Item Authoring > Creating items > Creating a Numerical Entry question

Creating a Numerical Entry question

NOTE: Numerical Entry questions can be used in standard and legacy tests. For more information about delivery types, read About Surpass test delivery options.

A Numerical Entry question requires candidates to submit a number in response to a prompt.

This article explains how to create a basic Numerical Entry question in Surpass, including details on Advanced Numerical Entry for HTML subject items, how to limit candidates’ responses, and hints.

1. Choose your item type

In your subject, select Create New Item to open the Question Types menu. Choose Numerical Entry to create a blank Numerical Entry item and go to the Edit screen.

2. Name your item

Enter the item’s name in the Name field.

3. Enter your question text

NOTE: Question stem tables and the formatting toolbar behave differently in Mixed and HTML subjects. For more information, read Creating tables in items and Using the formatting toolbar.

Enter your question text in the question stem. Select Add Text Area to add an additional question stem. You can have a maximum of five question stems per item.

Open Additional Options to add source material or assistive media to your question stem. In mixed subjects, you can also add a table to your question stem (in HTML subjects, tables can be added using the formatting toolbar).

4. Add your answer

NOTE: The following paragraphs describe default functionality in Mixed subject items and Standard mode in HTML subject items. For details on Advanced mode, read 'Advanced Numerical Entry (HTML subjects only)' below.

Enter the correct answer in the Value field. By default, Numerical Entry questions require a specific value as the correct answer.

You can set a numerical range as the correct answer, with candidates receiving credit for any number that falls between the minimum and maximum values. To do this, open Additional Options and select Range to change the Value field into Min Value and Max Value fields. Enter the minimum and maximum accepted values in the respective fields to set your range.

TIP: You can override your instance’s separator format for this item by selecting either Always Use Decimals as Separators or Always Use Commas as Separators under Decimal Settings. To learn about site-level separator settings, read About Regional Settings options.

Limiting candidates’ responses

You can restrict how many characters candidates can enter into the answer field.

Advanced Numerical Entry (HTML subjects only)

An Advanced Numerical Entry item consists of a text string containing blank spaces where candidates can provide the missing numbers.

Select Advanced mode

Select Advanced on the Standard/Advanced toggle to enable Advanced mode.

Write your question and answer text

Enter the complete text in the answer field.

TIP: You can add a table to your question and answer text. This allows you to embed answer boxes in any row or column of a table.

Add individual answers

Highlight the value you want candidates to provide and select Add Answer. This adds the number to Correct Answer(s), where you can make any necessary edits. To remove an answer, select Delete .

Select Limit candidate response to a set a maximum accepted character value per answer field.

TIP: You can also add answers by selecting Add Answer without highlighting a value. This adds an empty box to the stem, allowing you a specify a number in Correct Answer(s).

Add shared answers

NOTE: You must add individual answers before you can add shared answers.

Shared answers let you create a collection of correct answers that can be entered into specified answer fields. To do this, select Add Answer Collection .

Select Add Input to specify which answer field you are creating a collection of answers for.

Select Add Answer within the answer collection to add a group of shared correct answer options. If candidates provide any answer that is specified in the answer collection, they will be awarded a proportion of the overall mark.

Additional options

Open Additional Options to view extra settings for your Advanced Numerical Entry item.

Select Only award mark if candidate selects all correct options if you only want to award full marks to those candidates that enter all correct values. This is also true for answer collections and answer combinations.

Enable Answer Combinations lets you define a correct combination of answers for an answer collection (see Shared Answers above). To do this, select Add Combination and then select an answer from the collection for each answer field.

EXAMPLE: If you ask the candidate to use a multiple of 4 and a multiple of 5 to make 42, you could specify a combination of 10 for answer field A and 32 for answer field B.

Select either Always Use Decimals as Separators or Always Use Commas as Separators under Decimal Settings to override your instance’s separator format for this item

5. Set the question’s marks

Set the item’s total marks in the Mark field.

Adding hints (HTML subjects only)

You can provide candidates with hints if they answer a question incorrectly. Candidates can view the hint and reattempt the question.

6. Select a workflow status

Set the item’s workflow status in the Status drop-down menu. Only items set to Live can be used in a test.

An item's workflow status being set to Live.

7. Preview your question

WARNING: Flash is no longer supported by web browsers. Use the Surpass Viewer to preview items in the legacy test driver. For more information, read Installing the Surpass Viewer.

To see your item from a candidate’s perspective, select Preview .

In Mixed subjects, you can preview your item in the HTML test driver. Use the Preview arrow to open the Preview Options menu and select Preview in HTML . Any custom CSS is applied in the Preview screen. For more information on custom CSS, see Creating a subject in Setup.

You can check your item’s marking behaviour in the Preview screen. Enter answers to update the Mark field.

If you need to continue working on the item, select Edit to return to the Edit screen.

8. Saving and closing your item

Select Save to save your item to your subject.

To see additional saving options, use the Save arrow to open the Save Options menu. Select Save & Close to save the item and return to the Subjects screen. Select Save & New to save the item and create another Numerical Entry item.

WARNING: Saving changes to live items included in scheduled tests might affect candidate delivery.

Select Close to leave the Edit screen. If you have unsaved changes, you are prompted to either save or discard them.