How do I use structured questions in qualitative measures?

Overview

Structured questions transform complex qualitative measures into multiple, focused questions within a single measure. This gives authors a rich text area for each question, allowing them to answer your measure iteratively and systematically. You gain targeted guidance capabilities while managing complex, multi-part assessments more effectively.

In this guide, you'll learn how to:

• Understand when and why to use structured questions
• Create structured questions in assessment plans
• Build reusable templates with structured questions
• View and manage author responses
• Preview and publish results

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Quick Reference

Prerequisite	Details
Access	Admin or Coordinator access to Assessment Plans
Planning	Learning outcomes defined; at least one assessment cycle created
Time to Plan	5–10 minutes to structure your questions
Complexity Level	Intermediate — requires strategic thinking about question design

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What Are Structured Questions?

Structured questions are individual, distinct questions within a single qualitative measure. Each question has its own rich text area for responses, allowing authors to answer systematically rather than in a single large text field.

Each structured question includes:

• A specific question or prompt
• Helper Text (optional) — Rich text formatting for guidance
• Independent evidence requirements (yes/no per question)
• Flexibility in response format

What Structured Questions Enable

• Targeted guidance — Each question has specific instructions tailored to that response
• Organized complexity — Break multi-part measures into logical sections
• Flexible evidence — Different evidence types and quantities per question
• Iterative responses — Authors answer each question in its own editor before submitting

Example: A measure on "Student Learning Outcomes" could include:

1. Question 1: Describe student performance in critical thinking
2. Question 2: Provide evidence of communication skills
3. Question 3: Analyze barriers to student success

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When to Use Structured Questions

Use structured questions when your measure addresses:

• Multiple learning outcomes — Different dimensions of student learning requiring separate analysis
• Varied assessment methods — Combining quantitative data, artifacts, and narrative responses
• Complex institutional questions — Multi-part strategic goals requiring nuanced responses
• Role-specific requirements — Different authors contributing different sections
• Detailed program analysis — Comprehensive reviews requiring depth across multiple areas

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Planning Your Structured Measure

Pre-Creation Checklist

Before you build structured questions, confirm you have:

• ☐ Defined your primary learning outcome or institutional goal
• ☐ Identified 3–5 key questions addressing this outcome
• ☐ Determined which questions require supporting evidence
• ☐ Clarified response expectations (length, format, detail level)
• ☐ Identified who will complete each question
• ☐ Set realistic due dates for multi-part responses
• ☐ Planned your evidence management strategy
• ☐ Decided if this measure should be reused (template) or used once (plan-specific)

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Process Overview
The process for creating and using structured qualitative measures follows these stages:

Path A: Direct Creation

1. Navigate to assessment plan
2. Add qualitative measure
3. Create structured questions
4. Assign and finalize

Path B: Template Creation (Reusable)

1. Create plan template
2. Add qualitative measure with structured questions
3. Save template
4. Reuse across cycles

Path C: Template Application

1. Create plan from template
2. Structured questions appear (locked from template)
3. Customize plan details
4. Assign and finalize

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Path A: Create Structured Questions in Assessment Plan

Use this path when you're building a measure for a specific assessment cycle and don't need to reuse it.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Assessment Plan

1. Click Plan in the main navigation
2. Select Assessment Plan from the dropdown
3. Your current assessment cycles will be listed

Step 2: Edit or Create Your Assessment Plan

To edit an existing plan:

1. Locate the assessment cycle you want to edit
2. Click the pencil (edit) icon on the right side of the row
3. The Manage Plan page will open

To create a new plan:

1. Click Create Assessment Plan
2. Select your cycle
3. The Manage Plan page will open

Step 3: Add a New Measure

1. On the Manage Plan page, click + Add Measure
2. A dropdown menu will appear
3. Select Qualitative Measure from the list

Step 4: Build Your Qualitative Measure

1. Select Qualitative Measure (if not already selected)
2. Click the Build button
3. The "Add Qualitative Measure" modal will open

