Intro

This is a short blog post, answering a software simulation (assessment mode) question on the forum. If you are interested, here is the link.

You probably know that in such an assessment scores are attached to one interactive object on each slide: either a click box or a Text Entry Box.It offten happens that the same action can be done by clicking more than one 'target' on the slide, which will need customizing that slide to add at least one extra click box, which will also be scored. However that will lead to a results slide where the acquired percentage is not correct. Reason is that all scored objects are included in the total score. You can verify that easily in the Advanced Interaction panel, to be opened from the Project menu or with the shortcut key F9. Here is an example. Slide 59 has two target click boxes, both are scored.

The OP wants to show the correct percentage to the learner in the project, but for the reporting to the LMS Pass/Fail reporting is sufficient which can be done by basing it on the required pass points.

Variables

• A while ago this blog post described using the system variables used in the Results slide: Quizzing System Variables. For this blog post the relevant system variables are:

cpQuizInfoTotalQuizPoints: will have the value you see at the top of the Advanced Interaction panel, and is not correct in this case because it includes the scores of the extra target click boxes.

cpQuizInfoPointsscored: will be correct because on each quiz slide only one of the targets can be clicked.

cpInfoPercentage: is calculated from both previous variables and will be lower than expected for the learner.

cpQuizInfoPointsPerQuestionSlide: this system variable is not behaving as expected for slides with multiple scored objects. It will NOT show the total score of the slide, but the score of ONE scored object. I will presume that in case of a slide with two target click boxes, both of them will have the same score. This is also valid if you prefer shape buttons instead of click boxes.

Since there  is no need to transfer the percentage to the LMS, it is possible to use user variables. Create these variables:

v_TotalScore: will replace the system variable cpQuizInfoTotalQuizPoints

v_TooMuch: will store the total score of the extra click boxes. I assume that click boxes on the same slide have the same score.

v_Percentage: will store the result of the calculation from v_TotalScore and cpQuizInfoPointsscored

Workflow

Simple

The easiest way would be to count the number of extra targets. If all the click boxes have the same score of 1 point you could calculate the correct percentage with this advanced action:

You can trigger this advanced action with the On Enter event of the custom Score slide. It will allow you to display the correct Percentage. 

Advanced

Situation becomes bit more complicated if not dual targets (click box/shape button) have the same score (of 1 point). In that case you can take advantage of the weird behavior of the quizzing system variable cpQuizInfoPointsPerQuestionSlide  (see above). I used this shared action, triggered by the Success action of the targets, and the 'Last Attempt' action which is used here (Success action on a background Shape covering the complete slide). I assumed that the Last Attempt action of the targets is set to No Action. That typical workflow was used by the OP, and explained in this blog post. 

You see that this shared action has no parameters, you could also create an identical advanced action, if you still fear shared actions. My main reasons for this choice:

• Shared action can have a small description
• Shared action appears in the Library, which make it easier to check the Usage
• This shared action has no parameters, so it takes the same time as the advanced action to be applied to all the necessary events.
• It is much easier to transfer this shared action to another Project.

There is a small change to the action to be triggered On Enter for the Results slide:

Conclusion

On the Results slide you can insert most of the default fields, an overview:

• You scored:  the system variable cpQuizInfoPointsscored is correct
• Maximum score: you need to replace the system variable by the user variable v_TotalScore
• Correct questions: will be OK, it is the system variable cpQuizInfoTotalCorrectAnswers
  
• Total Questions: will not be OK, you could add a supplementary command to the shared action similar to replace the system variable cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject by a decremented user variable.
• Accuracy: you need to replace the system variable cpInfoPercentage by the user variable v_Percentage
• Attempts: will be OK, it is the system variable cpQuizInfoAttempts

Intro

In the first two articles of this basic course about Quizzing, I explained the Terminology, and the Submit Process.

