Use the Interaction Types

Interaction Types

You can choose from several QTI-compatible interaction types to create items. An item can contain more than one interaction. When selecting interactions, consider:

• Which attributes are defined for the item?
• How will tests including the item be administered (scan sheet, Online Assessment, or both)?
• Do rubrics need to be included? For example, are there manually-scored interactions?

The following table provides an overview of the redesigned interaction types that are available in Performance Matters Assessment and Analytics.

Legend:

	The feature is supported.		The feature is not supported.
	The interaction type can be administered via computer using Online Assessment.		The interaction type can be administered via tablet using Online Assessment.
	The interaction type is machine-scored.		The interaction type is manually scored; a rubric is required.

Overview			Administration		Scoring
Interaction Type	Description	Example	Scan Sheet	OLA	Method	Partial Credit
Instructions Block	Add rubrics and other information for test administrators, students, or scorers.
Associate	Drag and drop text objects to create matched associations between available answer choices.
Draw (Drawing)	Draw the answer response on a canvas (blank or pre-selected image) with a set of drawing tools.
Extended Text (Open Response) (Brief Constructed Response) (Equation Response)	Enter response into a text field that has a word and equation editor toolbar.
Gap Match	Drag and drop text objects to defined gap elements located within the context of the content area text.
Graphic Gap Match	Drag and drop image objects to defined gap elements located within the context of a larger image.
Graphing	Graph points, lines, line segments, vectors, circles, and polygons in a Cartesian coordinate system.
Hotspot	Select regions of a static image as answer choices.
Hottext	Select responses from presented choices located within the context of the content text.
Inline Choice (Inline Response)	Select a choice from a drop-down list located within the context of the prompt text.
Match (Matching Item Response)	Select checkboxes at the intersections of columns and rows to display answer choices.
Multiple Choice (Multiple Choice) (Multi-Select)	Select responses from the presented choices.
Numeric Grid (Gridded Response)	Enter a numerical response, one digit at a time, in a grid format.
Order	Drag and drop text objects in the correct order.
Text Entry (Editing Task) (Inline Text)	Enter a response in a text box located within the context of the prompt text.
Upload	Upload a file (for example, an image, audio, or video file) containing work to be scored.

Associate Interaction

An Associate Interaction requires students to drag and drop text objects to create matched associations between available answer choices. Associate interactions can be used only with OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Associate.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
5. Under Answer Choices, click within the text boxes to enter the correct associated pairs.
   

   

6. Delete or re-order answer choices using the buttons at the end of each row.

   1. To delete an answer choice, click X.

   2. To change the answer choice order, hover on the shaded square until a four-way arrow displays. Then, drag and drop the row to a new location.

      

      If the choices are not shuffled (Step 7), they display in the student's item as correct pairs in the order of the Answer Choices section.

7. Make your partial credit and shuffle selections.
   • Select Allow partial credit.
   • Enter the minimum and maximum points possible and the Default points per answer choice. Once partial credit is selected, you can enter point values for each pair.

   • Select Shuffle choices when this item is presented to display the choices to the student in a different order each time the interaction is presented.

     

     This step is necessary for associate interactions to prevent the correct answer choices from being paired first in the student's interaction.

Draw

A Draw interaction requires students to draw the response on a canvas (blank or preselected image) with a set of drawing tools. Draw interactions can be used with scan sheets and OLA tests. This is a human-scored interaction. To support answer scoring, you must add an instructions block containing a rubric to score the item.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Draw.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.

5. If necessary, add an initial image using one of these methods:

   • Click Browse Resources to add an image resource from your resource library.
   • Click Add an Image to browse for and select a new image from your local drive.
   • Drag and drop the image from your local drive to the image field.
6. The selected image will display in the Background Image field. If necessary, click X to remove the image and select a new one.
7. Resize the image by clicking the resizing handle and dragging.

Extended Text

The Extended Text interaction requires students to provide a textual response to a prompt. Extended Text interactions can be used with both scan sheets and OLA tests. This is a human-scored interaction. To support scoring answers, you must add an instructions block containing a rubric to the item.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Item, then choose New Item.
2. Click Extend Text to add the interaction block.
3. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
4. In the Appearance section, choose plain text or the word processing toolbar for students to use.
5. Enter the initial number of lines to display in the student response area.

• If students need access to the math editor, you must enable the word processing toolbar.
• The number of lines specified for the response area determines the size of the response box on a scan sheet. For Online Assessment, a scroll bar will display for longer student responses.