Step 5: Complete the Measure Form

In the modal, fill out the following fields:

Field	Description	Example	Required?
Measure Name	Descriptive name for the measure	Student Learning Outcomes - Synthesis	Yes
Upload Measure Evidence	Toggle to require supporting evidence uploads	Yes/No	No
Measure Instructions	General guidance for completing the entire measure	"Provide comprehensive analysis with examples"	No
Structured Questions	Individual questions breaking down the measure	See below	No
Goal (optional)	Align to institutional goal	"Improve Student Success"	No
Objective (optional)	Align to specific objective	"Increase retention by 5%"	No
Assigned To	Email of responsible person	coordinator@institution.edu	Yes

Step 6: Add Structured Questions

This is where you define the multiple questions within your measure. Each question will have its own rich text area for authors to answer.

For each question:

1. Click + Add Question
2. Enter the question text (e.g., "Describe how students demonstrated critical thinking in capstone projects")
3. Provide Helper Text (optional but recommended) — Rich text formatting available for guidance
4. Toggle Enable file upload for this question if evidence is required for this particular question
5. Repeat to add additional questions (3–5 total recommended)

Key Points:

• Each question gets its own answer box when authors respond
• Helper text supports rich formatting (bold, links, lists, etc.)
• Evidence requirements are independent per question
• Authors can answer each question fully before moving to the next

Example: Well-Structured Questions

Step 7: Finalize and Save

1. Review all fields and questions for accuracy
2. Click Add Measure
3. The measure will appear in your Manage Plan list
4. Click Update Plan to save your assessment plan

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Path B: Create Structured Questions in Plan Templates

Use this path when you want to create a reusable template containing structured questions. Templates can be applied to multiple assessment cycles, ensuring consistency.

Why Use Templates?

• Consistency — Same questions across multiple years/programs
• Efficiency — Quick setup for recurring assessments
• Standardization — Maintain institutional standards for complex measures
• Template questions are locked — When applied to plans, template questions cannot be edited, ensuring fidelity

Step 1: Navigate to Plan Templates

1. Click Setup in the main navigation
2. Click Plan Templates in the Setup Navigation
3. Your existing templates will be listed

Step 2: Create a New Template

1. Click Create Template
2. Give your template a descriptive name (e.g., "Curriculum Alignment Assessment")
3. Click Add Section to begin organizing your template

Step 3: Add a Section and Measure

1. Click Add Section to create a logical grouping
2. Give the section a name (e.g., "Program Review")
3. Click Add Measure
4. Select Qualitative Measure from the "Type of Measure" dropdown

Step 4: Build and Add Structured Questions

1. Click Build next to your Qualitative Measure
2. The measure setup modal will open
3. Complete all fields (same as Path A, Steps 5–6)
4. Add your structured questions with:
   • Question text
   • Helper Text (optional)
   • Per-question evidence requirements

Step 5: Complete and Save Template

1. Review all questions and settings
2. Click Save Template (or Update Template if editing)
3. Your template is now available for creating assessment plans

Step 6: Preview Your Template

Before deploying to stakeholders, you can preview how structured questions will appear to authors:

1. On your template page, click Preview Results (or Preview Template)
2. You'll see how each structured question appears with:
   • Question text
   • Helper text formatted as authors will see it
   • Evidence upload area (if enabled)
   • Rich text editor for responses
3. Verify clarity and formatting

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Path C: Create Assessment Plan from Template

Use this path to apply a saved template (with structured questions) to a new assessment cycle.

