Numerical Response – SchoolCity

This lesson provides step-by-step guidance on creating a Numerical Response item in the Item Bank. This item type requires students to enter the answer to a numeric question on a keypad when administered online, or bubble in the answer on a griddable template when administered on paper. This question type can be administered online or on paper, 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 Numerical Response Item

Online Administration Keypad

An example Numerical Response item creation screen, with Item Type labeled as step 1, Passage labeled as step 2, Include Teacher Instructions labeled as step 3, Question labeled as step 4, Total Possible Points labeled as step 5, Include Griddable labeled as step 6, the Answer keypad labeled as step 7, the Tolerance keypad labeled as step 8, and the Save and Next buttons labeled as step 9.

Select the Numeric Response 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 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.
Enter the maximum Total Possible Points students can earn on the item.
If administering the item on paper, use the slider to Include Griddable. View the Paper Administration Griddable section below to learn more about this option.
Enter the correct Answer using the Keypad.
(Optional) Enter a Tolerance value using the Tolerance Keypad, if desired.
- Including a Tolerance value allows a Numerical Response answer to be scored as correct when its value is within the selected Tolerance range. For example, a Tolerance of 0.01 would allow an answer to be plus or minus 0.01 from the exact answer. If the problem asks students to round 3.666 to the nearest hundredth, and the Tolerance is set at 0.01, then the following answers would be scored as correct: 3.66, 3.67, and 3.68.
Select Save to save the item progress, or select Next to save and continue to the next step.

Paper Administration Griddable

An example Numeric Response item creation screen, with Include Griddable labeled as step 1, Load from Available Templates labeled as step 2, and Apply This Template labeled as step 3.

If administering the item on paper, follow the item instructions above, and use the slider to Include Griddable.
Select Load from Available Templates.
The Griddable Templates popup window opens. Find the desired template, and select Apply This Template.
- The list of available templates is determined by what has been created in the Admin Templates tab. To learn more, take a look at Create & Manage Griddable Templates for Numerical Response Items.

An example Numerical Response item creation screen, with the griddable template name labeled as step 4, the griddable template itself labeled as step 5, and the Tolerance Keypad labeled as step 6.

Once selected, the name of the Griddable Template appears.
The Griddable Template displays next to the Answer and Tolerance Keypads. Enter the correct answer into the Template.
- If a Griddable Template has been loaded, the Answer Keypad will no longer be editable. Instead, the answer entered into the Griddable Template will automatically populate into the Answer Keypad as well.
(Optional) Enter a Tolerance value using the Tolerance Keypad, if desired.

Next Steps

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