Fill the table
A table students fill in with measurements or observations. Turn on a chart and it plots their values as they type.
When to use it
Use it in practicals and experiments, where students record measurements in a fixed structure. A chart beside the table lets them compare values and spot a trend while they work. Cells can also hold correct answers, so the same task works for exercises with known results.
Setting it up
In a worksheet, use the + between two items, search for Fill the table and choose it.
Click the pencil on the new task and write the instruction at the top.
Shape the table: write the column headers, add a Unit where it helps, and use Add row and Add column.
Choose each column's Data type: Text, Numerical, Dropdown or Tick box.
Fill in the cells (see below).
To add a chart, tick Enable chart, choose its type under Chart (Line, Bar, Scatter or Pie) and pick the X-axis column and Y-axis columns.
Click the tick.
What you put in a cell decides what students do with it:
A locked cell is given data. Students see it but cannot change it. Use the lock on a cell, or Lock column on a header, for values such as the times of measurement.
An unlocked cell with a value is a correct answer. Students see it empty and have to fill it in.
An unlocked empty cell is free for students to fill in and is not checked.
What students do
Students type into the empty cells; Numerical columns accept numbers only. If the chart is on and Show with table is ticked (the default), it sits beside the table and grows point by point as they enter values. When the table is complete, they submit it.
Cells are not marked right or wrong on the student's screen after submitting.
Checking the answers
Cells where you entered a correct answer are checked automatically: numbers have to match, and text is compared ignoring capitals and spaces at either end. Some cells right counts as partially correct. In Tick box columns, a row counts when its ticks match yours, so ticking every box scores nothing. A table with no correct answers is simply collected, not graded.
Open Results on the question to see the table each student submitted.
Tips
Lock the values you give, such as times or distances, so every student's chart shares the same axis.
Put the unit in the column header, not in the cells, so students type plain numbers.
For real measurements that will differ from student to student, leave the correct answers out and compare the results together.