Choose either the Notes or Quiz page. Everyone will submit a quiztry file to demonstrate the download, edit, upload procedure.
Submitting the actual assignment is done in three stages:
Paper draft version
Final online version
quiztry Assignment:
Open the Quiz Template file.
In the File menu, choose Save as (Save Page as) and save as "quiztry.htm" (The name of the file has to be exactly like this with no upper-case letters, no spaces). Save the file on the Desktop or in My Documents.
Open the file in WordPad or Notepad (or phpDesigner, Dreamweaver) and change the title, first question, the answer for the first question, and name at the bottom to your name.
Upload the edited file to your public_html folder in myweb on the H:\ network drive that is mapped to your account.
Check to make sure your link works in the Student Assignments page.
STEPS in Editing quiztry.htm:
A) Select a question from another quiz
B) Change title of test:
<!----------- ***** INSERT TITLE OF QUIZ HERE ***** ----------------->
<h2>Quiz on European Overview</h2>
C) Change topic of test:
<!------------- ***** INSERT TOPIC OF QUIZ HERE ***** --------------->
Answer these questions about Europe.
D) Replace question:
For example: "What countries are a part of French Indochina?"
E) Replace Concept:
For example: "The region is in Southeast Asia and was controlled by France."
F) Replace A response:
For example: "A. Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia
G) Replace hint for A response
For example: "Cambodia is correct by Myanmar & Thailand are too far away from this region."
H) Repeat for responses B through E.
I) Change "ans1 = 3" to the correct answer (A=0; B=1; C=2; D=3; E=4)
function MarkIt(form)
var totcorrect = 0
var ans1 = 3
var ans2 = 1
var ans3 = 3
var ans4 = 4
var ans5 = 0
var ans6 = 4
var ans7 = 0
var ans8 = 2
var ans9 = 4
var ans10 = 3
J) Insert your name and date in this line:
<center>Submitted by Mike Sundermeier on April 27, 2007
Interactive Quiz Page
The Interactive Quiz page uses the JavaScript programming language to create an interactive test. The page consists of 10 questions with helpful hints on correct and incorrect answers. A button on the bottom of the page allows the user to have the quiz corrected. The best way to make a quiz page is to edit the template file with a text editor like NotePad. Change only the questions and answers, not the HTML or JavaScript code.
A good way to learn how to take multiple-choice exams is to compose multiple choice questions. It is also a good way to learn the material for a test. Providing hints for each question and explaining why each possible answer is either right or wrong reinforces the concepts learned in the course. Practicing with these interactive quizzes also reinforces the learned concepts.
WordPad can be used to edit the page. A better and also free editor is PhpDesigner because it puts the commands and text in different colors. NotePad++ is also good, or TextWrangler for Mac.
The table below gives some examples of multiple-choice questions with analysis of their strengths and weaknesses.
1. Which country does not share a border with one of these South Asian countries? A.Bangladesh B.China C.Myanmar (Burma) D. Laos E.Iran
Good question Requires knowing which countries are a part of the region of South Asia. The question also requires a good mental map of the surrounding area. Answer: D
2. Of the 700 islands in the Bahamas, how many are actually inhabited? A. 57; B. 18; C. 136; D. 22; E. 71
Poor question Requires remembering an exact number. Shouldn't be necessary. Answer: D
3. Which of the following is a leading area in the production of strip‑mined coal providing for the generation of electricity for much of the central part of the United States? A. Alaska's North Slope B. Southern California C. the Powder River Basin in Wyoming's sector of the Great Plains D. the seabed just offshore of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast E. the Appalachians
Good question Well-stated with a good set of possible answers, although strip‑mining a seabed is a little hard to imagine. Answer: C
4. Who was the president of South Africa from 1993 to 2001: A. Nelson Mandela B. Thabo Mbeki C. Jesse Jackson D. Derek Martinson
Poor question No E response provided. Little thought given to false answers. Question should focus on what Mandela accomplished or how he changed South Africa, not the dates when he was president. Answer: A
5. Countries of the world can be divided into three categories. These include the highly developed countries (HDCs), moderately developed countries (MDCs), and less developed countries (LDCs). Some believe that LDC countries will never achieve the prosperity of the HDC countries. In this respect, the primary goal of HDC countries is to:
A. increase the wealth of MDC countries B. increase the wealth of LDC countries C. maintain the status quo politically, economically and socially D. reject trickle‑down economics E. all of the above
Good question Long question that summarizes the material on world development. Addresses the important question of whether LDC countries will ever achieve the wealth of MDC or HDC countries. Answer: C
6. On the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, rainfall decreases from A. north to south; B. east to west; C. west to east; D. south to north.
