaying Math Notation with HTML Substitution on page 128). You can
use WaTeX markup instead of each of these tags.
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Unless specified otherwise, all of the examples in the following table are
displayed using math mode.
WaTeX Notation
Expression
Code
Example
Display
Perl variables
$variable ${variable}
<EQN $variable>
$a
${a}x
<EQN $a>
35
35x
35
2x\pre{ km}
2x km
Use braces when the Perl variable is
followed by other text.
Use <EQN> to display the variable in
black.
Roman text,
WebAssign
tags, or HTML
\pre{text}
Not needed unless using math mode.
Not needed for answer placeholder
string <_>.
Answer
placeholder
strings
<_>
Line breaks
\\
\frac{6}{8} = \frac{<_>}{4}
This cannot be done with
<symimage> or LaTeX.
3x \\ 4y
3x
4y
3x \vspace{1em} 4y
3x
Use \\ instead of <br \>.
Consecutive line breaks are treated
as a single line break. To add more
vertical spacing, use \vspace.
Line breaks
with vertical
spacing
\vspace{nem}
\vspace{npx}
4y
Adds a line break with the specified
amount of space between the lines.
Do not add a space between the
number and the unit.
For on-screen display, ems and pixels
are preferred units, but you can also
use cm, in, mm, pc, or pt.
Addition
+
x + 1
x+1
Subtraction
‐
x ‐ 1
x−1
Multiplication
*
\times
(implicit)
x * 2
x \times 2
2x
x·2
x×2
2x
Division
\div
x \div 2
x÷2
Fractions
\frac{num}{den}
\frac{x}{4}
You can put a fraction in the
numerator or denominator of another
fraction.
Binomial
10/2010
\left(\over{n}{k}\right)
\left(\over{a}{b}\right)
Creating Math Questions 110
Expression
Code
Example
Combinations,
permutations,
and isotopes
(over/under
notation)
\over{top}{bottom}
\left(\over{52}{5}\right) = 2598960
This is sometimes used with
<s:space> in the top or bottom to
help vertical alignment.
Display
P\over{10}{3} = 720
\over{233}{91}\pre{Pa}
Exponents
(superscripts)
^ (caret)
Bases
(subscripts)
_ (underscore)
Parentheses
x2
x^2
x^{12}
x12
x_2
x_{(y + 3)}
x2
x(y + 3)
(arg)
(x)
(x)
\left[size](
\right[size])
\left[1]( \frac{x}{3} \right[1])
If the superscript is more than 1
character, enclose it in braces {}.
If the subscript is more than 1
character, enclose it in braces {}.
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 1 through 9.
Brackets
[arg]
[x]
\left[size][
\right[size]]
\left[1][ \frac{x}{3} \right[1]]
[x]
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 1 through 9.
Braces
{arg}
{x}
\left[size]\{
\right[size]\}
\left[1]\{ \frac{x}{3} \right[1]\}
{x}
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 1 through 9.
Angle
brackets
Absolute
values
(vertical bars)
\left[size]<
\right[size]>
\left<x\right>
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 0 through 9.
\left[1]< \frac{x}{3} \right[1]>
|arg|
|x|
\left[size]|
\right[size]|
\left[1]| \frac{x}{3} \right[1]|
|x|
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 1 through 9.
Magnitude
(double
vertical bars)
\lleft[size]|
\rright[size]|
Greatest
integer
function
(double
brackets)
\lleft[size][
\rright[size]]
\lleft[0]|\overrightarrow{v
}\rright[0]|
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 0 through 9.
\lleft[x\rright]
Specify the optional size as an integer
from 1 through 9.
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Expression
Code
Example
Square root
\sqrt{arg}
\sqrt{16}
\sqrt{size}{arg}
\sqrt{3}{\frac{1}{2}}
Display
Specify the optional size in positive
integers; the height is approximately
size lines.
Nth root
\sqrt[n]{arg}
\sqrt[3]{27x}
\sqrt{size}[n]{arg}
\sqrt{3}[4]{\frac{x}{81}}
Specify the optional size in positive
integers; the height is approximately
size lines.
Factorial
!
Trigonometry
\sin
\arcsin
\isin
\sinh
\arcsinh
\isinh
\cos
\arccos
\icos
\cosh
\arccosh
\icosh
\tan
\arctan
\itan
\tanh
\arctanh
\itanh
\sec
\arcsec
\isec
\sech
\arcsech
\isech
\csc
\arccsc
\icsc
\csch
\arccsch
\icsch
\cot
\arccot
\icot
\coth
\arccoth
\icoth
5!
5!
\asin x
arcsin x
\cos <s:theta> cos θ
\csch a csch a
\tan(45<s:degree>)
tan(45°)
\icoth(x)
coth-1(x)
\arccos, \arcsin, and so on can be
abbreviated like \acos or \asin, but
the longer version of the function
name is displayed.
Exponential
function
e^n
e^2
e2
Logarithms
\ln(n)
\log(n)
\log_b(n)
\ln(e^x) = x
\log(1000) = 3
\log_2(128) = 7
ln(ex) = x
log(1000) = 3
log2(128) = 7
Equality
=
a = 2<s:pi>r
a = 2πr
Inequality
>
<
\geq
\leq
\neq
<s:notgreater>
<s:notless>
x > 3
x < 3
x \geq 3
x \leq 3
x \neq 3
x <s:notgreater> 3
x <s:notless> 3
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Approximate
\approx
x \approx 3
x≈3
Plus or minus
\pm
x \pm 3
x±3
Minus or plus
\mp
x \mp 3
x
Infinity
\infty
\infty
∞
Greek
<s:letter_name>
<s:pi>
π
Capital Greek
<s:Letter_name>
<s:Omega>
Ω
10/2010
>
<
≥
≤
≠
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Creating Math Questions 112
Expression
Code
Example
Arrays
\begin{array}{alignment}
cell & cell \\
cell & cell \end{array}
\begin{array}{rl}
y = & <s:space>3x + 10 \\
2y = & <s:space>4x ‐ 5
\end{array}
Display
For more information, see Creating
WaTeX Arrays and Matrices on
page 113.
Matrices
\begin{matrix}{alignment}
cell & cell \\
cell & cell \end{matrix}
A = \begin{matrix}{c}{2}
x & y & z\\
a & b & c
\end{matrix}
For more information, see Creating
WaTeX Arrays and Matrices on
page 113.
Determinants
For more information, see Creating
WaTeX Arrays and Matrices on
page 113.
\pre{det}(A) = |A|
det(A) = |A|
\left|\begin{array}{c}
a & b \\ c & d
\end{array}\right| = ad ‐ bc
Ellipses
\ddots
\cdots
\vdots
\iddots
\ldots
\ddots
\cdots
\vdots
\iddots
\ldots
Overline
\overline{}
0.\overline{3}
Indefinite
summation
\sum{arg}
\sum{x_i}
Definite
summation
\sum_{lower}^{upper}{arg}
\sum_{i = 0}^{n}{x_i}
Indefinite
integrals
\int{arg}
\int{f(x)dx}
Definite
integrals
\int_{lower}^{upper}{arg}
\int_{0}^{1}{\sqrt{x}dx}
Limits
\lim_{lower}{arg}
\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}{x
_n}
\lim{}_{lower}
\lim{}_{n\rightarrow\infty} x_n
Right arrows
\rightarrow
\Longrightarrow
\rightarrow
\Longrightarrow
Arrows over
notation
\overleftarrow{arg}
\overrightarrow{arg}
\overleftrightarrow{arg}
\overleftarrow{AB}
\overrightarrow{AB}
\overleftrightarrow{AB}
0.3
→
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113 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Expression
Code
Example
Harpoons
over notation
\overleftharpoon{arg}
\overrightharpoon{arg}
\overleftrightharpoon{arg}
\overleftharpoon{AB}
\overrightharpoon{AB}
\overleftrightharpoon{AB}
Middle dot
\cdot
\cdot
Circle
\circ
\circ
Non-breaking
text
\nobr{}
\nobr{1.2 \times 10^2}
1.2 × 102
Italics
\it{}
text \it{italicized} text
text italicized
text
Not needed in math mode.
Display
·
Boldface
\bf{}
\bf{boldface}
boldface
Strikeout
\sout{}
\sout{strikeout}
strikeout
Underline
\uline{}
\uline{underlined}
underlined
To enter other symbols, see Adding Special Characters to Your Questions on
page 12.
This section contains the following topics:
• Creating WaTeX Arrays and Matrices
• WaTeX Example: Aligning a System of Equations
• WaTeX Example: Matrices
• WaTeX Example: Arithmetic Long Division
• WaTeX Example: Polynomial Long Division
• WaTeX Example: Synthetic Division
Creating WaTeX Arrays and Matrices
WaTeX provides notation for adding arrays and matrices to your questions.
In WaTeX, an array is a simple table with no borders; you can therefore use
arrays not only to display tabular data, but also to control the positioning of
items such as answer boxes or choices, equations, or even other arrays. For
many questions, creating a WaTeX array is simpler and less time-consuming
than creating the equivalent table using HTML.
A matrix is a special kind of WaTeX array that automatically displays brackets
around it just like mathematical matrices.
You can:
• add horizontal or vertical ruling for particular cells
• put arrays and matrices inside of other arrays or matrices
10/2010
Creating Math Questions 114
You cannot:
• directly apply HTML or CSS attributes to change the appearance or size of
arrays or matrices
• span cells horizontally or vertically in arrays or matrices
To use complicated formatting or to allow entry of large amounts of tabular
data, you might want to use an HTML table instead of a WaTeX array or matrix.
Creating Arrays
To add an array, type code using the following general syntax:
\begin{array}{alignment}
cell_contents & cell_contents \\
cell_contents & cell_contents
\end{array}
where:
• \begin{array} starts the array.
• alignment is a string comprised of one or more lowercase letters l, r, or c
specifying left, right, or center alignment for each column. If you use fewer
characters than there are columns, the last character defines the alignment
for all remaining columns.
• cell_contents represents anything you want to put in the cell.
• An ampersand (&) separates each cell in a row.
• A double backslash (\\) ends each row. This code is not needed to end the
last row.
• \end{array} ends the array.
For example, to align two equations with respect to the equals sign, you could
use the following code:
Code
Display
\begin{array}{rcl}
y & = & 3x + 10 \\
2y & = & 4x ‐ 5
\end{array}
Creating Matrices
To add a matrix, type code using the following general syntax:
\begin{matrix}{alignment}{rows}
cell_contents & cell_contents \\
cell_contents & cell_contents
\end{matrix}
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115 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
where:
• \begin{matrix} starts the matrix.
• alignment is a string comprised of one or more lowercase letters l, r, or c
specifying left, right, or center alignment for each column. If you use fewer
characters than there are columns, the last character defines the alignment
for all remaining columns.
• rows specifies the number of rows (1-9) in the matrix and is required to
correctly display the brackets around the matrix.
• cell_contents represents anything you want to put in the cell.
• An ampersand (&) separates each cell in a row.
• A double backslash (\\) ends each row. This code is not needed to end the
last row.
• \end{matrix} ends the matrix.
For example, to display a simple 3×2 matrix, you could use the following code:
Code
Display
A = \begin{matrix}{c}{2}
x & y & z\\
a & b & c
\end{matrix}
Adding Row or Column Ruling
You can add row or column ruling in arrays and matrices.
• To add vertical ruling left of any cell, add the following markup in the cell:
\vline
• To add horizontal ruling above particular columns in a row, add the
following markup anywhere in the row:
\cline{from‐to}
where from and to are the column numbers where the ruling should be
displayed. Columns are numbered starting with 0 for the leftmost column.
To add ruling above discontinuous columns, use multiple instances of
\cline. To add ruling above a single column, specify the same column
number for both from and to.
For example:
Code
\begin{matrix}{c}{2}
A & \vline B\\
C & \vline D \cline{0‐1}
\end{matrix}
10/2010
Display
Creating Math Questions 116
WaTeX Example: Aligning a System of Equations
QID
1215889
Name
Template2 4.WATEX.01.
Mode
Numerical
Question
Solve the system of equations.
<div class="indent">
<watex>\[
\left[2]\{ \begin{array}{rcl}
2x + 4y & = & 26 \\
3x ‐ y & = & 4
\end{array}\]</watex>
</div>
<watex>\[
x = <_>\\
y = <_>
\]</watex>
</div>
Answer
3
5
Display
to
Students
WaTeX Example: Matrices
QID
1216105
Name
Template2 4.WATEX.02.
Mode
Numerical
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117 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Question
The following matrices show the numbers of wins and losses at
home and away for three youth soccer teams.
<div class="indent">
<watex>
\begin{array}{ccl}
& W<s:space><s:space>L & \\
Home = & \begin{matrix}{c}{3} 2 & 3 \\ 0 & 4 \\ 3 & 2
\end{matrix} &
\begin{array}{l} Bears \\ Cardinals \\
Giants \end{array} \end{array}
<s:quad>
\begin{array}{ccl}
& W<s:space><s:space>L & \\
Away = & \begin{matrix}{c}{3} 1 & 2 \\ 0 & 3 \\ 1 & 3
\end{matrix} &
\begin{array}{l} Bears \\ Cardinals \\
Giants \end{array} \end{array}
</watex>
</div>
Use matrix addition to determine the total wins and losses for
each team.
<div class="indent">
<watex>
\begin{array}{ccl}
& W<s:quad><s:quad>L & \\
Total = & \begin{matrix}{c}{3} <_> & <_> \\ <_> & <_> \\ <_> &
<_> \end{matrix} &
\begin{array}{l} Bears \\ Cardinals \\
Giants \end{array} \end{array}
</watex>
</div> Answer
<eqn $size=1; ''>3
5
0
7
4
5
Display
to
Students
WaTeX Example: Arithmetic Long Division
10/2010
QID
1212389
Name
Template2 4.WATEX.03.
Mode
Numerical
Creating Math Questions 118
Question
Answer
Divide.
<div class="indent">
<watex>
\begin{array}{c}
&
\cline{1‐5} 123 & \vline 5
&
<_>
\cline{1‐3}
&
&
\cline{2‐4}
&
&
\cline{3‐5}
&
\end{array}
</watex>
</div>
&
& <_> & <_> & <_> & R<_>\\
& 6 & 1 & 7 & 4 &
\\
& <_> & <_> &
&
&
\\
& <_> & <_> & 7 &
&
\\
& <_> & <_> & <_> &
&
\\
&
& <_> & <_> & 4 &
\\
&
& <_> & <_> & <_> &
\\
&
&
& <_> & <_> &
\\
<eqn $size=1; ''>4
5
6
86
4
9
2
6
9
6
1
5
8
2
7
3
8
8
6
Display
to
Students
WaTeX Example: Polynomial Long Division
QID
1212380
Name
Template2 4.WATEX.04.
Mode
Symbolic
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119 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Question
Answer
Divide. Type ^ to indicate exponents, as in x^2.
<div class="indent">
<watex>
\[ \begin{array}{c}
&
&
& <_> & + & <_>
\cline{1‐5} x ‐ 4 & \vline 2x^2 & + & 5x & ‐ & 50
& <_>
& ‐ & <_> &
&
\cline{1‐3}
&
&
& <_> & ‐ & 50
&
&
& <_> & ‐ & <_>
\cline{3‐5}
&
&
&
&
& <_>
\end{array}\]
</watex>
</div>
\\
\\
\\
\\
\\
<eqn $size=1; ''>x:2*x
13
x:2*x^2
x:8*x
x:13*x
x:13*x
52
2
Display
to
Students
WaTeX Example: Synthetic Division
10/2010
QID
1215844
Name
Template2 4.WATEX.05.
Mode
Multi‐Mode...NQN
Question
Divide <watex>\[x^3 ‐ 2x^2 ‐ 11x + 12 \pre{ by } x ‐ 3\]</watex>. Use synthetic division.
<div class='indent'>
<watex>
\[
\begin{array}{c}
<_> & \vline & <_> & <_> & <_> & <_> \\
\cline{1‐5}& & & <_> & <_> & <_> \\
\cline{1‐5}& & <_> & <_> & <_> & <_>
\end{array}
\]
</watex></div>
<SECTION>Express your answer as a polynomial: <_> <br />
<SECTION>Remainder: <_>
Creating Math Questions 120
Answer
<eqn $size=1; ''>3
1
‐2
‐11
12
3
3
‐24
1
1
‐8
‐12
<SECTION><EQN $PAD='devmath'; ''>x: x^2 + x ‐ 8
<SECTION>‐12
Display
to
Students
Displaying Notation with LaTeX
You can include LaTeX markup to display well-formatted math notation in your
questions and assignments in WebAssign. Unlike WaTeX, LaTeX is displayed as
a static image in your questions and does not offer the flexibility to include
answer boxes in your math notation.
Note: WebAssign’s LaTeX installation does not include every LaTeX
package. Always test your notation to ensure that it displays correctly.
Use LaTeX to display math notation for the following reasons:
• You need to display a formatted solution or learning materials as a PDF that
is linked from your question or assignment.
• You are already familar with LaTeX and do not want to use another method
for displaying math notation.
If you are not already familiar with LaTeX and do not need to display notation
as a PDF, use WaTeX, the <symimage> tag, or HTML substitution.
To include LaTeX markup in your question or assignment, enclose it in the
<latex> tag:
<latex>latex_markup</latex>
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121 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Displaying Perl Variables in LaTeX
To display the values of Perl variables in your LaTeX markup (for example, to
use randomized values), use one of the methods described in the following
table.
Method
Code
Example
Display value
in red
$variable ${variable} <latex>$ ${p}x=13 $</latex>
Use braces or add a space after each variable
name to distinguish it from other text.
Display value
in black
<EQN $variable>
Display all
values in black
<latex eqn=black>$variable
<latex eqn=black>${variable} Do not use the lowercase <eqn> tag.
Use braces or add a space after each variable
name to distinguish it from other text.
Display
<latex>$ <EQN $p>x=13 $</latex>
<latex eqn=black>$
${p}x=13 $</latex>
Displaying LaTeX as a PDF
To display a larger set of LaTeX notation than a single mathematical
expression — for example, to use LaTeX to format a solution or additional
learning materials — you can display your LaTeX markup as a PDF that is linked
from the question or assignment.
To display your LaTeX markup as a linked PDF, set the pdf attribute in the
<latex> tag to the text of the link you want your students to click:
<latex pdf='link_text'>
In your question or assignment, the specified link text will be displayed. When
your students click the link, a PDF is displayed with your formatted notation.
See Also:
• LaTeX documentation at www.ctan.org
• LaTeX documentation at www.latex-project.org
Displaying Notation with <symimage>
You can use the <symimage> tag to display well-formatted math notation in
your questions and assignments in WebAssign. The markup used in the
<symimage> tag is also used in NumberLine questions to display labels for
points.
Unlike WaTeX, notation displayed with the <symimage> tag is displayed as a
static image in your questions and does not offer the flexibility to include
answer boxes in your math notation.
To use symimage markup in your questions or assignments, add the following
code:
<symimage(markup)>
10/2010
Creating Math Questions 122
where markup is any symimage markup described in <symimage> Notation on
page 123.
Notes:
• When creating a flag for a NumberLine question, do not include the
<symimage> tag itself; just specify the markup.
• As in HTML, successive whitespace characters in symimage markup
are ignored. To add a space explicitly, precede the space with two
backslash characters (\\ ).
Alphabetic characters that are not part of a function name or Perl variable are
presumed to be variables and are italicized.
Controlling the Size of the Displayed Notation
Unlike WaTeX, which is automatically resized with the text in the browser
window, images generated with the <symimage> tag are static. However, you
can scale the initial image to one of seven sizes.
Note: You cannot change the size of notation displayed in NumberLine
questions.
To change the size of the displayed notation, append the following notation in
your <symimage> tag:
, size => n
where n is an integer from 1 through 7, with 3 being the default if you do not
specify a size. For example:
<symimage(sqrt(x/a), size => 6)>
The following image shows how each size value is displayed.
Controlling the Placement of the Displayed Notation
You can control the vertical alignment and spacing of the displayed notation
relative to the surrounding text.
Note: You cannot change the placement of notation displayed in
NumberLine questions.
To align the displayed notation relative to the surrounding text, append one of
the following notations in your <symimage> tag:
, align => top
, align => middle
, align => bottom
The top, middle, or bottom of the image is aligned with respect to the top,
middle, or bottom of the text line where the image is displayed. The default
alignment is bottom.
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123 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
To add extra space around the displayed notation, append the following
notation in your <symimage> tag:
, padding => n
where n is a positive integer representing the number of pixels of whitespace to
add on every side of the displayed notation. This is particularly useful when the
<symimage> tag is used in multiple choice answers.
For example:
<symimage((3x+12)/(x^2), align => top, padding => 10)>
aligns the top of the displayed fraction with the top of the line of text and adds
10 pixels of space on every side of the displayed image.
<symimage> Notation
Expression
Code
Example
Perl variables
$variable
$a x
Leave a space after the variable
name.
Roman text
text(text_string)
2x+1 text( if ) x <= ‐1
Addition
+
x + 1
Subtraction
‐
x ‐ 1
Multiplication
*
cross
(implicit)
2 * x
2 cross x
2x
Division
\/
x\/y
You cannot display the division sign
(÷) using <symimage>
Fractions
/
x/y
You can put a fraction in the
numerator or denominator of another
fraction.
Exponents
(superscripts)
^ (caret)
**
If the superscript is not just a number
or a variable, enclose it in
parentheses ().
x^2
x**(2y)
^1text(H)^alpha
Precede the superscript with a
space if it precedes notation.
Bases
(subscripts)
_ (underscore)
If the subscript is not just a number
or a variable, enclose it in
parentheses ().
Precede the subscript with a
space if it precedes notation.
10/2010
x_2
x_(y + 3)
Display
Creating Math Questions 124
Expression
Code
Example
Binomial
(over/under
notation)
(top__bottom)^()
(7__3)^()
Permutations
and isotopes
(combined
subscript and
superscript)
_bottom^top
Parentheses
Display
Type two underscores between the
top and bottom expressions.
Precede the subscript with a
space if the combined
subscript/superscript precedes
notation.
(arg)^()
P_3^10 = 720
_91^233text(Pa)
(x/2)^()
Use this notation to explicitly add
automatically-sized parentheses
around an expression when they
might otherwise be omitted.
