The Fill in the blank (FITB) item type asks the candidate to type a missing word or phrase into one or more blanks in a sentence. Use this article to create a FITB item.
Fill in the blank is auto-scored.
Create a Fill in the blank item
In a collection, select + Add and choose Fill in the blank.
- Enter the title for internal use.
- Enter the question in the rich text editor.
- Enter the answer text in the answer box.
- Highlight the word or phrase you want to blank out and select + Create blank. The highlighted text is replaced with a numbered placeholder and listed under Blanked words.
- Optionally enter correct alternatives in the alternatives box, separated by commas.
- Set the maximum score.
- Save and close.
When an accepted answer contains a comma (for example a price like € 3,49), put the whole value in quotation marks and use commas to separate alternatives: "€ 3,49", "3,49".
To remove a blank, select Remove at the end of its row. To edit a blank, hover and select it.
Case sensitivity
Tick the case-sensitive option if the candidate's answer must match exact capitalisation.
Spelling tolerance
Set a spelling error number to allow minor spelling mistakes. The tolerance uses the Levenshtein algorithm: a tolerance of 1 accepts answers that are one character different from the correct answer, a tolerance of 2 accepts two-character differences, and so on.
Scoring type
Fill in the blank uses dichotomous scoring by default. Switch to polytomous in Options to award partial credit when only some blanks are correct. See Polytomous and dichotomous scoring.
Related articles
- How to add and use items
- Select from list for blanks with a fixed dropdown of options.
- Short answer for free-text answers with no embedded blanks.