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PathcoreScholar User Manual

Question Types


There are several question types available such as multiple choice, number input, and short answer, among others. Each type has the question text to be presented to Students and the maximum number of points available for correct responses (to enable automated scoring).

Most question types also provide an opportunity for the Educator to give feedback in the form of a “response message”. In the case of multiple choice questions, a unique response message may be provided for each choice. Response messages may be used to reinforce why a particular response is correct or to guide trainees toward the correct answer in case of incorrect answers. Where a page is marked as “graded”, response messages are NOT shown to Students.

Student responses are automatically saved in real time as these are entered to minimize the possibility that work will be lost in the event of a computer or network failure. In the event of an internet outage, trainees will be immediately warned that auto-save will resume when internet connectivity is available. Navigating between pages is not possible without an internet connection.

Response messages are NOT shown to Students for graded pages.

Multiple Choice Question

Multiple choice questions provide a list of options for Students to select and have one correct answer. Multiple choice questions can be displayed to Students in one of two modes:

  • List: choices are displayed in a vertical list for the Student to choose from
  • Dropdown: choices are embedded in a searchable dropdown field

The dropdown display mode is suitable for questions that have many potential answers because it’s much more compact and Students can search for or scroll to the desired answer.

To create a multiple choice question

  1. Navigate to a page

  2. Position the cursor in the rich text editor where you want the question inserted

  3. Click on the Add Block button at the right hand corner of the rich text editor toolbar

  4. Select Multiple Choice from the dropdown menu

  5. Type the question in the Question section

  6. (Optional) Add a Featured Image:

    1. From the Repository tab, navigate to a folder and select an image, or
    2. From the Search tab, search for an image by name and select it

  7. Click on the + Add Choices button

  8. In the popup dialog, click on the Add New Choice button; repeat as necessary

    1. Enter the text in the Choice field
    2. (Optional) Add a response by clicking on the + Add Response Message button and entering the response message in the field that appears

  9. Specify the correct answer from the list of choices by clicking on the white circle to the left of the choice text (a green circle indicates the correct choice)

  10. Click on the Apply button to save the choices

  11. (Optional) Enter the points awarded for the question in the Points field

  12. Click on the desired display mode button: List or Dropdown

To add a choice to a multiple choice question

  1. Navigate to a multiple choice question on the page

  2. Click on the + Add Choices button

  3. In the popup dialog, click on the Add New Choice button; repeat as necessary

    1. Enter the text in the Choice field
    2. (Optional) Add a response by clicking on the + Add Response Message button and entering the response message in the field that appears

  4. Specify the correct answer from the list of choices by clicking on the white circle to the left of the choice text (a green circle indicates the correct choice)

  5. Click on the Apply button to save the choices

To remove a choice from a multiple choice question

  1. Navigate to a multiple choice question on the page

  2. Click on the Edit responses button next to "Correct Answer" at the bottom left of the block

  3. In the popup dialog, click on the Remove response button to the right side of the choice to remove it

  4. Specify the correct answer from the list of choices by clicking on the white circle to the left of the choice text (a green circle indicates the correct choice)

  5. Click on the Apply button to save the choices

To bulk add choices to a multiple choice question

  1. Navigate to a multiple choice question on the page

  2. Click on the + Add Choices button

  3. In the popup dialog, click on the Bulk Add Choices button

  4. In the second popup dialog, type or paste one choice per line (by pressing the Enter key on your keyboard)

  5. Click on the Save button

  6. Specify the correct answer from the list of choices by clicking on the white circle to the left of the choice text (a green circle indicates the correct choice)

  7. Click on the Apply button to save the choices

To remove a multiple choice question from a page

  1. Navigate to a multiple choice question on the page

  2. Click on the Remove block button at the top right corner of the block

Number Input Question

The number input question allows trainees to input a number in response to a question. Educators have a great deal of flexibility when it comes to defining the correct answer(s) through one or more value ranges. Each range is associated with a point value, making it easy to reward accurate answers with more points and incorrect answers with fewer, or even negative, points.

For example, say a question awards:

  • three points for an input of 6
  • awards one point for inputs 7 or 8
  • takes away three points for (nonsensical) inputs that are < 0 or > 10, and 0 points for all other inputs

Then the following ranges need to be defined:

  • 3 points for a value in the range [6, 6]
  • 1 point for a value in the range [7, 8]
  • 0 points for a value in the range [0, 10]
  • -3 points for a value in the range [-Infinity, Infinity]
When an input overlaps multiple ranges, the points awarded come from the overlapping range with the highest point value.
To create a number input question

  1. Navigate to a page

  2. Position the cursor in the rich text editor where you want the question inserted

  3. Click on the Add Block button at the right hand corner of the rich text editor toolbar

  4. Select Number Input from the dropdown menu

  5. Type the question in the Question section

  6. (Optional) Enable the Integer toggle to only allow integer (whole number) values