Step 1: Navigate to Assessment Plan Creation from Template

1. Click Plan in the main navigation
2. Click Create Assessment Plan from Template
3. Select your cycle from the dropdown

Step 2: Select Your Template

1. From the template list, select the template containing your structured questions
2. The template preview will load, showing all sections and measures
3. Scroll to find your qualitative measure with structured questions

Step 3: Customize Plan Details

While template questions are locked, you can customize:

1. Assigned To — Enter the email of the responsible person
2. Due Dates — Set cycle-specific deadlines
3. Goals (optional) — Align to institutional goals for this cycle
4. Objectives (optional) — Set cycle-specific objectives
5. Additional Measures — Add plan-specific measures not in the template

Step 4: View Template Structured Questions

1. Scroll to your qualitative measure with structured questions
2. Click to expand the Structured Questions section
3. You'll see all template questions in read-only format:
   • Question text (cannot edit)
   • Helper text (cannot edit)
   • Evidence requirements (cannot modify)

Step 5: Finalize and Save

1. Review all plan details
2. Click Create or Save Plan to finalize
3. The plan is now ready for author assignment

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Viewing & Managing Assessment Plans with Structured Questions

Once your measure is created (via Path A, B, or C), coordinators and reviewers can view and manage structured questions in edit mode.

Step 1: Navigate to Assessment Plan Management

1. Click Plan in the main navigation
2. Click Assessment Plan
3. Locate your cycle and click the Edit Plan (pencil) button

Step 2: View Structured Questions in the Measure

1. On the Manage Plan page, scroll to your qualitative measure
2. Click Edit Measure to open the measure details
3. Scroll down to see the Structured Questions section
4. Each question will show:
   • Question number
   • Question text
   • Helper text
   • Evidence upload toggle status

Step 3: Preview How Authors Will See Questions

1. Click the Preview Results button at the bottom of your Manage Plan page
2. The preview shows how structured questions will appear to authors:
   • Each question in its own response box
   • Helper text formatted
   • Rich text editor for each answer
   • Evidence upload area (if enabled)
   • "Measure Results" section for responses

This helps you verify that questions are clear before authors begin responding.

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Managing Author Responses

Once your measure is assigned and authors begin responding, you can monitor and manage their progress.

Step 1: View Cycle Results

1. Click Dashboard in the main navigation
2. Select the cycle associated with your assessment plan
3. Click Search or View Cycle Results

Step 2: Access the Assessment Results View

1. Click View Cycle Results to open results management
2. Log in with the email associated with the assessment plan
3. You'll see the measurement section with all measures, including your qualitative measure with structured questions

Step 3: View Structured Question Responses

1. Scroll to your qualitative measure with structured questions
2. Each question will display:
   • Question text
   • Helper text (for reference)
   • Measure Results box showing author's response
   • Evidence section (if enabled for that question)
   • Upload/Download links for evidence files
3. If you're the assigned author: You'll see rich text editors and can edit responses
4. If you're a reviewer/approver: Responses appear in read-only format

Step 4: Using Draft Saving for Iterative Responses

Authors can save their structured question responses as drafts and return later to refine:

1. Author completes Question 1 and clicks Save Draft
2. Author can close and return later to edit before final submission
3. You (as coordinator) can review draft responses midway through the cycle
4. You can provide feedback, and authors can revise individual questions

Related Feature: Draft Saving works with Response History to track all changes to structured question responses over time.

Best Practice: Review draft responses at the cycle midpoint to catch confusion or missing information early. This allows authors time to revise individual questions.

Step 5: View Response History

For measures you've completed in previous cycles:

1. In the Results view, look for Response History (if available)
2. You can see published responses from previous cycles
3. This helps you track:
   • How structured question responses have evolved
   • Effectiveness of question wording
   • Whether to revise questions for next cycle

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Path F: Managing Evidence Per Question

Each structured question can independently require evidence uploads. Here's how to manage them:

Evidence Upload Controls

For each question in your structured measure:

• Toggle "Enable file upload for this question" to require evidence
• Authors see "Upload Measure Evidence" section under each question with enabled upload
• Different evidence types per question — Question 1 might need artifacts, Question 2 might need data

Viewing & Managing Evidence

As a coordinator:

1. In Results view, navigate to your structured questions
2. Under each question, look for "Upload Measure Evidence" section
3. You can:
   • View uploaded files — Click to preview or download
   • Add evidence — Upload additional supporting documents
   • Remove evidence — Delete files that aren't needed

Related Feature: Evidence Management allows coordinators to curate the evidence attached to qualitative measures, ensuring quality and completeness.

