Award Partial Credit in a Numerical Input Problem

Award Partial Credit in a Numerical Input Problem#

Tags: educator how-to

You can configure a numerical input problem to award partial credit to learners who submit an answer that is close or related to the correct answer. You must use the advanced editor to configure partial credit.

In the following example, the learner entered an answer that was close to the correct answer and received partial credit.

A numerical input problem with partial credit for a close answer.

For an overview of partial credit in problems, see Awarding Partial Credit for a Problem.

You can use the following methods to award partial credit in a numerical input problem.

Note

You can use these methods of awarding partial credit individually or in combination.

Identifying Close Answers#

You can configure a numerical input problem so that answers that are close to the correct answer receive partial credit.

To do so, you configure the tolerance for incorrect answers. Learners receive partial credit for close answers based on the tolerance. By default, the tolerance is multiplied by 2 and the following rules are applied.

  • An answer within the tolerance receives 100% of the points for the problem.

  • An answer within or equal to 2x of the tolerance receives 50%.

  • An answer more than 2x the outside of the tolerance receives 0%.

You can optionally specify a different multiplier for the tolerance. For example, you could set the multiplier to 3. In this case, the following rules apply.

  • An answer within the tolerance receives 100% of the points for the problem.

  • An answer within or equal to 3x of the tolerance receives 50%.

  • An answer more than 3x outside of the tolerance receives 0%.

Configure Close Answers#

To configure a numerical input problem to award partial credit for close answers, you add the following attributes to the problem XML.

  • Add the partial_credit="close" attribute to the <numericalresponse> element.

    You can use close answers in combination with a list. Set the attribute to partial_credit="close,list".

  • Optionally, add the partial_range attribute to the <responseparam> element and set its value to the tolerance multiplier. If you do not set the partial_range attribute, 2 is used as the tolerance multiplier.

For example, the following OLX shows a numerical problem that provides partial credit for close answers.

<problem>
  <numericalresponse answer="9.3*10^7" partial_credit="close">
    <label>How many miles away from Earth is the sun?</label>
    <description>Use scientific notation to answer.</description>
    <formulaequationinput/>
    <responseparam type="tolerance" default="1%" partial_range="3"/>
  </numericalresponse>
</problem>

Awarding Partial Credit for Answers in a List#

For some numerical input problems, mistakes do not help a learner arrive at the correct answer. For example, a small mistake can lead to negative instead of positive results, or to an answer that is off by a square root or numerical factor.

For these types of problems, you can configure a list of wrong answers that receive partial credit. Learners who submit answers that are on the list receive 50% of the problem’s points.

Configure a List#

To configure a numerical input problem to award partial credit for answers in a list, you add the following attributes to the problem XML.

  • Add the partial_credit="list" attribute to the <numericalresponse> element.

    You can use a list in combination with close answers. Set the attribute to partial_credit="close,list".

  • Add the partial_answers attribute to the <responseparam> element. Set its value to one or more answers that should earn 50% of the problem’s points. Separate multiple values by a comma (,).

For example, the following XML shows the numerical problem template updated to provide partial credit for a different answer.

<problem>
  <numericalresponse answer="9.3*10^7" partial_credit="close">
    <label>How many miles away from Earth is the sun?</label>
    <description>Use scientific notation to answer.</description>
    <formulaequationinput />
    <responseparam partial_answers="150*10^6"/>
  </numericalresponse>
</problem>

See also

About Numerical Input Problem (reference)

Manage a Numerical Input Problem (how-to)

Add Text after the Numeric Response Field (how-to)

Add Feedback via the Advanced Editor (how-to)

Edit Numerical Input Problems using the Advanced Editor (how-to)

Numerical Input Problem OLX Reference (reference)

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