Is there a standard approach for grading sequence-based questions? An assessment I'm looking at contains a few questions along the lines of:


  Arrange the following in the correct sequence:
  
  
  __: The third in sequence
  __: The second in sequence
  __: The fourth in sequence
  __: The first in sequence
  __: The fifth in sequence 
  


What is the standard method for grading such a question?

The correct sequence of numbers to be written into the __ spaces would be 3, 2, 4, 1, 5. However, if a student misses, say, the correct starting point, but has the remainder of the sequence correct relative to each other (eg: 2, 1, 3, 5, 4), does one generally consider the entire sequence incorrect, or is partial credit of some sort more appropriate? If the latter, are there any ways to easily automate the evaluation process?

One option that comes to mind is to create a list of possible options and convert the question itself to a multiple-choice question.

Eg:


  
  A. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
  B. 5, 1, 3, 4, 2
  C. 3, 2, 4, 1, 5
  D. 2, 1, 3, 5, 4 
  


However, (a) I feel that it then becomes a bit more confusing to answer, and (b) I'm not sure if it is really assessing the same skill at that point.
You could give points for the longest subsequence in the correct order.
Alternatively, you could make it an open question: "Describe the process step by step, make sure to include in your answer 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5." Then grade by a few essential insights that need to be in the answer. This eliminates any easy guessing and shows you why the student misorders the process.
Also a possibility is to only let the students place 1 element of the process in the correct spot. For example:

Where in the process does 1 happen?
A. before 2
B. after 2, but before 3
C. after 3, but before 4
D. after 4, but before 5
E. after 5


Another possibility is to focus on the parts of the process that directly follow each other. Suppose the student answered "1,2,3,4,5", you could look at the pairs (1,2), (2,3), (3,4) and (4,5). Then give a point for (1,2) if 1 directly precedes 2 in the correct sequence, give a point for (2,3) if 2 directly precedes 3 in the correct sequence etc.