Author a spreadsheet question

A spreadsheet question involves students entering data into the spreadsheet as directed by the question text.

Spreadsheet questions are helpful if you want to provide the student with tabulated data, or if you want the student to enter data or perform spreadsheet calculations without having to leave Möbius.

Spreadsheet questions require manual grading.

A read-only static rendering of the student's response is shown to students and instructors in both the Gradebook and in feedback after the assignment submission.

TIP: You can include an algorithm in your spreadsheet question! Check out Author an algorithmic question.

TIP: All questions are authored using the Question Editor. Check out Author a question to learn how to access the Question Editor.

To author a spreadsheet question

To author a spreadsheet question from the Question Editor:

1. Enter the question statement in the Question Text pane of the Question Editor.

1. Click Möbius component to select the type of student response for this question.

NOTE: A question can have multiple parts, with each question part using a different type of student response component. Example — A question could contain two components; the first part using a document upload component, and the second part a multiple choice question.

1.  Click Spreadsheet from the list of student response components.

1.  Assign a weight to the response. The default weighting is 1.

TIP: The weight of the component can be any integer greater than 0, and is calculated proportionate to the total of all weights across the question. Example — A question with two components could have the first weighted as 2, and the second weighted as 4. This means that the second component will be worth twice as much as the first when calculating the total grade for the question.

1. In a cell of the spreadsheet, right-click to use the context menu. You can do any of the following:

• Insert row/column — Add a row or column to the table, either before or after the selected row or column.
• Remove row/column — Delete the selected row(s) or column(s) from the table.
• Undo/Redo — Undo the most recent change to the table, or redo the most recent change that was undone.
• Read only — Lock the contents of the selected cell(s) so they can't be changed by students answering the question.
• Alignment — Change the horizontal or vertical alignment of text within the selected cell(s).
• Copy/Cut — Copy or cut the contents of the selected cell(s).

IMPORTANT: There is a limit of 20 rows and 20 columns on the spreadsheet, to ensure it remains navigable for students and instructors.

TIP: You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to cut, copy and paste the contents of the selected cell(s).

NOTE: Students won't have the options of inserting or deleting rows or columns when they attempt the spreadsheet question in an activity. Check out Navigate a spreadsheet to see what menu options and keyboard shortcuts are available to the student.

1. Enter text or formulas into cells as desired, using the Read only option in the context menu to prevent students from changing the cells.

TIP: Formulas are written starting with an equal sign (=). Cell references are written as either an upper-case or lower-case letter followed by a number (Example — write A2 or a2 to reference the value in the first column and second row).

NOTE: Check out the documentation for built-in functions for a full list of pre-built functions available with the spreadsheet component.

1. Click Insert to add this student response component to the question.

1. The component is inserted into your question.

1. Click Preview to trial your new question to ensure that it behaves as expected.

TIP: You first have to click the save iconif you're creating this question from within an Activity Editor. After the question has been saved, you can then click the preview iconto ensure that your new question behaves as expected.

1. Click Save to save your new question. Your new question is now stored in the Questions pane of the Content Repository.

TIP: Click the save iconif you're creating this question from within an Activity Editor. This saves your question to the activity and the Content Repository.

Grading details for spreadsheet questions

Spreadsheet questions appear in the Gradebook but must be manually graded; these question types can't be automatically graded by Möbius.

TIP: Check out Manually grade a spreadsheet question.

Authoring a correct answer or feedback isn't currently supported for spreadsheet questions.