Brackets
[arg]
matrix(1,1,[arg])
[x]
matrix(1,1,[x/3])
When using the matrix notation, the
brackets are automatically sized to fit
the contents. Some contents, such as
fractions, are also resized.
Braces
matrix(1,1,{arg})
matrix(1,1,{x/3})
You cannot use {} without the matrix
notation. When using the matrix
notation, the brackets are
automatically sized to fit the
contents. Some contents, such as
fractions, are also resized.
Angle
brackets
Absolute
values
(vertical bars)
langle arg rangle
langle x/3 rangle
Angle brackets are not resized.
|arg|
|x|
abs(arg)
abs(x/3)
When using the abs notation, the
vertical bars are automatically sized
to fit the contents.
Overbrace
arg^^\\}
(x+y+z)^^\\}
After the argument, add 2 carets, 2
backslashes, and the right brace.
Enclose the argument in parentheses
if needed.
Underbrace
arg__\\_}
(x+y+z)__\\_}
After the argument, add 2
underscores, 2 backslashes, another
underscore, and the right brace.
Enclose the argument in parentheses
if needed.
Square root
sqrt(arg)
sqrt(16)
Nth root
rootn(arg)
root3(27x)
You can use only alphanumeric
characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) and
underscores for n.
10/2010
125 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Expression
Code
Example
Factorial
!
5!
Trigonometry
sin(x)
asin(x)
sinh(x)
asinh(x)
cos(x)
acos(x)
cosh(x)
acosh(x)
tan(x)
atan(x)
tanh(x)
atanh(x)
sec(x)
asec(x)
sech(x)
asech(x)
csc(x)
acsc(x)
csch(x)
acsch(x)
cot(x)
acot(x)
coth(x)
acoth(x)
asin(x)
cos(theta) csch(a) tan(45 deg)
Exponential
function
e^n exp(n)
e^2
exp(2)
Logarithms
ln(n)
log(n)
log_b(n)
ln(e^x) = x
log(1000) = 3
log_2(128) = 7
You can use only alphanumeric
characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) and
underscores for b.
Equality
=
a = 2 pi r
Inequality
> < >=
<=
!=
x > 3
x < 3
x >= 3
x <= 3
x != 3
Approximate
~=
!~=
x ~= 3
x !~= 3
Plus or minus
+/‐
x +/‐ 3
Infinity
infinity
infinity
Greek
Type the name of lowercase Greek
letters in lowercase. Type the names
of uppercase Greek letters in proper
case.
pi
Omega
Matrices
matrix(rows,cols,[cell,cell])
matrix(rows,cols,{cell,cell})
matrix(rows,cols,|cell,cell|)
matrix(2,3,[a,b,c,d,e,f])
matrix(3,2,{a,b,c,d,e,f})
The contents of the matrix are
specified cell by cell in row-column
order.
Use brackets, braces, or vertical bars
to enclose the matrix contents.
Determinants
Use either the text or matrix notation
illustrated in the example.
text(det)(A) = |A|
matrix(2,2,|a,b,c,d|)=ad‐bc
Ellipses
...
_...
\...
...
_...
\...
Indefinite
summation
sum arg
sum x_i
10/2010
Display
Creating Math Questions 126
Expression
Code
Example
Definite
summation
sum_lower^upper arg
sum__lower^^upper arg
sum_(i = 0)^n x_i Display
You can use two underscores and two
carets to display the bounds using the
same font size as the argument; see
the example for Definite integrals.
Indefinite
integrals
int arg
int f(x)dx
Definite
integrals
int_lower^upper arg
int__lower^^upper arg
int_0^1 sqrt(x)dx
int__0^^1 sqrt(x)dx
You can use two underscores and two
carets to display the bounds above
and below the integral using the
same font size as the argument.
Products
prod_lower^upper arg
prod__lower^^upper arg
prod_(i=m)^infinity x_i
You can use two underscores and two
carets to display the bounds using the
same font size as the argument; see
the example for Definite integrals.
Closed
integrals
cintegral_lower^upper arg
cintegral__lower^^upper arg
cintegral_C y^3 \\ dx + x^2 \\ dy
You can use two underscores and two
carets to display the bounds above
and below the integral using the
same font size as the argument; see
the example for Definite integrals.
Differentiation
diff
(difff(x))/(diffx)
Partial
derivatives
partial
(partial^2u)/(partialx^2)
Limits
lim_(x‐>p)
lim__(x‐>p)
lim_(x‐>0)
Any expression can be used below
the limit function.
You can use two underscores to
display the expression below the limit
function using the same font size as
the argument; see the example for
Definite integrals.
Arrows
‐>
‐‐>
<‐
<‐‐
<‐>
==>
<==
<=>
‐>
‐‐>
<‐
<‐‐
<‐>
==>
<==
<=>
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127 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Expression
Code
Example
Arrows over
notation
^^‐>
^^‐‐>
^^<‐
^^<‐‐
^^<‐>
A^^‐>
A^^‐‐>
A^^<‐
A^^<‐‐
A^^<‐>
Enclose the argument in parentheses
as needed.
Arrows under
notation
__‐>
__‐‐>
__<‐
__<‐‐
__<‐>
A__‐>
A__‐‐>
A__<‐
A__<‐‐
A__<‐>
Use two underscores. Enclose the
argument in parentheses as needed.
Harpoons
~>
<~
<~>
~>
<~
<~>
Harpoons over
notation
^^~>
^^<~
^^<~>
A^^~>
A^^<~
A^^<~>
Enclose the argument in parentheses
as needed.
Harpoons
under
notation
__~>
__<~
__<~>
A__~>
A__<~
A__<~>
Use two underscores. Enclose the
argument in parentheses as needed.
Middle dot
middot
x middot y
Bold Roman
<b>text</b>
text(For all ) x text( in ) <b>R</b>,
Text is displayed in bold and unitalicized. Do not use inside text()
notation.
Underline
<u>text</u>
To display un-italicized text with
underlining, put text() inside of <u>
and not the other way around.
<u>all </u>\\ x
<u>text(all)</u>\\ x
Union
union
A union B
Intersection
intersect
A intersect B
Proportional
To
propto
proportional
x propto y
Perpendicular
To
perp
perpendicular
x perp y
Hat
^^\\^
x^^\\^
Vector
^^‐>
^^\\‐>
x^^‐>
Accent
^^\\'
x^^\\'
Tilde
^^\\~
x^^\\~
10/2010
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Creating Math Questions 128
Expression
Code
Example
Grave
^^\\`
x^^\\`
Script small L
ell
ell
Reduced
Planck
constant (hbar)
hbar
E=hbar omega
Overline
^^\\_
x^^\\_
Formula
{(statement,statement)
f(x)={(|2x| text(if)\\ x <= 0,3x text(if)\\ x >0)
Use as many statements as needed.
Each statement must contain the
same number of text() codes. These
codes are used to control horizontal
alignment of the statements with
each other. You can put empty
text() codes in each statement to
align items even if you do not need to
display Roman text.
Display
display:
Displaying Math Notation with HTML Substitution
WebAssign provides several special tags that allow you to render specific kinds
of notation using HTML substitution. Like WaTeX — and unlike LaTeX or
<symimage> markup — you can include answer boxes in your formatted
notation. Using HTML substitution is often simpler than using WaTeX, but its
functionality is also much more limited than WaTeX.
Notes:
• You cannot use HTML substitution tags inside of other HTML
substitution tags, WaTeX, LaTeX, or <symimage> markup.
• You cannot use WaTeX, LaTeX, or <symimage> markup inside of
HTML substitution tags.
HTML Substitution Tags for Math
Six tags are provided for displaying math notation using HTML substitution.
Inside each of these tags, you can use the math notation described in Notation
That Can Be Used in HTML Substitution Tags for Math on page 129.
Expression
Code
Example
Display
General math
<h:math>markup</h:math>
<h:math> $a x^2 </h:math>
9x2
Fractions
<h:frac> n='numerator' d='denominator' </h:frac>
<h:frac> n='x^2' d='x+$
a' </h:frac>
Use WaTeX to display a fraction in the
numerator or denominator of another
fraction or under a square root.
Square roots
<h:sqrt>markup</h:sqrt>
<h:sqrt> x + 6 </h:sqrt>
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129 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Expression
Code
Example
Matrices
<h:matrix> cell | cell ; cell | cell </h:matrix>
<h:matrix> a | b ; c | d </h:matrix>
Use | to separate columns and ; to indicate
the end of a row. Ensure that there is a
space between the contents of a cell and
the | or ; delimiters.
Determinants
<h:determinant> cell | cell ; cell | cell </h:determinant>
Use | to separate columns and ; to indicate
the end of a row. Ensure that there is a
space between the contents of a cell and
the | or ; delimiters.
Long division
<h:longdiv> divisor | dividend </h:longdiv>
Display
<h:determinant> $a | b ; c | d </h:determinan
t>
<h:longdiv> x+5 | x^2+6x+5 </h:longdiv>
Notation That Can Be Used in HTML Substitution Tags for Math
Except where noted, you can use all of the notation in the following table in
each of the HTML substitution tags for displaying math notation. Math variables
are automatically italicized. You can also use any of the <s> tags described in
Adding Special Characters to Your Questions on page 12.
Expression
Code
Example
Display
Perl variables
$variable ${variable} <EQN $variable>
$a x + 1
${a}x + 1
<EQN $a>x + 1
9x + 1
9x + 1
9x + 1
Use braces or add a space after each
variable name to distinguish it from
other text. Do not use the lowercase
<eqn> tag.
Addition
+
x + 1
x+1
Subtraction
‐
x ‐ 1
x−1
Multiplication
*
times
cross
(implicit)
x * 2
x times 2
x cross 2
2x
x·2
x×2
x×2
2x
Division
divide
/
x divide 2
x / 2
x÷2
x/2
Exponents
(superscripts)
^ (caret)
x^2
x^(2y)
x2y
Bases
(subscripts)
_ (underscore)
x_2
x_((y + 3))
x2
x(y + 3)
10/2010
If the superscript is more than a single
number or a single variable, enclose it in
parentheses.
If the subscript is more than a single
number or a single variable, enclose it in
parentheses.
x2
Creating Math Questions 130
Expression
Code
Example
Display
Parentheses
()
4(x+1)
x_((y + 3))
4(x + 1)
x(y + 3)
|x|
abs(x)
|x|
abs(x)
In cases where a set of parentheses is
required to format notation, such as with
exponents, use two pairs of parentheses
to explicitly display the parentheses.
Absolute value
|arg|
abs(arg)
You cannot use vertical bars to
specify absolute values in in the
<h:longdiv> tag.
Square root
x + sqrt(y+3)
sqrt(arg)
You cannot use sqrt() in the
<h:sqrt> or <h:longdiv> tags.
Factorial
!
Trigonometry
sin
arcsin
sinh
arcsinh
cos
arccos
cosh
arccosh
tan
arctan
tanh
arctanh
sec
arcsec
sech
arcsech
csc
arccsc
csch
arccsch
cot
arccot
coth
arccoth
5!
5!
asin x
sin-1x
cos theta cosθ
csch<s:space>a csch a
tan(45<s:degree>)
tan(45°)
When arccos, arcsin, and so on are
abbreviated like acos or asin, the
function is displayed using exponential
notation, like sin-1x.
Exponential
function
e^n
e^2
e2
Logarithms
ln(n)
log(n)
log_b(n)
ln(e^x) = x
log(1000) = 3
log_2(128) = 7
ln(ex) = x
log(1000) = 3
log2(128) = 7
Equality
=
a = 2 pi r
a = 2πr
Inequality
>
<
>=
<=
!=
x > 3
x < 3
x >= 3
x <= 3
x != 3
x
x
x
x
x
Approximate
~=
x ~= 3
x≈3
Infinity
infinity
infinity
∞
Greek
Type the name of lowercase Greek
letters in lowercase. Type the names of
uppercase Greek letters in proper case.
pi
Omega
π
Ω
>
<
≥
≤
≠
3
3
3
3
3
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131 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Creating mathPad Questions
WebAssign’s mathPad and calcPad tools let your students quickly enter the
standard mathematical notation that is displayed in their textbook.
Note: Although mathPad and calcPad have been tested and can be
used in your classes, they are Beta features that are still undergoing
development.
It is not currently possible for instructors to create their own calcPad
questions.
The difference between mathPad and calcPad is that calcPad provides tools for
entering the kinds of mathematical notation that are needed in pre-calculus and
later math classes but which might be confusing to students taking
developmental math, algebra, and basic trigonometry courses.
If you want your students to respond with a numerical answer and not a
mathematical expression, see Creating Numerical Questions on page 52.
This section contains the following topics:
• Choosing Evaluation Modes for Your Math Questions
• Creating mathPad Questions Using Symbolic Mode
• Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using Symbolic Mode
• Changing the Default Values and Tolerance for Symbolic Evaluation
• Creating mathPad Questions Using Algebraic Mode with Mathematica
• Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using Algebraic Mode with
Mathematica
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Creating Math Questions 132
Choosing Evaluation Modes for Your Math
Questions
For many question types in WebAssign, such as Multiple-Choice or PencilPad,
the question mode you select has immediately visible effects on the question
you are creating. When you create questions that evaluate mathematical
expressions, however, the question mode you select affects what kind of
responses your students can enter and how your students’ responses are
evaluated, but has no corresponding visual effect.
Note: If your students should respond with a numerical answer and
not a mathematical expression, see Creating Numerical Questions on
page 52.
Before creating a question that asks your students to enter a mathematical
expression or equation, determine how that expression should be evaluated.
Symbolic Mode
Symbolic questions evaluate your students’ responses symbolically by
substituting a series of values for the variables in the response and in the key.
If the response and the key are equal for all tested values, then the response is
accepted as correct.
This evaluation behavior provides reliable scoring of responses and can accept
any form of a mathematical expression that is equivalent to the key. However, it
cannot evaluate responses that are equations, and it cannot evaluate whether
responses are in a particular form, such as a completely factored expression.
Algebraic Mode Using Mathematica
Algebraic questions evaluate your students’ responses algebraically using
Mathematica, in much the same way you would solve an equation.
Notes:
• You must know how to write Mathematica expressions. For
reference information, see reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/.
• Older questions created using Algebraic mode do not necessarily
use Mathematica; however, the general principles still apply, and
these questions will continue to function.
Algebraic mode is a much more powerful method for evaluating your students’
responses, but specifying your key in Algebraic mode can sometimes be more
complicated than with Symbolic mode. Additionally, you cannot by default
accept any mathematically equivalent response using Algebraic mode; you
must therefore make sure that your students understand what form of
response is needed.
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Choosing Which Mode To Use Based on Selected Criteria
Refer to the following table to help you decide which mode to use.
Best Practice: If you can use either Symbolic mode or Algebraic
mode, use Symbolic mode.
Criterion / Example
Accept any response that is equivalent to the key
Allow your students to type commas in large numbers
The answer is a single mathematical expression that is
not an equation.
Solve for x:
2x+y2-6=0
x=___
The answer is a finite list of set members.
List the first three natural numbers.
The answer is any member of a set.
List any multiple of both 2 and 3.
The answer is a single ordered pair.
What are the coordinates of the center of the circle defined
by the following equation:
(x+3)2+(y-4)2=25
The answer is two or more ordered pairs.
List the coordinates of the first five data points shown on the
graph.
The answer is a vector.
Find a vector perpendicular to ‹1,2›.
The answer is an equation.
What is the equation for a circle with center (x,y) and radius
r?
Only a particular form of the answer is correct.
Factor the expression: x2-x-12
Key can specify multiple correct answers.
Key can perform complex evaluation functions for you,
such as factoring polynomials or computing
derivatives.
10/2010
Symbolic
Mode
Algebraic
Mode Using
Mathematica
Creating Math Questions 134
Creating mathPad Questions Using Symbolic
Mode
You can create mathPad questions that use Symbolic mode to evaluate
arithmetic and algebraic expressions, but not equations, for equivalency to the
answer. Because responses are graded for mathematical equivalency, the form
of the student’s response is not considered. For example, 4x+12 would be
equivalent to (x+3)4.
Prerequisite: Before using this procedure, see Choosing Evaluation Modes for
Your Math Questions on page 132.
To create a mathPad question using Symbolic mode:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Symbolic.
4. In Question, type your question.
• Use the answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box
should be displayed.
• Be sure that your question identifies any variables that the student should
use in their answer.
5. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<eqn $PAD='devmath'; ''>variable_list:answer_key where variable_list is a comma-delimited list of the variables used in the
answer key, and answer_key specifies the correct answer to the problem in
symbolic notation. For example:
x_1, y_1, x_2, y_2: sqrt((x_1‐x_2)^2 + (y_1‐y_2)^2)
Notes:
• 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.
• For information about specifying answer keys for Symbolic
questions, see Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using Symbolic
Mode on page 136.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
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9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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 mathPad Question Using Symbolic Mode
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1078951
Name
Template2 4.MATHP.01.
Mode
Symbolic
Question
<watex>What is the formula for the distance \[d\] between the two points \[(x_1,y_1)\] and \[(x_2,y_2)\]?\\
\begin{array}{rl}
\[ d = \] & <_>\\
\end{array}</watex>
Answer
<eqn $PAD='devmath'; ''> x_1,y_1,x_2,y_2:sqrt((x_2‐x_1)^2+(y_2‐
y_1)^2)
Display to
Students
11. Optionally, 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.
12. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
10/2010
Creating Math Questions 136
13. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
14. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
15. 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.
Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using
Symbolic Mode
When typing the answer key for a question in Symbolic mode, you can include a
broad range of mathematical expressions.
Specifying Numeric Values in Answer Keys
Do not use commas to separate digits in numbers. This can cause ambiguous
answer keys and let your students receive credit for incorrect answers. For
example, x + 1,234 is interpreted both as 1234 + x and as a list with two
elements: x + 1 and 234.
Do not use mixed numbers. Instead, use improper fractions or express the
mixed number as a sum, for example 7/4 or 1+3/4.
Specifying Math Variables in Answer Keys
Although not always required, you can declare your math variables at the
beginning of the answer key in a comma-delimited list ending with a colon, as
in the following example.
x_1, y_1, x_2, y_2: sqrt((x_1‐x_2)^2 + (y_1‐y_2)^2)
Best Practice: Declare your variables to ensure that WebAssign
interprets your answer key exactly as you intend.
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Variable names in answer keys must observe the following conventions:
• Variable names must start with a letter.
• Variable names must include only letters, numbers, and underscores;
underscores in variable names indicate subscripting.
• Variable names are case-sensitive; X is different from x.
• Variable names should not duplicate the names of functions or of the
numeric value pi.
• Variables having the names of Greek letters are displayed in mathPad and
calcPad as the corresponding Greek letters. Greek letters except for π are
treated as variables. The letter π is treated as a constant.
• The variable e can be used, but it will be treated as both Euler’s number
and as a variable name, so either response is marked correct.
The following table lists some examples.
Math Notation
Answer Key Notation
x
x1
x1
books
λ
x
x1
x_1
books
lambda
Be sure that your question identifies any variables that the student should use
in their answer.
Specifying Perl Variables in Answer Keys
If you have defined a Perl variable for use in your answer key — for example, to
randomize numeric values in your question — always enclose it with the <EQN>
tag as in the following example:
<EQN $d>x + <EQN $e>
To avoid confusion, use different names for Perl variables and math variables in
your question.
Specifying Math Expressions in Answer Keys
The functions and values in the following table are case-sensitive: for example,
ABS(x) cannot be substituted for abs(x).
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Creating Math Questions 138
For many functions in the following table, parentheses can be omitted if the
argument is simple and unambiguous — for example, a single variable or
constant. Include parentheses when you need to ensure that a specific order of
operations is observed. The default order of operations for symbolic answer
keys is: subscripts, then factorials, then exponentiation, then multiplication and
division, then addition and subtraction.
Expression
Math
Notation
Symbolic
Answer Key
Notation
Addition
x+y
x + y
Subtraction
x−y
x ‐ y
Multiplication
2x
2∙x
2×x
2x
2 * x
No distinction is made between explicit or
implicit multiplication.
Division or
fractions
x÷3
x / 3
No distinction is made between responses
specified as stacked fractions or using the
division sign (÷).
Exponentiation
x3
x^3
x**3
Notes
Square root
sqrt(x)
Other roots
rootn(x)
root(x,n)
rootn(x) works only when n is an integer.
Subscript
xn
x(a + b)
x_n x_(a + b)
If the subscript includes mathematical
operators, including implicit multiplication,
enclose it in parentheses.
Factorial
x!
x!
Factorials are calculated only for natural
numbers.
Absolute value
|x|
abs(x)
Greek letters
α+β
Ω
alpha + beta
Omega
Type the name of lowercase Greek letters in
lowercase. Type the names of uppercase
Greek letters in proper case.
Greek letters except for π are treated as
variables. The letter π is treated as a
constant.
In mathPad, your students must type the
names of all Greek letters except for π and
θ.
Pi (π)
π
pi
Euler’s number
e
e
exp(1)
Exponential
function
e3
e^3
exp(3)
Logarithm
(base 10)
log x
log10 x
log x
log(x)
Substituting 3.14 only approximates this
value. You and your students should use pi
to indicate the exact value of pi unless the
question specifically instructs the student to
use an approximation to pi.
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139 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Math
Notation
Symbolic
Answer Key
Notation
Notes
Logarithm
(arbitrary
base)
log16(x)
logb(x)
log_16(x)
log_(b)(x)
If the base is anything other than a number,
enclose it in parentheses.
Natural
logarithm
ln x
ln(x)
ln x
Grouping,
Order of
Operations
4 (x + 1)
4 [x + 1]
4 {x + 1}
4(x + 1)
4[x + 1]
4{x + 1}
Scientific / “e”
notation
2.46 × 106
2.46e+6
2.46 * 10^6
2.46e+6
Trigonometric
functions
sin x
cos x
tan θ
cot (π − θ)
sec A
csc x
sin x
cos(x)
tan theta
cot(pi ‐ theta)
sec(A)
csc x
Angles are expressed in radians.
Inverse
trigonometric
functions
arcsin x
arcsin x
sin^(‐1)(x)
arccos x
cos^(‐1)(x)
arctan x
tan^(‐1)(x)
arccot x
cot^(‐1)(x)
arcsec x
sec^(‐1)(x)
arccsc x csc^(‐1)(x)
Angles are expressed in radians.
sinh x
cosh x
tanh x
coth x
sech x
csch x
sinh x
cosh x
tanh x
coth x
sech x
csch x
In mathPad questions, your students must
type these functions rather than selecting
them from mathPad.
