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Support multi-question, fully featured problems in the problem editor.

Support multi-question, fully featured problems in the problem editor.

 

Overview

The project aims to enhance the Open edX Common Problem editor to provide better support for educators creating content. Key improvements include enabling multi-problem authoring within one problem set, faster option text entry, improved option formatting, and various other authoring efficiencies, all built into the existing WYSIWYG problem editor. 

Key Use Cases / Users

  • Learners: Benefit from well-structured, interactive assessments with seamless progression through linked problems. 

  • Educators: Gain tools for efficient problem creation, multi-problem linking, and improved editing workflows. 

  • Operator / Developer: Maintain and extend a React-based problem editor with enhanced functionality and user experience

Deliverables

  • Stage 1 - Implement multi-problem editing and improved option entry. 

  • Stage 2 - Add advanced authoring efficiencies, option formatting tools, and accessibility enhancements.

In Scope / Out of Scope

Based on the above use cases, we are breaking down on high-level scope as follows:

In Scope

Out of Scope

In Scope

Out of Scope

Improvements to the WYSIWYG editor to support Multi-problem editing, linked dependencies, scoring features, and option entry/formatting improvements.

Overhauling the entire Open edX platform or non-editor-related features.

MVP Specs

Features & Requirements

In order to realize this MVP, we believe the following features will be required. Refer to the following flow chart for more details:

Feature

Requirements

Feature

Requirements

Stage 1 - Implement multi-problem editing and improved option entry. 

Multi-problem editor

  • Adjust the problem entry area to highlight Questions & Answers (moves explanation after Answers to secondary optional field

  • Visually associate Q&A details with the first problem but allow for second problem creation at the bottom of the list.

  • Move problem type association to being prominently visible above the question area to help visualize problem type in case of multiple problems and allow for the “Type” field to be set at the level of each question.
    DRAFT- ADDITIONAL CONTENT COMING SOON

Faster option entry with duplication and batch input.

  • DRAFT- ADDITIONAL CONTENT COMING SOON

Stage 2 - Add advanced authoring efficiencies, option formatting tools, and accessibility enhancements

Enhanced option formatting tools.

 

  • DRAFT- ADDITIONAL CONTENT COMING SOON

Additional authoring efficiencies for educators.

  • DRAFT- ADDITIONAL CONTENT COMING SOON

TBD

 

 

 

Technical Open Questions

Open Tasks

  • Continue proposal draft

  • Design sketches for multi-problem editor

Product & UX/UI FAQ

The following represent our Product view of key questions. However, we look to the UX/UI and technical teams to validate these as needed.

Q: How will multi-problem editing impact existing content?

  • A: Existing content remains unaffected; new features are optional.

Future Direction

No notes included for this project.

UI Examples

Different Categories for light themed notifications

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proposed Screens

 

Work Flows

 

 


This was contributed as a product idea by @Shilpa Idnani. The original idea is included here below for reference and comments from the community.

In Feb 2025, @Marco Morales converted this to being using the product proposal template, so this reviewed product idea went back to being a draft proposal. The goal is to add product + design definition details to help make this improvement something that can be considered for the Ulmo release timeline.

Problem: The new problem editor narrows the instruction design possibilities due to the limitations of the problem editor UI. As a course author, I need to be able to construct complex problems made up of multiple questions and answers in order to evaluate learners' understanding. 

 

Use Cases: 

 

A common economics problem type has two steps. First, a graph and a dropdown to identify the type of market, then a numerical entry to identify the point of concern on the graph. From an instructional design perspective, this should be one graded problem since it’s impossible to evaluate the learner’s understanding with just one part or the other. 

 

Another example would be a prioritization problem, which we achieve with multiple drop-downs. 

 

Discovery: It was reasonably easy to author these types of problems in the old problem editor with the simple markdown editor, without having to go to the advanced editor. Can the markdown editor be implemented in the MFE and offered conditional on a course waffle flag?

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