The Item tag pane includes a field called Topics. This article explains what topics are and how to use them.
What is a topic?
Item authors can add topics to any item. Topics help to categorise items and add criteria or supplementary information.
Examples of how to use topics:
- To indicate the difficulty level of an item
- To add supplementary information about difficulty levels
- To define the skills or knowledge required to answer the question
- To help create assessments with the correct question criteria
Blueprint based on topics
Topics can also be used to create a simplified blueprint, where the system automatically selects assessment questions based on specified topics.
Difference between topics and Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives and Taxonomies also provide a way to add criteria and supplementary information to an item, but differ in several ways.
Learning Objectives are extensive in structure and subdivision. They are organised into repositories and subjects and are managed at the Administrator level.
Learning Objectives also work in conjunction with Taxonomies to create a two-dimensional (extended) blueprint.
Topics, by contrast, are added and managed by item authors directly in the library and can be used for a one-dimensional (simplified) blueprint.
How to manage topics
Item authors can add or remove one topic per item using the item tag panel on the right-hand side of each item. Topics created in a particular collection apply only to that collection.
Manage in bulk
The bulk management window lists all topics in the collection. Use it to edit topic titles and delete one or more topics. It also shows how many items in the collection carry each topic.
Things to keep in mind
- Only one topic can be added per item.
- Topics are managed per collection.
- Topics can be used to create a Simplified Blueprint.
- Topics can categorise items by difficulty level, subject, or theme, and can be used to let the system select questions automatically for an assessment based on specified topics. This is called a Simplified Blueprint.