diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/problem-with-markdown.html b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/problem-with-markdown.html
index a7681ed776..be4fcd5ecc 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/problem-with-markdown.html
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/problem-with-markdown.html
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <section class="problem-editor editor">
     <div class="row">
-        <textarea class="markdown-box">[prompt]prompt[prompt]</textarea>
+        <textarea class="markdown-box">markdown</textarea>
         <textarea class="xml-box" rows="8" cols="40">xml</textarea>
     </div>
 </section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/combinedopenended/edit_spec.coffee b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/combinedopenended/edit_spec.coffee
index fb9312724a..688c9eb63f 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/combinedopenended/edit_spec.coffee
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/combinedopenended/edit_spec.coffee
@@ -106,40 +106,22 @@ describe 'OpenEndedMarkdownEditingDescriptor', ->
       data = OpenEndedMarkdownEditingDescriptor.markdownToXml("""[tasks]
                                                               (Self), ({1-2}AI), ({1-4}AI), ({1-2}Peer
                                                               [tasks]
-                                                              """)
+                                                              """, true)
       data = data.replace(/[\t\n\s]/gmi,'')
       equality_list = """
                       <combinedopenended>
-                      <task>
-                      <selfassessment/>
-                      </task>
-                      <task>
-                      <openended min_score_to_attempt="1" max_score_to_attempt="2">
-                      <openendedparam>
-                      <initial_display>Enter essay here.</initial_display>
-                      <answer_display>This is the answer.</answer_display>
-                      <grader_payload>{"grader_settings" : "ml_grading.conf", "problem_id" : "6.002x/Welcome/OETest"}</grader_payload>
-                      </openendedparam>
-                      </openended>
-                      </task>
-                      <task>
-                      <openended min_score_to_attempt="1" max_score_to_attempt="4">
-                      <openendedparam>
-                      <initial_display>Enter essay here.</initial_display>
-                      <answer_display>This is the answer.</answer_display>
-                      <grader_payload>{"grader_settings" : "ml_grading.conf", "problem_id" : "6.002x/Welcome/OETest"}</grader_payload>
-                      </openendedparam>
-                      </openended>
-                      </task>
-                      <task>
-                      <openended min_score_to_attempt="1" max_score_to_attempt="2">
-                      <openendedparam>
-                      <initial_display>Enter essay here.</initial_display>
-                      <answer_display>This is the answer.</answer_display>
-                      <grader_payload>{"grader_settings" : "peer_grading.conf", "problem_id" : "6.002x/Welcome/OETest"}</grader_payload>
-                      </openendedparam>
-                      </openended>
-                      </task>
+                        <task>
+                        <selfassessment/>
+                        </task>
+                        <task>
+                          <openended min_score_to_attempt="1" max_score_to_attempt="2">ml_grading.conf</openended>
+                        </task>
+                        <task>
+                          <openended min_score_to_attempt="1" max_score_to_attempt="4">ml_grading.conf</openended>
+                        </task>
+                        <task>
+                          <openended min_score_to_attempt="1" max_score_to_attempt="2">peer_grading.conf</openended>
+                        </task>
                       </combinedopenended>
                       """
       expect(data).toEqual(equality_list.replace(/[\t\n\s]/gmi,''))
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/combinedopenended/edit.coffee b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/combinedopenended/edit.coffee
index 997d6f12fa..bfac8a298b 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/combinedopenended/edit.coffee
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/combinedopenended/edit.coffee
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ class @OpenEndedMarkdownEditingDescriptor extends XModule.Descriptor
     else
       return template
 
-  @markdownToXml: (markdown)->
-    toXml = `function(markdown) {
+  @markdownToXml: (markdown, mock=false)->
+    toXml = `function(markdown, mock) {
 
       function template(template_html,data){
         return template_html.replace(/%(\w*)%/g,function(m,key){return data.hasOwnProperty(key)?data[key]:"";});
@@ -183,7 +183,11 @@ class @OpenEndedMarkdownEditingDescriptor extends XModule.Descriptor
 
       // group tasks
       xml = xml.replace(/\[tasks\]\n?([^\]]*)\[\/?tasks\]/gmi, function(match, p) {
-        var open_ended_template = $('#open-ended-template').html()
+        if(mock == false){
+          var open_ended_template = $('#open-ended-template').html();
+        } else {
+          var open_ended_template = "<openended %min_max_string%>%grading_config%</openended>";
+        }
         var groupString = '';
         var options = p.split(",");
         for(var i = 0; i < options.length; i++) {
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
index 491b6b00ea..cd70ce6d00 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/module_render.py
@@ -217,8 +217,8 @@ def get_module_for_descriptor(user, request, descriptor, model_data_cache, cours
     #this first checks to see if the descriptor is the correct one, and only sends settings if it is
 
     #Get descriptor metadata fields indicating needs for various settings
-    needs_open_ended_interface = hasattr(descriptor, "needs_open_ended_interface", False)
-    needs_s3_interface = hasattr(descriptor, "needs_s3_interface", False)
+    needs_open_ended_interface = getattr(descriptor, "needs_open_ended_interface", False)
+    needs_s3_interface = getattr(descriptor, "needs_s3_interface", False)
 
     #Initialize interfaces to None
     open_ended_grading_interface = None