Matching Problems

Matching problems are a problem type that does not currently exist within Open edX at the time of writing, but feature in other LMSes and interactive learning tools as a powerful tool for associating two key objects together.

Matching activities typically involve matching an item from one column with an item from a second column - typically an item (sometimes referred to as the “prompt” or “premise”), and a category (sometimes referred to as the “answer” or “response”). This is typically done through one of two methods - either a dropdown list, or drag and drop.

Typically in other implementations, one of the columns of matching items is non-interactive, with the second list containing potential options and distractors for the learner to choose between. This limits the amount that the learner has to do to answer the problem, simplifying the activity to focus on the content.

Matching via Drag-and-Drop

Drag and drop solutions for this activity are typically extremely clunky, as you can see in this particularly awful-looking example:

Open

Though Learnosity provide a reasonably good drag and drop version of their own Matching activity, so it’s not impossible for this form of matching activity to be built in a user-friendly way:

Open

Overall, however, due to accessibility and usability concerns inherent to drag and drop, I would recommend avoiding using drag-and-drop for this activity type if other alternatives are considered acceptable. The action of dragging and dropping offers no significant inherent benefit to the activity, while introducing numerous potential issues.

Matching via Dropdown

One alternative to dragging and dropping for this activity type is using dropdown menus, which is how Blackboard and Canvas chose to implement this activity type:

Dropdown menus also have issues inherent to the way users interact with the component - for example dropdown menus can behave and display differently between browsers, and where too many options are added, scrolling menus can be difficult for users with accessibility needs. This is more of a content issue, however, and it’s definitely a more user-friendly approach than drag-and-drop.

It may be worth, however, considering if there is a potential better way to design matching activities using modern web technologies, as despite the fact that these are the two primary methods used for creating these activities, they may not necessarily be the best. There’s room for innovation with this activity type.