Ordered pairs,
ordered tuples
(x, y)
(x, y, z)
(x, y)
(x, y, z)
Comma-delimited lists in parentheses are
evaluated as ordered tuples.
Sets,
unordered lists
of elements
{1, 2}
3, 4
{1, 2}
3, 4
To accept only standard roster notation with
braces, set $ROSTER_ONLY=1.
Infinity
∞
infinity
Undefined
UNDEFINED
UNDEFINED
Expression
sin-1(x)
arccos x
cos-1(x)
arctan x
tan-1(x)
arccot x
cot-1(x)
arcsec x
sec-1(x)
arccsc x
No distinction is made among the three
types of grouping symbols.
Parentheses can also be used to delimit
ordered tuples; braces can also be used to
delimit unordered lists.
For each inverse trigonometric function, you
can abbreviate “arc” to “a” as in asin(x).
csc-1(x)
Hyperbolic
functions
10/2010
Specify inverse hyperbolic functions using
the -1 notation as for trigonometric
functions.
By default, your students’ responses will
match your key if they enumerate every
element at least once, regardless of
repetition. Thus, {1,2,2} = {1,2}. To
require your students to enumerate all
instances of repeated elements in a set, set
$NO_REPETITION=1.
Creating Math Questions 140
Expression
Math
Notation
Symbolic
Answer Key
Notation
Degree
30°
30 deg
Imaginary unit
i
i
No solution
NO SOLUTION
NO SOLUTION
Empty set
empty
empty
Notes
Degrees are not evaluated mathematically
by default. For this reason, your students
must enter the exact form of the answer
that you provide and not a mathematicallyequivalent response. For example, if you
specified cos(60 deg), your students
would be marked incorrect for submitting
either 0.5 or sin(30°).
Use only for mathPad questions.
Changing the Default Values and Tolerance for
Symbolic Evaluation
Your students’ responses to symbolic questions are evaluated by substituting
numeric values for each variable in the answer key and in your students’
responses. If the answer key and response are equivalent to within a specified
tolerance for all three values, the answer is considered correct. You can change
both the default values and the tolerance that are used when evaluating
responses to your symbolic questions.
Understanding Default Values and Tolerance
By default, the following three numeric values are substituted for each variable
in your answer key and in your students’ responses:
• 0.123456789012
• 0.345678901234
• 0.890123456789
For each of these values, your student’s response is compared to the answer
key. If the response and the key are within the specified tolerance — by default,
0.001 — for every value, the response is considered to be correct.
For example, if the correct answer to your question is x2 + 1 and your student
submitted 2x2 + 1, the response and the answer key would be compared for
three values of x, as illustrated in the following graph and table.
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141 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Value of x
(rounded)
Value of
Answer Key
(x2 + 1)
Value of
Response
(2x2 + 1)
Difference
0.1235
1.0152
1.0305
0.0152
0.3457
1.1195
1.2390
0.1195
0.8901
1.7923
2.5846
0.7923
Although at the first comparison point, the difference between the answer and
the student’s response seems small — 0.0152 — this difference is much greater
than the default tolerance of 0.001, so the response is marked incorrect. In this
example, because the key and response contained only one variable, only three
values were checked.
When the key or response contains multiple variables, each value is substituted
for each variable so every combination of values is checked. This is illustrated in
the following table.
Value of x
(rounded)
Value of y
(rounded)
Value of
Answer Key
2(x2 + y2)
Value of
Response
(x2 + y2)
Difference
0.1235
0.1235
0.0610
0.0305
-0.0305
0.1235
0.3457
0.2695
0.1347
-0.1347
0.1235
0.8901
1.6151
0.8076
-0.8076
0.3457
0.1235
0.2695
0.1347
-0.1347
0.3457
0.3457
0.4780
0.2390
-0.2390
0.3457
0.8901
1.8236
0.9118
-0.9118
0.8901
0.1235
1.6151
0.8076
-0.8076
0.8901
0.3457
1.8236
0.9118
-0.9118
0.8901
0.8901
3.1693
1.5846
-1.5846
The number of comparisons that are performed between the answer key and
response increases exponentially with the number of variables used in the key.
Best Practice: Use four or fewer variables in your questions.
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Creating Math Questions 142
Although the default values used for evaluating symbolic questions might seem
to be arbitrary, they work well for a wide variety of questions. How and why you
might need to change the default values or tolerance — such as for absolutevalue questions — are discussed in the following sections.
Changing the Default Values for Symbolic Evaluation
To change the values WebAssign substitutes for variables in your answer key
and your students’ responses, you set the array variable $DEFAULTVALS to the
values you want to use.
Best Practice: Use four or fewer values for each variable in your
questions.
To set
values:
Prepend this to your answer key:
Notes
As a list
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[a, b, c];''>
If you specify only one list,
the values are substituted
only for the first variable in
your answer key and your
students’ responses.
Additional variables use the
default values.
For example:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[1.23,‐3.45];''>x:x^2+1
As a range
of integers
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[a..b];''>
For example:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[3..6];''>x:x^2+1
Differently
for
different
variables
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[a, b, c],[a, b, c]];''>
or
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[a..b],[a..b]];''>
For example:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[‐3,1],[‐2,2]];''>x,y:x^2+y^2
or
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[‐3..1],[‐2..2]];''>x,y:x^2+y^2
Only for
specific
variables
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[],[a, b, c]];''>
or
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[],[a..b]];''>
For example:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[‐3,1],[]];''>x,y:x^2+y^2
or
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[[],[‐2..2]];''>x,y:x^2+y^2
If you specify only one
range, the values are
substituted only for the first
variable in your answer key
and your students’
responses. Additional
variables use the default
values.
The first set of values is
substituted for the first
declared variable, the
second set for the second
variable, and so on.
You must explicitly declare
the variables in your answer
key. See Specifying Math
Variables in Answer Keys on
page 136.
Specify an empty list [] for
any variable for which you
would like to use the default
values.
You must explicitly declare
the variables in your answer
key. See Specifying Math
Variables in Answer Keys on
page 136.
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Changing the Tolerance for Symbolic Evaluation
To change the tolerance WebAssign uses when comparing your answer key and
your students’ responses, you set the variable $MAXERR to the tolerance you
want to use.
To set the
tolerance:
Add this to your
answer key:
As a numeric value
<EQN $MAXERR=value;''>
Notes
For example:
<EQN $MAXERR=0.01;''>
As a percent of the
evaluated answer
key
<EQN $MAXERR='n%';''>
For example:
Enclose the percent string
in single quotation marks.
<EQN $MAXERR='0.1%';''>
Specific situations requiring you to change either the default values or the
tolerance are discussed in the following sections.
Changing the Default Values for Absolute-Value Questions
If the answer key for your symbolic question contains the absolute value of an
expression containing a variable, you need to ensure that the expression
evaluates to both positive and negative values to ensure that your students’
responses also include the absolute value notation.
For example, if your answer key is
abs(x+1) your students could respond with x+1 and still be marked correct, since x+1
evaluates to a positive number for all of the default values. To avoid this
situation, you could change your answer key to the following:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[‐1.123, 0.345, 0.890]; ''>abs(x+1) This causes your answer key and your students’ responses to be compared not
for the default values, but for the values you specified: -1.123, 0.345, and
0.890. With the new values, x+1 evaluates to -0.123, 1.345, and 1.890 and is
marked as incorrect, while |x+1| is marked correct.
Changing the Default Values for Factorial Questions
If the answer key for your symbolic question contains the factorial of an
expression containing a variable, you need to ensure that the expression
evaluates only to natural numbers.
For example, if your answer key is
(x/2)!
x/2 must evaluate to a natural number to correctly compare your students’
responses to the answer key. To ensure this, you could change your answer key
to the following:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[2, 4, 6]; ''>(x/2)! 10/2010
Creating Math Questions 144
This causes your answer key and your students’ responses to be compared not
for the default values, but for the values you specified: 2, 4, and 6. With the
new values, (x/2)! evaluates to 1, 2, and 6.
Changing the Default Values or Tolerance for Questions with
Fractions or Exponents
In some symbolic questions with fractions or exponents, the default values can
evaluate too close to 0 to distinguish correct and incorrect responses. You must
determine from the question itself whether changing the default values or the
tolerance will resolve the problem.
For example, if your answer key is
1/(x+100)
Your students could enter 1/(x+110) and still be marked correct because the
expression evaluates very close to 0 using the default values. In this case, you
could use a couple different approaches.
You could change the default values as in the following answer key:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[‐101..‐99]; ''>1/(x+100)
Or, you could decrease the tolerance, as in the following answer key:
<eqn $MAXERR=1e‐5; ''>1/(x+100)
Consider a different example. If your answer key is
(x/2)^20
Your students could enter (x ÷ 3)20 and still be marked correct because the
expression evaluates very close to 0 using the default values.
In this case, the best approach is probably to change the default values so the
expression will not evaluate so close to 0. You could change your answer key to
the following:
<EQN $DEFAULTVALS=[1.234, 2.346, 8.901]; ''>(x/2)^20
Creating mathPad Questions Using Algebraic
Mode with Mathematica
You can create mathPad questions that use Algebraic mode and a Mathematica
grading statement to compare the answer key and your students’ responses for
mathematical equivalence. Using Algebraic mode and Mathematica lets you
accurately evaluate your students’ responses in situations where Symbolic
evaluation cannot be used — for example, to distinguish between factored and
unfactored expressions, or for questions with multiple correct answers.
Prerequisites:
• Before using this procedure, see Choosing Evaluation Modes for Your Math
Questions on page 132.
• You must know how to write Mathematica expressions. For reference
information, see reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/.
To create a mathPad question using Algebraic mode with Mathematica:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
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2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Algebraic.
4. In Question, type your question.
• Use the answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box
should be displayed.
• Be sure that your question identifies any variables that the student should
use in their answer.
5. Create and test your Mathematica grading statement and answer key with
correct and incorrect student responses.
• Your answer key is a Mathematica expression specifying the correct
answer to the question; sometimes the answer key is one of mutiple
possible correct answers
• Your grading statement is a Mathematica statement providing
information about how to compare your answer key and your students’
responses.
Use the following steps to test your answer key and grading statement with
different responses:
a. In the Question Editor, click Mathematica under Page Tools to open the
WebAssign Mathematica tool.
b. In the Mathematica window, type your grading statement, using
Mathematica expressions for the answer key and student response that
you want to test.
c. Click Execute.
Your grading statement is evaluated using the expressions you specified for
the answer key and student response, and the result is displayed. If your
grading statement evaluates to True, then the response will be marked
correct. Otherwise, the response will be marked incorrect.
For example, if your question asks students to calculate an indefinite
integral, your grading statement might compare the derivatives of your
answer key and of your student’s response:
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Creating Math Questions 146
The answer key specifies one of the correct responses:
3 · sin(x2) + 2x + C. The specified response is also a valid answer and the
grading statement evaluates as True.
Note: Most, but not all, Mathematica expressions are valid in
WebAssign. Any expression that works in the WebAssign Mathematica
tool will work in your question.
6. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<eqn $CASGRADER='mathematica'; $PAD='devmath'; ''> variable_list:answer_key {tab} grading_statement where:
• variable_list is a comma-delimited list of the variables used in the answer
key.
• answer_key is the Mathematica answer key you created in the previous
step.
• grading_statement is the Mathematica grading statement you created,
with your answer key and student response expressions replaced by the
keywords key and response. When the question is scored, the actual
answer key and student response values will be used in place of these
keywords.
Notes:
• The characters {tab} can be entered by typing on your keyboard or
by clicking Add tab. You can abbreviate this notation as {}. You
cannot enter these characters by pressing the TAB key on your
keyboard.
• 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.
For example, the following answer key and grading statement allows
students to submit the equation of an ellipse in standard form with the 1 on
either side of the equation:
<EQN $CASGRADER='mathematica'; $PAD='devmath';'' > x,y:(x+4)^2/9+(y‐5)^2/5 == 1 {tab} Apply[List,key] == {(response)[[1]],(response)[[2]]}||Apply[List,key] == {(response)[[2]],(response)[[1]]}
The following responses would be accepted as correct:
or
Responses not in the standard form, such as the following, would be
marked incorrect:
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7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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 mathPad Question Using Algebraic Mode with
Mathematica
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1344935
Name
Template2 4.MATHP.02.
Mode
Algebraic
Question
Find the equation in standard form of the following ellipse:
<div class="indent">
Center: (‐4, 5)<br>
Vertices: (‐7, 5) and (‐1, 5)<br>
Foci: (‐6, 5) and (‐2, 5) </div>
<_>
Creating Math Questions 148
Answer
<EQN $CASGRADER='mathematica'; $PAD='devmath';'' > x,y:(x+4)^2/9+(y‐5)^2/5 == 1 {tab} Apply[List,key] == {(response)[[1]],(response)[[2]]}||Apply[List,key] == {(response)[[2]],(response)[[1]]}
Display to
Students
12. Optionally, 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.
13. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
14. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
15. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
16. 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.
Creating Answer Keys for Questions Using
Algebraic Mode with Mathematica
To write answer keys and grading expressions for questions that use Algebraic
mode with Mathematica, you must know how to write Mathematica
expressions. In addition, you should be aware of the following WebAssignspecific considerations.
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Specifying Math Variables in Answer Keys
Although not always required, you can declare your math variables at the
beginning of the answer key in a comma-delimited list ending with a colon, as
in the following example.
x_1, y_1, x_2, y_2: sqrt((x_1‐x_2)^2 + (y_1‐y_2)^2)
Best Practice: Declare your variables to ensure that WebAssign
interprets your answer key exactly as you intend.
Variable names in answer keys must observe the following conventions:
• Variable names must start with a letter.
• Variable names must include only letters, numbers, and underscores;
underscores in variable names indicate subscripting.
• Variable names are case-sensitive; X is different from x.
• Variable names should not duplicate the names of functions or of the
numeric value pi.
• Variables having the names of Greek letters are displayed in mathPad and
calcPad as the corresponding Greek letters. Greek letters except for π are
treated as variables. The letter π is treated as a constant.
• The variable e can be used, but it will be treated as both Euler’s number
and as a variable name, so either response is marked correct.
The following table lists some examples.
Math Notation
Answer Key Notation
x
x1
x1
books
λ
x
x1
x_1
books
lambda
Be sure that your question identifies any variables that the student should use
in their answer.
Specifying Perl Variables in Answer Keys
If you have defined a Perl variable for use in your answer key — for example, to
randomize numeric values in your question — always enclose it with the <EQN>
tag as in the following example:
<EQN $d>x + <EQN $e>
To avoid confusion, use different names for Perl variables and math variables in
your question.
Creating Mathematica Expressions
Most, but not all, Mathematica expressions are valid in WebAssign. Any
expression that works in the WebAssign Mathematica tool will work in your
question. For Mathematica reference information, see
reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/.
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Creating Math Questions 150
Creating Number Line Questions
Understanding the NumberLine Tool
There are two types of number line questions that use the NumberLine tool:
one in which students locate points and graph intervals and inequalities on a
real number line graph, referred to as default mode, and another, referred to as
points mode, where students indicate point positions on a number line graph.
Default Mode
The NumberLine tool in this mode includes a formatted display area in the
middle and a row of buttons at the bottom. The first five buttons are tool
buttons. The next six are graphing symbols.
Students use the tools to manipulate symbols on the number line graph to
solve the exercise. Note that students can use either the open and closed
circles or the parentheses and brackets to answer questions; when WebAssign
scores their response, no distinction is made about which kind of notation was
used so long as it is equivalent to the answer key.
You can drag symbols from the graphing symbols palette onto the number line
graph. Note that you cannot completely overlap a symbol with another symbol.
Upon placing a symbol, the symbol style drawer opens above the symbol.
Students can use the symbol style drawer to change the type of symbol that is
displayed.
Below is an example of what this mode looks like in an exercise within
WebAssign.
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Points Mode
The NumberLine tool in points mode includes a set of points at the top, a
formatted display area in the middle, and a row of tool buttons at the bottom.
The student drags the points from above the number line graph to the correct
place on the number line graph to solve the exercise. Note that you cannot
completely overlap two points.
Below is an example of what this mode looks like in an exercise within
WebAssign.
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Creating Math Questions 152
This section contains the following topics:
• Creating a NumberLine Question
• Coding NumberLine Questions
• Coding a Question in Default Mode
• Coding a Question in Points Mode
• Answer Key Objects
• Grading
Creating a NumberLine Question
The NumberLine tool is a palette for students to input solutions to exercises
that require the use of a number line. There are two modes: one is used to
locate points, graph intervals, and graph inequalities on a number line; the
other to indicate point positions on a number line graph.
To create a number line question:
1. From the Create menu, select Question.
2. Enter a name for the question and select NumberLine as the Mode. This
name will be listed on your My Questions list.
3. In the Question field, type the text that you want to be displayed for the
question. For each instance of the NumberLine tool, use a <_>.
Example code:
Plot the following interval on the real number line.
<div class='indent'>(‐2, 1]</div>
<_>
4. In the Answer field, type the correct answer to your question.
Example code:
(‐2,1]
5. Click Test/Preview to view and test the question.
The key icon
is displayed at the bottom of the question next to the numerical
portion of the answer key. The students will not see the correct answer marked
with the key icon unless they are viewing the key.
6. When editing is complete, click Save to assign a question ID number to the
question. The question will be accessible from your My Questions list.
Example NumberLine Question
QID
1237726
Name
Template2 4.NL.01.
Mode
NumberLine
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Question
Plot the following interval on the real number line.
<div class='indent'>(‐2, 1]</div>
<_>
Answer
(‐2,1]
Displayed
to
Students
Coding NumberLine Questions
You can code two types of questions that use the NumberLine tool: one in which
students locate points and graph intervals and inequalities on a number line
graph, referred to as default mode, and another, referred to as points mode,
where students indicate point positions on a number line graph. Note that all
code is typed in the answer field.
Parameters for Answer Field
The text for a NumberLine answer field involves:
• all display attributes and their values
• answer key objects (for example, 3.2; (6.45, 6.75])
• (For points mode only) all distractors.
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Creating Math Questions 154
Best Practices for All Randomizations
So that students have a consistent user experience, the following rules must be
observed for randomization to work effectively:
• NumberLine tool attributes (range, tickmarks, minor_tickmarks) must not
be randomized.
• If an answer key object or endpoint falls on a labeled tickmark, all
randomizations of that object or endpoint must fall on a labeled tickmark.
• If an answer key object or endpoint falls on an unlabeled tickmark, all
randomizations of that object or endpoint must fall on an unlabeled
tickmark.
• If an answer key object or endpoint falls between two consecutive
tickmarks, all randomizations of that object or endpoint must fall between
two consecutive tickmarks.
NumberLine Tool Algorithm
For an optimum user experience for students, the following rules have been
implemented.
• Between a labeled and unlabeled tickmark, there must be space for at least
two closed circle symbols.
• Between two labeled tickmarks, there must be space for at least four closed
circle symbols.
• There must be an odd number of tickmarks.
• Unlabeled (or minor) tickmarks must evenly bisect the intervals in which
they are found.
If a specified range display attribute does not follow all of these rules, the
NumberLine tool will instead extend the range slightly to attempt to enforce
this rule. If the specified range display attribute is found to be completely
unworkable, the algorithm will return the default tickmarks based on a range of
-5 to 5.
Coding a Question in Default Mode
In default mode, the following syntax is used in the answer field.
range:[‐1,1]; (‐0.75,0.25]
Note: A semicolon is necessary to delimit multiple elements.
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The following table shows the display attributes that you can specify.
Default
Value
Attribute
Syntax
Description
range
range:[lower_bound,
upper_bound]
Indicates the desired
minimum range. If the
tickmarks attribute is
specified, the range attribute
is ignored.
[-5,5]
tickmarks
tickmarks:[lower_bound,
increment,upper_bound]
Indicates the lower bound
(lower_bound) and upper
bound (upper_bound) of the
labeled tickmarks, as well as
the tickmark interval size
(increment) desired.
Calculated by the NumberLin
e tool
minor_tickmarks
minor_tickmarks:[false]
Indicates whether to display
unlabeled tickmarks. Valid
values are true or false.
true
Note: If an answer extends beyond the right side if the Answer box, it
is wrapped to the next line, but it is still considered a single line so long
as you don’t press Enter.
If no values are specified for the range attribute, the tool defaults to a range
value of [-5,5]. For the range attribute and for the tickmarks attributes, the
range or the interval size between tickmarks is determined automatically. The
tool will attempt to use the specified range or interval size; however, if the
specified range or interval size returns no usable images for the number line
graph, the tool determines an appropriate range or interval size. If the
tickmarks attribute is specified, a range attribute is unnecessary and is ignored.
If the value of minor_tickmarks is not set to false, the tool populates as many
minor tickmarks as possible.
Examples
The following tables show a few coding examples.
Code
range:[‐1,1]; (‐0.75,0.25]
Description
• The range is from -1 to 1.
• The answer key is (-0.75,0.25].
Displayed to
Students
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Creating Math Questions 156
Code
range:[‐8,8]; minor_tickmarks:[false]; ‐3;0;3;6
Description
• The requested range is from -8 to 8.
• minor_tickmarks is set to false, so no minor, that is, unlabeled, tickmarks are
displayed. In this example, since no minor tickmarks would be displayed by
default given a range of [-8,8], it is not necessary to specify this attribute.
• The answer key is -3;0;3;6.
Displayed to
Students
Code
range:[‐8,9];[‐2,2]
Description
• The requested range is from -8 to 9. The tool determines that for an optimum
student user experience, the range needs to be extended to [-8,12].
• The answer key is [-2,2].
Displayed to
Students
Coding a Question in Points Mode
In points mode, the following syntax is used to code a question:
flag#:[position,label]
where # is a number, position specifies the location on the number line graph to
which the point must be dragged, and label specifies the label for the point.
Note: A semicolon is necessary to delimit multiple elements.
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For the label variable, use the syntax for the <symimage> tag; for details see
Creating Math Questions. The following table shows examples for coding the
label variable.
To Show:
Code This:
Example Code Block
pi symbol
pi
flag1:[3.14,pi]
stacked fraction
x/y
flag1:[0.5,1/2]
square root
sqrt(x)
flag1:[3,sqrt(9)]
nth root
rootn(x)
flag1:[<EQN 2**(1/3)>,root3(2)]
Displayed
to
Students
For points that cannot be located within the range of the number line graph, the
position value is distractor. If all point values are set to distractor, the answer
key must be specified as no solution.
