15+ activities to master open-ended question types in BookWidgets for better student engagement
Chelsey Both —
Want to spark deeper thinking in your classroom? Open-Ended Questions in the classroom are a game-changer! Unlike multiple-choice or yes/no questions, they encourage students to explain, analyze, and think critically. Let’s look at what Open-Ended Questions are, and how you can use them across subjects with BookWidgets.
In this blog, we’ll explore:
- What Are Open-Ended Questions?
- Open-Ended Question Types in BookWidgets: Text, Audio & More
- Open-Ended Questions in the Classroom
- How to Score Open-Ended Questions
- Are Open-Ended Questions still relevant in the age of AI?
What Are Open-Ended Questions?
There are different views on what qualifies as an Open-Ended Question. It’s often said that these are questions where students respond with a longer piece of text. However, Open-Ended Questions don’t always require long answers. They can also include Photo Questions or Audio Recording Questions. Unlike Multiple choice or Fill in the blanks questions, which have fixed answers, Open-Ended Questions encourage interpretation, creativity, and deeper understanding. While they offer more insight into a student’s thinking, they are more difficult to grade automatically due to the wide variety of possible responses.
Benefits of Open-Ended Questions in the Classroom:
Deep understanding: Students must articulate their knowledge and reasoning, reinforcing their comprehension of the material.
Creativity and critical thinking: Instead of simply selecting an option, students actively think and structure their response.
Insights into the learning process: Teachers gain a better understanding of how students reason and where potential misconceptions lie.
👉 Want to learn more about using Open-Ended Questions in BookWidgets? Be sure to check out this webinar on Open-Ended Questions and Rubrics!
Open-Ended Question Types in BookWidgets: Text, Audio & More
1. Long Answer Question: Students can answer this question with a longer piece of text or paragraph.
2. Rich Text Paragraph Question: Students can respond with a longer formatted text (bullet points, colors, etc.).
3. Whiteboard Question: Students can make a drawing or use the typing tools to reply to your question.
4. Photo Question: Students upload an image or take a photo with their camera to answer the question.
5. Audio Recording Question: Students provide an oral answer using their microphone.
🧑🏫 These question types are available in our Quiz, Video Quiz, Worksheet, and Split Worksheet widget types. You can create digital assignments with 36 question types, 30 of which can be automatically graded. Explore all our question types on our website.
Open-Ended Questions in the Classroom
In this chapter, we’ll explore activities that incorporate Open-Ended Questions to enhance student learning. The chapter is divided into three key sections:
I’ll also provide you with some helpful tips for effectively using Open-Ended Questions in your classroom.
Open-Ended Question Activities for Language and Arts
Activity 1 - Write and Evaluate: In this worksheet example, we focus on the Long Answer Question format, where students are asked to express their thoughts on a specific topic. This provides an opportunity for students to engage in creative writing and develop critical thinking skills. Using Open-Ended Questions allows students to explore the topic in depth, while the rubric for self-assessment acts as a formative assessment tool, helping them evaluate the quality of their work and identify areas for improvement. Finally, students are encouraged to perform a critical reflection on their writing skills, enhancing their learning process and self-awareness.
💡 Tip: Use the word counter feature so students can see the length of their response. This is especially helpful when you want students to adhere to a specific word limit. It ensures they don’t write too much or too little.
Activity 2 - Step-by-Step Guide to Write a Book Report: Looking for a way to make book reports exciting again? Our Random Book Report Assignment using the Split Worksheet Widget is the perfect solution. With the Randomness Widget on the left side, students will spin three times to determine the key aspects of the book they need to describe. After uncovering their three focus areas, students can begin answering the targeted questions on the right side of the page, offering a fresh and engaging approach to book report assignments.
💡 Tip: Use our Rich Text Paragraph question to allow students to respond with a longer formatted text. They can use bullet points, colors, etc.
Activity 3 - Create Your Own Art: In this art quiz activity, students begin by answering questions about four famous paintings, applying the art theory they’ve learned to deepen their understanding of various painting styles. After reflecting on the artworks, students then have the opportunity to create their own artwork, inspired by the style of one of the four paintings discussed.
Activity 4 - Prepositions: Looking for an interactive way to teach prepositions? With this Worksheet Widget, students can visualize language concepts by using the Whiteboard Question. They’ll read a short text filled with prepositions of place and movement and then bring it to life by drawing the scene using the drawing tools.
Activity 5 - Book Spine Poetry: The next activity is a fun and creative exercise to do with your students in the library. Each student will search for a book spine poetry by selecting five books whose titles together form a poem. They will stack the books, take a photo of their creation, and submit the photo via this widget.
Activity 6 - Literary Devices Quiz: This short quiz introduces literary devices like simile, metaphor, and personification in an accessible way. It helps you check what your students already know and spot common misunderstandings early on.
💡 Tip: Start using labels in your grading process. By incorporating labels into your routine, you can save valuable time while providing students with clear and actionable feedback. For more details, explore this section of the blog.
