Take writing and essay questions to the next level with Edulastic! Writing question items can effectively test your students’ ability to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the lesson material. Edulastic offers four different writing questions available to everyone and perfect for any subject! 

Writing technology-enhanced items (TEIs) are beneficial for assessing higher-level learning objectives and critical thinking. Essay responses require students to make connections and observations, spend time organizing their thoughts, and compose a thorough answer. Unlike multiple choice question types, writing does not involve recognition and recall. Instead, students are able to apply their knowledge and elaborate on their answers. Additionally, writing questions allow students to hone their writing skills. Students will learn how to develop arguments supported by ample evidence and reasoning. 

All four of Edulastic’s writing questions are effective in assessing your students’ critical thinking, writing, and analysis skills. Because these are long response questions, they are not auto-graded (except for short text, if you choose this feature). 

Explore the question types below and check out Edulastic’s 50+ Question Type Showcase!

Essay with Rich Text

What it is: Essay with Rich Text allows students to submit an evidence-based analysis response to a given prompt. In their answers, students can utilize a range of functions, like basic text, paragraph functions, and special characters. You can manually provide feedback and assign a score. 

How to use it: Typically, this question item is used to assess students’ essay-writing abilities. For example, an ELA teacher may utilize this question item for a five-paragraph literature response essay while a Social Studies teacher may ask students to analyze a historical period. However, math teachers may also assign this question item; students can insert math symbols in the response area. This is the ultimate multipurpose tool of essay questions!

Essay with Plain Text

What it is: Essay with Plain Text items allow students to type a response to a given prompt. In this TEI, students do not have advanced functions, like bold, italics, or math symbols. The only features available in the answer area are Copy, Cut, and Paste.

How to use it: Use this question type if you don’t want your students to worry about formatting their essay. This is a simple written response that mimics some state tests. 

Short Text

What it is: This question item requires students to type the correct answer into the given text box. Usually, answers consist of simple numerical values or short phrases. Short text questions can be either auto or manually graded.

How to use it: Minimize guessing with short text questions! This question type can be universally utilized for any subject at every grade level. Math teachers may use this question item for a quick multiplication table quiz, where students enter the correct numerical value. On the other hand, social studies teachers can assess their students’ knowledge of historical facts from past lessons.

Upload File

What it is: The Upload File TEI allows students to attach external photos or PDFs to their Edulastic lesson or assessment. In addition, the response section includes special text and paragraph functions, so students can type an answer to a prompt as well. 

How to use it: Upload File questions are great for any grade or subject! The file attachment option is awesome for students to upload additional diagrams, maps, or show work to complement their written answers.

Writing and essay question items are perfect for in-depth knowledge checks. This is because they tackle multiple dimensions of comprehension. Not only do these questions hone and evaluate students’ written communication skills, but they also challenge students’ abilities to elaborate information in a comprehensive manner. 

Edulastic’s Essay with Rich Text, Essay with Plain Text, Short Answer, and Upload File writing question items are highly effective in assessing students’ critical thinking and writing skills. While Essay with Rich and Plain Text items mimic more traditional long-response questions, Short Text and Upload File offer more versatility! Uploading files allows students to attach external documents and photos to complement your question. 

Try these writing question items, and discover over 50+ different TEI’s in Edulastic’s Question Type Showcase!

Feeling Inspired?

  • Edulastic offers 50 question types, so you can create effective assignments! Check them out here, and learn how to implement different question types to add variety to your coursework.
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