Examples
The following table shows example code using points mode and its explanation.
10/2010
Example
Description
flag1:[0.5,1/2]
Indicates that flag1 has a correct position value of 0.5 on the number line graph and the stacked fraction 1/2 is displayed as its label.
flag1:[3.14,pi]
Indicates that flag1 has a correct position value of 3.14 on the number line graph and an image of pi is displayed as its label.
flag1:[1,1]; flag2:[distractor,1
5]
Indicates that flag1 has a correct position value of 1 on the number line graph and an image of 1 is displayed as its flag. Flag2 is a distractor and the image of 15 is displayed as its label. Note: The upper_bound of the range must be set to less than 15.
flag1:[distractor,1]; flag2:[distractor,2
];
no solution
Since all two points are distractors, the answer key must be set to no solution.
Creating Math Questions 158
Answer Key Objects
The answer key objects (for example, 3.2; (6.45, 6.75]) specify the correct
answer for the question.
The Number Line mode uses an intuitive syntax to distinguish between objects
on the number line. Note that punctuation endpoints refers to the parentheses
and bracket graphing symbols.
To Do This:
Use This Notation:
Example
Single closed circle
Expressed as an evaluated number.
3.2
Single open circle
Expressed as an evaluated number wrapped in parentheses.
(1.4)
Punctuation
endpoints for
intervals
Expressed as evaluated numbers with the punctuation mark at the appropriate position.
[‐1.3, 2.4)
Multiple objects and
intervals
Separated by semicolons.
3.2; (6.45, 6.75]
Specify ‐infinity
and infinity as left
Notes
Intervals are expressed
per usual mathematical
notation (i.e., the lower
and upper bounds are
separated by a comma).
(‐infinity, 3]
(5, infinity]
and right endpoints
of intervals,
respectively.
Specify the answer key as no solution
no solution
Specify the answer key as the entire real number line
(‐infinity, infinity)
Notes:
• Two answer key objects must not be placed so that they are less
than 1/4 of the distance between two consecutive tickmarks.
• If an answer key object is overlapping a tickmark but the answer is
not actually on the tickmark, your tickmark spacing is too small.
Decrease the range attribute to a smaller range.
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159 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Below are examples of malformed answer keys and the corrected version.
Malformed
Example
Why?
Corrected
Example
(3,5];[4,6)
The intervals overlap.
(3,6)
or
(3,4;4,5;5,6)
3 is in the interval [2,4].
3;[2,4]
[2,4]
or
[2,3;3,4]
Note: If for some reason your answer key cannot be understood —
because of a typographical or other error — by default the key changes
to -2;[1,3] with a default range of -5 to 5. If you see this answer key
unexpectedly, there is a problem with the answer key you specified.
Syntax examples
Since all values must be evaluated to work, no values should include
expressions involving operators that are not evaluated. You must use the
<eqn> tag to evaluate expressions. The following examples show the proper
syntax for the answer field for both single objects and intervals. In the
examples, n is an evaluated number.
Type
Syntax
Description
Single point
n
Closed point at x = n
Single point
(n)
Open point at x = n
Interval
n0, n1
Interval between two closed points
Interval
(n0), (n1)
Interval between two open points
Interval
n0, n1)
Interval between a closed point at x =
n0 and a right parenthesis at x = n1
Interval
(n0, n1
Interval between a left parenthesis at x
= n0 and a closed point at x = n1
Interval
[n0, n1]
Interval between a left bracket at x =
n0 and a right bracket at x = n1
Interval
(‐infinity, n
Interval between the left infinity arrow
and a closed point at x = n
Interval
n, infinity)
Interval between a closed point and
the right infinity arrow
Interval
(‐infinity, infinity)
Entire real line
Grading
For the purposes of grading, no partial credit is awarded. Each instance of the
number line graph is worth one point.
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Creating Math Questions 160
If a student enters a mathematically malformed response, the student receives
an error message and does not lose a submission attempt, unless you have
chosen to count syntax errors as submissions at the class or assignment level.
For example, if a student enters an interval from a right parenthesis to a left
parenthesis, an error message is displayed.
Mathematically-Equivalent Answers
For the purposes of grading, the following equivalent answers are acceptable:
• Lone open points in the user's response are ignored. For example, a
response of
of
will be graded as though it were simply a response
.
Note: However, an answer key of 3;(4) is malformed and will not
function.
• Punctuation endpoints and point endpoints are treated as equivalent. For
example, a response of
will be graded the same as a response of
.
• Mathematically equivalent intervals are treated as equivalent. For example,
a response of
will be graded the same as a response of
.
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161 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Tolerance
If an answer key object lies on a tickmark (labeled or unlabeled), a response
object that overlaps that tickmark is counted as correct.
If an answer key object lies in a space between two consecutive tickmarks, a
response object that is within a small distance (1/4 of the distance between two
consecutive tickmarks) of the answer key object's position is counted as correct
provided that the response object falls between the same two consecutive
tickmarks that the answer key object falls between. A handy way to remember
this rule is that this precision is expected when a student measures using a
ruler.
Creating Graphing Questions
A graphing question provides a graphing tool in the question for students to
graph points, lines, segments, rays, circles, parabolas, and inequalities on a
Cartesian coordinate plane. Graphing questions are automatically scored.
To create a graphing question:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Graphing.
4. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the graphing tool should be displayed.
5. In Answer, type notation that describes the objects that you want the
student to graph and the appearance of the grid. Each line in Answer
represents a separate answer and defines a new graph, so do not press
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Creating Math Questions 162
ENTER unless you wish to have the student create multiple separate
graphs.
The following table describes the notation used to specify the objects that
you want the student to graph. If the student needs to graph more than
one object, separate each object with a semicolon, for example
point:(9,3);point(6,7);point(2,2) Object
How to specify answer
Examples
point
Specify the point coordinates.
point: (‐9, 3)
point: (x, y)
line
Specify a linear equation for x and y, or
specify two points on the line.
line: y = 3*x ‐ 6
line: (0,‐6), (2,0)
line: y = m*x + b line: y ‐ k = m * (x ‐ h) line: (x1,y1), (x2,y2)
ray closed
endpoint
Specify the endpoint of the ray, followed
by another point on the ray.
ray open
endpoint
Specify the endpoint of the ray, followed
by another point on the ray.
line
segment closed
endpoints
Specify the endpoints of the line
segment.
line
segment open
endpoints
Specify the endpoints of the line
segment.
line
segment closed and
open
endpoints
Specify the endpoints of the line
segment.
circle
Specify the center coordinates and radius
of the circle or specify an equation.
ray: [(0,0), (4,4))
ray: [(x1,y1), (x2,y2))
ray: ((5,0), (10,12))
ray: ((x1,y1), (x2,y2))
segment: [(5,0), (4,0)]
segment: [(x1,y1), (x2,y2)]
segment: ((212,45), (52,10))
segment: ((x1,y1), (x2,y2))
segment: ((5,0), (52,10)]
segment: [(5,0), (52,10))
segment: ((x1,y1), (x2,y2)]
segment: [(x1,y1), (x2,y2))
circle: (4, 3), 5
circle: (x‐4)^2+(y‐3)^2 = 25
circle: (a, b), r circle: (x‐a)^2 + (y‐b)^2 =r^2
parabola vertical axis
Specify an equation for the parabola in
the following form, or specify its vertex,
a second point, and orientation:
parabola: y = (x^2)/4 + 2*x ‐ 6
parabola: (3,3), (5,5), V
parabola: y = a*x^2 + b*x + c parabola: (x1,y1), (x2,y2), V
parabola horizontal
axis
Specify an equation for the parabola in
the following form, or specify its vertex,
a second point, and orientation:
parabola: x = y^2 ‐ 2*y
parabola: (3,3), (5,5), H
parabola: x = a*y^2 + b*y + c parabola: (x1,y1), (x2,y2), H
dashed line or
parabola
Prefix the keyword line or parabola with
the keyword dashed.
dashed line: y = 3*x ‐ 6
dashed parabola: (3,3), (5,5), H
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Object
How to specify answer
Examples
linear
inequality
Specify an equation for the linear
inequality.
region: y ‐ 5 >= 3*x
region: y > m*x + b region: y >= m*x + b region: y < m*x + b region: y <= m*x + b region: y ‐ k > m * (x ‐ h) region: y ‐ k >= m * (x ‐ h) region: y ‐ k < m * (x ‐ h) region: y ‐ k <= m * (x ‐ h) circular
inequality
Specify an equation for the circular
inequality in the following form:
region: (x‐4)^2+(y‐3)^2 <= 25
region: (x‐a)^2 + (y‐b)^2 > r^2
parabolic
inequality
Specify an equation for the parabolic
inequality using the same form as for a
parabola.
region: x > 3*y^2 ‐ 5*y + 6
region: y > a*x^2 + b*x + c region: x <= a*y^2 + b*y + c intersection
of inequalities
Specify equations for each inequality on
the same line, separated by semicolons.
region:y >= x^2 ‐ 5; region:y < 2
no solution
Specify the following code for a question
with no solution:
nosol
nosol
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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.
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Example Graphing Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1077759
Name
Template2 4.GRAPH.01.
Mode
Graphing
Question
<watex>Graph the equation \[y = 3x + 5\].</watex><br>
<_>
Answer
line: y=3*x+5
Display to
Students
This section contains the following topics:
• Specifying Equations in Graphing Question Answer Keys
• Configuring the Graphing Tool Grid Display and Snap Behavior
Specifying Equations in Graphing Question
Answer Keys
When you use line, circle, parabola, or region in your graphing question
answer key, you have the option of specifying an equation for the key. You can
use the following notation in your equations.
Notes:
• Do not use commas or spaces to separate digits in numbers. For
example, 1000000 is correct, but 1,000,000 and 1 000 000 are
not.
• Do not use mixed numbers. Instead, use improper fractions. For
example, 7/4 is correct, but 1 3/4 is not correct.
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Expression
Notation
Examples
Math variables
The only allowed variables in graphing
question answer keys are x and y.
line: y=x+1
Addition
+
line: y=x+1
Subtraction
‐
line: y=x‐1
Multiplication
*
line: y=x*2
You must use explicit multiplication.
Division or
fractions
/
line: y=x/4
Exponentiation
^
parabola: y=x^2
circle:(x‐1)^2+(y+3)^2=25
Ensure that your equation specifies a
linear, circular, or parabolic function.
Equality
=
line: y=x+1
Inequality
>
<
>=
<=
region: y>x+1
region: y<x+1
region: y>=x^2+3*x+1
region: (x‐1)^2+(y+3)^2<=25
Order of
Operations
()
circle:(x‐1)^2+(y+3)^2=25
Pi (π)
pi
parabola: y=pi*x^2
Substituting 3.14 only approximates
this value.
Configuring the Graphing Tool Grid Display and
Snap Behavior
In your graphing questions, you can specify the display and behaviors for each
coordinate axis. You can set the minimum and maximum displayed values and
the spacing between gridlines and value labels. You can hide gridlines, labels,
or coordinate axes. And you can configure the snap spacing, which determines
how objects drawn on the graphing tool are positioned relative to the
coordinate grid when they “snap” to the nearest specified unit.
To configure the grid display and snap behavior for the graphing tool, you can
add any of the following notation to the answer line, delimiting each item with a
semicolon. For example, to set the minimum and maximum values displayed
for the graph of a linear equation, your answer key could be:
line: y=x+1; axes: [0, 30, 0, 30]
Spacing values must be positive decimal numbers; minimum and maximum
values for axes must be decimal numbers, and the maximum must be greater
than the minimum.
Default
Value
Configuration
Notation
Set the maximum and
minimum values displayed
on the grid.
axes: [x_minimum, x_maximum, y_minimum, y_maximum]
-10, 10,
-10, 10
axes: [0, 30, 0, 30]
Hide the y-axis
yav:false
true
yav:false
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Example
Creating Math Questions 166
Configuration
Notation
Default
Value
Example
Hide the x-axis
xav:false
true
xav:false
Hide the y-axis value labels
yvv:false
true
yvv:false
Hide the x-axis value labels
xvv:false
true
xvv:false
Hide horizontal gridlines
ygv:false
true
ygv:false
Hide vertical gridlines
xgv:false
true
xgv:false
Set the y-axis value label
spacing
yvs:spacing
1
yvs:50
Set the x-axis value label
spacing
xvs:spacing
1
xvs:40
Set the y-axis grid spacing
ygs:spacing
1
ygs:25
Set the x-axis grid spacing
xgs:spacing
1
xgs:20
Set the y-axis snap spacing
yss:spacing
1
yss:0.25
Set the x-axis snap spacing
xss:spacing
1
xss:0.1
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5
Creating Chemistry Questions
You can create questions for your chemistry courses that let your students
enter correctly formatted chemical notation or draw chemical structures and
reactions that are scored automatically. You can also use tools to display
chemical notation or chemical structures in your questions.
ChemPad lets your students enter chemical notation that includes correctly
formatted subscripts, superscripts, and reaction arrows. What’s more, chemPad
provides chemically aware scoring and hints that help your students identify
mistakes in their responses.
MarvinSketch lets your students answer questions by drawing chemical
structures and reactions that are scored automatically. You can also use
MarvinSketch to display chemical structures in your questions using a variety of
modes, including ball-and-stick drawings that your students can rotate in 3
dimensions to view from any angle.
This section contains the following topics:
• Displaying Chemistry Notation in Your Questions
• Creating chemPad Questions
• Creating MarvinSketch Questions
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Creating Chemistry Questions 168
Displaying Chemistry Notation in Your Questions
Although you can use standard HTML tags like <i> and <sup> to display
correctly formatted chemistry notation in your questions, WebAssign provides
several tags that can make displaying chemistry notation easier.
Note: Do not combine the notation described in this topic with LaTeX
or <symimage> markup.
Displaying Chemical Formulas
You can use the <h:chemical> tag to display most chemical formulas correctly
using a simplified notation that precedes subscripts with an underscore (_) and
superscripts with a caret (^). See the following examples.
Example
Display
<h:chemical> H_2O </h:chemical>
H2 O
<h:chemical> Ca^2+ </h:chemical>
Ca2+
<h:chemical> SO_4^2‐ </h:chemical>
SO42-
<h:chemical> [Co(SCN)_2(H_2O)_4]^+ </h:chemical>
[Co(SCN)2(H2O)4]+
Displaying Isotopes
You can use the <watex> tag and its \over markup to display isotope mass
numbers over atomic numbers. See the following example.
Example
Display
<watex> \over{233}{91}Pa </watex>
Displaying Chemical Reactions
You can use the <h:reaction> tag to display most chemical reactions correctly
using a simplified notation that precedes subscripts with an underscore (_) and
superscripts with a caret (^), and replaces ‐>, <‐, and <‐> with reaction arrows.
See the following examples.
Example
Display
<h:reaction> 2 H_2O_2 ‐> 2 H_2O + O_2 </h:reaction>
2 H2O2 → 2 H2O + O2
<h:reaction> N_2(g) + O_2(g) <‐> 2 NO(g) </h:reaction>
N2(g) + O2(g) ↔ 2 NO(g)
<h:reaction> 4 NO(g) + O_2(g) <‐ 2 N_2O_3(g) </h:reaction>
4 NO(g) + O2(g) ← 2 N2O3(g)
Optionally, you can type either <s:revrxarrow> or &#8652; to display ⇌ .
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Displaying Electron Configurations
You can use the <h:e‐config> tag to display electron configuration notation
correctly without having to indicate superscripts or italics. See the following
examples.
Example
Display
<h:e‐config> 1s2 2s2 2p5 </h:e‐config>
1s2 2s2 2p5
<h:e‐config> [He] 2s2 2p5 </h:e‐config>
[He] 2s2 2p5
Displaying Equilibrium Expressions
You can combine the <watex> tag and its \frac markup with the <h:chemical>
tag to display equilibrium expressions with fractions. See the following
example.
Example
Display
<watex>\[ K_b \] = \frac{ <h:chemical>[OH^‐ ] <s:middot> [C_5H_5NH^+] </h:chemical> } { <h:chemical>[C_5H_5N] </h:chemical> } </watex>
Tips:
• In the <h:chemical>, <h:reaction>, <h:e‐config>, and <watex>
tags, you can display Perl variables without enclosing them in
<eqn> or <EQN>. Just type the variable, for example, $a, inside the
tag where its value should be displayed. You might need to use a
space to separate the variable name from any letters or numbers
that follow it.
• You can add uppercase or lowercase Greek letters by typing
<s:lettername> in your question, for example, <s:nu> for ν or
<s:Delta> for Δ.
See Also:
• Displaying Notation with WaTeX on page 108
• Displaying Notation with LaTeX on page 120
• Displaying Notation with <symimage> on page 121
• Adding Special Characters to Your Questions on page 12
Creating chemPad Questions
You can create chemPad questions to let your students enter chemical notation
that includes correctly formatted subscripts, superscripts, and reaction arrows.
10/2010
Creating Chemistry Questions 170
The chemPad tool also provides chemically aware hints when your students
submit incorrect responses, for example, to let your students know that they
have an unbalanced equation.
Note: ChemPad hints are shown to your students only after they
submit a response to the question, and only if you enable displaying
Hints, Tutorials & eBook Links for the assignment.
Enabling the chemPad tool when you are writing a question is simple — you set
$PAD='chem' in Answer. But creating effective chemPad questions also involves
specifying how your students’ responses should be parsed, in order to:
• restrict or allow different kinds of chemically equivalent notation, for
example, elements in a formula listed in non-standard order
• accurately score correct and incorrect student responses
• provide meaningful hints when your students enter incorrect responses
To do this, you must set the $CHEM variable to specify one or more parsing
methods as described in the following topics.
Tip: Use the question titled chemPad.tutorial in an assignment to teach
yourself and your students how to answer questions using chemPad.
This section contains the following topics:
• Creating chemPad Questions for Formulas
• Creating List and Rank-Order chemPad Questions
• Creating chemPad Questions for Reactions
• Creating chemPad Questions for Kinetic or Equilibrium Expressions
• Creating chemPad Questions for Electrochemical Cell Notation
• Creating chemPad Questions for Electron Configuration
• Creating chemPad Answer Keys
Creating chemPad Questions for Formulas
When you create chemPad questions that are answered with a chemical
formula, you can choose whether to allow chemically equivalent responses or to
require your students to enter the standard formula that matches your answer
key. You can also create chemPad questions for which the correct response is
the keyword NONE.
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171 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
You can enable support for specific kinds of chemically equivalent notation in
your students’ responses:
• For some introductory chemistry questions, you can let your students
specify elements in any order, for example, either CH4N2O or CN2H4O.
• You can let your students enter condensed formulas such as (NH2)2CO for
CH4N2O. Allowing condensed formulas also allows potentially undesirable
variations like HNHCHNHO.
• You can let your students enter charges with the sign either preceding or
following the value, such as Mg2+ or Mg+2.
• You can let your students specify ionizable protons either at the beginning
of the formula or in their standard place, such as CH3CO2H or HCH3CO2.
• You can let your students use alternative nuclear particle names, such as β
or e, and specify nuclide superscripts and subscripts in either order, for
example, by typing either ^0_‐1beta or _‐1^0beta to display
.
• You can let your students enter solvate dot notation, such as CoCl2 · 2 H2O.
• When the correct chemical formula must be stated in exactly one way — or
if the answer is the keyword NONE — you can require your students’
responses to exactly match your answer key.
To create a chemPad question for which the answer is a formula:
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. Provide relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question, for example, the conditions
for the question — STP, SATP, or reaction/prevailing conditions — or
whether states-of-matter should be specified in the response. Use the
answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be
displayed.
5. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='method'; ''>answer_key
where answer_key specifies the correct answer to the problem, and method
is one of the following chemPad parsing methods:
Allowed Notation
Example
Method
Only exact key match
CH4N2O
none
(specify $CHEM='none')
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Formula elements in any
order
CH4N2O or CN2H4O
fmla
Condensed formulas
(NH2)2CO or CH4N2O
fmla,index
Ion charges
Mg2+ or Mg+2
ion
Ionizable protons first
CH3CO2H or
HCH3CO2
ion,acid
Creating Chemistry Questions 172
Allowed Notation
Nuclear particles and
nuclides
Example
or
Nuclear particles with
charges
Solvate dot
Method
nclr
nclr,ion
CoCl2 · 2 H2O
solvate
For example:
Answer
Code
H2SO4
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='none'; ''>H_{2}SO_{4}
HNO3
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='fmla'; ''>HNO_{3}
CH4N2O
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='fmla,index'; ''>CH_{4}N_{2}O
Mg2+
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='ion'; ''>Mg^{2+}
NH4+
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='ion,acid'; ''>NH_{4}^{+}
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='nclr'; ''>^{0}_{‐1}beta
CuSO4 · 6 H2O
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='solvate'; ''>CuSO_{4} . 6 H_{2}O
Notes:
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}.
• For information about how to specify chemical notation in your
answer key, see Creating chemPad Answer Keys on page 191.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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10. 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 chemPad Question (Allow Equivalent Formulas)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534325
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.01.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
Write the formula for the product of SO<sub>3</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>O. <br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='fmla'; ''>H_{2}SO_{4}
Display to
Students
Example chemPad Question (Require Exact Key Matching)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534329
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.02.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
Provide the chemical formula for nitric acid. <br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='none'; ''>HNO_{3}
Display to
Students
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Creating Chemistry Questions 174
Example chemPad Question (Solvate)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534314
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.03.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
Provide the chemical formula for cobalt(II) chloride dihydrate.<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='solvate'; ''>CoCl_{2} . 2 H_{2}O
Display to
Students
Creating List and Rank-Order chemPad Questions
When you create chemPad questions that are answered with a list of items, you
can choose whether order is important or not.
Unordered lists are delimited by commas and order is not important, so the
following responses are equivalent:
• Li, Na, K
• K, Na, Li
Rank-order lists are delimited by three symbols: >, <, and =. These symbols
are used to indicate items’ relative ranking, so the following responses are not
equivalent:
• H < He < Li
• Li < H < He
Either-order lists, like rank-order lists, are delimited by three symbols: >, <,
and =. These symbols are used to indicate items’ relative ranking, but your
students can specify their response either in ascending or descending order, so
the following responses are equivalent:
• H < He < Li
• Li > He > H
Note: Do not specify answer keys containing the < or > characters
directly in Answer, as these characters might be interpreted as the
start or end of a tag. Instead, assign your answer key to a variable and
reference the variable as described in this topic.
