Creating Top Hat Sorting Questions
Sorting questions have students sort, rank, or order items according to the criteria you assign (e.g., alphabetical, numerical, east to west, largest to smallest) — getting them to think critically about concepts in relation to one another. There are specific options and settings that can affect the outcome of the interaction in the classroom. This document will present the options and clarify the outcomes that they may facilitate.
Example
Correct Answers
Correct Answers
The order in which you have arranged the answer options in the question creation modal will be taken as the correct order against which students' responses will be assessed. You can rearrange the answer options by clicking and dragging them into place.
Response Options
Group question
Selecting this option will prompt students to respond to the question as a group instead of individually. To use this option, You will need to set up groups in Top Hat prior to class for this feature to work. When a group question is presented, one student in the group responds on behalf of all the students in their group.
Anonymous answers
This option will fully anonymize the question by only recording aggregate response totals. No response data from the question will be tracked to the course Gradebook, meaning students' individual responses to the question will never be on record. This option is recommended for questions dealing with potentially sensitive or polarizing subject matter. Selecting this option will also mean that no participation points can be assigned either.
Note: When selected, the word "Anonymous" will be displayed in the top right corner to let students know that the results are, indeed, anonymous.
Grading Options
Grading options allow you to assign points for both getting a correct answer and/or for participating in the question. Note: grading is not possible when a question is designated as anonymous.
Correctness: There may be times when you want to assign points for correctness alone. If you are presenting a large number of questions, you might need to assign participation points to all questions.
Participation: There may also be times when you want to assign participation points alone. If you want to measure the level of understanding among all students and don't care whether they get the correct answer but want to know that each person responded, participation points can do just that.
Both: There may be times when you want to provide points for correctness and participation. If you want to encourage students to try and/or ensure that each student is participating, you can split points between both. The default value is .5 points for getting the answer correct and .5 points for participating in answering the question.
Response Timer
This option will attach a timer of a designated length to the question, which will begin counting down when the question is presented. Students must submit their responses before the time elapses and the question closes. Note: Be aware this option may create inequity for those requiring more time than is allowed.
Review Options
This feature is intended for situations in which you want to have students access your content outside of the class. You can assign a question to students AFTER you present it to students in class if you want them to be able to review the results of the question. You can provide an explanation for the correct answer to students after they respond to the question. Hints and explanations will not be displayed to students in the class presentation of the question.