When you create an automarked math fill in the blanks (cloze) task, you need to set up how learners' answers should be marked. This is the Method.
You set the Method of automarking when adding the correct answer.
Marking methods fall into two main types:
Equivalence - Is what the learner entered equivalent to what I have set as the correct answer?
For example, e.g. 3+2 is equivalent to 2+3Form - Is what the learner entered in the form I have specified as the correct answer?
For example, 3x + 6 is equivalent to 3(x+2) but is in a different form.
Authors will generally only need one equivalence checking method, but depending on what outcome the task is assessing, may include none, one or more form checking methods.
For most use cases, equivSymbolic with Allow decimal marks enabled will do what you need.
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples before we dive into all the methods.
Example using equivSymbolic
equivSymbolic checks to see if a learner's answer is equivalent to what you as the author have set under Value.
For instance, if we set x2 + 2x as the Value (under Correct) and set the Method as equivSymbolic, then it would mark anything that is equivalent to x2+2x as correct.
In the image below you can see that because x(x+2) is equivalent to the value we set, it was marked correct. However 2x2 +2x is not equivalent to x2+2x so has been marked incorrect.
Note: In this task we have set up 3 response boxes with the same marking methods to show you how 3 different answers would be marked. For many maths automarking tasks, you will only have 1 response box.
Example using equivSymbolic + isSimplified
You can add as many marking methods as you like. In this example, we’ll use two - equivSymbolic and isSimplified.
Note: You add further marking methods by selecting Add. In this way, you can layer as many marking methods as you need.
By adding the isSimplified method, we are setting up the automarking to only accept answers as correct if they are in the most simplified form.
You can see in the example task below that we still have the flexibility of having the expression in any order, but the last answer (although equivalent to the value we set) has not been simplified fully so has been marked incorrect.
The equivalence marking methods
equivLiteral checks that what the learner entered is exactly what you've put.
equivSymbolic checks that what the learner entered equates to what you've put, even if they look different e.g. x + x = 2x
equivValue compares numerical values that may be represented in different ways e.g. 30 mins = 0.5 hours
The form marking methods
isSimplified checks if a value is in its most simplified version.
isTrue checks that an expression that has a comparison or equality (= <, >, ≤, ≥) is true e.g. 3 > 2
isFactorised checks that a mathematical expression is in factorised form e.g. 2(x + 4)
isExpanded checks that a mathematical expression is in simplified, expanded form e.g. 2x + 8
isUnit checks if an expression contains the unit(s) you have specified.
equivSyntax lets you specify a particular type of data e.g. a particular number of decimal places or being in scientific form.
stringMatch evaluates whether the value a learner has entered is the same as the Value you have set.
Common use cases
For those that want to skip to the answer rather than read about all the marking methods, we have a quick lookup table for some common situations below:
Type | Examples | Marking requirement | Method(s) to use |
Simple calculations with only one correct form | Calculate 3+4/2
Calculate the rate of interest…
Simplify 2x + x
What is the chemical formula for water? | The answer is a particular number or expression and learners aren’t likely to have correct answers with a different form. | |
Calculations with decimals | Calculate 3+4/3
How many years will it take to save $20,000 at a rate of $120 per week? | A range of decimal values could be accepted e.g. 2.354 or 2.35378 | equivValue with a value entered for Significant decimal places |
Chemical equations | Write the equation for the combustion of carbon. | The chemicals need to be in a particular form, but can be in any order. | |
Algebraic equations | Simplify 8x2+16x/4x
Expand 4x(x+5)
Factorise 4x2+20x | The answer typically needs to be in as simplfied a form as possible and needs to be in a particular form. | equivSympbolic in conjunction with
and possibly one of these further methods: |
Calculations with any unit | If it is 0900, how long will Ted have to wait for the 10:47am train?
What is the volume of a cube with 2cm long sides? | The unit needs to be included, but it could be any unit. | |
Calculations with particular units | Convert 90cm to m
What is the speed of sound in air in SI units? | The units need to be included. | equivValuein conjunction with isUnit |
Calculations with tolerances | Estimate the weight of 2L of milk. | A range of numeric values could be accepted. | equivValue with +/- added into the Value field |
Scientific calculations | Calculate the acceleration of a train that starts from rest and reaches 50 metres per second in 15 seconds. | The answer needs to be in particular units, with a particular number of decimal places and/or in scientific form. | equivValuein conjunction with
isUnit and
|
Tips
Try to separate out expressions into responses without =, >, <. These can make validation more complex.
Most of these scoring methods register (and therefore mark) spaces, e.g they see 2 300 as different from 2300. So, if you find your answers are being marked incorrect, check you've allowed for separators by enabling Allow decimal marks in your marking method.
If you have a particular form/units in your answer add a short note to learners to make sure they include the unit with their answer.
Setting up automatic marking for a math cloze can be challenging. So, please reach out to our team using the in-app chat at any time for guidance on setting up your task.