In the Oncourse CL Original Test and Survey tool, how do I develop questions for my test or survey?

Developing questions and other content is only one of the steps involved in creating a test or survey; see In the Oncourse CL Original Test and Survey tool, what steps are involved in creating a new test or survey?

To create test content, you'll use the Original Test and Survey tool's Question Editor. Despite the name, the Question Editor also creates explanatory or introductory text (i.e., inline text) as well as separators (i.e., Section Breaks) to divide test material into logical sections. Oncourse CL treats each instance of these content elements as a separate "item".

The Original Test and Survey tool offers seven types of questions for tests and six types of questions for surveys; see In the Oncourse CL Original Test and Survey tool, what question types are available for tests? and In the Oncourse CL Original Test and Survey tool, what question types are available for surveys?

To create a test content item, from within the Original Test and Survey tool's Question Editor:

1. From the drop-down menu at the far right, choose the kind of item you'd like to add (i.e., Inline Text, Section Break, or one of the test or survey question types).
   
   
2. Click the blue plus sign to the left of the drop-down menu.
   
   
3. In most cases, this will launch a screen where you can enter the text of your question and any other necessary material. The format is slightly different for each content type:
   
   
   • The tool assigns a default point value for each question. In most cases, the default point value is one. For multiple correct answer questions, the default point value is one for each correct answer. You can change that point value in the screen where you create the question, or you can update it later.
   • The fields marked "Skill", "Category", "Comments", and "Topic" are optional. Unless you find them personally useful, you can leave them blank.
   
   
4. When you've finished entering the material, click OK. This will return you to the main Question Editor window, with your new content included below the buttons and fields.

The Original Test and Survey tool assigns two numbers to each item, which display once you've created your new item:

• The first number is the item's current display order for the test, which appears to the left of the item content and also in the box at the top left, under the "Question Editor" text. If you rearrange the order of questions and other items in your test, this number will change.
  
  
• The second number is the item's Oncourse ID number, displayed to the right of the item content. You can use this number later if you decide to reuse this question in another course.

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