Poor question The correct answer is B. However, the “decreases from” statement is confusing. People might know that it is drier in the western part of the Great Plains but still not be able to determine the correct response. Also, no E response is provided.
Decide on a particular topic for the quiz page. Before beginning, assemble the questions, find the correct answers, think about the concept that is being addressed through the question, and compose a sentence that explains why each answer is correct or incorrect.
Use the template file for your quiz. Open the template file and save the file (using Save As...) with the name quiz.html. You can also download the two graphic files that are associated with the quiz page by replacing the name of the quiz file with the names of the graphic files – qpspiral.gif and logo.gif. Place these graphic files in the same folder as the quiz.html file.
With Windows, open the quiz.html file with WordPad (a Windows accessory). On a Mac, use the free BBEdit program.
Look for all the text items that need to be changed. Figure 1 shows in bold the text that will be altered. The title and topic of the quiz is at the top of the file. Each question includes a Concept button that presents a dialog box to provide a hint to the answer. There are five possible answers for each question. The possible answers have a text response that indicates whether the answer is true or false and explains why. Each question has a total of 12 text fields that need to be altered. One of these is the question itself and one is the Concept button text that supplies some help in answering the question. The remaining 10 text fields include the text for the five responses and the explanation why each response is right or wrong. This means that an interactive exam with 10 questions has 120 text fields to be changed in addition to title and the numbers for the correct responses.
<!------------ ***** INSERT TITLE OF QUIZ HERE ***** ------------>
<title>Quiz on Maps</title>
<!------------ *****INSERT TITLE OF QUIZ HERE ***** ------------>
<h2>Quiz on Maps</h2>
<!------------ ***** INSERT TOPIC OF QUIZ HERE ***** ------------>
Answer these questions about maps.
<!------------ ***** INSERT QUESTION ONE HERE ***** ------------>
<i><b>Which of the following representative fractions is equivalent to a scale of one inch to one mile? </b></i>
<!------------ ***** INSERT CONCEPT BUTTON HERE ***** ------------>
<input type="button" value="Concept" onclick="alert('There are 63,360 inches in a mile. If you cannot remember this strange number, you will have to multiply these two numbers: 5280 (number of feet in a mile) by 12 (the number of inches in a foot)!')">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<!------------ ***** INSERT TEXT RESPONSE A HERE. ***** ------------>>
<input type="radio" name="rad1" value="a" onclick="form.txtbox1.value = (AllowMessageBox)?wrong+'This would indicate that 1 inch on the map represents 13,360 inches on the ground. There are 63,360 inches in a mile.':''"><b>a)</b>
<!------------ ***** INSERT RESPONSE FOR A HERE. ***** ------------>
<td>1:13,360
<!-- END -a -->
Figure 1 Steps for converting the template for the interactive quiz page. The bold face text would need to be replaced. Only a small part of the file is shown here, through the “A” response in question 1.
Be careful not to change any of the HTML or JavaScript code. If either is changed, it will probably be necessary to start over with an original template file.
Text strings for the "input type=" button cannot include an apostrophe. Be sure to write the sentence so it does not include an apostrophe. This is difficult to do sometimes, especially with possessives. Rearrange the sentence, if necessary. For example, “the world’s total population” could become “the total population of the world.”
Save your file as a text file (.txt) but with an .htm extension. WordPad can save files in a Word format but this should not be done. It is important not to open or save this file with a word-processing program or a low-level HTML editor. Once the file is saved with these programs, the formatting of the file will be destroyed.
At the bottom of the document, change the answers in the JavaScript MarkIt function which scores the quiz. The answers are zero-indexed and thus coded as 0 = A, 1 = B, 2 = C, 3 = D, 4 = E (see Fig. 2).
Figure 2 The definition of the 10 answers in the MarkIt function. The answers are zero indexed, meaning that A = 0, B = 1, C = 2, D = 3, and E = 4. The function determines if the questions have been answered correctly and tabulates the number of correct responses. In this version of the MarkIt function, the answer to the first question is D.
After modifying each question, open the file in Netscape or Explorer to make sure the quiz works properly. Check all text strings for the concept button text and the explanations of the correct and incorrect answers.
Quiz Page Troubleshooting
Problem: A single question does not work correctly.
