Palette Questions

Question Mode: palette

qu.x.y.mode=palette@

Palette questions enable you to use the WebEQ programmable editor interface to create your own customized palette for student response entries.  

• To create a new palette question, you must first get familiar with the WebEQ Developer requirements and syntax.  

• Next, select from the list of available palettes and templates in the WebEQ editor, and create a toolbar definition for your palette.  

• This toolbar definition is included in the header information for your question bank using the qu.env.palette.toolbarname= structure (see below).  

• After defining a custom palette for student response entry, you can use it in any question within your question bank.  

Grading of Palette Questions

The default behavior for grading palette question student responses is to perform string-matching on the palette-created expression.

Note:  Palette questions should only be created using the Question Bank Editor.  Palette questions work by using WebEQ to generate Presentation MathML for the student response and compare it with the Presentation MathML of the answer. However because there are many different ways of making Presentation MathML for the same (or almost same) marked-up expression, creating the expressions outside WebEQ may generate unpredictable results and it would be very hard if not impossible to tell if WebEQ-produced expressions are the same as expressions created outside the package.  
The "trick" that lets the Palette question work is that both the student and the instructor and typing the answer into WebEQ, so it's pretty likely that the markup will be the same.

Example Question

qu.1.1.mode=palette@

qu.1.1.question=

  <the text of the question>

@

qu.1.1.answer=

  <the text of the answer; this is in MathML and is intended to be human-editable>

@

qu.1.1.toolbar=<ref to external toolbar definition; see below>@

Toolbar/Palette definition in the Question Bank Header

Provide definitions for the Palette questions to use by including

qu.env.palette.toolbarname=

  <webeq toolbar def>

@

Example Header Toolbar/Palette Definition:  

qu.env.palette.subsup=

  <btn>FRAC</btn>

  <btn>SQRT</btn>

  <btn>SUB</btn>

  <btn>SUP</btn>

@

qu.env.palette.greek=

  <tb>

    <btn>SYMBOLPALETTE</btn>

  <sub cols=3>

    <btn>alpha</btn>

    <btn>beta</btn>

    <btn>gamma</btn>

  </sub>

  </tb>

@

See Also:

Creating Palette Questions in the QBE

Rules for Grading Free Response Questions

WebEQ Toolbar

WebEQ Palettes and Templates