Drag and Drop Questions

Drag and Drop Questions in Moodle

Moodle offers three types of drag and drop questions that create engaging, interactive assessments. These question types are visually intuitive and are especially effective for spatial learning, labelling diagrams, ordering concepts, and categorisation tasks. They work on both desktop and touch devices.

Types of Drag and Drop Questions

Moodle provides three distinct drag and drop question types:

1. Drag and drop onto image — drag items onto specific zones on a background image.
2. Drag and drop into text — drag items into blank spaces within a text passage.
3. Drag and drop markers — drag marker labels onto specific positions on a background image.

Drag and Drop onto Image

This question type allows students to drag text labels or small images onto designated drop zones on a background image. It is ideal for labelling diagrams, maps, anatomy illustrations, circuit diagrams, and similar visual content.

Creating a Drag and Drop onto Image Question

1. In the Question bank, click Create a new question and select Drag and drop onto image.
2. Background image: Upload the background image that will serve as the canvas. Recommended formats are PNG or JPEG.
3. Draggable items: Define the items that students will drag. Each item can be:
   • Text: A text label.
   • Image: A small image that can be dragged.
   Each draggable item belongs to a group. Items in the same group share the same visual styling (colour-coded).
4. Drop zones: Define rectangular or circular areas on the background image where items should be dropped. Each drop zone is linked to a specific draggable item.
   • Specify the x,y coordinates (top-left corner for rectangles, centre for circles) and the linked draggable item.
   • Use the built-in visual editor to position drop zones by clicking on the image.
5. Configure whether items can be reused (an item can be dropped onto multiple zones) or whether each item is used only once.

Configuration Tips

• Use a clear, high-resolution background image with distinct areas for drop zones.
• Make drop zones large enough for easy targeting, especially on touch devices.
• Enable the Shuffle option to randomise the order of draggable items.

Drag and Drop into Text

This question type creates a fill-in-the-blanks exercise where students drag text labels into gaps within a passage. It is similar to a cloze question but uses a drag-and-drop interface instead of dropdown menus or text input.

Creating a Drag and Drop into Text Question

1. In the Question bank, select Drag and drop into text.
2. Question text: Write the text passage with placeholders for blanks using the format [[1]], [[2]], [[3]], etc. Each number corresponds to a choice.

   The [[1]] is the powerhouse of the [[2]]. It produces [[3]] through cellular respiration.

3. Choices: Define the draggable text items, each associated with a number:
   • Choice 1: mitochondria
   • Choice 2: cell
   • Choice 3: ATP
   Each choice belongs to a group. Choices within the same group are interchangeable in terms of where they can be dropped, and share the same visual styling.
4. Unlimited use: Enable if a choice can be used in multiple blanks.

Groups in Drag and Drop into Text

Groups determine which blanks accept which choices. Only choices from the same group can be dropped into a given blank. If all blanks should accept all choices, put all choices in the same group. If you want to restrict which choices go where, use different groups.

Drag and Drop Markers

This question type asks students to drop text markers onto specific positions on a background image. Unlike "drag and drop onto image", the drop zones are invisible to the student, making it a more challenging assessment of spatial knowledge.

Creating a Drag and Drop Markers Question

1. Select Drag and drop markers from the question type list.
2. Background image: Upload the background image.
3. Markers: Define text labels that students will drag and place on the image. Each marker can be configured for:
   • Infinite use: The marker can be placed multiple times.
   • Number of uses: Limit how many times the marker can be placed.
4. Drop zones: Define invisible zones on the image using shapes:
   • Circle: Defined by centre coordinates and radius.
   • Rectangle: Defined by top-left coordinates, width, and height.
   • Polygon: Defined by a series of coordinate points forming a custom shape.

Grading for Drag and Drop Questions

All three drag and drop question types use partial credit grading:

• Each correct placement earns an equal fraction of the total marks.
• Incorrect placements earn 0 marks for that item (no negative marking).
• The total grade is proportional to the number of correctly placed items.

Combined Feedback and Hints

All drag and drop types support:

• Combined feedback: Feedback for correct, partially correct, and incorrect responses.
• Hints: For multiple-try quiz behaviours, hints can be configured to clear incorrect responses and show the number of correctly placed items.

Accessibility Considerations

Drag and drop questions provide keyboard accessibility — students can use keyboard navigation to move items to drop zones. However, for maximum accessibility, consider providing alternative question types for students using screen readers.

Best Practices

• Use clear, high-quality background images with sufficient contrast.
• Make drop zones appropriately sized for the draggable items.
• Include some distractor items that do not belong to any drop zone to increase challenge.
• Test on mobile devices if your students will use the Moodle app.
• For labelling exercises, use "drag and drop onto image" for visible zones or "drag and drop markers" for invisible zones.
• For fill-in-the-blank text exercises, use "drag and drop into text".