Solution: If the problem can be isolated to a single question, find that question in the code and check for a single quote mismatch in the hint or text response part of the question. This problem almost always occurs because of the use of a contraction. Look for words like “can’t,” “don’t,” or “world’s.” Rewrite the sentence to eliminate the apostrophe using “can not” or “do not,” for example.
Problem: The interactive questions don’t work correctly. The Mark Quiz button doesn’t do anything. The possible answers are not lined up correctly. The suggestions on answers do not work.
Solution: There are multiple problems with the quiz page. The best solution is to start over with the working template file. Follow the instructions above. Don’t use a word-processing or webpage editing program.
Quiz Page Checklist
The Mark Quiz button should score the quiz correctly.
Each question should provide a hint with the Concept button.
The Notes page represents a written summary of a lecture. This page provides an opportunity for more extensive research into a topic than is usually possible with any single lecture. It can also help correct any misunderstandings that have resulted from the lecture. An outline of the lecture will usually be provided. This will show how the presentation of a particular topic could be organized. Sometimes, a completed set of notes will be provided and parts will simply need to be rewritten or new sections added.
The Notes page should be augmented with material from other sources. Consulting other sources allows students to compare the lecture to other material available from both online and offline sources. These can used to make the lecture material more understandable. Examining a number of sources on a topic, especially different textbooks, also highlights how different authors approach a topic. The outline shows how the discussion of a particular topic can be organized, and how it has been broken down into appropriate subtopics. All sources would be listed in the references section of the notes.
The Notes pages form the core of the online materials. They allow each student to explain a particular topic to others and thereby gain a better understanding of it. Students put the ideas and concepts presented into their own words and may succeed in explaining something to their peers better than the author of a textbook.
To begin, it is important to read any assigned readings before the lecture. You will certainly understand the lecture better if you already have some background on the topic. Take extensive notes during the lecture. Following the lecture, review your notes. This allows you to add any items that you still remember from the lecture but did not write down. Then, read the assigned readings again.
The template file for the Notes page would be an existing Notes page. To begin editing, display the file with a web browser and then choose "Save As" from the "File" menu. Be careful to save as type "Web page." Open this file with a word processor such as Word to edit.
DSC 294 Testing Room
Contact | ©2012 Michael P. Peterson
Choose either the Notes or Quiz page. Everyone will submit a quiztry file to demonstrate the download, edit, upload procedure.
Submitting the actual assignment is done in three stages:
Paper draft version
Final online version
quiztry Assignment:
Open the Quiz Template file.
In the File menu, choose Save as (Save Page as) and save as "quiztry.htm" (The name of the file has to be exactly like this with no upper-case letters, no spaces). Save the file on the Desktop or in My Documents.
Open the file in WordPad or Notepad (or phpDesigner, Dreamweaver) and change the title, first question, the answer for the first question, and name at the bottom to your name.
Upload the edited file to your public_html folder in myweb on the H:\ network drive that is mapped to your account.
Check to make sure your link works in the Student Assignments page.
STEPS in Editing quiztry.htm:
A) Select a question from another quiz
B) Change title of test:
<!----------- ***** INSERT TITLE OF QUIZ HERE ***** ----------------->
<h2>Quiz on European Overview</h2>
C) Change topic of test:
<!------------- ***** INSERT TOPIC OF QUIZ HERE ***** --------------->
Answer these questions about Europe.
D) Replace question:
For example: "What countries are a part of French Indochina?"
E) Replace Concept:
For example: "The region is in Southeast Asia and was controlled by France."
F) Replace A response:
For example: "A. Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia
G) Replace hint for A response
For example: "Cambodia is correct by Myanmar & Thailand are too far away from this region."
H) Repeat for responses B through E.
I) Change "ans1 = 3" to the correct answer (A=0; B=1; C=2; D=3; E=4)
function MarkIt(form)
var totcorrect = 0
var ans1 = 3
var ans2 = 1
var ans3 = 3
var ans4 = 4
var ans5 = 0
var ans6 = 4
var ans7 = 0
var ans8 = 2
var ans9 = 4
var ans10 = 3
J) Insert your name and date in this line:
<center>Submitted by Mike Sundermeier on April 27, 2007
Interactive Quiz Page
The Interactive Quiz page uses the JavaScript programming language to create an interactive test. The page consists of 10 questions with helpful hints on correct and incorrect answers. A button on the bottom of the page allows the user to have the quiz corrected. The best way to make a quiz page is to edit the template file with a text editor like NotePad. Change only the questions and answers, not the HTML or JavaScript code.
