Create Math Questions with Formulas

About Math Questions

Formula question types are most commonly used in math and science courses. They allow you to use "curly braces" to ensure each student receives a unique question. Also, you can deduct points when a student answers with an incorrect number of decimal points, a unit of measurement, or scientific notation.

Create Arithmetic Questions

These questions include formulas. You can specify the number of decimal points and units required and set a level of "tolerance" for what counts as an acceptable answer.

Step 1                 

Select Quizzes from the course navbar.

Step 2                   

Click on the Question Library tab.

Step 3                   

Click on the name of any Section folder to open it.

Step 4                   

Click the New button.

Step 5                   

Select Arithmetic Question (2+2) from the menu.

Step 6                    

Enter the number of points this question will be worth in the Points field.

Step 7                   

Enter the problem into the Question Text field. Enclose all variables with curly braces { } if you want to generate random numbers.

Step 8                   

If this question has an image, click the Insert Image button to upload it from your computer. Use the Alternative Text field to provide information about the image.

Step 9                   

Check Allow attachments to support answers if you want students to upload images, documents, spreadsheets, and other files showing their work.

Step 10               

Enter the solution's formula in the Formula field, setting variables inside curly braces.

Step 11               

Use the Answer Precision field to define the number of decimal places the answer may contain; check Enforce Precision if you want to require this number of decimal places in the correct answer.

Step 12               

To accept near-accurate, estimated, and/or rounded answers, enter a Tolerance level:

• Units allow you to specify how far numerically an answer can deviate and still be considered correct (e.g., setting a tolerance of .5 units on a correct answer of 100 will instruct D2L to accept any answer between 99.5-100.5).

• Percent allows you to use a percentage to determine how far off an answer can be (e.g., setting a tolerance of 1 on a correct answer of 50 will instruct D2L to accept any answer between 59.4-50.6).

Step 13               

Use this option if the correct answer should include a unit of measurement (mm, cm, grams, inches, etc.):

• Enter the unit of measurement in the Units field.
• If you want to deduct points for incorrect units, use the Worth field to tell Brightspace what percentage of the question's points to assign to the unit.

• If case matters, select Case Sensitive under Evaluation Options.

Step 14               

Add or remove Variables, as needed, to match the number of variables in the formula.

• Add a variable by clicking the Add Variable link.

• Remove a variable by clicking the Remove Entry (trashcan) icon.

Step 15               

Assign values to your variables using the following fields:

• Name: The name should exactly match the corresponding variable in your formula.

• Min/Max: Assign a range from which Brightspace can randomly assign a value to that variable. If you do not want Brightspace to randomly assign a value, set the same number in both the Min and Max fields.

• Decimal Places: Use this field if you want to specify a number of decimal places for the variable.

• Step: This field instructs Brightspace to use intervals when drawing random numbers (e.g., if you set Min at 10 and Max at 100 and a Step of 5, D2L will randomly pull a number between 10-100 using intervals of 5).

Step 16               

Click the Preview button to see how the question will look to students.

Step 17               

Click the Save button to save your question, or Save and Close to save and return to the Question Library.

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Create Significant Figures Questions

These questions include formulas that use significant figures. It is possible to deduct points when a student uses the incorrect number of significant figures in an answer.

Step 1                   

Select Quizzes from the course navbar.

Step 2                   

Click on the Question Library tab.

Step 3                   

Click on the name of any Section folder to open it.

Step 4                   

Click the New button.

Step 5                   

Select Significant Figures (x10) from the menu.

Step 6                   

Enter the number of Points this question will be worth.

Step 7                   

Enter the problem into the Question Text field. Enclose all variables with curly braces { } if you want to generate random numbers.

Step 8                   

If this question has an image, click the Insert Image button to upload it from your computer. Use the Alternative Text field to provide information about the image.

Step 9                   

Check Allow attachments to support answers if you want students to upload images, documents, spreadsheets, and other files showing their work.

Step 10               

Enter the solution's formula in the Formula field, setting variables inside curly braces.

Step 11               

Use the Significant Figures dropdown menu to define the number of significant figures the correct answer should contain.

Step 12               

If you want to give partial credit to a student who provides the correct answer but uses the incorrect number of significant figures, use the Worth drop-down menu to tell Brightspace what percentage of the question's points to deduct.

Step 13               

To accept near-accurate, estimated, and/or rounded answers, enter a Tolerance level:

• The default is to allow an answer that is + or - 0.5 from the least significant figure.
• Units allow you to specify how far numerically an answer can deviate and still be considered correct.
• Percent allows you to use a percentage to determine how far off an answer can be.

Step 14               

Use this option if the correct answer should include a unit of measurement (mm, cm, grams, inches, etc.):

• Enter the unit of measurement in the Units field.
• If you want to deduct points for incorrect units, use the Worth field to tell Brightspace what percentage of the question's points to assign to the unit.

• If case matters, select Case Sensitive under Evaluation Options.

Step 15               

Add or remove Variables, as needed, to match the number of variables in the formula.

• Add a variable by clicking the Add Variable link.

• Remove a variable by clicking the trashcan icon.

Step 16               

Assign values to your variables using the following fields:

• Name: The name should exactly match the corresponding variable in your formula.

• Min/Max: Assign a range from which Brightspace can randomly assign a value to that variable. If you do not want Brightspace to randomly assign a value, then set the same number in both the Min and Max fields.

• Step: This field instructs Brightspace at which intervals it should generate the coefficient and power.

Step 17               

Click the Preview button to see how the question will look to students.

Step 18               

Click the Save button to save your question, or Save and Close to save and return to the Question Library.

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