Enterprise Portal: Search for Questions in your Courses

Whether you are working in your question bank or creating an exam, you can search for questions by using keywords from the question title, stem, or ID, or the answer choices. You can apply filters to narrow down or expand the search.

 

Before You Begin

Become familiar with the way that the questions are organized in your portal. For example, learn about the categories that are in use. Categories can be useful for filtering the search results. For more information about Category Management, see: Enterprise Portal: Add and Manage Categories

 

Procedures and Examples

• Navigate to the Question Search Window
• Use the Question Search Window
• Course Filter Example
• Category Filters Examples
• Blueprint Example

 

Navigate to the Question Search Window

• If you're not working on an assessment currently: Navigate to your course, and then select the Questions menu (at the top of the screen).

  

• If you're working on a Question Bank exam: On the Build Assessment page of your assessment, select the plus button, and then select Find Questions.

  

• If you're working on a Blueprint-based exam: On the Build Assessment page of your assessment, set up your content area, select Add Questions, and then select Find Questions.

  

 

Use the Question Search Window

• After you select the Find Questions button, the results will include only questions from the current course. You can use the Course filter to expand the results. See the Course Filter Example later in this article.

  Note: If you are working on a category-based Content Area in a Blueprint exam, the results will be further restricted to include only questions from the selected category. For tips, see the Blueprint Example later in this article.

  

• To see more information about a question in the results list: Select the eye icon.

  

• Search: Enter words (or just a few characters), and then select the type of search, as illustrated below. You can search in the question title, question stem, question ID, or answer choices.

  

  Tips:

  • If you don't see the expected results, try again but select a different type of search. For example, if you searched for the word president in the question title, try again but select Question Stem Containing as the search type.
  • Try synonyms and other spellings for your keywords. The search engine is looking for exact matches. 
• Filters: Select Filter to display the options. After setting up your filters, select Apply Filters. (Whenever you change the options or the search terms, reselect the button to reapply the filters.)

  

  • You can narrow down the results by specifying the question type (such as Multiple Choice or Fill in the Blank), the owner, the date created, the category, the assessment that the question was used on, and the question performance statistics. For more details about the category searches, see the Categories Examples later in this article.
  • You can use the Course option to include questions from other courses that you have access to. For details, see the "Course Filters Example" later in this article.
  • To remove all filters: Select Clear All Filters.
  • In the Owners list, enter one or more characters, and then select a name from the drop-down list. (There might be a slight delay before the matching names appear in the list.)

    

  • In the Question Type, Owners, and Categories fields, you can make multiple selections. The number of selections will be shown on the drop-down arrow, which you can select to see the details. You can remove a selection by selecting the X button.

    

  • In the Question Performance Stats section, you can set up the ranges by dragging the sliders or by entering numbers in the boxes. The search will find questions that match all selected ranges. For explanations of the various performance statistics, see: A Guide to the Statistics (Legacy and Enterprise Portal)
  • Remember to reselect Apply Filters after making any changes.

 

Course Filter Example

With the Course filter, you can search across additional courses that you have access to. After turning on the Course filter, start typing in the box. Then select a course from the drop-down menu. You can repeat this step to add additional courses.


Tip: If you're unsure which course contains the questions that you want, or if you want to select multiple courses more quickly, enter one or more characters in the box, and then select Browse More (at the bottom of the menu). This option takes you to a window where you can search for courses and easily select multiple courses.



Within the Course window, select the plus sign for each course that you want to add, or use the plus sign in the header row to select all courses. Then select Save to return to the question search window.

 

Category Filters Examples

In the three Categories fields, you can enter one or more characters, and then select a category from the drop-down list. Or select Browse All to open a slide-out window. There, you can scroll or search to find a category. After making your selections in that window, select Save to return to the question search window.

The various Categories fields provide different types of filters. In this example, we want to find all questions that are tagged with all of the selected categories. 

In this example, we want to find the questions that are tagged with the categories Remember, Understand, Apply, or Analyze, but not if they also are tagged with the Evaluate category.

Tip: Category filters are dependent on good category management and consistent category tagging. If you haven't set up categories in your portal, or if your admins are not assigning categories when creating questions, then the category filters might not show the expected results. For how-to information, see: Enterprise Portal: Add and Manage Categories and Enterprise Portal: Assign Categories to Questions

 

Blueprint Example

In this example, we're using a blueprint to create our exam. We've created a category-based content area with Nurse Think Testing as the category. We've selected various sub-categories to populate this content area. 



When the search page appears, no questions are listed for this sub-category and course. However, a message indicates that we an find questions in other courses.


In this example, we need to select the  Filter button, turn on the Course filter, and then select the course(s) to include.

Additional tips for this example:

• Remember to select Apply Filters to see the results.
• Be aware that category-based Content Areas are dependent on good category management and consistent category tagging. If you haven't set up categories in your portal, or if your admins are not assigning categories when creating questions, then the category filters might not show the expected results. For how-to information, see: Enterprise Portal: Add and Manage Categories and Enterprise Portal: Assign Categories to Questions
• If you are having trouble finding questions when using a category-based Content Area, consider creating a Content Area without a category selected. Then the search will include all questions and will not be limited to a single category. With this approach, you might find it easier to explore the available questions. For more information about setting up your Blueprint this way, see the Free-Form Content Area section in the Create an Assessment Blueprints article.