To create a chemPad question for which the answer is a list:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
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2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.
4. In Question, add the following code, replacing answer_key with your
answer key:
<eqn>
$mykey='answer_key';
''
</eqn>
This code assigns your answer key to the variable $mykey. You can use a
different variable name if needed.
For example:
Answer
Code
He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn
(in any order)
<eqn>
$mykey='He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn';
''
</eqn>
NO2 > N2 > NH3
<eqn>
$mykey='NO_{2} > N_{2} > NH_{3}';
''
</eqn>
NO2 > N2 > NH3
or
NH3 < N2 < NO2
<eqn>
$mykey='NO_{2} > N_{2} > NH_{3}';
''
</eqn>
Note: To ensure that your answer key is unambiguous, always specify
rank-order answer keys in either ascending or descending order.
Incorrect: Li > H < He
Correct: H < He < Li
Correct: Li > He > H
5. In Question, type your question. Provide relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question, for example, the conditions
for the question — STP, SATP, or reaction/prevailing conditions — or
whether states-of-matter should be specified in the response. Use the
answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be
displayed.
6. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='method'; $mykey>
where method is one of the following chemPad parsing methods:
10/2010
List Type
Delimiters
Method
Unordered
,
rnk
Rank-order
><=
rnk
Either-order
><=
rnk,either
Creating Chemistry Questions 176
For example:
Answer
Code
He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn
(in any order)
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk'; $mykey>
NO2 > N2 > NH3
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk'; $mykey>
NO2 > N2 > NH3
or
NH3 < N2 < NO2
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk,either'; $mykey>
By default, your students must specify each chemical formula exactly as
listed in your answer key. To allow specific kinds of notation, you can add a
comma and one of the following methods after rnk or rnk,either:
Notation
Example
Method
Formula elements in any
order
CH4N2O or CN2H4O
fmla
Condensed formulas
(NH2)2CO or CH4N2O
fmla,index
Solvate dot
CuSO4 · 6 H2O
solvate
Nuclear particles and
nuclides
or
Nuclear particles with
charges
nclr
nclr,ion
Ion charges
Mg2+ or Mg+2
ion
Ionizable protons first
CH3CO2H or HCH3CO2
ion,acid
For example:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk,either,fmla,index'; $mykey>
Notes:
• Specify methods only in the order listed here.
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}. For
example:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk'; $mykey> {tab} <EQN $mykey2>
• For information about how to specify chemical notation in your
answer key, see Creating chemPad Answer Keys on page 191.
7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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 chemPad Question (Unordered List)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534331
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.04.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
$mykey='He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn';
''
</eqn>
List the noble gases in any order. (Separate substances in the list with a comma.)<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
Example chemPad Question (Rank-Order List)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1534321
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.05.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Creating Chemistry Questions 178
Question
<eqn>
$mykey='NO_{2} > N_{2} > NH_{3}';
''
</eqn>
Rank the following gases by mass density (at identical temperatures and pressures) in decreasing order: <h:chemical>N_2, NH_3, and NO_2</h:chemical>. (Use the appropriate <, =, or > symbol to separate substances in the list.)<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
Example chemPad Question (Either-Order List)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534315
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.06.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
$mykey='NO_{2} > N_{2} > NH_{3}';
''
</eqn>
Rank the following gases by mass density (at identical temperatures and pressures): <h:chemical>N_2, NH_3, and NO_2</h:chemical>. (Use the appropriate <, =, or > symbol to separate substances in the list.)<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rnk,either'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
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Creating chemPad Questions for Reactions
When you create chemPad questions that are answered with a reaction
expression, your students can enter the order of compounds (with their
coefficients) differently from the answer key in either the reactants or the
products. For example, O2 + CH4 → CO2 + H2O is considered equivalent to
CH4 + O2 → H2O + CO2. Your students can also enter solvate dot notation if
needed.
You can choose whether to allow alternative reaction arrows in your students’
responses. You can require your students to use the reaction arrow specified in
your answer key, allow them to use any reaction arrow, allow either an
equilibrium arrow or a right arrow, or allow either an equilibrium arrow or a left
arrow.
Note: Do not specify answer keys containing the < or > characters
directly in Answer, as these characters might be interpreted as the
start or end of a tag. Instead, assign your answer key to a variable and
reference the variable as described in this topic.
To create a chemPad question for which the answer is a reaction:
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, add the following code, replacing answer_key with your
answer key:
<eqn>
$mykey='answer_key';
''
</eqn>
This code assigns your answer key to the variable $mykey. You can use a
different variable name if needed.
For example:
10/2010
Answer
Code
CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O
<eqn>
$mykey='CH_{4} + 2 O_{2} ‐‐> CO_{2} + 2 H_{2}O';
''
</eqn>
2 SO2 + O2 ⇌ 2 SO3
<eqn>
$mykey='2 SO_{2} + O_{2} <=> 2 SO_{3} ';
''
</eqn>
Creating Chemistry Questions 180
Answer
Code
H3PO4(aq) + 3 NaOH(aq) →
3 H2O(l) + Na3PO4(aq)
<eqn>
$mykey='H_{3}PO_{4}(aq) + 3 NaOH(aq) ‐‐> 3 H_{2}O(l) + Na_{3}PO_{4}(aq)';
''
</eqn>
4 NO(g) + O2(g) ← 2 N2O3(g)
<eqn>
$mykey='4 NO(g) + O_{2}(g) <=> 2 N_{2}O_{3}(g)';
''
</eqn>
5. In Question, type your question. Provide relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question, for example, the conditions
for the question — STP, SATP, or reaction/prevailing conditions — or
whether states-of-matter should be specified in the response. Use the
answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be
displayed.
6. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='method'; $mykey>
where method is one of the following chemPad parsing methods:
Reaction Type
Allowed Reaction Arrows
Method
Any
Only the reaction arrow specified by
the answer key.
rxn
Equilibrium
→ or ⇌ or ←
rxn,equ
Product-favored
→ or ⇌
rxn,eqr
Reactant-favored
← or ⇌
rxn,eql
For example:
Answer
Code
CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn'; $mykey>
2 SO2 + O2 ⇌ 2 SO3
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn,equ'; $mykey>
H3PO4(aq) + 3 NaOH(aq) →
3 H2O(l) + Na3PO4(aq)
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn,eqr'; $mykey>
4 NO(g) + O2(g) ← 2 N2O3(g)
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn,eql'; $mykey>
By default, your students must specify each chemical formula exactly as
listed in your answer key. To allow specific kinds of notation, you can add a
comma and one of the following methods after rxn, rxn,equ, rxn, eqr, or
rxn,eql:
Notation
Example
Method
Formula elements in any
order
CH4N2O or CN2H4O
fmla
Condensed formulas
(NH2)2CO or CH4N2O
fmla,index
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Notation
Nuclear particles and
nuclides
Example
or
Nuclear particles with
charges
Method
nclr
nclr,ion
Ion charges
Mg2+ or Mg+2
ion
Ionizable protons first
CH3CO2H or HCH3CO2
ion,acid
For example:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn,equ,fmla,index'; $mykey>
Notes:
• You do not need to specify the solvate mode for your students to
enter solvate dot notation.
• Specify methods only in the order listed here.
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}. For
example:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn'; $mykey> {tab} <EQN $mykey2>
• For information about how to specify chemical notation in your
answer key, see Creating chemPad Answer Keys on page 191.
7. Optionally, 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 Testing Questions on page 9.
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. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
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.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 182
You can use your question in an assignment and see it in your My
Questions list only after it is saved.
Example chemPad Question (Reaction)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534317
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.07.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
$mykey='2 HCl + CaCO_{3} ‐‐> CaCl_{2} + CO_{2} + H_{2}O';
''
</eqn>
Show the reaction between hydrochloric acid and calcium carbonate that produces calcium chloride, water, and carbon dioxide. (<p:lowcoeff> Omit states‐of‐matter in your answer.)<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
Example chemPad Question (Reaction)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534332
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.08.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
$mykey='C_{5}H_{5}N(aq) + H_{2}O(l) <=> C_{5}H_{5}NH^{+}(aq) + OH^{‐}(aq)';
''
</eqn>
Write the reaction for pyridine, <h:chemical>C_5H_5N</h:chemical>, acting as a base in water. (<p:lowcoeff> Include states‐of‐matter under SATP conditions in your answer.)<br>
<_>
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183 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn,ion,acid'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
Example chemPad Question (Nuclear Equation)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534326
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.09.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
$mykey='^{131}_{53}I ‐‐> ^{0}_{‐1}beta + ^{131}_{54}Xe';
''
</eqn>
Write the nuclear equation for beta decay of Iodine‐131. (<p:lowcoeff> Omit states‐of‐matter in your answer.)<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rxn,nclr'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
Creating chemPad Questions for Kinetic or
Equilibrium Expressions
When you create chemPad questions that are answered with a kinetic or
equilibrium expression, your students can change the order of compounds (with
their exponents) relative only to their position in a fraction.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 184
For example,
is considered equivalent to
.
Your students can also enter multiplication or solvate dot notation if needed.
Notes:
• When your students enter subscripted or superscripted letters in
chemPad, they must enclose the subscript or superscript in braces
{} to receive credit. For example, to enter Kb, your students must
type K_{b}.
• Your students must specify solvate dots in their responses.
However, if they omit multiplication dots, their responses will still
be scored correctly.
To create a chemPad question for which the answer is a kinetic or
equilibrium expression:
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. Provide relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question, for example, the conditions
for the question — STP, SATP, or reaction/prevailing conditions — or
whether states-of-matter should be specified in the response. Use the
answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be
displayed.
5. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rqn'; ''>answer_key
where answer_key specifies the correct answer to the problem, and method
is one of the following chemPad parsing methods:
Notation
Example
Method
Formula elements in order
specified by answer key
CH4N2O
rqn
Formula elements in any
order
CH4N2O or CN2H4O
rqn,fmla
Condensed formulas
(NH2)2CO or CH4N2O
rqn,fmla,index
Ion charges
Mg2+ or Mg+2
rqn,ion
Ionizable protons first
CH3CO2H or HCH3CO2
rqn,ion,acid
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185 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
For example:
Answer
Code
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rqn,ion'; ''>
K_{b} = [OH^{‐}] . [C_{5}H_{5}NH^{+}] / [C_{5}H_{5}N]
Notes:
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}.
• For information about how to specify chemical notation in your
answer key, see Creating chemPad Answer Keys on page 191.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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 chemPad Question (Equilibrium Expression)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1534319
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.10.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Creating Chemistry Questions 186
Question
Write the <i>K</i><sub>b</sub> equilibrium expression for pyridine, C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>5</sub>N, acting as a base in water. (<p:lowcoeff> Omit states‐of‐matter in your answer.)<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='rqn,ion,acid'; ''>K_{b} = [OH^{‐}] . [C_{5}H_{5}NH^{+}] / [C_{5}H_{5}N]
Display to
Students
Creating chemPad Questions for Electrochemical
Cell Notation
When you create chemPad questions that are answered with electrochemical
cell notation, your students must enter the notation in the manner prescribed
by the answer key, so, for example, Zn(s) | ZnSO4(aq) || CuSO4(aq) | Cu(s)
can not be substituted for Zn(s) | Zn+2(aq) || Cu+2(aq) | Cu(s). Your students
can specify charges in various ways, for example, either Mg2+ or Mg+2.
To create a chemPad question for which the answer is electrochemical
cell notation:
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. Provide relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question, for example, the conditions
for the question — STP, SATP, or reaction/prevailing conditions — or
whether states-of-matter should be specified in the response. Use the
answer placeholder string <_> to specify where the answer box should be
displayed.
5. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='vcell'; ''>answer_key
where answer_key specifies the correct answer to the problem.
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For example:
Answer
Code
H+ | H2 | Pt
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='vcell'; ''>H^{+} | H_{2} | Pt
Notes:
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}.
• For information about how to specify chemical notation in your
answer key, see Creating chemPad Answer Keys on page 191.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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 chemPad Question (Electrochemical Cell Notation)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1534320
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.11.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Creating Chemistry Questions 188
Question
Write the standard line notation for the following cell. Assume all concentrations are 1.0 <i>M</i> and all partial pressures are 1.0 atm.<br >
<h:chemical>Zn(s) + Ag^+(aq) &#8652; Zn^2+(aq) + Ag(s)</h:chemical><br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='vcell'; ''>Zn(s) | Zn^{2+}(aq) || Ag^{+}(aq) | Ag(s)
Display to
Students
Creating chemPad Questions for Electron
Configuration
When you create chemPad questions that are answered with electron
configuration notation, your students can use either numerical or Aufbau order,
but answer keys are shown in Aufbau order, for example, [Ar] 4s2 3d10. You can
choose the kinds of electron configuration notation to allow in your students’
responses.
Full requires your students to use full notation — for example, 1s2 2s2 2p2.
Noble requires your students to use noble gas notation — for example,
[He] 2s2 2p2.
Either lets your students use either full notation — for example, 1s2 2s2 2p2 —
or noble gas notation — for example, [He] 2s2 2p2.
Orbit lets your students use variants for orbital hybridization, for example,
dsp3 or sp3d, that are considered equivalent.
To create a chemPad question for which the answer is an electron
configuration:
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. Provide relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question. Use the answer placeholder
string <_> to specify where the answer box should be displayed.
5. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='method'; ''>answer_key
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where answer_key specifies the correct answer to the problem, and method
is one of the following chemPad parsing methods:
Behavior
Example
Method
Require full notation
1s2 2s2 2p2
econf,full
Require noble gas notation
[He] 2s2 2p2
econf,noble
Allow either full or noble gas notation
1s2 2s2 2p2
or
econf,either
[He] 2s2 2p2
Allow variants for orbital hybridization
dsp3 or sp3d
econf,orbit
For example:
Answer
2
2
1s 2s 2p
Code
2
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='econf,full'; ''>
1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{2}
[He] 2s2 2p2
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='econf,noble'; ''>
[He] 2s^{2} 2p^{2}
1s2 2s2 2p2
or
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='econf,either'; ''>
1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{2}
[He] 2s2 2p2
sp2
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='econf,orbit'; ''>sp^{2}
Notes:
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}.
• For information about how to specify chemical notation in your
answer key, see Creating chemPad Answer Keys on page 191.
6. Optionally, 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.
7. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
8. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
9. Optionally, 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
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Creating Chemistry Questions 190
search results. To change the permission, see Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
10. 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 chemPad Question (Electron Configuration)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534316
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.12.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
Write the electron configuration for Ca.<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='econf,either'; ''>1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{6} 3s^{2} 3p^{6} 4s^{2}
Display to
Students
Example chemPad Question (Orbital Hybridization)
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534318
Name
Template2 5.CHEMP.13.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
What hybrid orbital would be expected for the central atom in SO<sub>2</sub>?<br>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $PAD='chem'; $CHEM='econf,orbit'; ''>sp^{2}
Display to
Students
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Creating chemPad Answer Keys
When you create your chemPad answer key, use the codes described in the
following table. Type spaces where they belong in your notation, such as
between quantum levels in an electron configuration and between chemical
formulas and arrows or plus signs in reaction equations.
Note: Be sure that your question provides relevant information about
assumptions or expectations for the question, for example, the
conditions for the question — STP, SATP, or reaction/prevailing
conditions — or whether states-of-matter should be specified in the
response.
Best Practice: Always enclose the contents of superscripts or
subscripts in braces {}, even though technically you can omit them
when the superscript or subscript includes only numbers and charges.
Expression
Code
Example
Display
Subscript
_ (underscore)
H_{2}O
H2 O
Superscript
^ (caret)
Ca^{2+}
Ca2+
Electron
configuration
See examples.
1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{5}
1s2 2s2 2p5
[He] 2s^{2} 2p^{5}
[He] 2s2 2p5
SO_{4}^{2‐}
SO42-
[Co(SCN)_{2}(H_{2}O)_{4}]
^{+}
[Co(SCN)2(H2O)4]+
Combining subscripts
and superscripts
See examples.
^{233}_{91}Pa
Forward reaction
arrow
-->
2 H_{2}O_{2} ‐‐> 2 H_{2}O + O_{2}
2 H2O2 → 2 H2O + O2
Equilibrium reaction
<=>
N_{2}(g) + O_{2}(g) <=> 2 NO(g)
N2(g) + O2(g) ⇌ 2 NO(g)
Reverse reaction
arrow
<‐‐
4 NO(g) + O_{2}(g) <‐‐ 2 N_{2}O_{3}(g)
4 NO(g) + O2(g) ←
2 N2O3(g)
States of matter
(g)
(l)
(s)
CH_{4}(g) + 4 S(s) ‐‐>
CS_{2}(l) + 2 H_{2}S(
g)
CH4(g) + 4 S(s) →
CS2(l) + 2 H2S(g)
Lowercase Greek
letters
The lowercase
letter name
^{0}_{‐1}beta
Uppercase Greek
letters
The capitalized
letter name
DeltaH_{f}
Stacked fraction
/
Multiplication or
solvate dot (·)
. (period)
K_{c} = [COCl] . [Cl] / [CO] . [Cl_{2}]
Delimiters between
items in rank-order
questions
>
<
=
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K < P < Br
ΔHf
K < P < Br
Creating Chemistry Questions 192
Expression
Code
Example
Display
Delimiters between
items in an unordered
list
,
HClO, H^{+}, ClO^{‐}
HClO, H+, ClO-
Phase boundary, salt
bridge
(electrochemical cell)
|, ||
Zn(s) | Zn^{2+}(aq) || Ag^{+}(aq) | Ag(s)
Zn(s) | Zn2+(aq) ||
Ag+(aq) | Ag(s)
None (no solution)
NONE
NONE
NONE
(Students enter NONE
instead of leaving
answer box empty)
As with other Fill-in-the-Blank questions, you can specify multiple correct
answers delimited with the {tab} characters. This is most commonly used when
you require exact key matching. For example, to allow students to identify
chromic acid as either H2CrO4 or H2Cr2O7, your answer key would be:
H_{2}CrO_{4} {tab} H_{2}Cr_{2}O_{7}
Creating MarvinSketch Questions
You can create questions that use the MarvinSketch tool to allow your students
to create or complete drawings of chemical structures and reactions that are
scored automatically. You can also use MarvinSketch to display chemical
structures in your questions.
Tip: Use the question titled marvinsketch.tutorial in an assignment to
teach yourself and your students how to answer questions using
MarvinSketch.
This section includes the following topics:
• Understanding MarvinSketch Drawing Modes
• Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Do Not Display an Initial Drawing
• Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Display an Initial Drawing
• Displaying Chemical Structures in Your Questions with MarvinSketch
• Using the MarvinSketch Key Generation Tool
• Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Use Canonical or
Combinatorial SMILES Strings
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Understanding MarvinSketch Drawing Modes
Whether you are using MarvinSketch to display chemical structures and
reactions or to have your students draw them, you need to select the correct
drawing mode for your drawing.
Important: The treatment of hydrogen atoms varies by drawing mode
and affects how your students’ drawings are scored.
• Explicit means that all hydrogens must be added to the drawing
manually.
• Implicit means that the correct number of hydrogens are
automatically assumed to be present, and might be labeled either
for all atoms or for heteroatoms only.
When hydrogens are displayed implicitly, you and your students can
still draw them manually, but chemically equivalent drawings that differ
from the answer key by representing implicit hydrogens explicitly or
vice-versa will be scored as incorrect.
The following table describes the MarvinSketch drawing modes that are
available in WebAssign:
Drawing Mode
Description
complete
Used to draw the entire molecular structure, including
hydrogens.
• Hydrogens: explicit, labeled
• Carbons: labeled
condensed
Used to draw the molecular structure except for
hydrogens, especially in organic chemistry.
• Hydrogens: implicit, labeled
• Carbons: labeled
skeleton
Used to draw complex organic molecules.
• Hydrogens: implicit, labeled only for heteroatoms
• Carbons: not labeled
skeleton_adv
For students in higher-level chemistry courses,
displays molecules like skeleton mode and enables
the Advanced Templates toolbar.
Used to draw complex organic molecules.
• Hydrogens: implicit, labeled only for heteroatoms
• Carbons: not labeled
reaction
Used to draw chemical reactions. Displays molecules
like condensed mode, but lets you add a reaction
arrow and automatically adds + signs among the
reactants and the products.
• Hydrogens: implicit, labeled
• Carbons: labeled
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Display
Creating Chemistry Questions 194
Drawing Mode
Description
reaction_adv
For students in higher-level chemistry courses,
displays molecules like skeleton mode and enables
the Advanced Templates toolbar.
Display
Used to draw chemical reactions. Lets you add a
reaction arrow and automatically adds + signs among
the reactants and the products.
• Hydrogens: implicit, labeled only for heteroatoms
• Carbons: not labeled
lewis
Used to draw Lewis structures.
•
•
•
•
resonance
Hydrogens: explicit, labeled
Carbons: labeled
Lone pairs and radicals: explicit, displayed
Formal atomic charges: explicit, displayed
Used to draw resonance structures.
You must provide a template with mapping numbers
for molecules having symmetry. Providing a template
with mapping numbers is a best practice for all
resonance structure drawings.
•
•
•
•
mechanism
Hydrogens: explicit, labeled
Carbons: labeled
Lone pairs and radicals: explicit, displayed
Formal atomic charges: explicit, displayed
Used to draw reaction mechanisms showing the
movement of electrons.
You must provide a template with mapping numbers
for molecules displaying symmetry or for reaction
mechanisms for which a non-equivalent choice exists
between starting or ending locations. Providing a
template with mapping numbers is a best practice for
all reaction mechanism drawings.
•
•
•
•
mechanism_adv
Hydrogens: explicit, labeled
Carbons: labeled
Lone pairs and radicals: explicit, displayed
Formal atomic charges: explicit, displayed
For students in higher-level chemistry courses,
displays molecules like skeleton mode and enables
the Advanced Templates toolbar.
Used to draw reaction mechanisms showing the
movement of electrons.
You must provide a template with mapping numbers
for molecules displaying symmetry or for reaction
mechanisms for which a non-equivalent choice exists
between starting or ending locations. Providing a
template with mapping numbers is a best practice for
all reaction mechanism drawings.
