Search in the question bank area allows you to locate specific banks or individual questions across your textbook without manually scrolling through every available bank. This guide explains how to search, what to expect from results, and its limitations.
Overview
Introduction
What Question Bank Search Includes
Understanding the Bank Naming Format
How to Search for a Question Bank
How to Search for an Individual Question
Limitations
FAQs
1. Introduction
Question and question bank search is available to instructors from within the quiz or exam builder. It is separate from the Blended Library search that students use. This searches the list of available question banks and questions, not the textbook content itself.
Use it when you need to locate a specific bank to pull questions from, or when you need to find a particular question to review, exclude, copy, or move.
2. What Question Bank Search Includes
Question bank search looks across all banks associated with your active textbook and also the wider database of blended banks.
You can look up:
Question Banks used in the quiz/exam.
Individual questions within a bank (when searching from inside the bank or via Add from Question Bank).
Banks tied to your current textbook edition, as well as the wider Blended database
Note: There are two ways to use search — one for locating banks by name, and one for locating individual questions within a bank. Both are covered below.
3. Understanding the Bank Naming Format
Banks follow a consistent naming structure that can help you search more effectively.
For example:
The name typically includes the
Chapter Name - Capital Budgeting, Applying WACC, 5 Attributes of Real Estate, etc.
Question Type - Static or Dynamic
Question Format - MCQ or Formula
Assessment Type - Knowledge Check Bank, Practice Quiz Bank, Quiz Bank, Exam Bank
Knowing this structure helps you pick the right keyword when the full title doesn't return results.
4. How to Search for a Question Bank
To open the quiz builder:
Open your Control Center.
Open the Quizzes tab from the menu on the left-hand side.
Search for the quiz or exam you want to edit and click the 3 dots on the far right.
From the menu, select Build.
Click the Add from Question Bank button at the bottom of the assessment.
You can select whether you want to search Course banks (banks created by you within that course only) or the wider Blended banks database.
Then, to locate a question bank:
Type a keyword into the search bar (e.g., Capital Budgeting, Applying WACC, Attributes of).
Use the Banks & Questions filter options to narrow results by type.
If the list appears incomplete, look for a "Show all X matching banks" link and click it to see the full result set.
Scroll through the expanded list to find your bank, then select it to begin reviewing or adding questions.
Tip: Always click "Show all X matching banks" before concluding that a bank doesn't exist — the initial view only shows a limited number of results.
Limitation: Full-name searches might fail, especially if the exact title isn't entered correctly. A colon instead of a dash or a minor spelling difference can cause a search to return nothing. Shorter, partial keywords (chapter names) are more reliable.
There is also no multi-topic search - you cannot search for multiple banks at once (e.g., NPV + Payback + IRR in a single query). Each subtopic requires its own search.
5. How to Search for an Individual Question
There are two ways to locate a specific question, depending on what you need.
5.1 Finding a Question in the Question Bank
Use this method when you need to locate a question in the bank itself — for example, to review its formula and answer options, exclude it from a pool, or add it to the quiz.
Follow steps 1–6 from Section 4, then:
In the search bar, type keywords from the question stem — enter text only, not numbers.
Select the question from the results.
Each question displays tags showing its type (multiple choice or short answer), its format (dynamic or static), points allocated, the bank it belongs to, and the associated chapter and quiz type.
From here, you can add the question individually into the quiz or exclude it from the pool, and also use the down arrow to view the answer options.
To go into the bank the question belongs to, click the bank name shown in blue on the question.
Note: Once inside the bank, you can exclude, copy, move, or remove the question. See A Guide to Controlling Quiz and Exam Content for instructions on each of these actions.
Limitation: Calculation-based (dynamic) questions generate unique numerical values with each attempt. Searching by a specific number will not return a match — use only the non-numeric portion of the question (e.g., "Calculate the future value of retirement savings given an initial amount of").
5.2 Finding a Specific Question a Student Received (for dynamic questions)
For calculation-based questions that are dynamic, the values a student sees in their attempt are unique to that attempt and will not match a fixed version in the bank. To view the exact question and values a student received:
Go to the Quizzes tab in the Control Center.
Find the relevant quiz from the list, click on the 3 dots on the right, select Moderate.
On the Moderate page, click the student name.
Open their attempt to view all questions and exact values shown to that student.
Note: Use this method when a student flags a specific question and you need to see the exact version they saw. This is the only way to view the specific values a student received on a dynamic question.
6.Limitations
Broad terms like "Dynamic" or "MCQ" can return a longer result list. Add a content-specific term to reduce the list to a manageable size.
If building a quiz across multiple subtopics — NPV, then Payback Period, then IRR — you'll need to run a new search for each.
7. Frequent Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I search for individual questions by keyword?
Yes, from within the Add from Question Bank view.
Search using the non-numeric text of the question. For dynamic questions, avoid entering any numbers, as these values change per attempt and will not match the original question in the bank.
Why did my search return no results when I typed the full bank name?
The search tool might not always match against full titles. Try searching with one or two key words from the name instead (e.g., "Capital Budgeting" rather than the full title). Then click "Show all matching banks" to expand results.
A student is asking about a specific question they received. How do I find it?
Go to the Moderate tab for the relevant quiz, search for the student's name, and open their attempt. This shows you the exact questions and values they received.
For dynamic questions, this is the only reliable way to view the specific version a student saw.
Does question bank search work the same as Blended Library search?
No. Blended Library search scans published textbook content (chapters, pages, videos) for instructors and students. Question bank search is a separate tool in the quiz builder that scans bank names and question text only.