Those posts applied to all types of questions: scored, random, Knowledge Check, pretest slides. This post will be talking exclusively about scored (graded) quiz slides and random quiz slides which are graded. For those slides the results are stored in the quizzing system variables, and you can have the score slide in your course. You will get some tips about the default score slide at the end. Scoring doesn’t exist for Knowledge check slides, you can only choose attempts on question level, not on quiz level.  Pretest questions have scoring as well, but the values are stored in different system variables, and are only meant to navigate the learner to another slide,  based on the pretest result.

This article will explore the scoring and attempts on two available levels:

• on question level
• on quiz level

Attempts/Scores on Question level

Setup for both is done in the Quiz Properties panel. That panel appears automatically in the newbie UI when you insert a quiz slide (or a random slide) in the right docking station. For quizzes however I strongly recommend to switch to the Expert UI (check the option ‘Enable custom Workspaces….’ under Preferences, General Settings). Set up a workspace where both the Quiz Properties and the Properties panel are visible. Reason is that you need the Properties panel for partial scored MCQ slides with multiple correct answers.

Attempts

In the default setup the number of attempts for graded questions is set to 1. The feedback messages for Correct and Incomplete are checked and 1 Failure message. The actions for Success and Last Attempt are both set to Continue. You could check the option Infinite Attempts, but I strongly doubt you’ll want to have the learner in such an infinite loop.  A limited number of attempts however can be a good choice. If you allow more than one attempt, do not forget to check the ‘Retry message’ because that is not done automatically. Have a look at this screenshot for True/False Question, to the arts marked with a blue rectangle. I set the number of attempts to , and checked Retry. The Failure message was left at its default 1 message.

I kept the default Continue actions as well, but moved the pausing point closer to the end of the question slide (see previous article) to minimize the waiting time after the second step of the Submit process.

Score/penalty for 1 correct answer

Default score for all questions is set to 10 points. Since some LMS’s don’t like to see total scores greater than 100 points, and all questions don’t merit the same score you will certainly want to change those scores. BTW: later on I will offer an exploring post about the wonderful Advanced Interaction panel (F9), unknown to many because it never appears automatically in the newbie UI. It is not only about ‘advanced’ actions at all.

Changing the score happens in the Quiz Properties panel for all question types with a black/white score. B/W score means that you only get the score if everything is correct, score will be zero in all other cases. All question types, except the MCQ with multiple answers are validated with this rule, even Matching, Hotspot and Sequence. In the screenshot above (T/F), you see the score reduced to 4 points.

I also added a penalty: this score will be subtracted from the total score if the answer was wrong after the last attempt. You don’t have to enter a negative number here. Beware: in SCORM 1.2 reporting a negative result at the end will be reset to zero.

MCQ with multiple correct answers and partial scoring

Have a look at this screenshot, set up for such a question slide, with 5 answers. Two out of them are correct, each has a positive score of 5 points. The 3 wrong answers get a penalty of 2 points each. Neither the score nor the penalty can be set up in the Quiz Properties panel, they are dimmed. You have to select each individual answer, and setup score in the Properties panel of that answer (visible in the screenshot as floating panel next to the Quiz Properties):

The 4th answer, wrong answer, is selected in this screenshot. There is no Penalty field in the Properties panel, tab ‘Options’, only ‘points’. Since this needs to be a penalty I entered -2points. Same for the other wrong answers. The correct answers got positive points (5 for each). The dimmed numbers for Score and Penalty on the Quiz Properties panel are calculated by Captivate to 10 points and 6 points. I had to check the ‘Partial correct’ message, was not done automatically although Multiple answers was chosen.

In this example I changed the actions (Success/Last Attempt) to ‘Go to Next Slide’, didn’t move the pausing point of the quiz slide. This is the second possibility to narrow the waiting time after Submitting the result.

You see that 3 attempts are possible for this question (green markings).  But the Retry message is unavailable, dimmed. Reason is that I have chosen to show 3 Failure messages, different one after each attempt. You need to include the warning about clicking the slide (or pressing Y) for the last Failure message which appears after the last attempt.