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Path G: Preview and Publishing

Before finalizing results for institutional review, you can preview how structured questions will appear in reports and published results.

Step 1: Preview Results Report

1. In Manage Plan (edit mode), click Preview Results button
2. You'll see a preview of:
   • All structured questions
   • How helper text appears
   • Response layout
   • Evidence sections
   • Overall formatting

This is useful for checking that questions are clearly worded and the layout is intuitive.

Step 2: Finalize Results

Once all responses are complete and reviewed:

1. Navigate to your cycle's results
2. Ensure all sections/measures have been approved
3. Click Finalize Results (at the top of the page)
4. Optionally add approver notes
5. Click confirm

Step 3: Publish Results
After finalizing:

1. Click Publish Results
2. Wait for the system to process (may take a few moments)
3. A public sharing link will appear
4. Copy the link to share with institutional stakeholders

Step 4: View Published Results

Once published, anyone with the link can view:

1. All structured questions (question text and helper text)
2. Final approved responses for each question
3. Evidence that was uploaded
4. Read-only format (no editing)

This is useful for:

• Sharing outcomes with accreditors
• Presenting results at faculty meetings
• Institutional transparency
• Archival documentation

Step 5: Generate Report

For archival or detailed analysis:

1. In the Dashboard, select your cycle
2. Click Generate Report
3. Log in with your assessment email
4. You'll receive a comprehensive report showing:
   • All structured questions
   • Final responses
   • Evidence metadata
   • Historical comparisons (if applicable)

This report can be downloaded and shared with program leadership.

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Best Practices

Planning Your Questions

✅ Limit to 3–5 questions per measure — Keep the measure manageable. Each question should address a distinct component of your learning outcome.

✅ Align each question to a specific learning outcome — Map questions 1-to-1 with outcomes for easier analysis and improvement planning.

✅ Use consistent question format — Start questions with parallel verbs: "Describe...", "Analyze...", "Evaluate...", "Provide evidence of..."

✅ Avoid leading or biased language — Frame questions neutrally to elicit authentic responses, not predetermined conclusions.

✅ Test question clarity — Have a colleague review questions for ambiguity before assigning to authors.

Writing Clear Helper Text

✅ Provide context — Explain why each question matters and how responses will drive improvement decisions.

✅ Include specific examples — Show sample responses or reference relevant rubrics to guide authors on expected depth and detail.

✅ Specify evidence requirements clearly — State the type, format, and quantity (e.g., "Attach 3–5 student artifacts", "Provide Excel data export").

✅ Use embedded links — Reference relevant policies, rubrics, or guidance materials directly within helper text using rich text formatting.

✅ Keep language simple — Use active voice and avoid jargon that might confuse authors.

Evidence and Response Planning

✅ Require evidence strategically — Not every question needs evidence. Use evidence for questions requiring quantitative data, artifacts, or documentation.

✅ Set realistic due dates — Coordinate with authors to ensure adequate time (typically 2–4 weeks for complex measures depending on your cycle length).

✅ Consider question complexity — Complex questions may warrant longer timeframes or additional guidance resources.

✅ Plan for iterative feedback — Use Draft Saving to review initial responses early and request clarifications before final submission.

Implementation and Iteration

✅ Pilot with early adopters — Test structured questions with a small group before full rollout to identify unclear wording or procedural issues.

✅ Review draft responses — Use the Draft Saving feature to check initial responses and provide feedback before final submission.

✅ Leverage Response History — Use historical data from previous cycles to refine questions and ensure consistency over time.

✅ Monitor for clarity issues — If multiple authors ask clarifying questions about a particular question, revise wording for future cycles.

✅ Document lessons learned — Track what worked and what didn't with your structured questions to improve template design for future use.