set assessment to end if certain % cannot be attained

[Rezu]

Greetings,

If I have an assessment simulation w/20 questions and a learner must attain 80%, is it possible to set up something that stops the assessment if the learner has no chance of passing?

Again there are 20 questions and say the learner misses the first 5, why continue if there's no chance of passing. Is there a way to set something up that says as much and re-directs them back to the training portion of the course?

Thanks!

k

[RodWard]

Yes this is certainly possible, but it's not a piece of cake to pull off.

You'd need to set up user variables that track the questions the user has answered and then have Conditional Advanced Actions keep track of the user's current score so that, if at any time they crossed a threshold that eliminated the possibility of passing.  This Conditional Action would need to be triggered ON Slide Enter of each quiz slide. If the CAA detects the score cannot pass, it jumps the user directly to a feedback slide that informs them of the futility associated with their current attempt.  For simplicity sake, this slide would need to be immediately before the Quiz Results slide, because there are some other little wrinkles you'd need to allow for.

For example, unless your quiz scope extended to include all content slides, jumping the user outside the quiz scope would mean they could not make another attempt at the quiz until they relaunched the entire lesson again.  Assuming you DID extend the quiz scope (by placing a scored object very early in the project), then your user would still need to click the Retake Quiz button on the Quiz Results slide in order to reattempt the quiz they just failed.  This is why I suggested that your feedback slide about their quiz failure should ideally be just before the Quiz Results slide.

So the workflow would be:

1. User enters quiz scope when they click a button or click box on one of the initial project slides to begin the content.
2. They start answering quiz questions but fail too many in order to successfully pass on this attempt. 
3. Your custom variables and conditional advanced actions doing the math On Slide Enter of each quiz question, detect the failed attempt and jump the user to the Failure Feedback slide you've set up.
4. This slide tells them they can't pass the quiz on this attempt and instructs them to click Retake Quiz on the next slide (the Quiz Results slide).
5. Clicking Retake Quiz jumps them back to the beginning of the Quiz Scope, which in your case is the button or click box at the beginning of the content.
6. The user reviews the content again and gets another attempt when they get to the quiz slides.

Does this help?  If so, you need to work out the math that your variables and CAA need to perform in order to evaluate the user's attempt status as he/she enters each question.

[Rezu]

Hi Rod,

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I understand what you're saying in theory, , the practical application escapes me.

If there's any way you can point me to a page that describes your methods in detail, or provide me with some starter steps on what I should be doing inside of Advanced Actions, I would be grateful.

Also...is there a way to make the 'Retake Quiz' button on the 'Quiz Results' slide take the learner all the way back to the beginning of the module content, not just the beginning of the module quiz (say quiz starts on slide 10 but you want learner to review the content from slide 1 THEN begin the quiz again on slide 10)?

Much Thanks!

k

[RodWard]

Kave,

I provided the solution when I mentioned in my post about placing a scored interactive object such as a button or click box on one of the first slides in the project.  Which ever slide that interactive object is on will be counted as the beginning of the Quiz Scope. 

The Retake Quiz button always takes the user back to the beginning of the Quiz Scope.  You can only control which slide that is by where you place the first scored interactive object in the movie. 

I don't recommend you place interactive objects (or any object for that matter) on the very first slide of your Captivate project, because it's a good idea to make that slide load as quickly as possible. But if you want the user to start from slide 2 when clicking the Retake Quiz button , then place your first scored interactive object on slide 2.

If you want them to only do part of the content and then jump to the quiz questions, you can set that up using navigation buttons or TOC as required.

If you want to learn a lot about Advanced Actions and variables, Lilybiri's blog is probably the best resource on the net at the moment.

http://lilybiri.posterous.com/

[Rezu]

Hi Rod,

Ah, your comment re: a scored interactive object makes sense now, thanks.

Perhaps I misused terms...and let's put CAA to the side for the moment.

If a user fails the quiz, I want the user to have to go back and re-look at the training content before taking the quiz again.

I see that in Quiz > Quiz Preferences... > Pass or Fail > 'If Failing Grade:' has the option to send a user back to the training content before the quiz by

So, I've set Allow User: 3 Attempts   Action: Jump to slide     Slide  2 Slide 2.

However, when I fail the quiz I do not get taken back to slide 2 as hoped. What am I doing wrong?

If you'd rather I post this thread as a separate question, I'm happy to do so.

Much Thanks,

k

[Lilybiri]

Kave,

Will try to help with the conditional action. There is not exactly the same work flow described in my blog at this moment. I posted an example this morning where I used extending the quiz scope to be able to navigate away from the question slides. It was not the goal of this blog post (about audio objects) but just wanted to mention it:

Audio objects: Control them!

