This article details the expected functionality of a portion of the refreshed Absorb LMS Admin Experience (AE). Click here to learn more about this free upgrade available to you.
Overview
Assessments and Surveys are comprised of questions which can be used to evaluate Learners or gather responses and feedback from Learners. Question Banks are a collection of questions and answers that can be used in an Assessment Learning Object. This article will explain how to add questions within Assessment and Survey Learning Objects, and how to manage Question Banks for Assessments.
Assessments
This section will include an example and written instructions on how to add a question to an Assessment Learning Object.
Watch: Example
Written Instructions: Assessment
The following instructions begin from the Add Assessment pop-up window when creating an Assessment Learning Object. You will find Manage Questions under the Questions setting drop-down.
1. Click the Manage Questions button.
- This action will update the pop-up window to the Manage Questions dashboard.
Note: You can re-name Question Groups. Question Group "#" is the default naming convention assigned.
2. From the Manage Questions dashboard, click the Add Question button at the bottom of the page.
- This action will update the pop-up window to the Add Question form.
3. Add Question Settings
Setting | Details |
Question | Enter the Assessment Question. This is a required field. |
Question Type |
Click the drop-down menu to select a Question Type.
|
Option/Answers |
Create an Answer Option and identify it as "Correct" or "Incorrect".
|
Attachment |
Question Attachments are available to Learners during the Assessment. Click the radio button to select an option:
|
Weight per Question | Assign a weight value to each individual question. |
4. Click the Save button to save the Assessment Question.
- This action will return you to the Manage Questions dashboard.
5. From the Manage Questions dashboard, you can choose to add more questions or apply a Question Bank to the Assessment. When finished configuring the Assessment Questions, click the Apply button.
- This action will return you to the Add Assessment settings form.
6. From the Add Assessment form, click the Apply button to save and close the Assessment Learning Object.
- The pop-up window will close and you will return to the Add Online Course form.
7. Choose to Publish, Quick Publish, or Save as New Version by clicking the appropriate button from the right-hand context menu.
Assessment Weight Calculation
At times, an Online Course may contain more than one Assessment. By enabling Assessment is Weighted, you are able to assign a weight value to each Assessment, and the total scores of the Assessments will contribute towards the Learners overall course score based on their weighting.
Here's an easy way to calculate the assessment weight of multiple Assessment scores that will make up the Learners overall Online Course score:
AssessmentScore x (AssessmentWeight/TotalWeight)
TotalWeight=24
88% x (3/24) = 0.88 x 0.125 = 0.11
97% x (7/24) = 0.97 x 0.292 = 0.28
73% x (14/24) = 0.73 x 0.583 = 0.43
0.11 + 0.28 + 0.43 = 0.82
Course Score = 82%
Surveys
This section will include an example and written instructions on how to add a question to a Survey Learning Object.
Watch: Example
Written Instructions: Survey
The following instructions begin from the Add Survey pop-up window when creating a Survey Learning Object. You will find Manage Questions under the Questions setting drop-down.
1. Click the Manage Questions button.
- This action will update the pop-up window to the Manage Questions dashboard.
Note: You can re-name Question Groups. Question Group "#" is the default naming convention assigned.
2. From the Manage Questions dashboard, click the Add Question button at the bottom of the page.
- This action will update the pop-up window to the Add Question form.
3. Add Question Settings
Setting | Details |
Question | Enter the Assessment Question. This is a required field. |
Question Type |
Click the drop-down menu to select a Question Type:
|
Restrict Input To |
Click the drop-down menu to select the type of input you wish the Learner to respond with:
|
Character Limit |
Enter the Character Limit number. This will limit the Learners characters for a Free Form Inquiry question. If left blank, the Character Limit will be infinite. |
Attachment |
Question Attachments are available to Learners during the Survey. Click the radio button to select an option:
|
4. Click the Save button to save the Survey Question.
- This action will return you to the Manage Questions dashboard.
5. From the Manage Questions dashboard, you can choose to add more questions. When finished configuring the Survey Questions, click the Apply button.
- This action will return you to the Add Survey settings form.
6. From the Add Survey form, click the Apply button to save and close the Assessment Learning Object.
- The pop-up window will close and you will return to the Add Online Course form.
7. Choose to Publish, Quick Publish, or Save as New Version by clicking the appropriate button from the right-hand context menu.
Question Groups
Question Groups allow you to organize Assessment or Survey questions. By adding a Question Group, you're able to divide questions into groupings based on varying topics. To the Learner, the questions will be shown seamlessly, and will not interrupt the flow of the Assessment or Survey. This section will provide instructions on how to add Questions Groups to an Assessment or Survey.
Watch: Example
Written Instructions: Question Groups
The following two-step instructions begin from the Add Assessment or Survey pop-up window under the Questions setting section.
