Understanding Questions
Questions are the building blocks of your quiz. QuizOxide provides a powerful editor and flexible logic to handle everything from simple multiple-choice to complex math problems.
The Editor
We use a Rich Text Editor for all question text and option values. This allows you to format text, add lists, and structure your content exactly how you want it.
➗ Math & Equations
For scientific or mathematical questions, you can use LaTeX. This is a standard system used globally for writing complex formulas.
- What is LaTeX? It's a way to write math using plain text. Learn more about LaTeX here.
- Example: Typing
$E=mc^2$renders as a proper equation.
🖼️ Images & Video
We do not currently host image or video uploads.
To include media in your questions:
- Upload your image or video to a hosting service (like Imgur, YouTube, or Vimeo).
- Paste the direct link into the question or option value.
- The feature to upload files directly to QuizOxide is on our roadmap for future updates.
Logic: Labels vs. Values
When creating structured questions (like Multiple Choice or Matching), you will see fields for Labels and Values. It is crucial to understand the difference:
- 🏷️ Label: Think of this as a short variable or ID (e.g.,
A,B,1,2).- Function: The system uses only the Label to track the correct answer.
- Tip: Keep it short and simple.
- 📝 Value: This is what the participant actually sees (e.g., "Paris", "42", "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell").
- Function: Display content. Can contain rich text, links, or LaTeX.
How Evaluation Works: For most structured questions (Multiple Choice, Ordering, Matching, etc.), the system compares Labels only. The actual text (Value) doesn't matter for grading.
- Exceptions: True/False, Short Answer, and Essay do not use Labels in this way; they check the answer value directly.
Example
Imagine a Multiple Choice question: "What is 2 + 2?"
| Label | Value | Correct? |
|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | ❌ |
| B | 4 | ✅ |
| C | 5 | ❌ |
System Grading: The correct answer is set to "B".
- If the user clicks "4", the system sees they selected Label B.
- Since B == B, they get the points.
- You could change the Value of B to "Four" or "IV", and the answer key remains "B".
Evaluation Types
Different question types are graded differently.
✅ Auto-Evaluated
These questions are graded instantly by the system.
- Structured Questions:
- Multiple Choice, Multiple Select, True/False: Matches the selected Label(s).
- Ordering, Matching Pairs, Matching Matrix: Checks if the sequence, pairs, or grid cells of Labels match the key.
- Text Entry:
- Short Answer: The user's input must exactly match your answer key. (Case-insensitive).
- Fill in the Blank: Checks specific keywords in specific slots.
👨🏫 Manual Evaluation
- Essay:
- These questions require human review.
- By default, they receive a score of 0 until an instructor grades them.
- Future Update: We are exploring AI/LLM integration to provide automatic preliminary grading for essays.
Deep Dive: Matching Matrix
Matching Matrix is a grid-based question type that supports many-to-many relationships between two groups of items. Unlike Matching Pairs (which is strictly one-to-one), a single left-side item can map to multiple right-side items, and vice versa.
When to Use
- Classify items into overlapping categories (e.g., "Which vitamins are found in which foods?")
- Questions where a single item belongs to more than one group
- Any scenario that naturally forms a grid/matrix of checkboxes
How It Works
You define two groups of options:
| Group | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Left items | Row headers | Apple, Banana, Carrot |
| Right items | Column headers | Vitamin A, Vitamin C |
The participant sees a card-based layout where each left item shows the available right items as toggleable chips. They tick every cell that applies.
Answer Format (DSL)
Matching Matrix reuses the same key:value comma-separated DSL as Matching Pairs. The difference is that duplicate left-side keys are allowed to express one-to-many mappings.
A:1,A:2,B:2,C:1
This means:
- A → 2
- B → 2
- C → 1
Scoring
Scoring is per-cell with a penalty for wrong selections:
Where:
- matched = number of user cells that exist in the answer key
- wrong = number of user cells that do NOT exist in the answer key
- total correct cells = number of cells in the answer key
is_correct is true only when matched == total and wrong == 0.
Scoring Examples
Given correct answer A:1,A:2,B:2,C:1 (4 cells):
| User Answer | Matched | Wrong | Score | Correct? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A:1,A:2,B:2,C:1 | 4 | 0 | 1.0 | ✅ |
A:1,B:2,C:1 | 3 | 0 | 0.75 | ❌ |
A:1,B:2,C:2 | 2 | 1 | 0.25 | ❌ |
A:1,B:2,A:2,C:1,C:2 | 4 | 1 | 0.75 | ❌ |
| Ticks everything | 4 | N | 0.0* | ❌ |
* When the user ticks all possible cells, the wrong count cancels out the matched count.
Matching Pairs is one-to-one — each left item maps to exactly one right item. Duplicate left keys are rejected during validation.
Matching Matrix is many-to-many — a left item can map to multiple right items. The scoring is per-cell rather than per-pair.
Question Types Summary
| Type | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Choice | Pick one correct option from a list. | Auto (Label) |
| Multiple Select | Pick all correct options from a list. | Auto (Label) |
| True/False | A simple binary choice. | Auto (Value) |
| Ordering | A list of items must be dragged into the correct sequence. | Auto (Label Sequence) |
| Matching Pairs | Match items on the left with items on the right. | Auto (Label Pairs) |
| Matching Matrix | Grid-based many-to-many matching between two groups. | Auto (Cell Scoring) |
| Fill Blank | A sentence with missing words. | Auto (Text Match) |
| Short Answer | A direct question requiring a specific word or phrase. | Auto (Exact Text Match) |
| Essay | Long-form writing answer. | Manual |