The example file has an intro slide with a scored object (Next button), which score is not added to the Total score. After that intro slide, slides 2-7 are used to explain more about the answers on the first question slide, which is slide 8. Slide 9 is another question slide, followed by a Score slide. When using the Retake button (or Review after exhausting attempts) Captivate will return to the first intro slide because that is where the Quiz scope starts. I use an advanced action on entering that Intro slide that will jump immediately to the first question slide if this is not the first time that the slide was visited.

About your issue: did you enable 'Allow Backward movement' in the Quiz Preferences, Settings?  And is the quiz scope starting on or before slide 2?

For the conditional advanced action: can I suppose (as an example) that the total score of the Quiz is 100, that there are 10 Question slides each with a score of 10 points and that the minimum score for Pass is 80%? Or give me your details if you do not agree with this example.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

Hi Lilybiri,

Thanks for your help!

About your issue:

did you enable 'Allow Backward movement' in the Quiz Preferences, Settings? 

no, backward movement is not allowed...

And is the quiz scope starting on or before slide 2?

yes, there is a slide 1, but it's a title slide...should I set If Failing Grade:   Action: Jump to slide     Slide  1 Slide 1   ?

Am I doing something wrong...or is there a way to set the 'Continue' button to take the learner back to slide 1 if they failed?

[Lilybiri]

It is normally the Continue button on the score slide that triggers the actions specified on the Score slide. How did you check?  If it is in Preview, be sure to Preview the total project, either in Browser or with CTRL-Enter. How many attempts do you allow on Quiz Level? Because this Failure action will only be done when attempts are exhausted.

I just checked and this works perfect for me.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

Hi Lilybiri,

I think my missing component was ticking/enabling Allow Backward Movement under Quiz Preferences > Settings. Is this correct? Allow Backward Movement needs to be ticked to allow the user to click the 'Continue' button on 'Quiz Results' slide so they can go back to the beginning for the training if they fail the assessment?

It seems a bit counter intuitive (to my poor brain ). To me it seems...I don't want to allow backward movement in the quiz so I don't tick that box (it's under Quiz Settings not General Settings). In the end I know I can assign the playbar the appropriate actions to make it disappear at quiz and reappear at content review/training section.

To me it seems logical that whatever actions I set up under If Failing Grade: (in this case... you failed, the continue button will take you back to slide 1 of module) should happen regardless of backward movement within the quiz area. But what's logical to me is certainly not logical to others.

[Lilybiri]

No, it should be possible with Allow Backward movement unchecked as well (did try it out). But if it works that way, you have to know that you do not need to have the Back button on the question slides, so the user will not even know in that case that he could go backward.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

As for CAA, thank you for the link...I'll play around and see if I get stuck.

[Lilybiri]

The link is about the Quiz scope, not really about your advanced actions. I asked some questions about the settings in a previous answer, if you could answer those I will try to set up a work flow explanation tomorrow morning. Now it is getting late in the evening here in old Europe.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

Hi Lilybiri,

Thanks and thanks!

I'm using Cp 5.5.

can I suppose (as an example) that the total score of the Quiz is 100, that there are 10 Question slides each with a score of 10 points and that the minimum score for Pass is 80%? Or give me your details if you do not agree with this example.

Right now I have 20 question slides... all = to 1 point apiece. So a user must get 16 out of 20 for the pass of 80%. (think I did my math correctly there)

Please let me know if I did not answer all of your questions.

Much Thanks and goodnight to you!

k

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

Blogged about your usecase with an example Quiz and Frustration

It is not totally what you want, but the advanced actions can be used. You want to get out of the quiz to review the course. If you want to continue with the attempts on Quiz Level, those course slides should be within the Quiz Scope to be able to branch to them.

Have a look at the blog post, could create a template so that you'll be able to use the actions. And try to explain more in detail what has to happen? In my example if the user is navigated to the score slide and can Retake again, but you want something different.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

Hi Lilybiri,

Thanks so much for setting this up!

I seem to be having a problem with one of my adv actions...I'm getting a red light for my v_Rest expression for EnterSlide (see pic)

Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

[Lilybiri]

You have to confirm (click) the + sign in the dropdown list.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

I think I know the problem...when I was looking at the blog post section of 'Variables' and saw all the Quizzing system variables, I realized I'm probably not using these.

The type of quizzing I'm using was generated from the simulation assessment mode...these question slides are not the standard added 'Question Slide...'.

