Knowledge Checks
Knowledge Checks are interactive questions you can place anywhere in your lessons. Use them for self-assessment, practice, or scored evaluation within an assessment section.
Question types
Section titled “Question types”Slate supports three question types:
| Type | How it works |
|---|---|
| Multiple choice | Learner selects one correct answer from a list of options |
| Multiple select | Learner selects all correct answers from a list of options |
| Fill in the blank | Learner types a text response that is matched against accepted answers |
Multiple choice
Section titled “Multiple choice”Present two or more answer options where only one is correct. Learners see radio buttons and can select a single answer.
Multiple select
Section titled “Multiple select”Present two or more answer options where one or more are correct. Learners see checkboxes and must select all correct answers to get the question right.
Fill in the blank
Section titled “Fill in the blank”Learners type their answer into a text field. You define one or more accepted answers that will be counted as correct. By default, matching is case-insensitive, but you can enable case-sensitive matching if needed.
Creating a knowledge check
Section titled “Creating a knowledge check”- Add a Knowledge Check block to your lesson
- Enter the question text
- Choose the question type (single answer, multiple answers, or fill in the blank)
- For multiple choice and multiple select, add your answer options and mark which are correct
- For fill in the blank, enter one or more accepted answers
- Write feedback messages for correct and incorrect responses
Feedback messages
Section titled “Feedback messages”Every knowledge check has two feedback messages:
- Correct answer feedback - shown when the learner answers correctly
- Incorrect answer feedback - shown when the learner answers incorrectly
Feedback appears immediately after the learner submits their answer, helping them understand why their response was right or wrong.
Knowledge checks in assessments
Section titled “Knowledge checks in assessments”When placed inside an assessment section, knowledge checks are scored and contribute to the learner’s overall assessment result. Outside of assessment sections, knowledge checks serve as unscored practice or self-check activities.
See Assessment Sections for details on scored assessments.
Question behaviour
Section titled “Question behaviour”Customize how learners answer each question: how many times they can try, what feedback they see, and whether wrong options are removed from future attempts.
How attempts work
Section titled “How attempts work”By default, standalone knowledge checks let learners retry infinitely until they answer correctly. You can set a maximum attempt limit so the question locks after a set number of wrong answers. When locked, options become non-interactive and the submit button is disabled.
Course-wide defaults
Section titled “Course-wide defaults”Set defaults once on the Theme page > Questions > Knowledge Check defaults. Every standalone knowledge check in the course inherits these settings:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum attempts | Unlimited | Caps retries per question. Set to a number, such as 3, to lock the question after that many wrong answers |
| Show general feedback | On | Shows or hides the author’s correct/incorrect feedback message after each submit |
| Show answer-level feedback | On | Highlights which options were correct after each wrong attempt |
| Reveal correct answer when locked | Off (MC/MS), On (FIB) | Shows the correct answer when the learner reaches the attempt limit |
| Eliminate wrong options | Off | Multiple choice only. Previously-wrong options stay marked and can’t be picked again |
Per-block overrides
Section titled “Per-block overrides”Override the defaults on individual questions. Open a knowledge check’s three-dot menu and choose Question settings. Each setting shows the inherited value with an Override toggle. Once overridden, a Reset to inherited link restores the course default. The three-dot menu shows a dot when any setting is overridden.
Changes to course defaults propagate to all blocks that haven’t been overridden.
Standalone vs assessment questions
Section titled “Standalone vs assessment questions”These settings apply to standalone knowledge checks in regular lessons. Knowledge checks inside assessment sections use a separate retry system at the whole-assessment level.
AI-generated questions
Section titled “AI-generated questions”You can use AI to draft a knowledge check question. Click Generate with AI in the question editor, describe what the question should be about, and Slate creates a question for the selected answer type.