Adding problem hints in Open edX

Sometimes it's useful for learners to be able to go back and figure out what they missed when they encounter a question they can't answer right away, or to be given nudges towards the correct answer in low-stakes questions. That's where hints come in handy!

1 - Write your problem

This is the easy bit, but if you need help with this step, first check out Adding a Problem to Your Open edX Course. Here's ours in its most basic form

2 - Add your hint

A hint is indicated by vertical pipes (||) on either side of your hint. You may or may not be familiar with the pipe character, it's on your keyboard as Shift + \. in the US layout it's typically near your enter key, while in the UK keyboard layout it's next to the Z key. 

So in our case, our first hint is going to be where they can go to research more about this themselves:

|| You can read more about this in Section 2: Where are the ducks? ||

3 (optional) - Add more hints

Sometimes this isn't enough, however, or you want to be extra kind. By adding multiple lines with hints, you can allow the learner to keep requesting hints, which should scale in usefulness. Obviously this tactic isn't great for important assessed material, but for low-stakes problems it's a wonderful tool to help guide learners toward the answer.

4 - Save, Test, and Publish

If all's gone well, your problem should now look a little something like this. Try it out in Studio before hitting the Publish button.

Nifty!