• Hydrogens: implicit, labeled only for heteroatoms
• Carbons: not labeled
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195 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Drawing Mode
Description
3D
Used to draw ball-and-stick models that can be
rotated in three dimensions.
Display
• Hydrogens: explicit, not labeled
• Carbons: not labeled
• Heteroatoms: not labeled
spacefill
Used to draw space-filling models that can be rotated
in three dimensions.
• Hydrogens: explicit, not labeled
• Carbons: not labeled
• Heteroatoms: not labeled
Use the three advanced modes — mechanism_adv, reaction_adv, and
skeleton_adv — to let your students in higher-level chemistry courses quickly
draw rings and other structures using the Advanced Templates toolbar in
MarvinSketch.
Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Do Not
Display an Initial Drawing
For many MarvinSketch questions, you might want your students to draw a
structure or reaction starting with an empty drawing area. This kind of question
can ask your students to perform both analytical and synthetic thinking, much
like an essay question.
Note: For questions where the relative position of each atom is
important — resonance structures, reaction mechanisms, hybridization
states, chiral centers, and reaction centers — you must display an
initial drawing. See Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Display an
Initial Drawing on page 199.
Before creating your question, decide which drawing mode you want to use:
complete, condensed, skeleton, skeleton_adv, reaction, reaction_adv, lewis,
resonance, mechanism, mechanism_adv, 3D, or spacefill. See Understanding
MarvinSketch Drawing Modes on page 193.
To create a MarvinSketch question without a template:
1. Click Questions > Create. The Question Editor opens.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 196
2. In Name, type a name for the question.
3. In Mode, select Fill-in-the-Blank.
4. Create your answer key using the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool.
a. Click Marvin under Page Tools.
b. For Marvin Type, select the drawing mode that you want to use.
c. Draw the chemical structure.
d. Click Get Key.
e. Select and copy the entire contents of the text box. This is your answer
key.
5. In Question, add the following code, replacing answer_key with your
answer key:
<eqn>
$mykey='answer_key';
''
</eqn>
Important:
• Always enclose the MarvinSketch answer key in single quotes ('),
not double quotes (").
• Do not paste MarvinSketch XML answer keys directly in Answer.
Instead, assign your answer key to a variable and reference the
variable as described in this topic.
This code assigns the MarvinSketch answer key to the variable $mykey. You
can use a different variable name if needed.
Note: Question has a 65,536 character limit; any characters beyond
that limit are not saved. Depending on the size and complexity of your
MarvinSketch XML, if you need to specify more than about 12 answer
keys, your question might exceed this limit without warning.
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197 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
6. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the MarvinSketch answer box should be displayed.
Tip: Use the following code in your question to link a term to a practice
question that teaches your students how to use MarvinSketch to draw
the structure:
<PRACTICE qid='question_ID' link='term' style='none'>
where term is the term that you want to link, and question_ID is one of
the following question names:
marvin.micro.tutorial.charges.
marvin.micro.tutorial.coordinate bonds.
marvin.micro.tutorial.electron flow.
marvin.micro.tutorial.functional groups.
marvin.micro.tutorial.generic groups.
marvin.micro.tutorial.isotopes.
marvin.micro.tutorial.lone pairs.
marvin.micro.tutorial.mapping.
marvin.micro.tutorial.organometallics.
marvin.micro.tutorial.radicals.
marvin.micro.tutorial.wedge bonds.
For example:
Assign <PRACTICE qid='marvin.micro.tutorial.lone pairs.' link='lone pairs' style='none'> where appropriate.
7. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $MARVIN='mode'; $mykey>
where mode is the MarvinSketch drawing mode that you want to use.
Notes:
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}. For
example:
<EQN $MARVIN='condensed'; $mykey1> {tab} <EQN $mykey2>
8. Optionally, 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.
9. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
10. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 198
11. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
12. 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 MarvinSketch Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534330
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.01.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mykey to the answer key created # with the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mykey='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3" elementType="O H H" x2="‐0.8433333039283752 0.4903458178996605 ‐2.1770124257564105" y2="1.2100000381469727 1.9800000381469727 1.9800000381469731" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a3" order="1" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
''
</eqn>
Draw a water molecule. <BR>
<_>
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199 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Answer
<EQN $MARVIN='complete'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Display an
Initial Drawing
For some MarvinSketch questions, you might want your students to start with
an initial drawing — a template — and modify it to answer the question.
Sometimes the template constitutes part of your prompt, and sometimes the
template helps to focus your students by requiring them only to complete the
parts of the drawing that relate to the concept being taught.
Note: Use a template that labels some or all of the atoms with
mapping numbers whenever the specific identity of each atom is
important for grading — for example, for molecules displaying
symmetry, or for mechanisms when alternative starting or ending
locations are not correct.
Using a template that labels atoms with mapping numbers can be
helpful for any question for which the relative position of each atom is
important — resonance structures, reaction mechanisms, hybridization
states, chiral centers, and reaction centers.
Before creating your question, decide which drawing mode you want to use:
complete, condensed, skeleton, skeleton_adv, reaction, reaction_adv, lewis,
resonance, mechanism, mechanism_adv, 3D, or spacefill. See Understanding
MarvinSketch Drawing Modes on page 193.
To create a MarvinSketch question with a template:
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. Create your template using the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool.
a. Click Marvin under Page Tools.
b. For Marvin Type, select the drawing mode that you want to use.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 200
c. Draw the chemical structure. If needed, label atoms with mapping
numbers. Right-click the atom you want to label and then select
Map > M#, where # is the mapping number to set.
d. Click Get Key.
e. Select and copy the entire contents of the text box. This is your
template.
5. In Question, add the following code, replacing template with your
template:
<eqn>
$mytemplate='template';
Important:
• Always enclose the MarvinSketch template in single quotes ('), not
double quotes (").
• Do not paste MarvinSketch XML templates directly in Answer.
Instead, assign your template to a variable and reference the
variable as described in this topic.
This code assigns the MarvinSketch template to the variable $mytemplate.
You can use a different variable name if needed.
6. Create your answer key using the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool.
Important: Always start with the template when creating your answer
key.
a. If needed, open the Marvin Sketch Key Generation tool by clicking
Marvin under Page Tools. Then, select the drawing mode that you want
to use.
b. If needed, copy the template from your question and paste it into the
drawing area.
c. Change the template exactly the way you want your students to do when
they answer the question. Do not move the template’s atoms.
d. Click Get Key.
e. Select and copy the entire contents of the text box. This is your answer
key.
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201 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
7. In Question, add the following code, replacing answer_key with your
answer key:
$mykey='answer_key';
''
</eqn>
Important:
• Always enclose the MarvinSketch answer key in single quotes ('),
not double quotes (").
• Do not paste MarvinSketch XML answer keys directly in Answer.
Instead, assign your answer key to a variable and reference the
variable as described in this topic.
This code assigns the MarvinSketch answer key to the variable $mykey. You
can use a different variable name if needed.
Note: Question has a 65,536 character limit; any characters beyond
that limit are not saved. Depending on the size and complexity of your
MarvinSketch XML, if you need to specify more than about 6 templates
and 6 answer keys, your question might exceed this limit without
warning.
8. In Question, type your question. Use the answer placeholder string <_> to
specify where the MarvinSketch answer box should be displayed.
Tip: Use the following code in your question to link a term to a practice
question that teaches your students how to use MarvinSketch to draw
the structure:
<PRACTICE qid='question_ID' link='term' style='none'>
where term is the term that you want to link, and question_ID is one of
the following question names:
marvin.micro.tutorial.charges.
marvin.micro.tutorial.coordinate bonds.
marvin.micro.tutorial.electron flow.
marvin.micro.tutorial.functional groups.
marvin.micro.tutorial.generic groups.
marvin.micro.tutorial.isotopes.
marvin.micro.tutorial.lone pairs.
marvin.micro.tutorial.mapping.
marvin.micro.tutorial.organometallics.
marvin.micro.tutorial.radicals.
marvin.micro.tutorial.wedge bonds.
For example:
Assign <PRACTICE qid='marvin.micro.tutorial.lone pairs.' link='lone pairs' style='none'> where appropriate.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 202
9. In Answer, type the following items on a single line:
<EQN $MARVIN='mode'; $MARVIN_START=$mytemplate; $mykey>
where mode is the MarvinSketch drawing mode that you want to use.
Notes:
• 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.
• As with other fill-in-the-blank questions, you can specify
alternative answer keys separated by the characters {tab}. For
example:
<EQN $MARVIN='condensed'; $MARVIN_START=$mytemplate; $mykey1> {tab} <EQN $mykey2>
10. Optionally, 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.
11. Click Test/Preview to test the appearance and behavior of the question.
See Testing Questions on page 9.
12. Click Redisplay to show certain kinds of errors in the Display section of the
Question Editor. Make any needed changes to your question.
13. Optionally, 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 Sharing Questions With
Other Instructors on page 23.
• If you make your question publicly available, you might want to provide
descriptive information to help others search for it. See Adding Search
Metadata to Your Questions on page 26.
14. 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 Lewis Structure MarvinSketch Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534324
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.02.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
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203 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mytemplate to the template created with the key generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mytemplate='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7" elementType="C N H H H O O" x2="‐3.5199999809265137 ‐1.9799999809265136 ‐5.059999980926514 ‐3.5199999809265137 ‐3.5199999809265137 ‐1.2099999809265136 ‐1.2099999809265145" y2="0.5866666436195374 0.5866666436195374 0.5866666436195371 2.1266666436195374 ‐0.9533333563804627 1.9203457654475728 ‐0.7470124782084988" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a3" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a4" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a5" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a6" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a7" order="1" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mykey to the answer key created with the key generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mykey='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7" elementType="C N H H H O O" formalCharge="0 1 0 0 0 0 ‐1" lonePair="0 0 0 0 0 2 3" x2="‐3.5199999809265137 ‐1.9799999809265136 ‐5.059999980926514 ‐3.5199999809265137 ‐3.5199999809265137 ‐1.2099999809265136 ‐1.2099999809265145" y2="0.5866666436195374 0.5866666436195374 0.5866666436195371 2.1266666436195374 ‐0.9533333563804627 1.9203457654475728 ‐0.7470124782084988" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a3" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a4" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a5" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a6" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a7" order="1" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
''
</eqn>
Complete the following Lewis structure such that it obeys the octet rule. <BR>
(Assign lone pairs, radical electrons, and atomic charges where appropriate.)<BR>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $MARVIN='lewis'; $MARVIN_START=$mytemplate; $mykey>
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Creating Chemistry Questions 204
Display to
Students
(template)
Display to
Students
(answered)
Example Resonance Structure MarvinSketch Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534333
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.03.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
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205 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mytemplate to the template created with the key generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mytemplate='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3" elementType="O O O" mrvMap="2 1 3" x2="‐1.0266666412353516 ‐2.360345763063387 0.30701248059268416" y2="3.4833333492279053 2.713333349227905 2.7133333492279053" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a3" order="1" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mykey to the answer key created with the key generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mykey='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6" elementType="O O O O O O" formalCharge="1 0 ‐1 1 ‐1 0" mrvMap="2 1 3 2 1 3" lonePair="1 2 3 1 3 2" x2="‐1.0266666412353516 ‐2.360345763063387 0.30701248059268416 4.583333492279053 3.249654370451017 5.9170126141070885" y2="3.4833333492279053 2.713333349227905 2.7133333492279053 3.5199999936421715 2.74999999364217 2.749999993642172" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a3" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a4 a5" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a4 a6" order="2" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
''
</eqn>
Draw the resonance structures for ozone. (Copy and paste the given template as many times as necessary. Assign lone pairs, radical electrons, and atomic charges where appropriate.)<BR>
<_>
Answer
<EQN $MARVIN='resonance'; $MARVIN_START=$mytemplate; $mykey>
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Creating Chemistry Questions 206
Display to
Students
(template)
Display to
Students
(answered)
Displaying Chemical Structures in Your Questions
with MarvinSketch
For some questions, you want to display sketches of chemical structures or
reactions. You can display these using MarvinSketch in the question, the
answer (for question modes like multiple-choice), or the solution. For
3-dimensional structures, your students can even rotate the structure to
examine it from all angles.
Before creating your question, decide which drawing mode you want to use:
complete, condensed, skeleton, skeleton_adv, reaction, reaction_adv, lewis,
resonance, mechanism, mechanism_adv, 3D, or spacefill. See Understanding
MarvinSketch Drawing Modes on page 193.
To display a MarvinSketch drawing in your question:
1. Open your question in the Question Editor.
2. Create your drawing using the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool.
a. Click Marvin under Page Tools.
b. For Marvin Type, select the drawing mode that you want to use.
c. Draw the chemical structure.
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207 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
d. Click Get Key.
e. Select and copy the entire contents of the text box. This is the
MarvinSketch XML representation of your drawing.
3. In Question, add the following code, replacing drawing_string with the
string copied from the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool:
<eqn>
$mysketch='drawing_string';
''
</eqn>
Important:
• Always enclose drawing_string in single quotes ('), not double
quotes (").
• Do not paste MarvinSketch XML drawings directly in Answer.
Instead, assign your drawing to a variable and reference the
variable as described in this topic.
This code assigns the MarvinSketch XML to the variable $mysketch. You can
use a different variable name if needed.
4. In Question, Answer, or Solution, add the following code where you want
the drawing to be displayed:
<MARVIN type='mode' size='widthxheight'><EQN $mysketch></MARVIN>
Important: Always use <EQN> — not <eqn> — inside the <MARVIN> tag.
where:
• mode is the MarvinSketch drawing mode you want to use for your
drawing (see Understanding MarvinSketch Drawing Modes on page 193).
• widthxheight is an optional string specifying the width and height of the
drawing in pixels — for example, 400x300. The default size is 200x200
pixels.
Note: Question, Answer, and Solution each have a 65,536 character
limit; any characters beyond that limit are not saved. Depending on
the size and complexity of your MarvinSketch XML, if you need to
specify more than about 12 drawings, your question might exceed this
limit without warning.
Example Displaying MarvinSketch Drawing in Question
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534327
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.04.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
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Creating Chemistry Questions 208
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mysketch to the drawing string created # with the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mysketch='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 a10" elementType="C C C C C C O C O O" x2="‐3.5199999809265137 ‐2.186320859098478 ‐0.8526417372704422 ‐0.8526417372704421 ‐2.1863208590984775 ‐3.519999980926513 0.48103738455759326 ‐2.186320859098478 ‐0.8526417372704422 ‐3.5199999809265132" y2="3.3366665840148926 4.106666584014892 3.336666584014892 1.796666584014892 1.0266665840148916 1.796666584014892 4.106666584014892 5.646666584014892 6.416666584014892 6.416666584014893" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a3" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a3 a4" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a4 a5" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a5 a6" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a6 a1" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a3 a7" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a8" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a8 a9" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a8 a10" order="2" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
''
</eqn>
Identify the molecule.
<table><tr><td width="250"><_></td>
<td><MARVIN type="skeleton"><EQN $mysketch></MARVIN></td></tr></table>
Answer
salicyclic acid
caffeine
ethanol
benzoic acid
hydrochloric acid
Display to
Students
Example Displaying a 3D MarvinSketch Drawing
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534323
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.05.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
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209 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mysketch to the drawing string created # with the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
$mysketch='<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8" elementType="N C C C N C O N" x3="1.518111046253925 0.7098611208235075 1.2639133173670165 0.3893656028200501 ‐0.9409757271521195 ‐1.4537796806202696 ‐2.6835525429313587 ‐0.629343582994419" y3="0.4565010211802556 0.8228931681812932 1.0565198678487076 1.4219076428100446 1.538308105031128 1.3083271846978313 1.4234628831935976 0.9541439518993567" z3="0.2753843242825775 ‐0.8040519242599867 ‐2.078380971631672 ‐3.1173134584648845 ‐2.8719388084203796 ‐1.6353615769713545 ‐1.4398425459557693 ‐0.6155229284819566" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a3" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a3 a4" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a4 a5" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a5 a6" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a6 a7" order="2" /> <bond atomRefs2="a6 a8" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a8" order="1" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>';
''
</eqn>
Identify the nucleobase.
<table><tr><td width="250"><_></td>
<td><MARVIN type="3D"><EQN $mysketch></MARVIN></td></tr></table>
Answer
cytosine
guanine
adenine
thymine
Display to
Students
Using the MarvinSketch Key Generation Tool
You can use MarvinSketch to draw chemical structures to display in your
questions or to use as question keys or templates when your students use
MarvinSketch to draw their responses.
Tip: Use the question titled marvinsketch.tutorial to teach yourself
how to draw structures using MarvinSketch.
To draw a chemical structure or reaction:
1. In the Question Editor, click Marvin under Page Tools.
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Creating Chemistry Questions 210
2. For Marvin Type, select the MarvinSketch drawing mode you want to use.
See Understanding MarvinSketch Drawing Modes on page 193.
Important: Always draw your chemical structure using the mode that
you want to specify in your question. If you are creating a question
with a template, always use the same mode to create the template and
the answer key.
3. Draw the chemical structure or reaction using the same tools that are
available to your students, as described below.
The following considerations apply only when you are creating a question:
• Your students do not have access to the menu bar in MarvinSketch, but
will instead draw structures using the toolbars.
• You can click File > Clear Desk to erase your entire drawing.
• You can click File > Save to save your structure in a variety of formats,
including MarvinSketch XML and SMILES strings.
• You can copy MarvinSketch XML, SMILES strings, or other formatted
notation recognized by MarvinSketch and paste it in the drawing area to
quickly create the specified structures.
• Changes that you make in the View menu — for example, to the
background color or zoom level — are not reflected in your questions,
either in displayed chemical structures, templates, or answer keys. In
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211 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
your questions, the zoom level is automatically changed so that the
entire structure is displayed.
• Do not create a multi-page document using File > Document Settings.
Although this is useful when printing chemical structures, it can cause
display problems in WebAssign questions.
4. If the location of single and double bonds is not relevant, click
to
aromatize the structure before creating your answer key. This lets
MarvinSketch score equivalent responses correctly.
If needed, you can select a specific part of a molecule — for example, the
maleimide in phthalimide — and click
to dearomatize it to help with
proper bond assignment in the 5-membered ring.
5. When you are finished drawing the structure, click either
2-dimensional drawings) or
accomplishes three things:
(for
(for 3-dimensional drawings). This
• The drawing is converted to either a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional
representation.
• Bond lengths and angles are standardized or optimized.
• If any bonds were inadvertently not connected, or were connected to
incorrect locations, the problem should become apparent and you can
then correct it.
6. Click Get Key.
7. Click in the text box, and then press CTRL+A followed by CTRL+C to select
and copy the MarvinSketch XML.
You can use the MarvinSketch XML in your questions to display the
chemical structure drawing in a question, to specify a MarvinSketch answer
key, or to define a MarvinSketch template.
Drawing Chemical Structures in MarvinSketch
The following table describes how to draw and edit chemical structures and
reactions in MarvinSketch.
Task
Steps
Add an atom of one of the
following elements:
H, C, N, O, P, S, F, Cl, Br, I
1. Click the element symbol.
2. Click in the drawing area.
Add any atom
Add a special atom type
or node, such as Q, M, X,
and LP
10/2010
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click
.
Click the element symbol in the periodic table.
Close or move the Periodic System window.
Click in the drawing area.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click
.
Click the Advanced tab.
Click the symbol on the Advanced page.
Close or move the Periodic System window.
Click in the drawing area.
Creating Chemistry Questions 212
Task
Steps
Add an atom and its bond
to an existing atom
1. Click the element symbol for the new atom.
2. Drag from the existing atom until the symbol
for the new atom is displayed under the pointer.
Add two bonded carbon
atoms
Add a chain of carbon
atoms
Replace an atom
Add a single bond
between existing atoms
Add a double bond
between existing atoms
1. Click the bond tool
.
2. Click in the drawing area.
1. Click
.
2. Drag in the drawing area until the number of
carbon atoms you want to insert is displayed
under the pointer.
1. Click the element symbol for the new atom.
2. Click the atom to be replaced.
1. Click the bond tool
.
2. Drag from one atom to another.
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the bond
tool
and select Double.
2. Drag from one atom to another.
Change a bond type
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the bond
tool
and select the new bond type.
2. Click the bond to be changed.
Draw a reaction arrow
(adds + signs among
reactants and products;
treats structures and names
above arrow as agents)
Add agent names to a
reaction arrow
Draw a graphical arrow
1. Click the reaction arrow tool
.
2. Drag the pointer in the drawing area in the
direction the arrow should point.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click
.
Click the Advanced tab.
Click Pseudo on the Advanced page.
Type the agents in Value (subscripts are
automatically formatted for values like H2O).
5. Close or move the Periodic System window.
6. Click above or below the reaction arrow.
1. Click the graphical arrow tool
.
2. Drag the pointer in the drawing area in the
direction the arrow should point.
Add a single electron
(monovalent radical) to
an atom
1. Click the radical tool
2. Click an atom.
Add lone pairs to an atom
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the lone
.
pairs tool
and select the number of lone
pairs to add.
2. Click an atom.
Draw a curved harpoon to
show the movement of a
single electron
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the electron
flow tool
and select 1 Electron.
2. Click the source for the electron.
3. Click the target for the electron.
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213 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Task
Steps
Draw a curved arrow to
show the movement of
two electrons
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the electron
Set the charge for an
atom
1. Right-click the atom.
2. Select Charge > value, where value is the
charge you want to use.
Decrease an atom’s
charge
Increase an atom’s
charge
Select a single item
flow tool
and select 2 Electrons.
2. Click the source for the electrons.
3. Click the target for the electrons.
1. Click
.
2. Click an atom.
1. Click
.
2. Click an atom.
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the selection
tool
and select Rectangle Selection.
2. Click the item you want to select.
Select an entire structure
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the selection
tool
and select Structure Selection.
2. Click any part of a structure.
Select items in a
rectangular region
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the selection
tool
and select Rectangle Selection.
2. Drag the pointer diagonally across the drawing
area to select items.
Select items in an
arbitrary region
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the selection
tool
and select Lasso Selection.
2. Drag the pointer to draw a boundary around the
items you want to select.
Select multiple items
1. Click the arrow on the right side of the selection
tool
and select Rectangle Selection.
2. Click the first item you want to select.
3. Hold the SHIFT key and click any additional
items you want to select.
Copy selected items to
the clipboard
Paste items from the
clipboard
Click
or press CTRL+C.
