Guidelines for Writing Effective Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
•Make sure that wording is clear and unambiguous.
•Ensure that the number of expected answers is clear.
•Denote whether the order of the answers is important.
•Make sure that answers don't get mixed up if they are interchangeable, for example a "___, ___, and ___".
oFor numbers, indicate the units and/or decimal places the answer should incorporate.
•Avoid grammatical clues to the correct response.
oAvoid clues as to spelling or conjugation of the word, for example, " an _____" or "_____ are".
•Be sure there is only one correct response per question, or anticipate alternate answers in the answer explanation.
oNot all instructors may think of the answers to Fill-in questions the same way, so it is important to include all of the acceptable answers to each blank in the Answer Explanation. You may enter more question parts than are called for in the question, but that will prevent learners from failing to receive credit for a valid answer. Additionally, if a learner provides an incorrect but plausible answer, it will be easier for an instructor with a comprehensive answer list to grade it as incorrect.
•Assign points to each question part so that learners can earn partial credit.
•Only remove significant words from the statement.
•Don't give away word length with the size of the blank.