A good way to learn how to take multiple-choice exams is to compose multiple choice questions. It is also a good way to learn the material for a test. Providing hints for each question and explaining why each possible answer is either right or wrong reinforces the concepts learned in the course. Practicing with these interactive quizzes also reinforces the learned concepts.
WordPad can be used to edit the page. A better and also free editor is PhpDesigner because it puts the commands and text in different colors. NotePad++ is also good, or TextWrangler for Mac.
The table below gives some examples of multiple-choice questions with analysis of their strengths and weaknesses.
1. Which country does not share a border with one of these South Asian countries? A.Bangladesh B.China C.Myanmar (Burma) D. Laos E.Iran
Good question Requires knowing which countries are a part of the region of South Asia. The question also requires a good mental map of the surrounding area. Answer: D
2. Of the 700 islands in the Bahamas, how many are actually inhabited? A. 57; B. 18; C. 136; D. 22; E. 71
Poor question Requires remembering an exact number. Shouldn't be necessary. Answer: D
3. Which of the following is a leading area in the production of strip‑mined coal providing for the generation of electricity for much of the central part of the United States? A. Alaska's North Slope B. Southern California C. the Powder River Basin in Wyoming's sector of the Great Plains D. the seabed just offshore of the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast E. the Appalachians
Good question Well-stated with a good set of possible answers, although strip‑mining a seabed is a little hard to imagine. Answer: C
4. Who was the president of South Africa from 1993 to 2001: A. Nelson Mandela B. Thabo Mbeki C. Jesse Jackson D. Derek Martinson
Poor question No E response provided. Little thought given to false answers. Question should focus on what Mandela accomplished or how he changed South Africa, not the dates when he was president. Answer: A
5. Countries of the world can be divided into three categories. These include the highly developed countries (HDCs), moderately developed countries (MDCs), and less developed countries (LDCs). Some believe that LDC countries will never achieve the prosperity of the HDC countries. In this respect, the primary goal of HDC countries is to:
A. increase the wealth of MDC countries B. increase the wealth of LDC countries C. maintain the status quo politically, economically and socially D. reject trickle‑down economics E. all of the above
Good question Long question that summarizes the material on world development. Addresses the important question of whether LDC countries will ever achieve the wealth of MDC or HDC countries. Answer: C
6. On the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, rainfall decreases from A. north to south; B. east to west; C. west to east; D. south to north.
Poor question The correct answer is B. However, the “decreases from” statement is confusing. People might know that it is drier in the western part of the Great Plains but still not be able to determine the correct response. Also, no E response is provided.
Decide on a particular topic for the quiz page. Before beginning, assemble the questions, find the correct answers, think about the concept that is being addressed through the question, and compose a sentence that explains why each answer is correct or incorrect.
Use the template file for your quiz. Open the template file and save the file (using Save As...) with the name quiz.html. You can also download the two graphic files that are associated with the quiz page by replacing the name of the quiz file with the names of the graphic files – qpspiral.gif and logo.gif. Place these graphic files in the same folder as the quiz.html file.
With Windows, open the quiz.html file with WordPad (a Windows accessory). On a Mac, use the free BBEdit program.
Look for all the text items that need to be changed. Figure 1 shows in bold the text that will be altered. The title and topic of the quiz is at the top of the file. Each question includes a Concept button that presents a dialog box to provide a hint to the answer. There are five possible answers for each question. The possible answers have a text response that indicates whether th
e answer is true or false and explains why. Each question has a total of 12 text fields that need to be altered. One of these is the question itself and one is the Concept button text that supplies some help in answering the question. The remaining 10 text fields include the text for the five responses and the explanation why each response is right or wrong. This means that an interactive exam with 10 questions has 120 text fields to be changed in addition to title and the numbers for the correct responses.
<!------------ ***** INSERT TITLE OF QUIZ HERE ***** ------------>
<title>Quiz on Maps</title>
<!------------ *****INSERT TITLE OF QUIZ HERE ***** ------------>
<h2>Quiz on Maps</h2>
<!------------ ***** INSERT TOPIC OF QUIZ HERE ***** ------------>
Answer these questions about maps.