Could this be the problem? And if it is, can I still set up what I'm looking for or do I have to set up the questions via 'Question Slide...'?

Sorry I didn't think to mention this before!

Much Thanks!

k

[Lilybiri]

That makes indeed a big difference: do you mean that you created an assessment simulation and accepted the score that is automatically attributed to interactive objects like buttons, click boxes, Text Entry Boxes? Or did you create (extra) question slides as well with standard objects. Why is it so difficult to understand a question? Mostly I ask about details but because you were speaking about 20 questions, I supposed you meant real questions. Perhaps due to me not being an English speaker.

Would have to figure it out, but think it will be more complicated in that case. And where do you want the user to be navigated to if they are pushed out of the assessment simulation? Is it to a slide inside the same project (perhaps a demonstration or training simulation part)?

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

Hi Lilybiri,

I'm sorry for the confusion... yes I did create  an assessment simulation (and called this out in my first thread ) then inserted 1 quiz slide and then deleted the quiz slide so I could have the Quiz Results slide to keep track of my assessment simulation slides, and just assumed things were now functioning as a normal quiz since the Quiz Results slide provided the expected results. I see now that the assessment simulation (even though it can be made to function like a quiz) is very different from real quiz slides... mostly because of the cp quiz variables that are brought in to play with real quiz slides (your mention of these cp variables in your blog post under Variables alerted me to this).

At this point, it's going to be easier if I just take the assessment simulation's 'question slides' and turn them into real quiz question slides. That's easy enough to do and I can use the fantastic info that you so graciously posted on your blog.

In re: to the quizzing system Variables you mention in your blog, does one have to do something to them (i.e. cpQuizInfoTotalQuizPoints or cpQuizInfoLastSlidePointScored) or are these handled in the background by Cp?

Again, I'm sorry for the confusion!

[Lilybiri]

Keith, I sent you a PM with an easy solution for your present use case. Do not turn the assessment slides into real quiz slides, because it looks very unnatural to the learner IMO. I tested it out and it works fine that way.

The issue is indeed that one Quizzing variable is not populated for slides with scored objects, the variable cpQuizInfoPointsPerQuestionSlide. So you cannot use this one to calculate the variables v_MaxUntil and the other ones. In your case all scored objects have the same score, 1 point, so I have recommended to replace the mentioned variable by 1 and everything will work fine for your assessment. You forgot one ELSE portion (just Continue) for the decision CheckBranch as well.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

Hi Lilybiri,

I'm so for the trouble...I'm still having troubles creating the same functionality in my files.

1. could you please clarify...you tested out the simulation assessment file NOT the real quiz file... and the sim assess works fine with the new functionality? Correct?

2. would it be possible for you to post your working .Cp file somewhere so I can compare and see what it is I'm doing wrong with mine?

Much Thanks!

k

[Lilybiri]

Sorry Keith, have been working 14hrs yesterday, but didn't find time to check your file. Will do now and be back, always try to keep my promises but sometimes I do promise too much to too many people,

Just downloaded your SIM file again, but now the score for all interactive objects is set to 0 points? Why did you do that? Can I put them again to 1 point per click for buttons, click boxes and Text Entry Boxes? That would lead to the most simple solution, if you want more score for the TEB's, it will be a lot more work. Do not have time for that, will repair your file to have 1 pt per object.

Editing again: the Advanced Interaction panel shows a total score of 0, but individual interactive objects have a score, will look for the reason. My bad.... was filtered only on Question slides.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

No need to apologize...I know you have a real life outside of Cp-Land.

So with the SIM file, the first half of the file is the training section (about the first 4 slides) no points awared there, should all be set to 0...then it goes to the quiz section (should be a slide anouncing quiz section) where the interactive objects should be set to 1. So in total there should only be 5 points. Yea no worries about the TEB that woudl be a pain.

Now it's my turn to hit the hay.

Much Thanks!

k

[Lilybiri]

Figured it out: it is due to your Quiz Settings, the option 'User has to answer ....' is causing the condition 'CheckBranch?' not to function. I cannot explain why, only know that this is causing a lot of troubles mostly. If you change it to the default option 'Optional...' everything works fine as expected.

OK, I understand that you want the user to answer everything, but then it is illogical to have him navigated to the score slide if he cannot succeed as you wanted.

Lilybiri

[Rezu]

You Rock Lilybiri!!!

This functionality seems to work in both my SIMULATION assessment slides quiz & REAL quiz slides quiz.

Should this be happening? I'm not complaining, , just thought that it would only work for the SIM quiz slides?

Much Thanks to you!

k