Hottext Interaction

The Hottext interaction gives Test-takers the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge by showing, among several selections within a body of text, a specific type of word or phrase (i.e., grammatically incorrect element, misspelling, main character in a story, capital city).

Step 1: From the Common Interactions menu in the Library Panel, drag the Hottext icon onto the blank Item and drop the resulting box in the blue field that appears when the interaction is dragged over it.

This creates a new Hottext interaction window. There will be a field for placing in a question at the top, and a space to place in text that will contain the phrases to be highlighted as Hottext.

Step 2: Fill in the question field.

This will describe the task given to the test-taker ("Find the mistakes", "Pick the capital city", etc.).

Step 3: Cut and paste, or type in, the text within which the Hottext choices will be presented.

It will be from these Hottext elements that the Test-taker will choose the best option.

Step 4: Select a word or phrase and highlight it. When the magic wand button comes up, click it to confirm selection of the word or phrase as a Hottext interaction.

This will create a Hottext element within the text. Typically, there will be one word or phrase that matches the type being sought, and several different additional words or phrases that might be similar to the type being sought. There might be cases in which there is more than one option that is correct, or a case where none of the options are correct. Indeed, at the end of the text, there is often a final Hottext that offers the Test-taker to suggest that there is no correct selection (e.g. "No error.")

Step 5: Once all the Hottext fields are activated, set in the Properties Panel to the left the minimum number of answers the Test-taker can take, and the maximum.

Setting the minimum to 0 allows the Test-taker to skip the question. It is necessary to set the maximum to a number above zero to allow the Test-taker to provide an answer.

Step 6: Click Response in the blue interaction header to select answers.

This will produce the same window, but the test author will be given the option to place checkmarks on the right answer(s). Check all that apply.

Step 7: In the Properties Panel, select the Response Processing to be used for this interaction.

There are two choices, match correct and map response. In the first choice, the Test-taker is expected to get everything right in order to receive credit for the answer. In the second choice, additional entries will be required for the score range.

A minimum score that the Test-taker can receive must be selected, as must a maximum score. Scores are assigned to each individual Hotspot, and if the weight assigned for each selection is to be reflected in the final score, the total for all correct selections should be entered as a maximum score a value equal to all these values. If the maximum is set to less, any score higher than the maximum will be set to the maximum. The same would be applicable to the minimum; if the score registered is less than this number, the point value will raise to the minimum. The map default is the point value given even if no correct answers are given by the Test-taker. Define Correct Response should be checked.

In the passage, for each correct response, the check box in front of the answer should be checked, and the weighted score should be entered in. Again, all scores should equal the maximum score if the full score weights are to be taken into consideration.

If modal feedback is desired for this interaction, it is possible to enter it at this point. For more details on how to do this, see the Modal Feedback section.

Step 8. Click the blue Done button.

When this is done, you can preview what your Hottext interaction looks like. For more on how to preview, review its section.