This lesson provides step-by-step guidance on creating a Graphing Functions item in the Item Bank. This item type requires students to plot the correct object on a graph, in the correct location, according to given information. This question type can be administered online only, does not offer partial 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 Graphing Functions Item
General Item Settings and Question Creation
- Select the Graphing Functions item type.
- (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.
- 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.
- Enter the Total Possible Points students can earn on the item.
- Enter the Question in the text box.
- The Question may also include audio, video, images, equations, or tables, as shown in the CKEditor formatting tools. Take a look at CKEditor Formatting Tools for Staff Users for more details.
Grid Configuration
Grid Configurations act as a starting point in creating the desired graph question. Once a Grid Configuration is chosen, the quadrants, axes, labels, and intervals can still be altered manually.
- The first chart, under Define Graph Attributes, displays what the question will look like initially to the student when they view the item in an assessment. Select the desired chart layout from the Grid Configuration dropdown. The chart will update in real time.
- 4-quadrant coordinate grid, -10 to 10: Default layout. Displays all four quadrants, with x- and y-axis values ranging from -10 to 10, and an interval of 1.
- 0 to 10 on both axes: Displays the first quadrant, with x- and y-axis values ranging from 0 to 10, and an interval of 1.
- 0 to 20 on both axes: Displays the first quadrant, with x- and y-axis values ranging from 0 to 20, and an interval of 1.
- Sample Data Graph: Displays the first quadrant, with a Time axis ranging from 0 to 30 with a label interval of 2, and a Distance axis ranging from 0 to 80 with a label interval of 10.
- No Visible Axes: Displays a grid with no axes and no interval labels.
Grid Setup and Settings
- Select Customize Grid Setup to expand the customization settings. The menu will display differently depending on the selected Grid Configuration. The Define Graph Attributes chart will update in real time in response to customization changes.
- Toggle Include axes and labels? on to include axis lines and accompanying interval labels. Toggle off for an unlabeled grid.
- Toggle Constrain to standard coordinate grid? on to synchronize the grid axes; changes made to the Min and Max Values and the Grid and Label Intervals for either axis will automatically apply to the other axis. Toggle off to desynchronize the axes, allowing different Min and Max Values and Intervals for each axis.
- Enter the desired Axis Min and Max Values by using the plus and minus symbols, or by typing in the fields.
- For the axes to be visible, the Min Value must be set to zero or a negative number, and the Max Value must be set to a positive number.
- Min and Max Values allow for decimals, but are functionally constrained by the Interval limitations, which include divisors of 1 up to three decimal places, e.g., 0.1, 0.125, 0.2, 0.25, 0.5.
- The Grid and Label Intervals will automatically change to match the scale of the axis values, but can still be manually altered.
- The Min Value is capped at -10,000, and the Max Value is capped at 10,000.
- Type the desired Axis Labels. The axes are default labeled as x and y.
- Enter the desired Grid and Label Intervals by using the plus and minus symbols, or by typing in the fields.
- The Label Intervals will automatically update to match the Grid Intervals, but can still be manually altered.
- The plus and minus symbols will add or subtract to the Intervals differently depending on the set Min and Max Values.
- The allowed Intervals are dependent on the set Min and Max Values. Given a Min and Max Value of -10,000 and 10,000, respectively, the maximum Grid Interval is 1,000, and the maximum Label Interval is 5,000. Given a Min and Max Value of -0.1 and 0.1, respectively, the minimum Grid Interval is 0.01.
- The minimum allowed Label Interval is equal to the set Grid Interval. The maximum allowed Label Interval is dependent on the set Min and Max Values and the Grid Interval. It is generally a multiple of the Grid Interval, and not so large that it exceeds the bounds of the set graph.
- For unnumbered gridlines, set the Label Intervals to 0.
- Enter the desired Dimensions of the graph in pixels by using the plus and minus symbols, or by typing in the fields. The minimum allowed size is 150 pixels, and the maximum is 800 pixels.
- Select the desired checkboxes to Include Arrows on axes.
- Toggle Graph Title on or off to include or exclude an overall graph title.
- Toggle Graph Labels on or off to include or exclude top, right, left, and bottom graph labels.
