10.43. Text Input Problem¶

10.43.1. Overview¶

In text input problems, learners enter text into a response field. The response can include numbers, letters, and special characters such as punctuation marks. Because the text that the learner enters must match the instructor’s specified answer exactly, including spelling and punctuation, edX recommends that you specify more than one correct answer for text input problems to allow for differences in capitalization and typographical errors.

10.43.1.1. Example Text Input Problem¶

In the LMS, learners enter a value into a response field to complete a text input problem. An example of a completed text input problem follows.

To add the example problem illustrated above, in Studio you use the simple editor to enter the following text and Markdown formatting.

>>What was the first post-secondary school in China to allow both male and female students?||Answer with a name from the modern period.<<

= Nanjing University
or= National Central University
or= Nanjing Higher Normal Institute
or= Nanking University

[explanation]
Nanjing University first admitted female students in 1920.
[explanation]

The OLX (open learning XML) markup for this example text input problem follows.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Nanjing University" type="ci">
    <label>What was the first post-secondary school in China to allow both
     male and female students?</label>
    <description>Answer with a name from the modern period.</description>
    <additional_answer answer="National Central University"/>
    <additional_answer answer="Nanjing Higher Normal Institute"/>
    <additional_answer answer="Nanking University"/>
    <textline size="20"/>
    <solution>
      <div class="detailed-solution">
        <p>Explanation</p>
        <p>Nanjing University first admitted female students in 1920.</p>
      </div>
    </solution>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

10.43.2. Adding a Text Input Problem¶

You add text input problems in Studio by selecting the Problem component type and then using either the simple editor or the advanced editor to specify the prompt and the acceptable answer or answers.

10.43.3. Adding Multiple Correct Responses¶

You can specify more than one correct response for text input problems. For example, instead of requiring learners to enter an answer of “Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior” exactly, you can also allow answers of “Martin Luther King, Jr.” “Doctor Martin Luther King,” and other variations. To do this, you can use the simple editor or the advanced editor.

>>What African-American led the United States civil rights movement during the 1960s?<<
=Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
or=Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior
or=Martin Luther King, Jr.
or=Martin Luther King

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." type="ci" >
    <label>What African-American led the United States civil rights movement during the 1960s?</label>
    <additional_answer answer="Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior"/>
    <additional_answer answer="Martin Luther King, Jr."/>
    <additional_answer answer="Martin Luther King"/>
    <textline size="30"/>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

10.43.4. Adding Feedback to a Text Input Problem¶

For an overview of feedback in problems, see Adding Feedback and Hints to a Problem. In text input problems, you can provide feedback for the correct answer or for a specified incorrect answer. Use feedback on incorrect answers as an opportunity to address common learner misconceptions. Feedback for text input questions should also provide guidance to the learner on how to arrive at the correct answer.

If you define multiple correct responses for the question, you can define feedback for each response.

=Correct Answer {{Feedback for learners who enter this answer.}}
not=Incorrect Answer {{Feedback for learners who enter this answer.}}

>>What is the largest state in the U.S. in terms of land area?<<

=Alaska {{Alaska is the largest state in the U.S. in terms of not only land
area, but also total area and water area. Alaska is 576,400 square miles,
more than double the land area of the second largest state, Texas.}}

not=Texas {{While many people think Texas is the largest state in terms of
land area, it is actually the second largest and contains 261,797 square
miles.}}

not=California {{California is the third largest state and contains 155,959
square miles.}}

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Correct Answer" type="ci">
    <label>Question text</label>
    <correcthint>Feedback for the correct answer</correcthint>
    <stringequalhint answer="Incorrect Answer">Hint for the incorrect answer</stringequalhint>
    <textline size="20"/>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Alaska" type="ci">
    <label>What is the largest state in the U.S. in terms of land area?</label>
    <correcthint>Alaska is the largest state in the U.S. in terms of not
     only land area, but also total area and water area. Alaska is 576,400
     square miles, more than double the land area of the second largest
     state, Texas.</correcthint>
    <stringequalhint answer="Texas">While many people think Texas is the
     largest state in terms of land area, it is actually the second
     largest and contains 261,797 square miles.</stringequalhint>
    <stringequalhint answer="California">California is the third largest
     state and contains 155,959 square miles.</stringequalhint>
    <textline size="20"/>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

Incorrect: California is the third largest state and contains 155,959 square
miles.

Close but wrong: California is the third largest state and contains 155,959
square miles.

not=Answer {{Label:: Feedback}}

not=Texas {{Close but wrong:: While many people think Texas is the largest
state in terms of land area, it is actually the second largest of the 50 U.S.
states, containing 261,797 square miles.}}

<correcthint label="Custom Label">Feedback</correcthint>
<stringequalhint answer="Incorrect Answer" label="Custom Label">Feedback</stringequalhint>

<correcthint label="Right you are">Alaska is the largest state in the U.S.
 in terms of not only land area, but also total area and water area. Alaska
 is 576,400 square miles, more than double the land area of the second
 largest state, Texas.</correcthint>
<stringequalhint answer="Texas" label="Close but wrong">While many people
 think Texas is the largest state in terms of land area, it is actually the
 second largest of the 50 U.S. states containing 261,797 square miles.</stringequalhint>

10.43.5. Adding Hints to a Text Input Problem¶

You can add hints to a text input problem using the simple editor or the advanced editor. For an overview of hints in problems, see Adding Feedback and Hints to a Problem.

||Hint 1||
||Hint 2||
||Hint n||

||A fruit is the fertilized ovary from a flower.||
||A fruit contains seeds of the plant.||

.
.
.
<demandhint>
  <hint>Hint 1</hint>
  <hint>Hint 2</hint>
  <hint>Hint 3</hint>
</demandhint>
</problem>

.
.
.
</multiplechoiceresponse>
<demandhint>
  <hint>A fruit is the fertilized ovary from a flower.</hint>
  <hint>A fruit contains seeds of the plant.</hint>
</demandhint>
</problem>

10.43.6. Adding Text after the Response Field¶

You might want to include a word, phrase, or sentence after the response field in a text input problem to help guide your learners or resolve ambiguity.