Quizzing System Variables

These quizzing system variables (see also: Using Quizzing System Variables) are linked to individual question slides:

• cpQuizInfoAnswerChoice: after submitting the answer (see this post for a typical use case)
• cpQuizInfoLastSlidePointScored: after submitting the answer
• cpQuizInfoMaxAttemptsOnCurrentQuestion: while on that slide. Beware: there is no exposed system variable telling which attempt the learner is taking at this moment on question level, only the maximum allowed attempts can be retrieved.
• cpQuizInfoNegativePointsOnCurrentQuestionSlide: maximum penalty for this question slide
• cpQuizInfoPointsPerQuestionSlide: maximum score for this question slide.
• cpQuizInfoQuestionPartialScoringOn: Boolean
• cpQuizInfoQuestionSlideTiming: if you use a time limit on the quiz slide
• cpQuizInfoQuestionSlideType

Attempts/Score on Quiz Level

The number of allowed attempts on (total) quiz level is set up in the Quiz Preferences, Pass or Fail.  Default setup is one attempt. If you allow multiple attempts, don’t forget to check the option to ‘Show Retake Button’. When clicking that button, all questions will be reset and the quiz system variables will be cleared.

If you also allow Review (Quiz Preferences, Settings), you have to be aware of the fact that all attempts on Quiz level will be considered to be exhausted if the learner clicks the Review button (also on the score slide). To prevent confusion use this easy trick: drag the Retake button on top of the Review button on the results master slide (or the score slide). Once the attempts are exhausted the Retake button will disappear and Review button becomes visible. Problem is that this is perfectly possible for a non-responsive (blank) project or a responsive project with Breakpoints. But a normal fluid box doesn’t allow stacking of buttons, unless you define the fluid box as being static. I will post a workaround in my “tweaking posts”, later in the Quiz sequence of posts.

The Total Score on quiz level will be calculated from all the scored objects in the course (see Advanced Interaction panel) and stored in a quizzing system variable cpQuizInfoTotalQuizPoints. Except for the feature ‘Branch aware’ that will be a fixed number when starting the course.  Other quizzing variables  (see post) linked to the quiz level are:

• cpInQuizScope
• cpInReviewMode
• cpInfoPercentage:  appears on the results (score) slide as ‘Accuracy’ ‘percent’
• cpInfoAttempts: appears on the results slide as ‘Attempts’ ‘total-attempts’
• cpQuizInfoPassFail: Boolean
• cpQuizInfoPointsscored: appears on the results slide as ‘You scored’  ‘score’
• cpQuizInfoQuizPassPercent
• cpQuizInfoQuizPassPoints
• cpQuizInfoTotalCorrectAnswers:  appears on the results slide as ‘Correct Questions’ ‘correct-questions’; beware: partially correct questions are seen as correct
• cpQuizInfoTotalProjectPoints: appears on the results slide as ‘Maximum Score’ ‘max-score’
• cpQuizInfoTotalQuestionsPerProject: appears on the results slide as ‘Total questions’ ‘total-questions’
• cpQuizInfoTotalUnansweredQuestions

The Continue button on the Score slide has about the same functionality and importance as the Submit button on quiz slides. That actions specified under Quiz Preferences,  Pass or Fail (after Last attempt on Quiz level) will be done after clicking that button. The pausing point on the score slide is linked with that button. You can move that pausing point the same way as for the quiz slides, closer to the end of the score slide. It is recommended not to have the score slide as last slide in a course, but have at least one more slide. That way you’ll be sure that the results will be transferred to the LMS.

Intro

• Pausing point is at 1.5 seconds, same as for Quiz slides, but that point is not visible in the Timeline.
• Last Attempt action is wrongly indicated as ‘Failure’ action. Same as for normal Quiz slides, D&D slides have NO Failure actions.
• You cannot have a Retry message when you provide more than one attempt.
• There is only one Failure message, you don’t have the possibility of up to 3 different messages as is the case for other quiz slides
• There is no Review status, which indicates if the question was answered correctly, and which answers were wrong or correct.
• There are no Review navigation buttons. That is a problem, because during Review when the learner gets to a D&D slide, he will be stuck without those buttons.