<!------------ ***** INSERT QUESTION ONE HERE ***** ------------>
<i><b>Which of the following representative fractions is equivalent to a scale of one inch to one mile? </b></i>
<!------------ ***** INSERT CONCEPT BUTTON HERE ***** ------------>
<input type="button" value="Concept" onclick="alert('There are 63,360 inches in a mile. If you cannot remember this strange number, you will have to multiply these two numbers: 5280 (number of feet in a mile) by 12 (the number of inches in a foot)!')">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<!------------ ***** INSERT TEXT RESPONSE A HERE. ***** ------------>>
<input type="radio" name="rad1" value="a" onclick="form.txtbox1.value = (AllowMessageBox)?wrong+'This would indicate that 1 inch on the map represents 13,360 inches on the ground. There are 63,360 inches in a mile.':''"><b>a)</b>
<!------------ ***** INSERT RESPONSE FOR A HERE. ***** ------------>
<td>1:13,360
<!-- END -a -->
Figure 1 Steps for converting the template for the interactive quiz page. The bold face text would need to be replaced. Only a small part of the file is shown here, through the “A” response in question 1.
Be careful not to change any of the HTML or JavaScript code. If either is changed, it will probably be necessary to start over with an original template file.
Text strings for the "input type=" button cannot include an apostrophe. Be sure to write the sentence so it does not include an apostrophe. This is difficult to do sometimes, especially with possessives. Rearrange the sentence, if necessary. For example, “the world’s total population” could become “the total population of the world.”
Save your file as a text file (.txt) but with an .htm extension. WordPad can save files in a Word format but this should not be done. It is important not to open or save this file with a word-processing program or a low-level HTML editor. Once the file is saved with these programs, the formatting of the file will be destroyed.
At the bottom of the document, change the answers in the JavaScript MarkIt function which scores the quiz. The answers are zero-indexed and thus coded as 0 = A, 1 = B, 2 = C, 3 = D, 4 = E (see Fig. 2).
Figure 2 The definition of the 10 answers in the MarkIt function. The answers are zero indexed, meaning that A = 0, B = 1, C = 2, D = 3, and E = 4. The function determines if the questions have been answered correctly and tabulates the number of correct responses. In this version of the MarkIt function, the answer to the first question is D.
After modifying each question, open the file in Netscape or Explorer to make sure the quiz works properly. Check all text strings for the concept button text and the explanations of the correct and incorrect answers.
Quiz Page Troubleshooting
Problem: A single question does not work correctly.
Solution: If the problem can be isolated to a single question, find that question in the code and check for a single quote mismatch in the hint or text response part of the question. This problem almost always occurs because of the use of a contraction. Look for words like “can’t,” “don’t,” or “world’s.” Rewrite the sentence to eliminate the apostrophe using “can not” or “do not,” for example.
Problem: The interactive questions don’t work correctly. The Mark Quiz button doesn’t do anything. The possible answers are not lined up correctly. The suggestions on answers do not work.
Solution: There are multiple problems with the quiz page. The best solution is to start over with the working template file. Follow the instructions above. Don’t use a word-processing or webpage editing program.
Quiz Page Checklist
The Mark Quiz button should score the quiz correctly.
Each question should provide a hint with the Concept button.
The Notes page represents a written summary of a lecture. This page provides an opportunity for more extensive research into a topic than is usually possible with any single lecture. It can also help correct any misunderstandings that have resulted from the lecture. An outline of the lecture will usually be provided. This will show how the presentation of a particular topic could be organized. Sometimes, a completed set of notes will be provided and parts will simply need to be rewritten or new sections added.
The Notes page should be augmented with material from other sources. Consulting other sources allows students to compare the lecture to other material available from both online and offline sources. These can used to make the lecture material more understandable. Examining a number of sources on a topic, especially different textbooks, also highlights how different authors approach a topic. The outline shows how the discussion of a particular topic can be organized, and how it has been broken down into appropriate subtopics. All sources would be listed in the references section of the notes.
The Notes pages form the core of the online materials. They allow each student to explain a particular topic to others and thereby gain a better understanding of it. Students put the ideas and concepts presented into their own words and may succeed in explaining something to their peers better than the author of a textbook.
To begin, it is important to read any assigned readings before the lecture. You will certainly understand the lecture better if you already have some background on the topic. Take extensive notes during the lecture. Following the lecture, review your notes. This allows you to add any items that you still remember from the lecture but did not write down. Then, read the assigned readings again.
The template file for the Notes page would be an existing Notes page. To begin editing, display the file with a web browser and then choose "Save As" from the "File" menu. Be careful to save as type "Web page." Open this file with a word processor such as Word to edit.
DSC 294 Testing Room
Contact | ©2012 Michael P. Peterson