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Hot Text Questions (Silver/Gold Feature)
Hot Text Questions (Silver/Gold Feature)
Neta Raz Studnitski avatar
Written by Neta Raz Studnitski
Updated over a week ago

Definition

With Hot Text questions, students can demonstrate understanding by citing evidence by clicking highlighted text in a sentence, paragraph, or extended reading. Teachers can define questions to allow a single choice or multiple choices.

Create a Hot Text question:

  1. Click on the blue + button

  2. Choose "Hot Text" from the Question types

  3. Enter your question along with any prompts or directions to the top text box

  4. Enter the text to the second text box

  5. To turn parts of the text to Hot Text items select (highlight) them and checkmark the box next to the "Hot Text" pop up that appears upon each of your selections

  6. Hot Text items will remain highlighted and appear in a list below the text

  7. To remove a Hot Text item - click the X symbol next to it on the list

  8. Set up your auto-grading by checking the correct answer(s)

  9. To allow multiple selections toggle "Allow Multiple Selections" on

Adjust question settings

Students will not be able to submit their work without providing an answer

Add a whiteboard style box for your students to showcase their work

Switch scoring method for this question from auto-grading to a rubric based grading.

If you toggld on "Multi-select" you will also have the ability to allow **Partial Credit" to take auto-grading up a notch by allowing your students to get credit for answering part of the question correct.

You can also add hints for your students, and tag the question to standards.

*Partial Credit

How we grade the "Allow Partial Credit" feature in Hot Text questions

When you select “Allow Partial Credit”* you can choose between subtracting points for incorrect answers, or not subtracting points for incorrect answers.

If you choose to subtract points for incorrect answers, students’ scores will be auto-graded like this:

Let's take a look at an example of how this works in practice. Here is a Hot Text answer key:

To receive 100% of the score, students will need to choose only the 2 correct answers.

Here are some examples of student responses to this Hot Text question, along with their auto-graded scores:

Student A

Student B

Student C


If you choose not to subtract points for incorrect answers:

Let's take a look at an example of how this works in practice.

Here is the same Hot Text answer key as before, this time with the True/False approach:

Here are the same examples of student responses to this Hot Text question, along with their auto-graded scores, when choosing not to subtract points for incorrect answers.

Student A

Student B

Student C

Did you know?

Hot Text questions are a standard STAAR question type used by the state of Texas.

CHANGE TO PARTIAL CREDIT FORMULA (June, 2023)

Based on consistent feedback from teachers and students, on June 16, 2023 we have updated how partial scoring calculates for Hot Text questions.

Previously, the point value of the question is distributed across all answer choices (correct or incorrect). After the update, the point value is distributed across the correct answers only. This update brings these question types' Partial Credit formula in alignment with the way Partial Credit is calculated for all other question types on the Formative platform.

🙋🏽‍♀️ What to expect now that the new formula is in effect?

The new partial credit formula is the default for any new formatives created, as well as any existing formatives when assigned to new students/classes.

🙋🏻 What will happen to my previously graded formatives?

As long as no new activity is registered for a previously graded question, the scores granted in the past will not change. However, if a new activity is registered on a specific question (i.e. a new response by a student, an edit of a previously entered response, assigning the same formative to additional students, etc.) the scores previously granted will adjust to reflect the new formula.

If you want your old scores to be saved unchanged yet assign the same formative to new students/classes we recommend duplicating the formative and assigning the new clone to new students/classes instead.

🙋🏿‍♂️ My students' scores on a formative changed, why?

If a new activity is registered to an already graded Multiple Selection, Categorize, Hot Text or Hot Spot question that had "Partial Credit" toggled on, the Partial Credit algorithm will default to the new formula. Your students' scores on these questions changed because a new activity was registered - either one of the students provided a new response, edited an existing response, or the formative was assigned to new students.

What next?

Learn how to add Show Your Work and how to use a Rubric

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