For the problems concerning Try again, or multiple Failure messages I already offered a solution with a dynamic feedback message in a previous blog post. In this post I will try to explain a workflow for the Review issues.

The result of this workflow was visible in the sample project which I posted last week. There is a scored D&D slide as last question in  first part (Timeline).

Setup

Checkmarks

The small versions are used for the individual answer feedback, the normal versions for the global feedback Look at this example

Those checkmarks were used for multistate objects, with an empty Normal state. They are already present in the correct location during the quiz but invisible due to that Normal state. Two more states show either the correct or the incorrect checkmark. This is an example of the Object State panel, for the answer about the Shape button.

Review Navigation buttons

Variables

v_DD: will be toggled to 1 if the D&D slide is correctly done.

v_EffectDD; will be toggled to 1 if the Effect color is correct

v_SButtonDD: will be toggled to 1 if the Shape button color was correct

v_ShapeDD: will be toggled to 1 if the Shape color is correct

The system variable cpInReviewMode was used as well.

Events – Actions

Three events were used, all to trigger advanced actions: Success and Last Attempt event of the Drag&Drop slide (in that panel) and the On Enter event of the slide.

CorrectActDD

Why was it not possible to use the same Correct shared action in this case?  A D&D slide has no two-step Submit process, where the first step will keep the slide paused to allow the learner to read the feedback message.  It is possible to imitate that behavior, but I wanted to keep it simple, by keeping the slide paused for a couple of seconds before proceeding to the next slide. Second reason: for a correct answer need to toggle the variable  v_DD to 1. To achieve this, I used the shared action ‘CorrectAct’ as template to create this advanced action, which has two extra commands:

WrongActDD

EnterDD

If you have problems or suggestions, post a comment please!

Intro

Example

You can watch this file either from this link, (scalable)  or in its embedded version (fixed resolution):

Setup

Here is the filmstrip of the example file:

Slides 1-3 are based on ready-to-go slides from the project Alliance.

Slides 4-8 are random quiz slides taken from a pool with 10 questions.

Slide 9 is again taken from Alliance (but with lot of multistate objects, see later).

Slide 10 is the hidden default score slide. It will automatically be moved after slide 9 because of the scored button on this slide (see step 3).

Slide 11,  final slide allowing to be sure that the final result (100% or 0% ) is correctly transferred to the LMS. I inserted the system variable cpInfoPercentage in a shape on this slide (top left).

Step 1: Score random question slides

Supposed you have the question pools ready, insert the required amount of random quiz slides in the project. All slides in a pool have by default the same score (10 points), it is not possible to have partial scores for MCQs with multiple correct answers.  There seems to be a bug for a FIB slide, where the correct answer appears as tooltip in case you have that question. Will log the bug, seems new.

Once the random quiz slides are inserted, it IS possible to edit the score. I took all score out, set them to 0. Just a tip, check the Advanced Interaction panel (F9, or under the Project menu) to see that the total quiz score is now indeed set to zero.  Penalty has no sense in this situation because success doesn't depend on the acquired score of the quiz.

To avoid long waiting time after the submit process for a question, I moved the pausing point near the end of the slides in all the pool questions.

Step 2: Tracking correct questions

To track the number of correctly answered question, you need to create a user variable v_counter, with a start value = 0. 