Gap Match

The Gap Match interaction requires students to drag and drop answer choices to fill gaps within a body of text.

Gap match interactions must be text-only and can only be used with OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Gapmatch.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
5. In Answer Choices, click within the text boxes and enter choices.
   
   1. To delete an answer choice, click X.

   2. To change the answer choice order, hover on the shaded square until a four-way arrow displays. Then, drag and drop the row to a new location.

6. In Content Area with Gap Elements, enter the text that contains the gaps.
7. To insert a gap element, place the pointer in the spot where the gap should be inserted, then click Gapmatch Place.
8. Click wrong to change an answer to the correct entry.
9. Click OK to place the gap element in the text.
10. Continue entering content and gaps until the interaction is complete. Double-click a gap element to edit it.

Partial Credit and Shuffle Options

Gap Match interactions allow partial credit. Answer choices can be shuffled each time the interaction is presented.

1. Select Allow partial credit in the Answer Choices section.
2. Enter the minimum and maximum values for How many points the student can earn.
3. Enter the Default points per answer choice.
4. To assign a gap element a point value other than its default, double-click the gap element to open the Gap dialog.
   1. Enter point values for correct choices and click OK.
      

      

To display choices in a different order each time the interaction is presented, select Shuffle choices when this item is presented.

Graphic Gap Match

The Graphic Gap Match interaction requires students to drag and drop image answer choices to fill gaps within a larger image. Graphic Gap Match interactions are Technology Enhanced Items and can only be used with OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Graphic Gap Match.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
5. Add the answer background image in one of three ways:
   
   • Click Browse Resources to add an image resource from your resource library.
   • Click Add an Image to browse for and select a new image from your local drive.

   • Drag and drop the image from your local drive to the image field.

     

     • Use images in PNG format for optimum results. PNG images have a .png suffix and their type is image/ png.
     • Use lowercase in image filenames for the best results.
6. The selected image will display in the Background Image field. If necessary, click X to remove the image and choose a new one.
7. Add gaps for the correct answers.
   

   

   
   
   1. In Answer Choices, select a rectangle for each correct answer choice.
   2. Corresponding gaps will display in the background image. The identifying codes pair the gaps from the Background Image to the Answer Choices.
   3. To delete an answer choice, click X.

8. Move and size the correct answer gaps. To move a rectangle, click in its center and drag it to the desired location.

   

   • If the shape you are placing on the background image does not move, minimize your screen by ten percent, then click a corner point of the shape to move.
   • To resize a rectangle, click on a corner point and drag the rectangle to the desired size. Gap dimensions are indicated below the code.
   • When you move and re-size the answer images, be sure that the shape orientation is not affected. The answer image should be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 going counter-clockwise.

   Correct - Will display in the item

   Incorrect - Does not display in the item

9. Add the correct and incorrect answer choice images one at a time, in the order you want them to be presented to the student. There are two ways to add images:
   
   • Click Browse Resources to add an image resource from your resource library.
   • Click Add an Image to browse for and select a new image from your local drive.
10. Assign Pts (point values) for each correct answer choice.
11. You can also apply additional points options:
    
    • Assign minimum and maximum total points for the interaction.
    • Set the default points per answer choice.

• The background image is not re-sizable. Size the image correctly before adding it to the interaction.
• A gap can be assigned no correct answer choice image. This can be used to include distractor gaps.
• The answer choices are presented to the student in the exact order that they are added to the interaction. For example, if you want the answer choices to display in alphabetical order for the interaction in these instructions:
  • First, add the AL image to Additional Images.
  • Then, assign the AZ image to the correct answer choice.
  • Next, add the GA image to Additional Images.
  • Continue until all images have been added.

Graphing Interaction

The Graphing item interaction requires students to enter a response by graphing points, lines, line segments, vectors, circles, and polygons in a Cartesian coordinate system. Graphing item interactions are Technology Enhanced Items and can only be used with OLA tests.

In future releases, additional functionality will be added to this initial Beta release.

Construct the Interaction

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Graphing.

4. Enter the interaction prompt or stem. Click the arrow and enter the text within the field above the interaction. You may need to move the pointer to display the arrow.
   

   

5. Under Window Options, create the graph structure:

   

   • You can modify options for the X-Axis and Y-Axis independently.
   • The labels for the window options were chosen for users who are familiar with TI calculators.