- Toggle Coordinates on Hover on to enable the display of coordinates to students when hovering over a plotted point.
Graph Attributes
- (Optional) Select Add Background Shapes to Graph to open the dropdown menu. Select an object to add to the graph, and plot the relevant points onto the grid.
- Select Undo to revert the last change made.
- Select Redo to reapply the last undone change.
- Select Reset to clear the grid of all added objects and labels.
- Select Label and select any point or line of an object on the grid to add accompanying text.
- Background shapes added to the graph under Define Graph Attributes will display as static objects that students will see upon viewing the item. Added objects will also appear on the Correct Answer graph in grayscale, displaying a preview of the graph students will see. Background shapes cannot be altered by students.
- (Optional) Type a graph title into the text field. If untitled, this space will be blank in the student view.
- (Optional) Type labels into the top, right, left, and/or bottom text fields. If unlabeled, these spaces will be blank in the student view.
Graph Objects
All objects, excluding the Point, require at least two points to be plotted on the graph before the object will appear. Once plotted, any point within an object can be relocated by selecting and dragging the point to the desired location.
- Circle: Select Circle and select coordinates on the graph to plot the Center Point. Select a second pair of coordinates to plot a point (Point A) on the circumference of the circle, determining the radius.
- Line: Select Line and select coordinates on the graph to plot the first point (Point B). Select a second pair of coordinates to plot the second point (Point C) on the line, determining the slope.
- Parabola: Select Parabola and select coordinates on the graph to place the Vertex. Select a second pair of coordinates to plot an included point (Point D) in the Parabola function.
- Point: Select Point and select coordinates on the graph to plot the point (Point E).
- Polygon: Select Polygon and select coordinates on the graph to plot the first vertex of the polygon (Point F). Plot each consecutive vertex to outline the shape, finishing with the original point (Point F). Once enclosed, the polygon will shade in.
- Ray: Select Ray and select coordinates on the graph to plot the endpoint (Point G). Select a second pair of coordinates to plot the second point (Point H) on the ray, determining the slope.
- Segment: Select Segment and select coordinates on the graph to plot one endpoint (Point J). Select a second pair of coordinates to plot the second endpoint (Point K), determining the slope.
- Sine: Select Sine and select coordinates on the graph to plot a point (Point L) determining where the midline of the Sine function will fall. Select a second pair of coordinates to plot a point (Point M) determining the amplitude of the Sine function.
- Vector: Select Vector and select coordinates on the graph to plot the beginning point of the vector (Point N). Select a second pair of coordinates to plot the vector arrow, determining the magnitude and direction of the vector.
- Absolute Value: Select Absolute Value and select coordinates on the graph to plot the Vertex. Select a second pair of coordinates to plot an included point (Point O) in the Absolute Value function.
- Exponential: Select Exponential and select coordinates on the graph to plot one included point (Point P) in the Exponential function. Select a second pair of coordinates to plot a second included point (Point Q) in the Exponential function.
Correct Answer
- Select the desired Default Graphing Tool from the dropdown that will be default selected when students initially view the item.
- Select the Graphing Tools to include as options for students to use while plotting their answer, and deselect graphing tools to hide them from view. Selected tools will be highlighted with a gray box, and deselected tools will have no highlight, and will be removed from the options on the Correct Answer graph.
- Plot the correct answer to the question on the graph under Correct Answer.
- Select Undo to revert the last change made.
- Select Redo to reapply the last undone change.
- Select Reset to clear the grid of all added objects and labels.
- Select Label and select any point or line of an object on the grid to add accompanying text.
- Background shapes added to the graph under Define Graph Attributes will display as static objects in grayscale on the Correct Answer graph, displaying a preview of the graph students will see. Background shapes cannot be altered by students.
- (Optional) If there is more than one possible correct answer to the question, select Add Alternate. Another graph will populate; plot the alternate correct answer to the question. Continue to add alternate correct answers as necessary.
The automatic scoring system will count a student response as correct if the object plotted is the same shape and in the same location as the Correct Answer. This means that students will be counted as correct even if they plot different points, as long as the shape and location of the object is the same, without requiring Alternate Correct Answers to be made.
Next Steps
To learn more about creating different item types, take a look at the other articles in the Item Types manual.