1. Click
or press CTRL+V.
2. Click in the drawing area where you want to
paste the clipboard items.
Delete selected items
Click
or press DELETE.
Delete items by clicking
1. Click
.
2. Click the items you want to delete.
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Move an atom
1. Drag the atom to a new location.
Move selected items
1. Move the pointer toward the center of the
selection until a square is displayed.
2. Drag the selection to a new location.
Creating Chemistry Questions 214
Task
Steps
Undo your last change
Click
Set a mapping number for
an atom
Transform selected
structure or entire
drawing to aromatic
representation
Transform selected
structure or entire
drawing to non-aromatic
representation
or press CTRL+Z.
1. Right-click the atom you want to change.
2. Select Map > M# where # is the mapping
number to set.
Click
.
Click
.
Flip a structure
horizontally
1. Select the structure to flip.
2. Right-click the structure and select
Transform > Horizontal Flip.
Flip a structure vertically
1. Select the structure to flip.
2. Right-click the structure and select
Transform > Vertical Flip.
Rotate a structure to align
a bond horizontally
1. Right-click a bond in the structure.
2. Select Align > Horizontally.
Rotate a structure to align
a bond vertically
1. Right-click a bond in the structure.
2. Select Align > Vertically.
Rotate selected items in
2 dimensions
1. Move the pointer toward the center of the
Rotate the drawing in
3 dimensions
Rotate selected structure
in 3 dimensions
Clean drawing in
2 dimensions
Clean drawing in
3 dimensions
Zoom in or out
selection until a rotation cue
is displayed.
2. Drag the selection to rotate it around its center.
1. Click
.
2. Drag the pointer to rotate the drawing.
1. Move the pointer toward the center of the
selection until a square is displayed.
2. Right-click in the square and select
Transform > Rotate in 3D.
3. Drag the pointer to rotate the structure.
Click
. Standardizes bond lengths and angles to
improve appearance. The drawing is converted to
a 2-dimensional drawing if needed.
Click
. Standardizes bond lengths and angles to
improve appearance. The drawing is converted to
a 3-dimensional drawing if needed.
Zooming does not affect scoring. You can:
• Click
or
.
• Select a zoom level from the list
• Type a new zoom level in the box.
.
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Creating MarvinSketch Questions That Use
Canonical or Combinatorial SMILES Strings
Sometimes, you want to display a randomly selected molecule in your question.
Or, you might even want to combine molecules — for example, in condensation
reactions or peptide sequences. Specifying the chemical structure using SMILES
(Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System) strings instead of the native
MarvinSketch XML lets you combine or otherwise change the chemical structure
programmatically, and offers a space-efficient method for defining arrays of
chemical structures that can be used in your question.
Canonical SMILES strings uniquely identify a particular molecule. The canonical
SMILES representation of any molecule is dependent on the software program’s
canonicalization algorithm. For this reason, the canonical SMILES string for a
molecule in MarvinSketch might be different from the canonical SMILES string
generated by another application.
Combinatorial SMILES strings identify a discrete structure in a molecule, and
can be combined to form canonical SMILES strings.
Important:
• Always use canonical or combinatorial SMILES strings.
• Only a subset of SMILES notation is supported for use in
MarvinSketch questions.
• Do not use SMILES strings for reactions or to specify atom
mapping.
• Other formats, such as molfile formats, protein data bank files,
InChi strings, and IUPAC names, are not supported for use in
WebAssign questions. You might be able to use one of these
formats to display a structure in your question, but you should
never use them to define answer keys that your students must
draw, as this could result in scoring problems with your students’
responses.
Although the native MarvinSketch XML format provides the most
comprehensive description of your chemical structures, it is long, difficult to
read, and cannot be manipulated by your question code. With SMILES, your
question code can easily combine or change SMILES strings, for example, to
reflect a chemical process or to randomize your question.
For example, you could use either MarvinSketch XML or SMILES to display an
ethanol molecule:
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MarvinSketch XML
SMILES
<?xml version="1.0" ?><cml><MDocument> <MChemicalStruct> <molecule title="ethanol" molID="m1"> <atomArray atomID="a1 a2 a3" elementType="C C O" x2="2.309999999999999 3.643679121828035 4.97735824365607" y2="‐1.3336791218280357 ‐2.1036791218280357 ‐1.3336791218280353" /> <bondArray> <bond atomRefs2="a1 a2" order="1" /> <bond atomRefs2="a2 a3" order="1" /> </bondArray> </molecule> </MChemicalStruct></MDocument></cml>
CCO
Creating Chemistry Questions 216
Using SMILES Strings in MarvinSketch Questions
The best way to ensure that your SMILES string works correctly in
MarvinSketch is to use MarvinSketch to generate SMILES.
Before creating your question, decide which drawing mode you want to use:
complete, condensed, skeleton, skeleton_adv, reaction, reaction_adv, lewis,
resonance, mechanism, mechanism_adv, 3D, or spacefill. See Understanding
MarvinSketch Drawing Modes on page 193.
To use a SMILES string in your question:
1. Create your drawing using the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool.
a. Click Marvin under Page Tools.
b. For Marvin Type, select the drawing mode that you want to use.
c. Draw the chemical structure.
2. In the MarvinSketch Key Generation tool, click File > Save.
3. In Files of Type, select SMILES.
4. Navigate to the location where you want to save the file, type a File Name,
and then click Save.
5. In a text editor, open the file you saved and copy its contents.
6. Paste the SMILES string that you copied into your question.
You can use the SMILES string in your questions instead of MarvinSketch
XML to display the chemical structure drawing in a question, to specify a
MarvinSketch answer key, or to define a MarvinSketch template.
Example Displaying Chemical Structures Using SMILES
The following table summarizes an actual question.
QID
1534322
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.06.
Mode
Multiple‐Choice
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Select 1 of 8 molecules to identify
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
@dat = (["ethanol", "CCO"],
["isopropanol", "CC(O)C"],
["methanol", "CO"],
["n‐propanol", "CCCO"],
["n‐butanol", "CCCCO"],
["isobutanol", "CC(C)CO"],
["propene", "C=CC"],
["ethylene", "C=C"]);
@choices = pick(5, 0..$#dat);
''
</eqn>
Identify the molecule.
<table><tr><td width="250"><_></td>
<td><MARVIN type='condensed'><EQN $dat[$choices[0]][1]></MARVIN></td></tr></table>
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217 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Answer
<EQN $dat[$choices[0]][0]>
<EQN $dat[$choices[1]][0]>
<EQN $dat[$choices[2]][0]>
<EQN $dat[$choices[3]][0]>
<EQN $dat[$choices[4]][0]>
Display to
Students
Example MarvinSketch Question Using SMILES Answer Key
The following table summarizes an actual question.
10/2010
QID
1534328
Name
Template2 5.MARVIN.07.
Mode
Fill‐in‐the‐Blank
Question
<eqn>
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
# Set $mykey to one of 2730 possible tripeptides
# ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
@dat = (["Ala", "NC(C)C(=O)"],
["Arg", "NC(CCCNC(N)=N)C(=O)"],
["Asn", "NC(CC(N)=O)C(=O)"],
["Asp", "NC(CC(O)=O)C(=O)"],
["Cys", "NC(CS)C(=O)"],
["Gln", "NC(CCC(N)=O)C(=O)"],
["Glu", "NC(CCC(O)=O)C(=O)"],
["Gly", "NCC(=O)"],
["Ile", "NC(C(C)CC)C(=O)"],
["Leu", "NC(CC(C)C)C(=O)"],
["Lys", "NC(CCCCN)C(=O)"],
["Met", "NC(CCSC)C(=O)"],
["Ser", "NC(CO)C(=O)"],
["Thr", "NC(C(C)O)C(=O)"],
["Val", "NC(C(C)C)C(=O)"]);
($a, $b, $c) = pick(3, 0..$#dat);
$label = $dat[$a][0] . '‐' . $dat[$b][0] . '‐' . $dat[$c][0];
$mykey = $dat[$a][1] . $dat[$b][1] . $dat[$c][1] . 'O';
''
</eqn> Draw the structure of the tripeptide <eqn $label>. <br> <_>
Creating Chemistry Questions 218
Answer
<EQN $MARVIN='condensed'; $mykey>
Display to
Students
See Also:
• SMILES notation:
www.daylight.com/dayhtml/doc/theory/theory.smiles.html
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219 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
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A
List of Symbols
Symbols that you can add to your questions using the WebAssign <s> tag are
listed in the following sections.
This section contains the following topics:
• Letter Forms
• Greek Letter Forms
• Punctuation and Spacing Symbols
• Number Forms and Mathematical Symbols
• Symbols for Chemistry and Physics
• Arrows and Miscellaneous Symbols
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221 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Letter Forms
You can use these symbols in your questions or assignments.
Codes
Examples
<s:a‐umlaut>
ä
<s:aacute>
á
Notes
<s:aarrow> ‐ <s:zarrow>
<s:Aarrow> ‐ <s:Zarrow>
<s:aarrowbold> ‐ <s:zarrowbold>
<s:Aarrowbold> ‐ <s:Zarrowbold>
<s:aarrowitalic> ‐ <s:zarrowitalic>
<s:Aarrowitalic> ‐ <s:Yarrowitalic>
<s:aarrowbolditalic> ‐ <s:zarrowbolditalic>
<s:Aarrowbolditalic> ‐ <s:Zarrowbolditalic>
Codes might not
exist for all
letters.
<s:abar> ‐ <s:zbar>
<s:Bbar> ‐ <s:Zbar>
<s:abarbold> ‐ <s:zbarbold>
<s:Abarbold> ‐ <s:Zbarbold>
<s:abaritalic> ‐ <s:zbaritalic>
<s:Abaritalic> ‐ <s:Zbaritalic>
<s:abarbolditalic> ‐ <s:zbarbolditalic>
<s:Abarbolditalic> ‐ <s:Zbarbolditalic>
Codes might not
exist for all
letters.
<s:agrave>
à
<s:ahat> ‐ <s:zhat>
<s:Ahat> ‐ <s:Zhat>
<s:ahatbold> ‐ <s:zhatbold>
<s:Ahatbold> ‐ <s:Zhatbold>
<s:ahatitalic> ‐ <s:zhatitalic>
<s:Ahatitalic> ‐ <s:Zhatitalic>
<s:ahatbolditalic> ‐ <s:zhatbolditalic>
<s:Ahatbolditalic> ‐ <s:Zhatbolditalic>
Codes might not
exist for all
letters.
<s:avec> ‐ <s:zvec>
<s:Avec> ‐ <s:Zvec>
<s:avecbold> ‐ <s:zvecbold>
<s:Avecbold> ‐ <s:Zvecbold>
<s:avecitalic> ‐ <s:zvecitalic>
<s:Avecitalic> ‐ <s:Zvecitalic>
<s:avecbolditalic> ‐ <s:zvecbolditalic>
<s:Avecbolditalic> ‐ <s:Yvecbolditalic>
<s:vecabold> ‐ <s:veczbold>
<s:vecAbold> ‐ <s:vecZbold>
Codes might not
exist for all
letters.
<s:bdbldot>
<s:cBbar>
<s:circleA> ‐ <s:circleZ>
<s:hbar2>
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<s:ibold>
i
Alternatively,
type <b>i</b>.
<s:jbold>
j
Alternatively,
type <b>j</b>.
List of Symbols 222
Codes
Examples
Notes
<s:kbold>
k
Alternatively,
type <b>k</b>.
<s:ldot>
<s:o‐umlaut>
ö
<s:oslash>
ø
<s:rdbldot>
<s:rdot>
<s:rtarrowE>
<s:rtarrowF>
<s:scriptE>
<s:scripte>
<s:scriptl>
<s:scriptM>
<s:scriptP>
<s:scriptp>
<s:scriptU>
<s:sdot>
<s:u‐umlaut>
ü
<s:ubold>
u
Alternatively,
type <b>u</b>.
<s:vbold>
v
Alternatively,
type <b>v</b>.
<s:xdblbar>
<s:xdbldot>
<s:xdot>
<s:Xtilde>
<s:xtilde>
<s:ydblbar>
<s:ydbldot>
<s:zdbldot>
<s:zdot>
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Greek Letter Forms
You can use these symbols in your questions or assignments.
Codes
Examples
<s:alpha> ‐ <s:omega>
<s:Alpha> ‐ <s:Omega>
α-ω
Α-Ω
-
<s:alphabar> ‐ <s:omegabar>
<s:Alphabar> ‐ <s:Omegabar>
α
<s:alphabold>
Notes
Alternatively, type
<b><s:alpha></b>.
<s:alphadbldot> ‐ <s:omegadbldot>
<s:Alphadbldot> ‐ <s:Omegadbldot>
-
<s:alphadot> ‐ <s:omegadot>
<s:Alphadot> ‐ <s:Omegadot>
-
<s:alphahat> ‐ <s:omegahat>
<s:Alphahat> ‐ <s:Omegahat>
-
<s:alphavec> ‐ <s:omegavec>
<s:Alphavec> ‐ <s:Omegavec>
-
-
-
-
-
<s:betaminus>
β-
<s:betaplus>
β+
<s:mutilde>
Alternatively, type
ω
<s:omegabold>
<b><s:omega></b>.
<s:phi2>
φ
<s:taubold>
τ
Alternatively, type
<b><s:tau></b>.
Alternatively, type
θ
<s:thetabold>
<b><s:theta></b>.
<s:thetasmall>
<s:vas_rho>
<s:vecthetahat>
Punctuation and Spacing Symbols
You can use these symbols in your questions or assignments.
10/2010
Codes
Examples
<s:cdots>
···
<s:dagger>
†
<s:mdash>
—
<s:middot>
·
Notes
List of Symbols 224
Codes
Examples
<s:ndash>
–
<s:paragraph>
¶
Notes
<s:tab>
<s:space>
&nbsp; non-breaking space
<s:double>
&nbsp;&nbsp;
2 non-breaking spaces
<s:quad>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
4 non-breaking spaces
Number Forms and Mathematical Symbols
You can use these symbols in your questions or assignments.
Codes
Examples
Notes
<s:and>
<s:angle>
<s:approx>
≈
<s:asymptotic>
<s:bigdiv>
/
<s:bra>
<s:circle1> ‐ <s:circle5>
-
<s:circleminus>
<s:circleplus>
<s:ckgreater>
<s:ckgreaterequal>
<s:ckless>
<s:cklessequal>
<s:compose>
<s:congruent>
<s:cross>
<s:degree>
°
<s:divide>
÷
<s:doubleint_r>
<s:doublelineint>
<s:empty>
Ø
<s:eqq>
<s:equivalent>
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225 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Codes
Examples
<s:greaterorequal>
≥
<s:greaterthan>
>
<s:half>
½
Notes
Same as &gt;
<s:implies>
<s:infinity>
<s:int>
∫
<s:intbig>
<s:intersect>
<s:isin>
<s:italicf>
ƒ
<s:ket>
<s:lceiling>
<s:leftgrint>
<s:lessorequal>
≤
<s:lessthan>
<
<s:lfloor>
<s:lineint>
<s:minus>
−
<s:minusplus>
<s:muchgreaterthan>
»
<s:muchlessthan>
«
<s:multiply>
<s:nabla>
<s:notcongruent>
<s:notdivides>
<s:notequal>
<s:notequiv>
<s:notgreater>
<s:notin>
<s:notless>
<s:notsubset>
<s:or>
<s:orthogonal>
<s:parallel_s>
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≠
Same as &lt;
List of Symbols 226
Codes
Examples
Notes
<s:parallel>
<s:partial>
∂
<s:plusminus>
±
<s:rceiling>
<s:Reals>
<s:repzero>
<s:rfloor>
<s:rightgrint>
√
<s:sqrt>
<s:squareminus>
<s:squareplus>
<s:subset>
<s:subseteq>
<s:subsetneq>
<s:therefore>
×
<s:times>
<s:triangleminus>
<s:triangleplus>
<s:union>
<s:vecstart>
‹
<s:vecstop>
›
Symbols for Chemistry and Physics
You can use these symbols in your questions or assignments.
Codes
Examples
Notes
<s:abline>
<s:alphaparticle>
<s:angstrom>
Å
<s:blackdot>
<s:cleardot>
<s:coldrtarrow>
<s:decrtarrow>
<s:degree>
°
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227 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Codes
Examples
<s:doublebond>
<s:eertarrow>
<s:emf>
<s:H2Ortarrow>
<s:implies>
<s:micro>
µ
<s:ml>
<s:neg>
<s:neutron>
<s:nuclearparticles>
<s:oaline>
<s:orb_d>
<s:orb_none>
<s:orb_u>
<s:orb_ud>
<s:orthogonal>
<s:propto>
<s:proton>
<s:ptrtarrow>
<s:revrxarrow>
<s:revrxarrow1>
<s:revrxarrowH20>
<s:revrxarrowhv>
<s:revrxnarrowk>
<s:revrxnarrowkco>
<s:revrxnarrowko2>
<s:revrxnk1>
<s:revrxnk2>
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‾
Notes
List of Symbols 228
Codes
Examples
Notes
<s:revrxnkf>
<s:rtarrowac>
<s:rtarrowAcid>
<s:rtarrowAcidic>
<s:rtarrowacidic>
<s:rtarrowalpha>
<s:rtarrowBacteria>
<s:rtarrowBase>
<s:rtarrowBasic>
<s:rtarrowbeta>
<s:rtarrowcatalyst>
<s:rtarrowDelta>
<s:rtarrowelec>
<s:rtarrowelecap>
<s:rtarrowelect>
<s:rtarrowH20>
<s:rtarrowHeat>
<s:rtarrowheatpressure>
<s:rtarrowhex>
<s:rtarrowhotCuOs>
<s:rtarrowhv>
<s:rtarrowk1>
<s:rtarrowk2>
<s:rtarrowk3>
<s:rtarrowk4>
<s:rtarrowL>
<s:rtarrowlight>
<s:rtarrowlong>
<s:rtarrowox>
<s:rtarrowp>
<s:rtarrowPt>
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229 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Codes
Examples
Notes
<s:rtarrowpt825>
<s:rtarrowyeast>
<s:triplebond>
Arrows and Miscellaneous Symbols
You can use these symbols in your questions or assignments.
Codes
Examples
<s:arrowbold>
<s:bdot>
<s:odot>
<s:ydot>
<s:bicond>
<s:cents>
¢
<s:clubs>
<s:diamonds>
<s:hearts>
<s:spades>
<s:curvedleftarrow>
<s:curvedrtarrow>
<s:curvedupdownarrow>
<s:downarrow>
↓
<s:leftarrow>
←
<s:leftrtarrow>
↔
<s:red_deg>
°
<s:red_pi>
π
<s:rightarrow>
→
<s:sm_preview>
<s:star>
<s:sun>
<s:uparrow>
<s:wedgearrow>
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↑
Notes
List of Symbols 230
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B
List of Prompts
Prompts that you can add to your questions using the WebAssign <p> tag are
listed in the following sections.
This section contains the following topics:
• Prompts for Accounting Questions
• Prompts for Chemistry and Physics Questions
• Prompts for Mathematics Questions
• Prompts for Statistics Questions
• Miscellaneous Prompts
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List of Prompts 232
Prompts for Accounting Questions
You can use these prompts in your questions or assignments.
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:fset>
You MUST enter the number "0", the number zero, in all cells that
should be BLANK.
<p:taccount>
Enter transactions in the T-accounts in the order they appear,
including the beginning balances, if available. You MUST enter the
number "0", the number zero, in all cells that should be BLANK.
Compute the final balance, if requested.
Prompts for Chemistry and Physics Questions
You can use these prompts in your questions or assignments.
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:anion>
[Ni(CN)4]2- for Ni(CN)42-
<p:cation>
[NH4]+ for NH4+
<p:charge>
Type your answer using the format +1 and -2.
<p:electronconfig1>
Type your answer using the format 1s2 2s2 for 1s22s2.
<p:electronconfig2>
Type your answer using the format [Ar] 4s2 3d10 4p2 for [Ar]4s23d104p2.
<p:formula1>
CO2 for CO2
<p:formula2>
Al(OH)3 for Al(OH)3
<p:indicate>
Indicate the direction with the sign of your answer.
<p:kcomplex>
[A2]1+ / ([B2] * [C]1-) for [A21+] / ([B2] * [C1-])
<p:ksimple>
[CO2]2/[H2][Fe]2 for [CO2]2 / [H2][Fe]2
<p:namecomplexion>
Type your answer using the format iron(II) ion for Fe2+.
<p:nameioniccompound>
Type your answer using the format copper(II) chloride for CuCl2.
<p:nonphysical>
If the situation described is non-physical enter NONPHYSICAL.
<p:nuclear>
Enter the first (raised) number in the first box, the second (lower) number
in the second box, and the symbol of the element in the third box.
<p:nuclear2>
Use beta for β and e to represent an electron.
<p:orbitaldiagram>
Enter UP to indicate an upwards pointing arrow, DOWN to indicate a
downwards pointing arrow, UP/DOWN to indicate two arrows, and BLANK to
indicate no arrows.
<p:oxidation>
Type your answer using the format +1 and -2.
<p:ranking>
Use only '>' or '=' symbols. If any elements are equal, show their equality
in alphabetic order - for example: a>b=c.
<p:scinot>
Type your answer using one of the following formats, 1.2e-3 for 0.0012 and
1.20e+2 for 120.
<p:sciround>
If you enter your answer in scientific notation, round the decimal value to
two decimal places. Use equivalent rounding if you do not enter your
answer in scientific notation.
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233 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:spreadsheet>
You will not submit this spreadsheet. However, the results will be needed
later in this problem.
<p:usevariables>
Do not substitute numerical values, use variables only.
<p:variables>
Use the following variables as necessary:
Prompts for Mathematics Questions
You can use these prompts in your questions or assignments.
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:arctrig>
Remember to enter inverse trigonometric functions such as sin–1(x) as
either asin(x) or arcsin(x).
<p:calc_programs>
Graphing utility programs are available here.
<p:calc_question>
A graphing calculator is recommended.
<p:commalist>
Enter your answers as a comma-separated list.
<p:commalisteq>
Enter your answers as a comma-separated list of equations.
<p:constraint>
Include each constraint.
<p:constraintcorner>
Include each constraint and corner point.
<p:dependent>
If the system is dependent, enter DEPENDENT.
<p:diverges>
If the quantity diverges, enter DIVERGES.