Math and Science Activities with Open-Ended Questions
Activity 7 - Geometry Concepts: In this Math Worksheet, students first explain the properties of a geometric figure, detailing concepts like symmetry, angles, and proportions. After providing their explanation, they draw the figure based on their understanding. This task helps students improve their math skills by combining explanation with visualization.
💡 Tip: Use the scratchpad feature to allow students to draw. Make sure to clearly communicate that everything drawn on the scratchpad will also be evaluated. This ensures students understand that their drawings are just as important as their explanations and encourages them to put effort into both. Students can find the scratchpad below the answer field.
Activity 8 - Data Analysis: Boost independent learning with this Split Worksheet Widget. In this exercise, students can view a virtual map from the World Food Programme on the left side while answering questions on the right. Each student can work at their own pace, write as much as needed, and enhance their responses with colors or bullet points for better clarity.
💡 Tip: Make sure everything is clear for your students, by adding a hint to your questions. If they need extra guidance, they can click on the hint for more information. In this exercise, you can see how a task looks with hints added.
Activity 9 - Vector Diagram In this Worksheet activity, students will define what a vector is and then draw a vector diagram on the whiteboard to calculate the actual speed of an aircraft. However, if they struggle with the definition, they can start by making the drawing first. This way, they can visualize the concept before formulating the definition.
💡 Tip: Give students access to a calculator in your widget. You can do this by going to General > Calculator > Choose between simple or scientific. This way, they only need to use their computer and don’t need anything else on their desk.
Activity 10 - STEM Ever assigned a homework project and wondered if students truly completed it? Photo Questions provide you with a clear view of their progress, allowing you to request as many photos as needed. When combined with Open-Ended Questions, you can deepen students’ understanding and gain a comprehensive insight into their work, ensuring they fully grasp the assignment.
Cross-Curricular and Creative Uses of Open-Ended Questions
Activity 11 - Time Travel Quiz: In this activity, we’ve combined various question types such as Rich Text Paragraphs, Photos, Audio Recordings, and Long Answer Questions to demonstrate how easy it is to design exercises that go beyond traditional multiple-choice questions. This approach enables students to express themselves in diverse ways, not only through typing but also by speaking, recording, and capturing images.
💡 Tip: Use this Photo Question so students can take “actions” or carry out tasks in practice. The image serves as proof that the students have taken action.
Activity 12 - Code Input: In this exercise, students will write computer code that takes a list of numbers and returns the sum of those numbers. This activity helps students practice working with lists and functions, reinforcing basic programming skills. It’s a simple yet effective way to improve their understanding of how to manipulate data.
💡 Tip: Enable code input for the question. When activated, the input box will use a monospaced font, which is ideal for code, ensuring that the formatting is preserved. This helps students present their code clearly and keeps the structure intact.
Activity 13 - History: Introduce your students to important moments in history by combining various types of content into one easy-to-use widget. This allows students to access everything in one place: reading texts, watching videos, and analyzing images. It’s a versatile and engaging way to deepen students’ understanding of historical events, making learning interactive and comprehensive.
💡 Tip: Use the copy/paste restrictions to prevent students from copying information from external websites. To do this, go to General > Copy/Paste Restrictions > Use Private Clipboard. If you do want to allow them to copy within the widget, enable the text selection and text-to-speech option in the General tab.
Activity 14 - Photo Search Time to burn off some energy! Combine learning something new with the joy of moving around! Let students work individually or in groups. Once that’s decided, they can start searching for the required shapes. To make it even more exciting, turn it into a friendly competition! The winner gets a small prize, such as choosing a song to end the class with. Simple, yet motivating!
Activity 15 - Drawing Dictation Introduce students to the first words of a new language in a fun way. Perfect for those in their final years of primary school or just starting secondary school. If they understand a key word or sentence, they can draw it on the whiteboard. This approach makes learning feel less like studying, as they tap into their creativity. It’s a fun activity that keeps them excited to learn!
💡 Tip: Add an audio recording of yourself reading the phrases aloud so students can instantly hear the correct pronunciation. This also helps them better understand the sentences.
Activity 16 - Travel Agent The next example might be a bit more challenging to do in class since it requires students to record their stories. However, this works great as a graded assignment for home or with a smaller class. Have students spin the Randomness Wheel and create the ultimate vacation plan. Their task is to “sell” the trip either to you or their classmates. If they’re working with a partner, that student can provide feedback using the Rubric.
How to Score Open-Ended Questions
Grading Open-Ended Questions can often be a time-consuming challenge, requiring significant effort to assess each response thoroughly. With our advanced scoring and grading features, we make this process much more efficient, saving you valuable time and energy.
Let’s take a look at the key features that simplify grading Open-Ended Questions and enhance your overall assessment process.
1. Automatic Scoring with Keywords
Automatic rating of multiline answer questions can be done based on keywords or key phrases. You can either list keywords without scores, requiring all of them to appear in the answer, or assign specific scores to each keyword.