   • Show Grid - An optional default setting to display grid lines.

   • Enabled - Set by default to include both axes. You can clear one axis to create a question with a single axis.

   • Label - Enter text to label the axes. Defaults to lowercase x and y.

   • Min - Enter the minimum range for the axes. Defaults to a range of -5 to 5. Use integer values.

   • Max - Enter the maximum range for the axes. Defaults to a range of -5 to 5. Use integer values.

   • Scale - Enter to change the value between each displayed point. Defaults to 1. Use integer values.

   • Ticks per Step- Enter a value to display divisions between grid lines. Defaults to 0, so no divisions will display. For example, the choice of 1 tick per step adds one division point between each labeled value, 2 ticks per step adds two division points, and 3 ticks per step adds three-division points, and so forth.

     

     The default of 0 Ticks per Step supports snap to grid. If you add more divisions, it becomes more likely a student response will snap to a different grid point than the student intended.

6. You can add background elements to the graph. These elements are visible to the student when they display the graph while taking a test.

   1. Select an element (Point, Line Segment, Vector, Line, Circle, or Polygon).
   2. Click in the background image to create the element. A shaded version of the element will display on the Correct Answer graph.
   3. You can Move or Delete an element.
   4. Select Clear All to remove all background elements.
   

   For example, you may choose to include three points of a rectangle and ask the student to plot the missing point.

   

Options for Adding Background Elements

Option	Description	Reference Image
Move	Select to move shapes or individual points.
Delete	Select to delete existing elements.
Point	Select to add a point. Labels for points are statically generated in the order of creation such as A, B, C, and so forth. If previous points are deleted, the original labels are not changed for the remaining points.
Line Segment	Select to draw a line segment.
Vector	Select to draw a vector.
Line	Select to draw a line.
Circle	Select to draw a circle.
Polygon	Select to draw a polygon. Polygons can be drawn using any number of coordinates as vertices to form an enclosed area. The Polygon element is not supported when using Safari or Chrome browsers on an iOS device. The last point cannot be connected to the first point.
Clear All	Click to clear all elements.

Create Correct Student Answer

Follow the steps to create background elements, but place the correct answer on the Correct Answer graph.

Set the Student Response Options

For students to enter their response, select the necessary Response Options. By default, all response options are enabled, but you may want to disable some options to simplify the item display for the student.

1. Select the Response Options for the graphing tools presented with this interaction in Online Assessment. The options allow students to draw the respective element when answering the question.

2. Click Preview to preview how your item will display during testing.

How Interactions are Scored

Graphing interactions are machine scored. The student response is compared to the Correct Response graph created by the item author. The following criteria determine to score for each interaction.

Hotspot

The hotspot interaction requires students to select the regions of a static image as the answer choices. Hotspot interactions can only be used with OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Hotspot.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem to tell the student which hotspots to select.

5. Add the image that contains the hotspot choices one of three ways:

   1. Click Browse Resources to add an image resource from your resource library.
   2. Click Add an Image to browse for and select a new image from your local drive.

   3. Drag and drop the image from your local drive to the image

      

      Any image larger than 600 x 600 pixels will be resized to fit the container.

6. The selected image will display in the Background Image section. If necessary, click X to remove the image and select a new one.

7. Under Answer Choices, select a shape for each answer choice hotspot you want to present.

   

   All answers are labeled as wrong by default. Click the label to change an answer to correct.

8. For each answer choice, size and move the hotspot to its desired location on the image.
   1. Hover over a shape until coordinates display, then click and drag to resize the shape.
      

      

   2. Point at a shape until its borders are hidden, then click and drag to move it.
      

      

9. Optionally, set limits for answer choices and partial credit for the interaction.
   • 1. Set limits to determine how many hotspot answers a student may choose during testing. Select Set limit on maximum hotspot choices, then you can enter the Maximum number of choices allowed.
     2. Partial credit: Select Allow partial credit. Assign Pts (point values) for each answer choice, the minimum, and maximum point values a student can earn, and default points per answer choice.

Hottext

The hottext interaction requires the student to select responses from presented choices located within the content text. Hottext interactions can only be used with tests administered via OLA.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Hottext.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
5. Enter the interaction content.
6. With the pointer in the desired location of a hottext field, select Hottext Place.

7. Enter the answer choices.

   

   All answer choices are labeled as wrong by default. Click the label to change an answer choice to correct.

