A Hotspot Question (with multiple selections permitted) is one in which an image associated with the question is divided into zones, any combination of which may be selected by the participant as a response.   

The participant makes a selection by clicking multiple times on the image, creating response marks which are visible on the participant screen prior to submission. Clicking again on exactly the same location as an earlier selection will have the effect of un-selecting it (the response mark on the participant's screen will disappear).  

When the participant presses the "Submit" button at the foot of the question response form, the image zones in which the clicks are located are saved as the participant's selections.   Multiple clicks in the same zone may have been displayed visually on the participant screen but will only be counted as a single selection for assessment and scoring purposes.  

In the Question Editor the author is able to set different zones for the question image.  The zones can overlap with each other.  Any part of the question image which is not enclosed within a zone will be considered "Out of Zone".

Feedback fields are available for each zone (including "out of zone"), so that an author can specify the feedback to be provided to a participant depending on the zone chosen by the participant.  If the participant selects multiple zones then multiple feedback texts will be provided to the participant.

"Correctness" for Hotspot (multi-select) Questions

If appropriate, the question author may choose one or more "correct" zones which are to be compared with participant responses for the purposes of determining scores and feedback.   If an author marks a zone as "correct" then it's selection by a participant is considered a "correct" selection and will be rewarded with "correct answer" feedback prior to the option feedback set by the author.   Similarly, if an author does not mark a zone as "correct", then its selection by a participant is considered an "incorrect" selection.

The Participant's selection is assessed relative to the zone "correct" flags set by the author.  If the participant has selected all of the zones marked as "correct" and none of the zones not marked "correct", then in addition to the feedback text set by the author for each zone the participant will be notified that their answer is "Correct".  

If the participant has selected less than all of the zones marked as "correct", or has selected one or more zones not marked "correct", then the participant will be notified that their answer is a "Partial Answer". 

If the participant has selected none of the zones marked as "correct" and any of the zones not marked "correct", then the participant will be notified that they have submitted a Wrong Answer". 

Scoring of Hotspot (multi-select) Questions

The author assigns a Question Score which is the maximum score available for the question.  This is the score awarded to a "perfect" response, that is a response in which the participant has selected (ie clicked at least once in) every one of the zones marked as "correct" by the author, and has not selected (ie clicked in) any zone wich was not marked "correct" by the author. 

The Question Score divided by the number of zones marked by the author as "correct", determines the score per selection. 

The score awarded for a participant's response is calculated as follows:

SCORE = (Number of "correct" selections x the score per selection) - (the number of "incorrect" selections x the score per selection).

Because this value may be negative in some cases, the author has the option of also assigning a minimum score for the question (usually, but not necessarily, zero).  If a minimum value is assigned, then the Score awarded to the participant's response will have this as its minimum value.

When determining allocations of zones to a response, Xorro-Q will first check for any matches of submitted responses (click locations) with any zones marked by the author as "correct", starting with "correct" zones at the top of the list in the Question editor (ie those created first by the author). As soon as a match is discovered, then the matched zone is allocated to the response.  Only one response per zone will be counted.  If no "correct" zone can be matched to the response, then Xorro will check all zones not marked as "correct", again starting from the top of the list of zones.  If the response cannot be matched to any zone, it will be allocated to "out of zone".

From the above explanation it should be evident that in cases where a participant's selection falls into more than one zone, then that "correct" zone which is higher on the list of zones shown in the Question Editor will be the zone allocated to the selection.  If no "correct" zones match the response, then the highest ("incorrect") zone match will be allocated.

See also:  Question Type; Information Questions; Multiple Choice Questions (with single selection enforced); Multiple Choice Questions (with multiple selections permitted); Text Response Questions; Numeric Response Questions; Likert Questions; Hotspot Questions (with single zone selection enforced); Label Questions (text or numeric responses required); Label Questions (selecting from a drop-down list); Peer Assessment Questions.

Categories: Xorro-Q, Facilitators.
Tags: Question Type,scoring,assessment.