That variable needs to be incremented with each correct answer.  Number of attempts on question level is set to 1. It is then sufficient to create a simple advanced action to be triggered by the Success event of all random quiz slides:

Step 3: Results slide

I used a ready-to-go slide to show the result, but have converted several objects to multistate objects. The Normal state is the one shown on Success, the Failure (new) custom state will be shown on failure. This is the timeline of that slide:

Moreover I added two interactive objects to the slide, both invisible in output to start with (eye button in Properties):

• Bt_Failure: is a transparent button similar to the Next button in the Alliance project. It has its default command 'Go to Next Slide'. 
• SB_Success: is a start shape marked as button. Special is the fact that this button is set to Report (Actions tab ), and to include in Quiz. When you check in the Advanced Interaction panel (F9), this shows:
  

  

 Step 4: Conditional action EnterResult 

Use the On Enter action of the Results slide (slide 9) to show the correct state of the 4 multistate objects shown in the Timeline screenshot, and to show either the button SB_Success or Bt_Failure, based on the requirement of having at least 4 answers correct. Of course, the number 4 can be changed (OP wanted 7 correct answers). The action is self-explanatory:

This trick with the two buttons was published in my blog, over 8 years ago. The example file in that article is of course SWF output.  I didn't want to use two identical buttons - same location - in the example of today because that is impossible in Fluid Boxes projects.  This was not such a project, but it is perfectly possible to use the same workflow in a responsive project. It was also the main reason for the multistate objects used on this Results slide.

Extra: Editing Alliances

This is bit off topic, just for those interested

I did edit the ready-to-go slides a lot. Having a pause triggered by the On Exit event is not something  like because it can create problems. All slides have at least one interactive object, which can pause the slide near its end. That project has some quiz slides, but they are NOT based on the quizzing master slides. This means that the theme was not fully realized. When I inserted random quiz slides, which necessarily do use quizzing master slides they looked very different from the nice quiz slides. I have updated the master slides to make them looking approximately like the ready-to-go slides.

There are more problems with this project, which I detected but didn't encounter in this particular project. As I have written in previous posts, never do use the Switch to Destination theme!

Intro

About 5 years ago I published this blog explaining the workflow for such a question using shape buttons. The embedded example in that blog was of course a SWF output.  With release 11.5 the possibility to use SVG’s as buttons, and to control the clickable area, combined with multistate object made me feel it is time to update this old post.

Why a custom Hotspot Question?

• hotspots have to be rectangular
• partial scoring is impossible

• hotspots with any shape
• partial scoring, which still can be reported to a LMS
• full control

Limitations of custom questions

Example

Please be a bit patient when you see a ‘pink’ feedback (which is the correct style). It may be due to the amount of SVG’s on the slide, but it takes time to hear the audio and see the flag appear and animated.
If the embedded movie is too small for your device, you click this link.

Setup

Look at the screenshot, which shows the Timeline and the Properties, Actions tab for one of the non-correct SVG-buttons  (Luxemburg). In the Style tab, the option ‘Enable Click in Bounding Box’ is disabled to limit the clickable area to the shape of the SVG itself (see recent post). In the screenshot both groups (countries/flags) are expanded. 

For the SVG buttons (countries) Success message is activated and used to display feedback. Those messages have two different styles: grey for the wrong clicks, and pink for the correct ones. After the correct message, an audio clip sounds and the flag of that country will appear at the bottom left. Both for correct and incorrect SVG’s the state will change to the Visited state when clicked: That visited state is grayscale for incorrect clicks. No advanced actions needed so far.

Actions

The on enter event of the question slide triggers the simple action ‘Hide Gr_Flags’

The first three commands are self-explanatory. Why did first apply the effect (line 4) to the group, and wait 0,1 sec before showing the flag? Because that will avoid flickering, a trick I learned from another user many months ago.

Duplicate that action, and edit it for the three other correct SVG’s.

Why did I not use a Shared Action?

If you are a fan, you know that I mostly use Shared actions when possible. This was also the case for this example.Of course, I created first a shared action. But a strange phenomenon appeared: the Effect was not applied for each instance of the shared action, only for the first one. I wanted the whole group to be animated after a correct answer. Yes, I could have ungrouped and changed the action, but then that meant another advanced action On Enter for the slide (where I now hide the group). Moreover I like to have the effect emphasize the whole group instead of one flag.

Still looking out for the reason of this non-consistent behavior. Really this is the first time I encounter a difference between an advanced and shared action behavior. Be sure, will update this post when I have an answer.