Create a Drag in the Blank Item – DnA & ISE

This lesson provides step-by-step guidance on creating a Drag in the Blank item in the Item Bank. Drag in the Blank items allow for students to drag a response into a provided space. These items are automatically scored.

Where to Start

Select Assessments.
Select Browse Item Bank.

Create a New Item

The Create Item and Drag in the Blank item type buttons.

Select Create Item.
Use the dropdown menu to select Drag in the Blank as the item type.

Drag in the Blank Items

An example Drag in the Blank item, with the Item Stem labeled as step 5, the Template text field labeled as step 6, + Response Area labeled as step 7, Add Choice labeled as step 8, the draggable choices labeled as step 9, and the Response Area labeled as step 10.

Enter the Item Stem. The stem is the beginning part of an item that presents a problem to be solved, a direct question, or an incomplete statement to be completed, as well as any other relevant information.
- To insert a line break in the Stem, use shift-return (or shift-enter, depending on the keyboard).
In the Define Template text entry area, type in the text that will make up the body of the item.
Position the cursor at the desired location in the Define Template text entry area, and then select +Response Area to add a Response Area to the text. A question can include one or more Response Areas.
Select Add Choice, enter the text of the answer choice, and select the green checkmark. Repeat until all desired answer choices have been defined.
Responses can be rearranged by selecting and dragging, and can be deleted using the trash can icon.
Indicate the correct answers by dragging them to the corresponding Response Areas.

By default, each answer choice can only be used one time; when a student drags an answer choice to a Response Area, that answer choice will no longer be available to drag to other Response Areas.

If you want to create an item where a single answer choice can be reused, so that it can fill in more than one response area, go to Settings and turn on Allow Duplicates.

Do not create duplicate answer choices, as this will lead to scoring problems.

Drafted items are automatically saved.

Item Details

The item settings menus, with the Standards icon labeled as step 11, Passages labeled as step 12, Tags labeled as step 13, and the Settings and Properties menus labeled as step 14.

To link Standard(s) to the item, click the Three Pages icon.
To link a Passage to the item, click the Book icon.
To add Tags to the item, click the Tag icon.
Additional Settings are available to edit per item such as Allowing Duplicates, Locking Choice Order, selecting a Choice Position, Enabling/Disabling Teacher Instructions, Item Stem, and Rationale.

Users must link at least 1 standard when creating an item. If attempting to publish an item without standards, an error message will appear asking for standards to be aligned before publishing again.

Item Preview

Select Item Preview to see a preview.
You can select to preview the item from a Student or Instructor Role.
Test the item by dragging an answer choice into the response area(s).
Select Check Answers to verify the answer key. Correct responses will be outlined in green, and incorrect responses will be outlined in orange.

Publish Item

The Done menu, with Done labeled as step 19, Publish labeled as step 20, Save Draft labeled as step 21, and Discard labeled as step 22.

When you've completed creating/editing your item, select Done.
To make your item available to use in an assessment, select Publish.
To save an item that isn't ready to be published, select Save Draft.
To delete the item, select Discard.

Once items are Published, they can be Locked, Edited, or Deleted.

Next Steps

Now that you have created a Drag in the Blank item, learn about Creating an Item Bank Assessment.