Free text questions

Free text is an open-ended question, also known as essay, free format, or comments. You can collect long, open-ended responses in a text or number format.

Due to the nature of the responses, they cannot be auto-scored; you can choose to add points manually or not score the question.

Here is an example of a free text question that you can create with FlexiQuiz.

How to add a free text question

1. To add a free text question to your quiz, click Add item and choose Question from the drop-down menu. The question editor will appear, which allows you to add and format your question.
2. Next to Question Type, choose Free Text from the drop-down menu.

3. Now, add your question or statement to the Question box. You can add images, video, and audio if you have an Essentials plan or above.
4. Next to Rows, enter the number of rows you want to display for students to enter their responses.
Important! Students can share a response longer than the number of rows displayed.
5. Now select any question settings, including:

Required: Mandate the question so that students must enter at least one character before completing the quiz.

Show question feedback: Share comments about this question.

Set categories: Save the question by category to your question bank.

6. To save the question to your quiz, press Save.
7. Configure and share your quiz.

Viewing free text responses

You can view responses one-by-one or all together.

How to view responses for one user.

1. From the Analyze screen, select the Individual Summary report type.

2. Then, find the user by scrolling up and down the page or entering their name in the search bar.
3. Next to the relevant user, press select action.
4. Click view on the drop-down menu.

A window will pop up that lists all questions and responses given by the learner.

How to view all responses to the quiz questions

1. From the Analyze screen, select the Individual Responses report type.
2. Click Export on the top right of the table.

The FlexiQuiz system will download the data for all Users in an Excel format.

Scoring free text questions

Due to the nature of a free text response, the FlexiQuiz system is not able to automatically score and grade the questions. You will need to score the responses manually.

Learn more about manually scoring quiz questions.

Sharing results

Free text questions need to be manually scored after the quiz is submitted. Therefore, we cannot include points for free text questions on the results screen or auto-email notifications.

You can share results manually by sending an email directly from your FlexiQuiz account. Here are the steps to send an email manually:

1. To start, find the relevant user and press select action.
2. Choose email results from the drop-down menu.
3. A message will appear asking you to confirm that you want to send the email. From the Notifications tab, you can customize the email text.
4. Click Ok to send the results email.

Relevant help guides:

How to customize the results screen

How to automatically email results to learners.

File upload question type

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