There may be times when math or chemistry questions require answers that involve the use of symbols that cannot be generated by the traditional keyboard. In Advanced Assessments, there are several options for keypads that include various math and chemistry symbols.

What is a Keypad?

On Advanced Assessments, students can use keypads when answering math or chemistry questions. The creator of the assessment can choose which keypads are available and how they are displayed on the screen.

See the example below. This question has the Number Pad (default) and the Basic Keypad enabled.

💡 Tip: All math and chemistry questions will have a keypad by default, but you do have the option to disable the keypad entirely. If you want your students to only use their keyboard, see details below on how to disable the keypad.

Locate Keypad Options

While in a math or chemistry question, options for the keypad can be found by expanding the More options menu and locating the section labeled Keypad.

❗ Note: the additional settings under the More options menu may look different depending on the question type you are using.

Choose the keypad options by opening More options.

Keypad Options

You can find the various keypad options under the section labeled Symbols.

💡 Pro Tip: Not seeing all of the available symbols? Try scrolling down to the bottom of the page to see all that is available.

You can add additional keypads by selecting the + Add button. See below for how students switch between keypads.
The Number pad will always be available alongside the mathematical keypads you choose to add, unless toggled off.

See the clip below that shows what it looks like from the student's view using the Basic, Keyboard, and Algebra keypads.

View all pre-designed keypads available below, along with a list of their functions. If you are interested in creating a custom keypad, click here. Keep in mind, the Number pad is always included, unless toggled off.

Basic

Click to see the Basic keypad

variable - x	variable - y	square	square root
fraction-prefilled numerator	fraction	exponent	subscript
less than	greater than	plus or minus	dollar sign
percent sign	degree symbol	ratio	parenthesis
absolute value	pi	infinity

Keyboard

Click to see the Keyboard

Algebra

Click to see the Algebra keypad

variable - x	variable - y	square	square root
fraction-prefilled numerator	fraction	exponent	north root
less than	greater than	plus or minus	absolute value
pi	infinity	parentheses	brackets

Basic Junior

Click to see the Basic Junior keypad

less than

greater than

fraction-prefilled numerator

fraction

Comparison

Click to see the Comparison keypad

not equal	approx. equal to	less than	greater than
less than/equal to	greater than/equal to	not greater than	not less than

Geometry

Click to see the Geometry keypad

perpendicular	parallel	not parallel to	vector
angle	measure of angle	similar to	congruent to
triangle	circle	parallelogram	arc
degree	prime/arcminute	double prime/arcsecond	pi
line segment	ray	line	square

Matrices

Click to see the Matrices keypad

horizontal dots	single matrix	insert column	insert row
diagonal dots	2x2 matrix	vertical dots	3x3 matrix
exponent	subscript

Trigonometry

Click to see the Trigonometry keypad

sine	secant	inverse sine	inverse secant
cosine	cosecant	inverse cosine	inverse cosecant
tangent	cotangent	inverse tangent	inverse cotangent

Sets

Click to see the Sets keypad

subset (strict)	superset (strict)	subset	superset
member of	not a member of	contains	not subset (strict)
union	intersection	empty set	comma
ratio	factorial!	backslash	forward slash
parenthesis	curly braces	odd braces	odd braces

Units (SI)

Click to see the Units (SI) keypad

gram	kilogram	milligram	microgram
meter	kilometer	centimeter	millimeter
liter	milliliter	seconds	milliseconds

Units (US Customary)

Click to see the Units (US Customary) keypad

ounce	pound	inch	foot
mile	fluid ounce	pint	gallon

Greek Letters

Click to see the Greek Letters keypad

alpha	gamma	delta	pi
theta	sigma	delta (upper)	pi (upper)
theta (upper)	sigma (upper)	lambda	phi
tau	epsilon	beta	mu
rho

Chemistry

Click to see the Chemistry keypad

superscript	subscript	atomic symbol	polyatomic ion
right arrow	left arrow	right/left harpoons	long left/right arrow
arrows w/sub and superscript	mole	prime/arcminute	oxidation
molar mass

Grouping Symbols

Click to see the Grouping Symbols keypad

parenthesis

brackets

curly braces

angles brackets

Calculus

Click to see the Calculus keypad

variable - d	variable - f	delta (upper)	fraction-prefilled numerator
parenthesis	integral	double integral	triple integral
summation	partial deriv.	limit	nabla
standard basis I	standard J	standard K	angled brackets

Miscellaneous

Click to see the Miscellaneous keypad

variable - a	variable - b	proportional to	abc
vertical line	dot multiplier	long division	real number set

Discrete

Click to see the Discrete keypad

left floor	right floor	left ceiling	right ceiling
up	equivalent to	and	or
not	existing	for all	circle plus

General

Click to see the General keypad

variable - x	variable - y	square	exponent
superscript	plus or minus	fraction-prefilled numerator	fraction
square root	cube root	north root	percent
absolute value	therefore	infinity	ratio

Can't find the symbol you are looking for? Try creating a custom keypad and searching through the library of symbols. See below!

Custom Keypad

You can create a custom keypad by choosing from a library of symbols.

Step 1: From the list of keypad options, select Add Custom Group...

Step 2: Click on one of the empty cells. You can choose any of the options from the symbol library.

Step 3: Continue filling the cells until you've included all of the desired symbols.

Step 4: Give your keyboard a label and title (optional - see the image below for the placement of the label and title).

Step 5: Save your question and test it out!

Keypad and Number Pad Visibility

Show keypad hints

When OFF: No extra guidance, just the symbols themselves.
When ON (default): Students see small hints/tooltips on the keypad (or near it) explaining what certain symbols do or how to use them (e.g., fractions, exponents, special math formatting). 👉 Think of this as help text for using math tools. See below.

Show number pad

When OFF: Students must rely on their keyboard or other input methods. There is no on-screen number pad.
When ON (default): A numeric keypad (0–9, basic operations) appears on screen for students to click/tap. 👉 Think of this as the students get a calculator-style keypad on screen. See below.

Keypad Placement

There are three options for where the keypad is placed when the students answer the question. First, expand the More options menu and scroll down to the Keypad section.

Option 1: Floating

The keypad does not appear until the student clicks into the response area.
The students can move the keypad freely around the screen by clicking and dragging.

Option 2: Block

The keypad is automatically displayed with the question, without the student needing to click in the response area first.
The position of the keypad is fixed beneath the response area

Option 3: Block on Focus

The keypad does not appear until the student clicks into the response area.
The position of the keypad is fixed beneath the response area

Option 4: None

Disables the keypad. See the next section.

Option 5: Enable Horizontal Keypad

This option is not available on all math question types
It will remove all other keypad options and provide just a very basic, horizontal keypad.

Disable the Keypad

There may be times when you don't want a keypad to display at all. Here are the steps to disabling the keypad:

Step 1: Expand the More options menu.
Step 2: Scroll down to the Keypad section.
Step 3: In the Type dropdown menu, select None.

Otus Live Video

Click to see a video from our Otus Live series on Math Keypads in Advanced Assessments.

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