1. Click the Add Question Group button.
- This action will add another Question Group section where you can organize additional Questions.
2. After adding a Question Group, this action will populate another Manage Questions dashboard.
- Here, you can re-name the Question Group and add Questions via the Manage Questions button.
Question Banks
A Question Bank is a set of questions and answers that you can re-use and apply across multiple Assessment Learning Objects. This section will provide instructions on how to create a Question Bank and how to add a Question Bank to an Assessment.
Important FYI

This will reset the User's progress, and force them to begin the Exam again. Reset Lesson Activity is not an action that can be performed in bulk, so it must be completed on a User-by-User basis.
If you need to change the information within a question or answer, it is possible to duplicate a Question Bank and update or remove questions in the new Question Bank. Once you've done so, you can then update the linked Question Bank within the Assessment learning object to the new Question bank. The old Question Bank will still remain available, allowing reports to pull the data from them.
How to Create a Question Bank
Watch: Example
Written Instructions: How to create a Question Bank
1. To begin, click the Courses button from the left-hand main navigation menu.
- This action will open a fly-out sub-menu window. From here, click Question Banks.
- You will be routed to the Question Banks Report.
2. From the Question Banks Report page, click the Question Bank button
- This action will route you to the Add Question Bank form.
3. Enter the Question Bank's Name in the Name field.
- This is a required field.
- The Question Bank's Name is visible within the Admin Interface, but not in the Learner Experience.
4. Click the Create Question button.
- This action will open the Question form where you will configure the Question(s).
5. Add Create Question Settings:
Setting | Details |
Questions | Enter the Question Bank Question. This is a required field. |
Types | Click the drop-down menu to select a Question Type from the list.
|
Options/Answer |
Create an Answer Option and identify it as "Correct" or "Incorrect".
|
Add Option/Answer | Click the Add Option/Answer button to create more answer choices for the question. |
Correct Reply | Optional: The message entered into this field will be presented to Learners when they select the correct answer option. |
Incorrect Reply | Optional: The message entered into this field will be presented to Learners when they select the incorrect answer option. |
Attachment |
Question Attachments are available to Learners during the Assessment. Click the radio button to select an option:
|
6. Add more questions to the Question Bank by clicking the Create Question button and following the steps listed above.
7. When you are finished configuring the Question Bank, click the Save button.
- This action will return you to the Question Bank Report.
- The Question Bank will be available to be added to Assessments.
How to add a Question Bank to an Assessment
Watch: Example
Written Instructions: How to add a Question Bank to an Assessment
The following instructions begin from the Add Assessment pop-up window when creating an Assessment Learning Object.
1. Click the Manage Questions button.
- The button is located in the Questions section of the Add Assessment pop-up window.
- This action will update the pop-up window to the Manage Questions dashboard.
Note: You can re-name Question Groups. Question Group "#" is the default naming convention assigned.
2. From the Manage Questions dashboard, click the Use Question Bank button.
- This action will update the pop-up window to the Add Question Bank form.
3. Add Question Bank Settings:
-
Select Question Bank: Click the drop-down menu to display a list of available Question Banks and select one. This is a required field.
- Weight Per Question: The default weight value is one (1). To change the value, click the field and enter a new number. This is a required field.
4. Click the Save button.
- The selected Question Bank will be added to the Assessment Question Group.
- This action will route you back to the Manage Questions dashboard.
5. From the Manage Questions dashboard, you can choose to add individual Questions or additional Question Banks to the Assessment.
6. When you are finished, click the Apply button to save and close the Assessment Question Group.
- This action will route you back to the Add Assessment settings form.
Permissions: Question Banks
Question Banks have their own set of permissions that be configured. You can grant access to View and/or Modify Question Banks to your administrators.
Existing Role Permission | Automatically Grants New Permission(s) |
Online Courses > View selected | Question Banks > View selected |
Online Courses > Modify selected | Question Banks > Modify selected |
- Admins without either of the new permissions will be unable to view the Questions Banks Report or edit Question Banks within an Online Course Assessment.
- Admins will be able to see the total number of questions contained within the Assessment.
The following table displays how Question Bank permission settings will impact interactions with the Question Banks Report and Online Courses > Assessments.
Permission | Question Banks Report | Online Course Assessments | Thumbnail |
View | The administrator can view the Question Banks Report. | The "Use Question Bank" button is available. | ![]() |
Modify | The report's right-side action menu is unavailable. |
The "Use Question Bank" button is unavailable. Current Question Banks are hidden |
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View & Modify | The administrator has full permission to view and modify information from the Question Banks Report. |
The "Use Question Bank" button is available. The administrator can edit current Question Banks. |
![]() |
None | The administrator is unable to access the Question Banks Report. | The administrator is unable to edit or view Question Banks. | ![]() |