Skip to main content

Gap Match

  • Updated

This lesson provides step-by-step guidance on creating a Gap Match item in the Item Bank. This item type requires students to drag and drop words, phrases, or numbers to the correct response boxes. This question type can be administered online only, offers full, partial, and relative scoring, and is automatically scored.

Before You Begin

This lesson begins assuming that users have the permissions to create new Item Bank items, and are familiar with the item creation process. To learn more about creating Item Bank items, take a look at the Create Items article.

Create Gap Match Item

General Item Settings and Question Creation

An example Gap Match item creation screen, with the Item Type labeled as step 1, Link Passage labeled as step 2, Include Teacher Instructions labeled as step 3, Question labeled as step 4, the GM and Clear GM options labeled as step 5, Partial Credit labeled as step 6, Relative Scoring labeled as step 7, Total Possible Points labeled as step 8, Choice Text Entry labeled as step 9, Gap Size labeled as step 10, and Generate Gaps and Choices labeled as step 11.
  1. Select the Gap Match item type.
  2. (Optional) Choose one or more passages by selecting Link Passage.
    • Passages must be published and located in the same Work Space to be available for linking.
  3. Use the slider to determine if the item should Include Teacher Instructions.
    • If the slider is set to Yes, enter teacher instructions into the text box.
  4. Enter the Question in the text box.
  5. In the CKEditor formatting toolbar, select GM to insert a student response field at the current location of the cursor. Select Clear GM to remove the selected student response field.
  6. Use the Partial Credit slider to enable or disable partial credit.
    • If Partial Credit is disabled, students must match every Gap correctly to receive points; if any response is incorrect, students receive no points.
    • If Partial Credit is enabled, students can receive points for partially correct answers.
  7. If Partial Credit is enabled, use the checkbox to enable Relative Scoring.
    • If Relative Scoring is disabled, each Gap can be assigned an independent number of points.
    • If Relative Scoring is enabled, points are awarded according to how many Gaps are answered correctly.
  8. Enter the maximum Total Possible Points students can earn. If Partial Credit has been enabled, the Total Possible Points field becomes uneditable, and instead displays the maximum number of points for the question according to the points assigned to each Gap.
  9. Select if the Choice Text Entry should be Plain Text, Special Characters, or an Equation Editor. The selection made determines what type of response can be entered into the Choice fields during item authoring.
    • Plain Text allows any characters generated by a keyboard.
    • Special Characters generates a special character keyboard for French/Spanish that can be utilized in addition to Plain Text.
    • Equation Editor generates an option to use the Equation Editor tool to create equations, in addition to Plain Text.
  10. Use the radio buttons to determine Gap Size.
    • Determines if the gaps that students drag a token to is small or large.
    • The small size is best suited for use within sentences.
    • The large size is best suited for use within tables.
  11. Select Generate Gaps and Choices. Student response setup options will generate for each Gap Match that has been added to the Question field.

Gap Choice Setup

An example Gap Match item creation screen, with Update Gaps labeled as step 12, the Gap# and Gap columns labeled as step 13, the Choice number, field, and image options labeled as step 14, Choice Usage labeled as step 15, Answer for Gap # labeled as step 16, Gap X labeled as step 17, the trashcan icon labeled as step 18, Add Choice labeled as step 19, Preview labeled as step 20, Relative Scoring Points Awarded labeled as step 21, and the Save and Next buttons labeled as step 22.
  1. Once generated, the Generate Gaps and Choices button will update to display Update Gaps. Select Update Gaps to update the student response setup after adding or removing GM fields in the Question.
  2. The left-hand table displays a list of the GM fields added to the Question under the Gap column, and the number associated to that Gap under the Gap # column, which can be referenced when selecting the correct answers.
    • If Partial Credit is enabled, but Relative Scoring is disabled, this table also displays the Points column, where each Gap can be assigned an individual point value.
    • The Gap # circles will initially display as grey in color, and will turn green once a Choice has been assigned as the correct answer for that Gap.
  3. Enter the responses that students will be able to choose from when dragging and dropping options under the Choice column.
    • The numbers to the left of the Choice fields are not editable, but display in what order the entered Choices will appear.
    • It is recommended to enter the Choices in a random order, rather than in the same order as the Gaps were added to the Question, so that the Choices do not display to students in the same order that they should be placed.
    • The default number of Choices that generate is equal to the number of created Gaps, but more may be added.
    • Select the image icon to upload an image as a Choice, instead of using the text field.
  4. Select the Choice Usage for each Choice.
    • Once: Selecting Once means that the associated Choice can only be placed one time, and cannot be used as a response in multiple Gaps.
    • Multiple: Selecting Multiple allows students to place the associated Choice multiple times, and the Choice can be used as a response in multiple Gaps.
  5. Select the correct Gap that each Choice should be the correct answer for under the Answer for Gap # column.
    • If the Choice Usage was set to Multiple, a second dropdown menu will appear, allowing for the Choice to be assigned as the correct answer for another Gap. Select Add Answer for Gap # to add additional correct answer dropdown menus; select the trashcan icon to remove correct answer dropdown menus.
  6. If more Choices are created than there are Gaps, the Gap X option will be available under the Answer for Gap # column. This indicates that the associated Choice is a "distractor" option, and is not a correct answer for any Gap.
  7. Select the trashcan icon to delete a Choice row.
  8. Select Add Choice to add another Choice row.
  9. Select Preview to view how the item will display in the Student Portal, including the correct answers for each Gap.
  10. If Relative Scoring is enabled, the Relative Scoring table appears underneath the Gaps and Choices tables. Enter the Points Awarded to students for each successive level of Correct Answers Selected.
  11. Select Save to save the item progress, or select Next to save and continue to the next step.

Next Steps

To learn more about creating different item types, take a look at the other articles in the Item Types manual.

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 0 found this helpful
Return to top

Help us improve this article

Submit Feedback