Questions & Assessments

Questions are a powerful way to check learning, engage your students, and collect valuable data. CoursePipelines makes it easy to create different types of questions and track how your learners respond.

How Questions Work with CoursePipelines

When you add questions to your courses, CoursePipelines can:

• Track how learners answer
• Store responses as variables
• Share this information with chatbots
• Create visual reports of results
• Identify topics where learners need help

Types of Questions You Can Create

Multiple Choice Questions

• Let learners select one or more correct answers
• Great for testing knowledge recall
• Easy to score automatically

Example:

Which of these are mammals? (Select all that apply)
[ ] Fish
[x] Dog
[x] Whale
[ ] Snake

True/False Questions

• Simple yes/no or true/false questions
• Quick knowledge checks
• Perfect for confirming understanding

Example:

True or False: The Earth orbits around the sun.
(x) True
( ) False

Short Answer Questions

• Learners type in their own answers
• Tests deeper understanding
• Can be automatically checked against keywords

Example:

What is the capital of France?
[____________] (Paris)

Numerical Questions

• Answers must be numbers
• Good for math or science courses
• Can accept exact answers or ranges

Example:

What is 5 × 7?
[____________] (35)

Creating Questions in CoursePipelines

1. Go to the Questions section of your dashboard
2. Click + Create Question
3. Select the question type
4. Write your question text
5. Add answer options (for multiple choice) or correct answer
6. Set scoring rules
7. Add helpful feedback for correct and incorrect answers
8. Save your question

Tracking Answers with Variables

Each question automatically creates variables that track:

• Whether the learner answered correctly
• How long they took to answer
• How many attempts they made
• The specific answer they chose

These variables can be:

• Viewed in reports and charts
• Used to determine learning paths
• Sent to chatbots to personalize help
• Analyzed to improve your course content
• Mapped to course variables via question piping

Question Output Mapping (Piping)

Question piping allows you to directly map question outputs to course variables. This powerful feature enables you to:

• Connect specific question results with course variables
• Use course questions as data sources for your pipeline
• Build dynamic learning paths based on assessment performance

Available Question Outputs

You can map three types of question outputs to course variables:

1. correct (boolean) - Whether the learner answered correctly
2. points_assigned (number) - The point value awarded for the response
3. answer_choice (string) - The specific option the learner selected

Setting Up Question Piping

1. Select a course in the pipeline editor
2. Choose questions from that course in the question selector
3. When configuring the question node, map question outputs to course variables
4. Use these variables in other components of your pipeline

This creates a direct connection between learner responses and your pipeline logic.

Creating Smart Question Flows

You can set up your questions to adapt based on how learners respond:

Basic Question Flow

This simple flow:

1. Asks an initial question
2. If correct, moves to the next question
3. If incorrect, shows review material
4. Then lets the learner try again

Advanced Question Flow with Chatbot Support

In this advanced example:

1. If learners struggle with a question, they get chatbot help
2. The chatbot provides personalized explanations
3. Questions get progressively more challenging
4. Different levels of help are provided based on the difficulty

Question Piping to Course Variables and Actions

This pipeline shows:

1. Question outputs from Course A are mapped to specific course variables
2. The math_proficiency variable (from correct/incorrect) determines chatbot interaction
3. The math_score variable (from points) triggers an email action when scores are high
4. The preferred_method variable (from answer choices) influences content in Course B

Viewing Question Results

Individual Results

See how each learner performed:

• Which questions they answered correctly
• How long they took
• How many attempts they made

Group Reports

See trends across all learners:

• Which questions were most difficult
• Average scores
• Most common wrong answers

Visual Charts

Visual representations make data easy to understand:

• Bar charts for score distribution
• Line charts for progress over time
• Pie charts for answer breakdowns

Tips for Creating Effective Questions

1. Be Clear and Specific

   • Avoid vague or confusing language
   • Ask only one thing per question

2. Provide Helpful Feedback

   • For correct answers: Reinforce why it's right
   • For incorrect answers: Explain the right answer

3. Use a Mix of Question Types

   • Different types test different skills
   • Variety keeps learners engaged

4. Start Simple, Then Get Harder

   • Begin with easier questions to build confidence
   • Gradually increase difficulty

5. Use Questions for Learning, Not Just Testing

   • Questions can be teaching tools
   • They highlight important concepts
   • They help learners identify knowledge gaps

Connecting Questions to Chatbots

When you connect questions to chatbots, they can:

1. Provide Immediate Help

   • If a learner answers incorrectly, the chatbot can explain the concept
   • Example: "I see you got that question about photosynthesis wrong. Would you like me to explain it differently?"

2. Offer Personalized Feedback

   • Based on specific answers or patterns
   • Example: "I notice you're having trouble with fractions. Let's review them together."

3. Suggest Next Steps

   • Recommend additional resources or practice
   • Example: "Since you aced the basic questions, you might be ready for the advanced module."

Getting Started with Questions

1. Create a simple set of questions for your course
2. Add variables to track the responses
3. Connect these variables to your pipeline
4. Review the data to see how learners are doing
5. Use this information to improve your course content

Need more help? Contact our support team at questions@coursepipelines.com.