To add a score, append ## followed by the keyword’s point value. The total score will never exceed the maximum set in the ‘Correction and scoring options’ section, even if the sum of keyword points is higher.
If multiple alternatives exist for a keyword, they can be listed on the same line, separated by ##. This can be used with or without assigning specific scores. For example: father##dad
2. Provide rationale
When creating widgets you can add a rationale for each question, but not in every widget type. A rationale provides students with immediate insight into the correct answer after submitting their responses. This is not an automatic grading system, but rather a way to show students what was expected of them. Including a rationale makes the grading process much more efficient. You can simply compare the student’s response to the rationale and assess accordingly. This helps ensure faster, more consistent, and more transparent grading. By using rationales in your exercises, you give students valuable feedback and make the grading process smoother for yourself. Try adding rationales to your next widget and experience the benefits firsthand!
3. Working with Correction Labels
Integrating labels into your grading process can save you valuable time while providing students with clear feedback. Labels allow you to quickly highlight key areas such as “Verb Tense” or “Spelling,” making it easier for students to understand where they can improve. After applying a label, you can still add written comments, offering more detailed feedback where needed.
You can create custom labels to fit your specific teaching needs and goals. This method not only streamlines your grading routine but also ensures your feedback is organized, personalized, and impactful for every student. Explore the best correction labels and how to use them effectively in this previous blog post. 
4. Grading Question by Question
Grading Open-Ended Questions question by question ensures a more focused and accurate evaluation. By assessing each question individually, you can better align your feedback with the specific learning objectives of that question. This approach helps maintain consistency across student answers, reduces bias, and allows for more personalized comments. It might also be easier to grade question by question, as it allows you to work through the whole stack of answers in a systematic way. Watch this video to learn more.
5. Grading Student by Student
Grading student by student is particularly useful when questions build on one another. By reviewing a student’s responses as a whole, you can gain a clearer understanding of their overall progress and comprehension. This method allows you to better evaluate the student’s understanding across the entire assignment, ensuring a more comprehensive assessment of their knowledge. Watch this video course to learn more about grading student by student.
6. Correction actions in Scratchpad, Photo & Whiteboard
When students draw on the whiteboard or submit answers through a photo question, their work is automatically displayed in the feedback window. You can easily add written comments or provide audio feedback that students can listen to, offering more personalized guidance.
To view a student’s scratchpad notes, simply click on Scratchpad Notes. This will open the scratchpad, allowing you to see the notes the student has made. You can also provide feedback here, either in writing or as an audio comment, giving students even more support. It is important to clearly mention in your question if you assign points for the scratchpad notes to avoid any confusion.
Keep in mind that these types of questions always require manual correction, as they involve individualized student responses.
Are Open-Ended Questions still relevant in the age of AI?
Would you believe me if I told you that the importance of Open-Ended Questions has actually increased since the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)? In today’s world, where technology continues to advance, critical thinking, reasoning, and originality are more important than ever. Open-Ended Questions play a key role in developing these essential skills, helping individuals think deeply, analyze situations, and come up with creative solutions in an AI-driven environment.
As artificial intelligence continues to shape education, learning strategies must evolve to foster deeper engagement and more personalized learning experiences. We’ll give you some advice:
- Encourage higher-order thinking: Instead of just recalling facts, promote deeper learning by asking students to analyze, evaluate, and create. For example, ask, “How can you apply this concept to a real-world problem?”. This approach enhances critical thinking and helps students connect classroom knowledge to real-life situations.
- Require personal reflection & experience: While AI can provide general information, it can’t replace personal insights. Ask students questions like, “How has your background influenced your perspective on this issue?”. This prompts students to connect their own experiences to the material
- Ask for criticism: Prompt students to fact-check AI-generated responses and compare them with other sources. Example: “What biases or limitations might exist in an AI-generated answer to this question?”
- Justification & argumentations: Allow students to explain how they reached their conclusion. Example: “Which sociological theory best explains this phenomenon? Defend your answer with examples.”
- Learning partner, not a replacement: Ask students to generate an AI response, then critique, refine, or debate it to develop critical thinking skills. Example: “Ask ChatGPT to summarize this topic. What did it miss? How would you improve its answer?”
- Use our copy/paste restriction: By enabling this feature, you ensure that students cannot directly copy/paste content from external websites or AI-generated responses. While they can read what the AI or other sources provide, they will need to type the information themselves in the answer field. This process takes more time and makes it easier for you to notice. By setting up the copy/paste restriction, students are less likely to mindlessly copy and paste, promoting originality and deeper engagement with the material.
By structuring Open-Ended Questions in these ways, you ensure that students engage deeply with the material, fostering active learning and reducing their dependence on AI-generated responses.
Wrap Up
Did you know there were so many possibilities? I think this blog showed you enough variety to get inspired. We hope we’ve encouraged you to start creating yourself. Be sure to share your creations with us on social media. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
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