Create an Inline Dropdown Item – DnA & ISE

This lesson provides step-by-step guidance on creating an Inline Dropdown Item in the Item Bank. This item type allows students to select a response from a dropdown menu of possible answer choices. This question is automatically scored.

Where to Start

Select Assessments.
Select Browse Item Bank.

Create a New Item

The Create Item and Inline Dropdown item type buttons.

Select Create Item.
Use the dropdown menu to select Inline Dropdown as the item type.

Inline Dropdown Items

An example Inline Dropdown item, with the item stem textbox labeled as step 5, the text toolbar labeled as step 6, + Response Area labeled as step 7, the populated Response Area labeled as step 8, Add Choice labeled as step 9, the selected correct response labeled as step 10, the pencil and X icons labeled as step 11, and the Rational for response area #1 labeled as step 12.

Enter the text of the body of the item in the Define Template, Choices, and Correct Responses textbox.
- To insert a line break, use shift-return (or shift-enter, depending on the keyboard).
The text toolbar appears while entering and editing text.
Place the cursor at the desired location and select + Response Area to insert an area that students will need to fill in. One or more Response Areas may be added.
Select the newly generated Response Area to open a menu to add dropdown options.
Type each potential response to be included in the inline dropdown, including the correct response. Select the + or press Enter after each response to add it to the list.
From the entered list, select the correct response, which will highlight in green.
To edit a response, select the pencil icon. To remove a response, select the X.
Rationale for the Response Area options will appear. Type rationale for any or all of the given responses (optional).

Drafted items are automatically saved.

Item Details

The item settings menus, with the Standards icon labeled as step 13, Passages labeled as step 14, Tags labeled as step 15, and the Settings and Properties menu labeled as step 16.

To link Standard(s) to the item, select the Three Pages icon.
To link a Passage to the item, select the Book icon.
To add Tags to the item, select the Tag icon.
Additional Settings are available to edit per item, such as Locking Choice Order, Enabling/Disabling Teacher Instructions, Rationale, and Choice 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 selecting a response for each Response Area.
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 you 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 an Inline Dropdown item, learn about Creating an Item Bank Assessment.