8. Click OK. Correct answers are indicated with a check. Double-click the box to edit the choice.

9. Hottext interactions allow partial credit. Select Allow partial credit. If using this feature, enter the minimum and maximum point values a student can earn, and default points per answer choice. You also must assign point values for each answer choice, Double-click each hottext field to assign its point value.

Inline Choice

The inline choice interaction requires students to select an answer choice from a drop-down list within the prompt text. Inline choice interactions can only be used with OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Enter the interaction prompt or stem.
4. With the pointer in the desired location of the inline choice field, select Inline Choice.
   

   

5. Enter the answer choices.

   

   All answer choices are labeled as wrong by default. Click the label to change an answer choice to correct.

6. Delete or re-order answer choices using the buttons at the end of each row.
   
   1. To delete an answer choice, click X.

   2. To change the answer choice order, hover on the shaded square until a four-way arrow displays. Then, drag and drop the row to a new location.

7. To display answer choices in a different order each time the interaction is presented, select Shuffle unlocked choices when this item is presented. If this feature is enabled, you can lock specific choices in place by selecting the lock in the shaded square.
   

   

8. Click OK. Double-click the interaction to make changes, if necessary.

Instructions Block

The instructions block is not an interaction type and will not contribute a score. Optionally, add an instructions block to an item interaction, or use it as a standalone text-only prompt. You must use an instructions block to add a rubric. 

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Select Instructions.
3. Enter the Description.

4. Under Contents, enter the desired instructions or rubric.

5. Under Permissions, choose who can display the instructions:
   • Student makes the contents of the instruction block available to students when taking tests online.
   • Scorer makes the rubric available when scoring items with human scoreable interaction types.

Match

The match interaction requires students to select checkboxes at the intersections of columns and rows as answer choices. Match interactions can only be used in OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
   
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
   
3. Select Match.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
5. Under Match Structure, click within the text boxes to enter or edit the column and row labels.
6. Select the checkboxes for the correct answer matches.
   

   

7. Delete or reorder columns and rows using the buttons at the end of each label.
   
   1. To delete a column or row, click X.

   2. To change the order, hover on the shaded square until a four-way arrow displays. Then, drag and drop the row to a new location.

   

   The maximum limit is 10 rows or columns.

Choose from the following additional options:

• Limit selections per row or column: Select Limit the number of selections a student can make per row and column to limit answer selections. If using this feature, you must assign a maximum number of answer selections for each row and column. By default, all rows and columns are set to 0, which means there are no restrictions on the number of answer selections a student can choose for that row or column.

If you set limits for rows or columns then choose to remove the limits you must reset the count to 0 for each row and column before clearing the option. Otherwise, the number of selections continue to be restricted.

• Partial credit: Click Allow partial credit. If using this feature, enter point values for each correct answer choice, minimum and maximum point values, and default points per match choice.
• Shuffle: To display columns and rows in a different order each time the interaction is presented, select Shuffle column labels and row labels.
• Limit total selections: To limit the total number of student selections, enter a value in Limit the total number of student selections. If a value is entered, it supersedes the total number of selections allowed via the row and column settings.

Multiple Choice

The multiple-choice interaction requires students to select responses from presented choices. You can administer multiple choice interactions using either scan sheet or Online Testing.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
   
3. Select Choice/Multi-Response.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.

5. Enter the Answer Choices.

   

   All answer choices are labeled as wrong by default. Click the label to change an answer choice to correct.

6. Delete or re-order answer choices using the buttons at the end of each row.
   
   1. To delete an answer choice, click X.

   2. To change the answer choice order, hover on the shaded square until a four-way arrow displays. Then, drag and drop the row to a new location.

7. Optionally, if the interaction has more than one correct answer, you can select Set limit on maximum answer choices, then enter a Maximum number of choices allowed. This prevents students from proceeding to the next question until they select the maximum number of answer choices.
8. If you want to allow partial credit for interactions with multiple correct choices, select Allow partial credit. Assign Pts (point values) for each answer choice, minimum and maximum point values, and the default points per answer choice.
9. Optionally, to display answer choices in a different order each time the interaction is presented, select Shuffle unlocked choices when this item is presented. If you use this feature, you can select the lock in the shaded square to lock specific choices in place.

Numeric Grid

The numeric grid interaction requires the student to enter a numerical response one digit at a time in a grid format. Numeric grid interactions can be used with scan sheets and OLA tests.

