This lesson provides step-by-step guidance on creating a Fraction Model item in the Item Bank. This item type requires students to shade in the correct number of fraction parts of one or more model shapes, according to the given prompt. This question type can be administered online only, does not offer partial credit, 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 Fraction Model Item
General Item Settings and Question Creation
- Select the Fraction Model 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 maximum Total Possible Points students can earn on the item.
- (Optional) Enter a Title for the item that will display above the Question in the Student Portal.
- 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.
Configure Fraction Model and Correct Answer
- Select the Model Type, or the shape to be split into fractions, either Bar or Pie.
- Select the desired Max # of Models, with a minimum of one, and a maximum of nine.
- The Correct Answer models update in real time with changes to the Max # of Models.
- The Max # of Models can be set to be larger than the number of models required to portray the correct answer. This can be used to test student understanding more deeply by removing implicit hints at how many models the correct answer requires.
- Select the desired Parts per Model, the number of parts each Model shape will be split into, with a minimum of one, and a maximum of nine.
- The Correct Answer models update in real time with changes to the Parts per Model.
- Select the checkbox to allow students to configure the number of models and parts per model.
- If student configuration is not enabled, students will see the Max # of Models split into the chosen Parts per Model, as set by the item author. Students will only be required to shade the correct number of fraction parts.
- If student configuration is enabled, students will be required to select the number of models to display (limited by the Max # of Models set by the item author), and how many parts each model should be split into, as well as then shading the correct number of fraction parts.
- Once the Fraction Models have been configured, select the appropriate number of fraction parts to represent the Correct Answer.
- Hovering over fraction parts highlights those parts in grey; selected fraction parts highlight in blue.
- Multiple models in the Correct Answer may be fully shaded and/or left blank, but only one model may be partially filled.
- Another example of a Correct Answer setup displays how the Max # of Models can be higher than the Correct Answer requires. Note that the Correct Answer allows for a fully shaded model, as well as a fully blank model, as long as only one model is partially filled.
- Select Save to save the item progress, or select Next to save and continue to the next step.
When student responses are scored, the Fraction Model item type does not take into account equivalent fractions. Students must have the exact same answer as what the item author sets under the Correct Answer section, or they will not receive points. Be sure to keep this parameter in mind when phrasing the Question, configuring the Fraction Model, and setting the Correct Answer, so that students have sufficient guidance to reach the exact correct answer.
Next Steps
To learn more about creating different item types, take a look at the other articles in the Item Types manual.