  7. Add the first range:

    1. Enter the value for the Range Minimum. The default value is "-Infinity" if this field is left blank
    2. (Optional) Adjust the Inclusive toggle below the field (this toggle is hidden and assumed to be enabled when the Integer toggle is enabled)
    3. Enter the value for the Range Maximum. The default value is "Infinity" if this field is left blank
    4. (Optional) Adjust the Inclusive toggle below the field (this toggle is hidden and assumed to be enabled when the Integer toggle is enabled)
    5. Enter the points awarded for the range in the Points field
    6. (Optional) Add a response by clicking on the + Add Response Message button and entering the response message in the field that appears
To add a range to a number input question

  1. Navigate to a number input question on the page

  2. Click on the +Add Range button at the bottom of the question block

  3. Enter the value for the Range Minimum. The default value is "-Infinity" if this field is left blank

  4. (Optional) Adjust the Inclusive toggle below the field (this toggle is hidden and assumed to be enabled when the Integer toggle is enabled)

  5. Enter the value for the Range Maximum. The default value is "Infinity" if this field is left blank

  6. (Optional) Adjust the Inclusive toggle below the field (this toggle is hidden and assumed to be enabled when the Integer toggle is enabled)

  7. Enter the points awarded for the range in the Points field

  8. (Optional) Add a response by clicking on the + Add Response Message button and entering the response message in the field that appears

To remove a range from a number input question

  1. Navigate to a number input question on the page

  2. Click on the Remove response button to the right side of the range to remove it

To remove a number input question from a page

  1. Navigate to a number input question on the page

  2. Click on the Remove block button at the top right corner of the block

Short Answer Question

The short answer question type allows Students to respond to a question using free-form text. This is the only question type that cannot be scored automatically. Educators must assign an appropriate score for short answer questions via the reports section.

Short answers are graded manually in the reports view
To create a short answer question

  1. Navigate to a page

  2. Position the cursor in the rich text editor where you want the question inserted

  3. Click on the Add Block button at the right hand corner of the rich text editor toolbar

  4. Select Short Answer from the dropdown menu

  5. Type the question in the Question section

  6. (Optional) Add a response by clicking on the + Add Response Message button and entering the response message in the field that appears

  7. Enter the maximum points available for a correct answer in the Points field

To manually assign a grade for a short answer question

  1. Navigate to a page

  2. Click on the Reports tab

  3. Select a Student from the dropdown field at the top right corner of the page

  4. Scroll down to a short answer question

  5. Click on the Edit button associated with the question

  6. Enter a new score (must be less than or equal to the maximum number of points available for the question)

  7. Click on the Save button

To remove a short answer question from a page

  1. Navigate to a short answer question on the page

  2. Click on the Remove block button at the top right corner of the block

Pin Drop Question

Pin drop questions provide a unique and interactive process for trainees to identify relevant structures on an image. Rather than narrowing the field-of-view for a question, Educators can ask trainees to locate structures present in the image with pins. With the pin drop question, each “pin” corresponds to a structure that the Educator wants identified and trainees are expected to drag the pins over the corresponding areas in the image.

Educators can privately define the corresponding “region” for each pin, allowing the system to automatically grade the responses and if desired, provide instant feedback to trainees. The region provided must be an existing annotation that has been created on the image.

To create a pin drop question

  1. Navigate to a page

  2. Position the cursor in the rich text editor where you want the question inserted

  3. Click on the Add Block button at the right hand corner of the rich text editor toolbar

  4. Select Pin-Drop from the dropdown menu

  5. Select an image using one of the available methods:

    1. From the Repository tab, navigate to a folder and select an image, or
    2. From the Search tab, search for an image by name and select it

  6. Enter the points awarded for the question in the Points field

  7. Type the question in the Question section

  8. Add a pin for each structure to be identified; repeat as necessary

    1. Click on the + Add Pin button
    2. (Optional) Provide a description to identify the structure that corresponds to the pin
    3. (Optional) Select a unique color for the pin by clicking on the colored circle to the left
    4. Click on the Set Regions button, then in the provided dialog, select the appropriate annotations from the list on the left and click on the Done button at the top right corner
To remove a pin from a pin drop question

  1. Navigate to a pin drop question on the page

  2. Click on the Remove response button to the right side of the pin to remove it

To make all annotations on the featured image visible to Students

  1. Navigate to a pin drop question on the page

  2. Enable the Show all annotations by default toggle

To make some annotations on the featured image visible to Students

  1. Navigate to a pin drop question on the page

  2. Disable the Show all annotations by default toggle

  3. Click on the Set Visible Annotations button

  4. In the provided dialog, select the annotations that should be visible from the list on the left and click on the Done button at the top right corner

To set the default region of interest for the featured image

  1. Navigate to a pin drop question on the page

  2. Pan and zoom the image to the desired default area

  3. Click on the Set Initial Position button

To remove a pin drop question from a page

  1. Navigate to a pin drop question on the page

  2. Click on the Remove block button at the top right corner of the block