A numeric grid interaction must exist alone in an item; no other interactions can be added to the item.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
   
3. Enter the interaction prompt or stem.
4. Select Numeric Grid.

5. Complete the fields in the Numeric Grid Interaction dialog.
   

   

   1. Enter labels, such as currency symbols, to precede or follow the answer grid.
   2. Optionally, you can choose to include a leading column for a negative answer:
      • Include negative option, lists a negative across all columns.
      • Fixed negative position limits the negative symbol to that column and scores accordingly.
   3. Make selections to include a decimal point or slash in a choice row or a fixed column.
   4. Select the number of columns to display in the answer grid.

   5. By selecting bubbles, enter the correct answer in the grid.

      

      If you do not want to allow for rounded or truncated correct responses, then the correct answer must end in a zero (0). (For example: If the correct answer is stated as .777, then a student response of .7778 or .7777 is considered correct. If the correct response is set to .7770, then only .777 is correct.

   6. Click OK.

Scoring Rules

Select Numeric Grid Scoring Rules to display the interaction's scoring rules.

Order

The order interaction requires students to drag and drop text objects in the correct order. Order interactions can only be used with OLA tests.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Order.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.
5. Click within the text entry boxes under Displayed Choices to enter the answer choices.
6. Drag the correct choices from the Displayed Choices column to the Correct Answer column. To move a choice, hover over the shaded square until the four-way arrow displays, then drag and drop the choice to the desired location. Small arrows indicate where the choice will be placed.
   

   

7. Delete or re-order answer choices using the buttons at the end of each row.

   1. To delete an answer choice, click X.

   2. To change the answer choice order, hover on the shaded square until a four-way arrow displays. Then, drag and drop the row to a new location.

8. You can choose shuffle choices and change the display orientation.
   
   • Shuffle: To display answer choices in a different order each time the interaction is presented, select Shuffle unlocked choices when this item is presented. If this feature is enabled, you can lock specific choices in place by selecting the lock in the shaded square.
     

     

   • Display orientation: You can choose the best direction to present the displayed choices during assessment using the drop-down list.

Text Entry

The text entry interaction is unique. The student response is an open text field, but the student's response must match one of the defined correct answers exactly to receive credit. This creates a risk for incorrect test scores, especially for math assessments.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
3. Select Text Entry.
4. Choose if the interaction has one correct answer, more than one correct, or a partially correct answer.

5. If the interaction has more than one recognized correct response, complete the grid for each correct answer, including the number of points, and case sensitivity for answers.

   

   The student must match at least one of these answers exactly to be scored correctly.

6. Click OK.

Guidelines

The following guidelines can help ensure students receive proper credit for their responses:

• Provide the units of measure, including $, outside the answer box unless units are critical. If so, add the units as a separate drop-down list using the inline choice interaction.

Units Outside	Units as Drop-Down List

• For equation responses, provide “n” (or another suitable letter) outside the answer box.
• As a rule, use ( ). Only use { } and [ ] when required.
• Do not use spaces when entering an equation.
• Do not use a comma when entering large numbers.
• Use a decimal point only when required.
• Use x as the multiplication symbol; do not use an asterisk (*).

• Include these instructions with the items, as appropriate, to guide students when formatting their responses.
• For questions requiring complex answers, consider using the extended text interaction with human scoring.

Examples

The following examples outline considerations when using the Text Entry interaction:

Example 1

At least 32 student responses contain elements of a correct answer.

Example 2

At least 20 student responses contain elements of a correct answer.

Example 3

At least 37 student responses contain elements of a correct answer. Some student answers are in the proper format, but use a different letter from the answer key.

Example 4

At least 18 student responses contain elements of a correct answer.

Upload

The upload interaction requires students to upload a file (for example, an image, audio, or video file) containing a piece of work to be scored. Upload interactions can only be used with OLA tests. This is a human-scored interaction. To support the scoring of answers, you must add an instructions block containing a rubric to score the item.

1. From the main navigation menu, choose Items, then choose New Item.
   
2. Enter the Item Title and any properties.
   
3. Select Upload.
4. Enter the Prompt/Stem.

Answers uploaded by students are limited to a maximum file size of 1GB using one of these file types: bmp, doc, docx, gif, htm, html, pdf, jpeg, jpg, mov, mp3, mp4, png, pdf, ppt, pptx, svg, txt, uri, xls, zip.