This article covers the matching task type.
For a general overview of tasks and what they can do, see An introduction to tasks and for general instructions on how to add them to your course, see How to add a task to your course.
Overview of the matching task
This matching task lets learners match items using one static list and one dynamic list. Learners can drag items to and within the dynamic list using their mouse/keyboard or by tapping on the item to pick it up, and tapping again to drop it.
Items can be words or images.
When should I use a matching task?
Matching works best for things where you can set up 1-1 relationships: terms-definitions, cause-effect, tool-application, theory-example, and so on.
Let's take a look at some examples.
Example 1: Match tools to use
Example 2: Matching methods
Example 3: Matching images
If you're getting a bit bored of your regular term-definition combo, try using pictures that learners need to interpret.
You can set up Matching tasks which aren't 1-1, but before you do, take a look at the Classification task type, because that might be better suited.
How do I create a matching task?
All tasks load with an example task to give an idea of what each field is for. To add your own task details, you can type over the existing content in the fields or select Clear task content, to start completely fresh.
Standard fields
This task has the standard fields/options that all tasks have.
At the top:
Question: Where you set the main question/task which tells learners what to answer or do.
And at the bottom:
Hint: Add a hint to give pointers or clues to give learners extra guidance to complete the task. Learners can choose to See hint so it allows them to get this help “on demand”.
Feedback: Add feedback to give learners an automated response when they submit the task. See Writing feedback for tasks for pointers and ideas.
In between the top and bottom standard fields we have the following areas and fields.
How to set the items to match to
In the Items section, enter the items you want your learners to match to.
Use +Add button to add more items to the list and the bin icon to the right to remove items. The up/down arrows to the left of each item allows you to re-order how the options appear to your learners.
How to set the available responses to drag and drop
In the Available responses section add all the possible responses that learners can select an answer from. Again the +Add/bin to add/remove responses.
You have the option to group possible responses. This puts the possible responses for learners into labelled groups.
If you choose to do so you will notice a group appear. Give it a name, add the title of the group and then begin adding the possible responses that belong in that group. You can then add a second group with possible responses and so on.
How to set the correct answer
Under Correct, drag your items into the correct order to allow the task to be automarked.
If there are more correct answers, use the + to add alternative answers.
You can also choose to not set a correct answer. If you don’t want the question to be automarked, leave the items in the grey space, unallocated to a response container. In this case, the task will not be automarked and the task will be allocated the complete/incomplete with feedback marking template to allow facilitators to manually mark the task (if desired).
Other options
Duplicate responses means the available responses you've set can be chosen/used by the learner more than once e.g. you can use response A twice to match it to item 1 and item 2.
Shuffle options displays the response options in a different order each time the question is shown.