To do this, you use the advanced editor.

In the problem, locate the textline element. This element creates the response field for the problem and is a child of the stringresponse element. An example follows.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Ashmun" type="ci">
    <label>What Pennsylvania school was founded in 1854 to provide
     educational opportunities for African-Americans?</label>
    <textline size="20"/>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

To add text after the response field, add the trailing_text attribute together with the text that you want to use inside the textline element.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Ashmun" type="ci">
    <label>What Pennsylvania school was founded in 1854 to provide
     educational opportunities for African-Americans?</label>
    <textline size="20" trailing_text="Institute"/>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

10.43.7. Case Sensitivity and Text Input Problems¶

By default, text input problems do not require a case sensitive response. You can change this default to require a case sensitive answer.

To make a text input response case sensitive, you use the advanced editor.

In the advanced editor, the stringresponse element has a type attribute. By default, the value for this attribute is set to ci, for “case insensitive”. An example follows.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Paris" type="ci">
  .
  .
  .
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

Learners who submit an answer of either “Paris” or “paris” are scored as correct.

To make the response case sensitive, change the value of the type attribute to cs.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Paris" type="cs">
  .
  .
  .
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

Learners who submit an answer of “Paris” are scored as correct, but learners who submit an answer of “PARIS” are scored as incorrect.

10.43.8. Response Field Length in Text Input Problems¶

By default, the response field for text input problems is 20 characters long.

You should preview the unit to ensure that the length of the response input field accommodates the correct answer, and provides extra space for possible incorrect answers.

If the default response field is not long enough, you can change it using the advanced editor.

In the advanced editor, the textline element has a size attribute. By default, the value for this attribute is set to 20. An example follows.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Democratic Republic of the Congo" type="ci">
    .
    .
    .
    <textline size="20"/>
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

To change the response field length, change the value of the size attribute.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Democratic Republic of the Congo" type="ci">
    .
    .
    .
    <textline size="40" />
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

10.43.9. Allowing Regular Expressions as Answers for Text Input Problems¶

You can configure a text input problem to allow a regular expression as an answer. Allowing learners to answer with a regular expression can minimize the number of distinct correct responses that you need to define for the problem: if a learner responds with the correct answer formed as a plural instead of a singular noun, or a verb in the past tense instead of the present tense, the answer is marked as correct.

To do this, you use the advanced editor.

In the advanced editor, the stringresponse element has a type attribute. You can set the value for this attribute to regexp, with or without also including ci or cs for a case insensitive or case sensitive answer. An example follows.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="string pattern" type="regexp ci">
    .
    .
    .
  </stringresponse>
</problem>

The regular expression that the learner enters must contain, in whole or in part, the answer that you specify.

In this example, learners who submit an answer of “string pattern”, “String Patterns”, “string patterned”, or “STRING PATTERNING” are all scored as correct, but learners who submit an answer of “Strings Pattern” or “string patern” are scored as incorrect.

10.43.10. Text Input Problem XML Reference¶

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Correct answer 1" type="ci regexp">
    <label>Question text</label>
    <description>Optional tip</description>
    <correcthint>Provides feedback when learners submit the correct
     response.</correcthint>
    <additional_answer answer="Correct answer 2"/>
    <additional_answer answer="Correct answer 3"/>
    <stringequalhint answer="Incorrect answer 1">Provides feedback when
     learners submit the specified incorrect response.</stringequalhint>
    <stringequalhint answer="Incorrect answer 2">Provides feedback when
     learners submit the specified incorrect response.</stringequalhint>
    <textline size="20" />
  </stringresponse>
  <demandhint>
    <hint>The first text string to display when learners request a hint.</hint>
    <hint>The second text string to display when learners request a hint.</hint>
  </demandhint>
</problem>

<stringresponse>
    <label>
    <description>
    <additional_answer>
    <correcthint>
    <stringequalhint>
    <textline>
    <solution>
<demandhint>
    <hint>

10.43.11. Deprecated Hinting Method¶

The following example shows the XML format with the <hintgroup> element that you could use in the past to configure hints for text input problems. Problems using this XML format will continue to work in the edX Platform. However, edX recommends that you use the new way of configuring hints documented above.

<problem>
  <stringresponse answer="Correct answer 1" type="ci regexp">
    <label>Question text</label>
    <additional_answer>Correct answer 2</additional_answer>
    <additional_answer>Correct answer 3</additional_answer>
    <textline size="20" />
  <hintgroup>
    <stringhint answer="Incorrect answer A" type="ci" name="hintA" />
      <hintpart on="hintA">
        <startouttext />Text of hint for incorrect answer A<endouttext />
      </hintpart >
    <stringhint answer="Incorrect answer B" type="ci" name="hintB" />
      <hintpart on="hintB">
        <startouttext />Text of hint for incorrect answer B<endouttext />
      </hintpart >
    <stringhint answer="Incorrect answer C" type="ci" name="hintC" />
      <hintpart on="hintC">
        <startouttext />Text of hint for incorrect answer C<endouttext />
      </hintpart >
  </hintgroup>
  </stringresponse>
  <solution>
    <div class="detailed-solution">
    <p>Explanation or Solution Header</p>
    <p>Explanation or solution text</p>
    </div>
  </solution>
</problem>