<p:dne>
If an answer does not exist, enter DNE.
<p:emptyset>
Enter EMPTY for the empty set.
<p:expand>
Expand your answer completely.
<p:factor>
Factor your answer completely.
<p:graphline>
Graph the points and the line.
<p:graphsegments>
Graph segments with closed endpoints only.
<p:impossible>
If not possible, enter IMPOSSIBLE.
<p:inconsistent>
If the system is inconsistent, enter INCONSISTENT.
<p:independent>
If the system is independent, enter INDEPENDENT.
<p:infinitelymany>
If there are infinitely many solutions, enter INFINITELY MANY.
<p:infinity>
If you need to use ∞ or –∞, enter INFINITY or –INFINITY, respectively.
<p:integration>
Use C for the constant of integration.
<p:lnabs>
Remember to use ln |u| where appropriate.
<p:logic>
Use ~ for logical not, \/ for logical or, /\ for logical and, -> for implies and
<-> to represent the biconditional.
<p:lowcoeff>
Use the lowest possible coefficients.
<p:lrslope>
larger slope
<p:lrv>
larger value
<p:lrxv>
larger x-value
<p:lryv>
larger y-value
<p:lrzv>
larger z-value
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List of Prompts 234
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:ltv>
largest value
<p:ltxv>
largest x-value
<p:ltyv>
largest y-value
<p:ltzv>
largest z-value
<p:matrixlist>
Enter each matrix in the form [[row 1], [row 2], ...], where each row is a
comma-separated list.
<p:multiplicity>
Enter all answers including repetitions.
<p:nf>
If the expression is not factorable, enter NF.
<p:nfinteger>
If it is not factorable using integers, enter NF.
<p:noinverse>
If the inverse is undefined, enter UNDEFINED.
<p:norealsoln>
If there is no real solution, enter NO REAL SOLUTION.
<p:nosoln>
If there is no solution, enter NO SOLUTION.
<p:notreal>
If the solution is not a real number, enter NOT REAL.
<p:ordercomplex>
Order your answers smallest to largest first by real part, then by imaginary
part.
<p:orderop>
Order your answers from smallest to largest x, then from smallest to
largest y.
<p:powertrig>
Enter trigonometric powers such as sin2(x) as (sin(x))2. Read More.
<p:prime>
If the expression is not factorable using integers, enter PRIME.
<p:primepoly>
If the polynomial is prime, enter PRIME.
<p:reals>
If all real numbers are solutions, enter REALS.
<p:reduce>
Reduce all fractions completely.
<p:rowop>
Enter your row operation as a formula using R_1 for row 1 and so on.
Example: 'add two times row 3 to row 2' would be written as 2*R_3 + R_2
-> R_2. 'Swap row 1 with row 2' would be written as R_1 <-> R_2.
<p:selectgraph>
Select the correct graph.
<p:simplify>
Simplify your answer completely.
<p:srslope>
smaller slope
<p:srv>
smaller value
<p:srxv>
smaller x-value
<p:sryv>
smaller y-value
<p:srzv>
smaller z-value
<p:stv>
smallest value
<p:stxv>
smallest x-value
<p:styv>
smallest y-value
<p:stzv>
smallest z-value
<p:undefined>
If an answer is undefined, enter UNDEFINED.
<p:vector>
Enter each vector as a comma-separated list of its components.
<p:vectorlist>
Enter each vector in the form [x1, x2, ...].
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235 WebAssign Creating Questions Guide
Prompts for Statistics Questions
You can use these prompts in your questions or assignments.
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:lrtv>
larger t-value
<p:lttv>
largest t-value
<p:srtv>
smaller t-value
<p:sttv>
smallest t-value
Miscellaneous Prompts
You can use these prompts in your questions or assignments.
Tag
Displayed Prompt
<p:fig>
Figure
<p:format>
Type your answer using the format
<p:order12>
Enter your answers from smallest to largest.
<p:orderaz>
Enter your answers in alphabetical order.
<p:orderroots>
Enter your answers from smallest to largest starting with the first answer
blank. Enter NONE in any remaining answer blanks.
<p:papersub>
Do this on paper. Your instructor may ask you to turn in this work.
<p:selectall>
Select all that apply.
<p:unused>
Enter NONE in any unused answer blanks.
10/2010
Creating Questions Quick Reference
This document provides brief information about coding elements used to create questions. For more information, see the online help at www.webassign.net/user_support/faculty/.
WebAssign Question Modes
Mode
Description
Algebraic
Students submit a mathematical expression or equation
that is evaluated algebraically.
Essay
Students submit an extended textual response. Scored
manually.
File-Upload
Students submit a file. Scored manually.
Fill-in-the-Blank
Students submit a brief textual response.
Graphing
Students draw on a Cartesian coordinate plane.
Image Map
Students click a displayed image.
Java
Students use Java, Flash, or other applet to answer the
question.
Matching
Students match items from two lists.
Multiple-Choice
Students select one response from a list.
Multiple-Select
Students select one or more responses from a list.
NumberLine
Students place or draw points, lines, segments, or rays.
Numerical
Students submit a numerical response which might
include units or be checked for significant figures.
PencilPad
Students draw a figure. Scored manually.
Poll
Used with other modes to create questions that collect
information only. All responses are scored correct.
Symbolic
Students submit a mathematical expression (not an
equation) that is evaluated by value substitution.
WebAssign Tags
Displaying Content
The listed tags are valid in Question, Answer, and Solution unless otherwise
indicated.
Content
Tag
Notes
Image
<userimage(file_ID)>
Displays an image that you
have copied to WebAssign.
Chemical
drawings
<MARVIN>
Displays a chemical drawing.
See Creating MarvinSketch
Questions.
Symimage
markup
<symimage(markup)>
Displays image of markup.
See Displaying Notation with
<symimage>.
LaTeX markup
<latex> markup Displays LaTeX as an image
</latex>
or as a linked PDF file.
<latex pdf= 'link_text'> markup </latex>
10/2010
Content
Tag
Notes
Math or
chemistry
notation
<h:>
See:
• Displaying Math Notation
with HTML Substitution
• Displaying Chemistry
Notation in Your Questions
WaTeX markup <watex> markup </watex>
Displays scalable HTML
representation of markup.
See Displaying Notation with
WaTeX.
Predefined
prompts
<p:>
See List of Prompts
Symbols
<s:>
See List of Symbols
Link to a file
<userfile(file_ID)>
Adds a link to a file that you
have copied to WebAssign.
Link to
practice
question
<PRACTICE> qid='question_id' </PRACTICE>
<PRACTICE qid='question_id' link='link_text' title='window_title
' style='none'>
In Question or Solution,
opens the specified question
in a new window; no credit is
awarded for answers to the
practice question. Optionally
set the style attribute to
'none' or use CSS values.
Multi-Part, Accordion, and Tutorial Questions
The listed tags are valid only in Question unless otherwise indicated.
Purpose
Tag
Notes
<accordion>
Accordion
Do not use in <part>
<part_label> label </part_label>
the same
<part_title> title </part_title>
question with
content
tutorial.
</part>
...more_parts...
</accordion>
<tutorial>
In-Line
<premise title="title"> content </premise>
Tutorial
<step label="label" title="title"> content Do not use in
<hint> hint_text </hint>
the same
</step>
question with ...more_steps...
accordion.
<conclusion title="title"> content </conclusion>
</tutorial>
Purpose
Tag
Notes
<tutorial type='popup' button='button_label'>
Pop-Up
<premise title="title"> content </premise>
Tutorial
<step label="label" title="title"> content Do not use in
<hint> hint_text </hint>
the same
</step>
question with ...more_steps...
accordion.
<conclusion title="title"> content </conclusion>
</tutorial>
MultipleChoice
<MCPART>
In Answer, separates parts of multipart Multiple-Choice questions.
MultipleSelect
<MSPART>
In Answer, separates parts of multipart Multiple-Select questions.
Multi-Mode
<SECTION>
In both Question and Answer, marks
the break between question modes.
Multi-Mode
<SECTION NOBR>
In Question, marks the break
between question modes without
adding <br>. Insert a corresponding
<SECTION> tag in Answer.
Controlling Question Behavior
The listed tags are valid only in Question unless otherwise indicated.
Purpose
Tag
Notes
Adds a Submit button. Use with
Submit button for <SUBMIT>
<SUBMIT link = question part submission.
question part
"link_text">
Answer box
<_>
Specifies placement of the answer
box or control.
Identify incorrect
choices
<INCORRECT>
Marks the start of incorrect choices
(Multiple-Select Answer only).
Significant
figures help
<SIGFIGS>
Sets position of significant figures
help.
Symbolic
formatting help
<SYMBOLIC>
Sets position of symbolic
formatting help.
Hints
<HINT>
Sets the position of a hint.
Correct / incorrect <MARK>
marks
Sets the position of
correct/incorrect marks.
Use Perl
Use <eqn> in Question or
Solution. Displays the result in red
(to 3 significant figures for
Numerical mode).
Use <EQN> in Answer (optionally,
in Question or Solution). Displays
the result without modification.
<eqn>
<EQN>
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236
Creating Questions Quick Reference
Supported Perl Functions and Operators
The following list includes both WebAssign-specific functions and a subset of the
standard Perl functions and operators that are available when creating questions.
Conditional Processing and Logic
Operation
Usage
Notes
Conditional
Behavior
Logical And,
Or, Not
if (condition) {do_if_true} else {do_if_false};
An abbreviated form is:
&&
You can also use the words and,
or, not — but the symbols have
higher precedence.
||
(condition) ? {do_if_true} : {do_if_false};
!
Numerical Operators
Operation
Usage
Notes
Test Numerical Equality
==
Returns true (1) or false (0).
Use eq to compare strings.
Test Numerical Inequalities
(≠><≥≤)
!=
> < >= <=
Returns true (1) or false (0).
To compare strings, use ne,
gt, lt, ge, le.
Addition, Subtraction,
Multiplication, Division
+
*
Exponentiation
**
Order of Operations
()
‐
/
Math Functions
Operation
Usage
Do not use [] or {}.
Notes
Absolute value
abs(n)
Square root
sqrt(n)
Least Common
Multiple
lcm(n1,n2,...) Argument can be a list or an array.
Greatest Common gcd(n1,n2,...) Argument can be a list or an array.
Divisor
Notes
Trigonometric
Functions
sin(n)
cos(n)
tan(n)
Inverse
Trigononometric
Functions
asin(n)
acos(n)
atan(n)
Arctangent of y/x
atan2(y,x) 10/2010
sec(n)
csc(n)
cot(n)
asec(n)
acsc(n)
acot(n)
Usage
pi (π)
pi
Notes
Operation
Usage
Notes
sigfigs(n)
rad(n)
Converts degrees to radians.
Get significant
digits
Degrees to radians
Returns the number of significant digits in
n, ignoring trailing zeros.
Radians to degrees
deg(n)
Converts radians to degrees.
Get canonical angle
in degrees
canonicaldeg(n)
Converts angle in degrees to
value in range −180 to 180.
Display
significant
digits
sigform(n, digits)
Returns n rounded to the specified
number of significant digits. Uses “e”
notation if needed, for example,
2.30e+04.
Notes
Get decimal
places
decfigs(n)
Returns a power of 10 that represents the
smallest significant decimal place in n.
Ignores trailing zeros.
Display
scientific
notation
scinot(n, digits)
Returns n formatted as scientific notation
with the specified number of significant
digits, for example 2.31 × 104. Do not use
results for additional computation.
Display “e”
notation
sciform(n, digits)
Returns n in “e” notation with up to the
specified number of significant digits after
the decimal point, for example 2.31e+04.
Logarithmic Functions
Operation
Usage
Exponential
function
exp(n)
Euler’s number raised to n.
Natural Log
log(n)
n>0
Log (base 10)
log10(n) n>0
Combinatoric Functions
Operation
Usage
The value of n must be in
radians. Non-canonical
values of n might return
approximate values.
Returns principal values in
radians.
Returns radians from −π
through π.
Notes
Sum
sum(n1,n2,...) Argument can be a list or array.
Average (mean)
avg(n1,n2,...) Argument can be a list or array.
Maximum value
max(n1,n2,...) Returns the greatest value.
Argument can be a list or array.
Minimum value
min(n1,n2,...) Returns the least value.
Argument can be a list or array.
combination(n,k) Returns the number of sets of k
Reduced
fraction
fraction(n,d)
Combinations
C(n,k)
Returns the fraction n/d in reduced
form, for example, 1/2 or 1. If used
in Answer, specify $FRACTION=1.
Permutations
P(n,k)
Rounded
integer
decdisplay(n)
permutation(n,k) Returns the number of unique
Returns n rounded to the nearest
integer. Uses “e” notation when
|n| ≥ 1e+05.
Add commas
commas(n) Returns n with commas between
digit groups to the left of the decimal
point, for example, 12,345.678901.
Do not use results for additional
computation.
Add spaces
spaces(n) Returns n with spaces between digit
groups on both sides of the decimal
point, for example, 12 345.678 901.
Do not use results for additional
computation.
Display as
words
spell_number(n)
Returns the integer part of n in
words, for example, “negative
twenty-three”. Does not add
commas.
Factorial (n!)
n≥0
Trigonometric Functions
Operation
Usage
Operation
elements that can be picked
from an n-element set.
(ab is different from ba) sets of k
elements that can be picked
from an n-element set.
factorial(n) Display of Numerical Values
The listed functions are mostly used in Question or Solution to format values for
display.
Operation
Usage
Notes
n must be an integer from 1
through 100.
Rounding, Significant Digits, Scientific Notation
Operation
Usage
Notes
decform(n, Round to
places)
specified
decimal places
Returns n rounded to the specified
number of decimal places.
Round up (next ceil(n) greater integer)
Returns the first integer greater than n,
for example, ceil(23.2) is 24, ceil(-23.7) is
-23.
Round down
(next lesser
integer)
floor(n) Returns the first integer less than n, for
example, floor(23.7) is 23, floor(-23.2) is 24.
Return integer
only
int(n) Returns only the integer component of n,
for example, int(23.7) is 23, int(-23.2) is 23.
spell_ordinal(n) Returns the integer part of n as an
Display as
words (ordinal)
ordinal number in words, for
example, “thirteenth”. Does not add
commas.
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237
Creating Questions Quick Reference
Randomization Functions
Operation
Usage
Notes
Returns a randomly selected item from
list.
Get one value
from list
pickone(list)
Get
corresponding
value from list
picksame(list) Returns the item from list that
Variable
Description
$SIMPLIFIED
Set $SIMPLIFIED=1 to require students to perform
computations. Otherwise, students can enter either 5
or 2+3. Students can specify proper or improper
fractions, for example, 10/2.
corresponds to the item returned by the
preceding pickone function.
$size
pick(n,list)
Get multiple
values from list
Returns n randomly selected values
from list.
$thisnum
Returns numerical value from student’s response to
numerical with units question.
Get random
integer
Returns a random integer in the range
from low through high in the specified
increments. Optionally, specify one or
more values to exclude.
$thisunit
Returns unit from student’s response to numerical
with units question.
$TOL
Sets asymmetrical tolerances. For example:
randnum(low, high, increment, exclude)
Informational Functions
Operation
Usage
Time
submitted
before due
Notes
granted extensions) that the
question was submitted.
Assignment get_data(deployID, studentID)
responses
get_data(deployID, studentID, questionID)
Returns an array of one student’s
responses for an assignment
(optionally, a single question on
the assignment). Use
$DEPLOYMENT_ID and
$STUDENT to specify the
current assignment instance and
the current student.
Perl Variables Used by WebAssign
The listed variables are valid only in Answer unless otherwise indicated.
Numerical Questions
See Creating Numerical Questions.
Variable
Description
$DECFIGS
Sets the required decimal places, for example,
$DECFIGS=100 or $DECFIGS=0.01.
$SIGFIGS
Sets the required number of significant figures as a
positive integer, for example, $SIGFIGS=3.
$NO_SIGFIGS_HINT
Hides the significant figures help icon/link.
$FRACTION
Set $FRACTION=1 to require students to perform
computations and accept only exact answers as
integers, decimals, fractions, or mixed numerals.
$PROPERFRACTION
Set $PROPERFRACTION=1 to require students to
perform computations and accept only exact answers
as integers or reduced fractions.
10/2010
$TOL={min => 0, max => 4}
$LABEL
&beforeDue('days')
Returns the number of days,
&beforeDue('hours')
hours, or minutes before the
&beforeDue('minutes') assignment is due (including any
Sets the width of the answer box, for example,
$size=20.
$LINK
For answer-dependent questions, set $LABEL to a
unique identifier for each answer box that is used as a
dependency for another answer box.
For answer-dependent questions, set $LINK to define
the dependencies of the current answer box by
referencing the labels of other answer boxes.
Math Questions (Algebraic and Symbolic Modes)
See Creating Math Questions.
Variable
Description
$CASGRADER
(Algebraic) Sets the grading mechanism, for example,
$CASGRADER=mathematica.
$DEFAULTVALS
(Symbolic) Sets the list of values that will be used
when comparing student responses to the answer
key, for example, $DEFAULTVALS=[‐1.1, 0.4, 0.9].
$MAXERR=n $MAXERR='n%'
(Symbolic) Set $MAXERR to the allowable tolerance
(>0) for evaluated student responses.
$NO_REPETITION
(Symbolic) Set $NO_REPETITION=1 to match each
element of a set only once, so {1,2,2} ≠ {1,2}.
$NO_SYMBOLIC_HINT (Symbolic) Set $NO_SYMBOLIC_HINT=1 to hide the
symbolic formatting help icon/link for the current
answer box only.
$ROSTER_ONLY
$PAD
$size
(Symbolic) Set $ROSTER_ONLY=1 to require that
students enclose unordered sets in braces, e.g., {1,2}.
Enables one of two pads for answering math
questions (and hides symbolic formatting help icon):
$PAD='devmath' enables mathPad.
$PAD='calc' enables calcPad.
Sets the width of the answer box when not using
mathPad or calcPad, for example, $size=20.
Multiple-Choice and Multiple-Select Questions
See Creating Multiple-Choice Questions, Creating Multiple-Select Questions.
Variable
Description
$ORDERED=n $ORDERED=list To display choices in the order listed in Answer,
set $ORDERED to the positions (starting with 1) of
one or more correct choices.
$SET_EACH_POSITION
To set the location of each choice individually, set
$SET_EACH_POSITION=1 in Answer. In
Question, add an answer box <_> for each
choice. Choices are still displayed in random order.
$thisanswer
Returns position (starting with 0) of student’s
response to multiple-choice question. For multipleselect, use @$thisanswer.
$PULLDOWN
(Multiple-Choice) Set $PULLDOWN=1 to display
choices as a drop-down list.
$Select_Option
(Multiple-Choice) When choices are displayed as a
drop-down list, set $Select_Option to the text
that should be displayed by default. If not
specified, ‐‐‐Select‐‐‐ is shown.
$thiskey
(Multiple-Choice) Returns position (starting with 0)
of correct response to multiple-choice question.
Matching Questions
See Creating Matching Questions.
Variable
Description
$LABEL
For matching questions, set $LABEL to "a", "A", or "1" to set
the numbering style when displaying images or formatted
notation in the second column.
$ORDERLEFT
Set $ORDERLEFT=1 to display the left-hand list in the
specified order.
$ORDERRIGHT
Set $ORDERRIGHT=1 to display the right-hand list in the
specified order.
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
See Creating Fill-in-the-Blank Questions.
Variable
Description
$CASE
Make answer case-sensitive. Also for Java mode.
$SPACE
Make answer space-sensitive. Also for Java mode.
$REDUCE
Ignores multiple, preceding, and trailing whitespace in
responses. Also for Java mode.
$size
Sets the width of the answer box, for example, $size=20.
Essay Questions
See Creating Short-answer or Essay Questions.
Variable
Description
$cols
Sets the width of the answer box, for example, $cols=50.
$rows
Sets the height of the answer box, for example, $rows=8.
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238
Creating Questions Quick Reference
File-Upload Questions
See Creating File Upload Questions.
Variable
Description
$ACCEPTFILETYPE
Sets acceptable filename extensions, for example,
$ACCEPTFILETYPE=['.doc','.docx'].
$FILEUPLOADMAX
Sets maximum file size in bytes, for example,
$FILEUPLOADMAX=204800.
$size
Sets the width of the answer box, for example,
$size=80.
Chemistry Questions (Fill-in-the-Blank Mode)
See Creating Chemistry Questions.
Variable
Description
$PAD
Enables a pad for answering chemistry questions (and
hides symbolic formatting help icon):
$PAD='chem' enables chemPad.
$CHEM
Sets the chemPad grading mode.
$CP_MAX_WIDTH
Sets the maximum width of the chemPad tool, for
example, $CP_MAX_WIDTH=400.
$MARVIN
Displays the MarvinSketch tool for answer entry and sets
the MarvinSketch mode, for example,
$MARVIN='complete'.
$MARVIN_START
Sets a template for a MarvinSketch question, usually
using a key generated with the MarvinSketch Key
Generation Tool.
Variable
Description
$QUESTION_NUM
Returns current question number on assignment.
$RESPONSE_NUM
Returns number of submissions made.
$STUDENT
Returns unique ID of the student completing the
question.
$THIS_SCORE
Set to override question part score.
$THISBOXNAME
Returns full name of answer box, for example,
RN_355_1_0_83 is the box name for a random
numerical box of question ID 355. It is the first part (0)
of the first question (1) on the assignment and 83 is
the random seed.
$thisresponse
Returns student’s response for the answer box.
$TOOLTIP
Set to customize or hide answer format tip, for
example, $TOOLTIP='' or $TOOLTIP='Enter a whole number'.
Mode-Independent Variables
These variables can be used in all questions.
Variable
Description
$ASSIGNMENT_ID
Returns current assignment ID.
$CORRECT
Returns true (1) if student’s response is correct.
$DEPLOYMENT_ID
Returns the unique identifier for this scheduled
instance of this assignment. Not the same as the
assignment ID.
$EMAIL
Returns the email address of the student completing
the question.
$FULLNAME
Returns the full name of the student completing the
question.
$HINT
Set the hint to be displayed.
$CORRECT_HINT
Set the hint to be displayed after a correct response.
$HINT_ON_CORRECT
Set to displays available hints even when your
student’s response is correct.
$pi
Returns a calculated value of pi.
$POINTS
Returns point value of question part.
$QUESTION_ID
Returns the current QID.
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