[LON-CAPA-users] Importing library routines
lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org
lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org
Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:19:01 -0400 (EDT)
Ed,
I can't help inserting my $0.02 here 8) LON-CAPA is not a homework
system, it is an assessment and course delivery system (and learning
content management system, etc...). One of the strengths of the system is
that the questions can be used in any number of pedagogical situations -
we don't sit there and dictate how everyone must define and deliver their
assessments.
For homework, agreed - the multiple attempts is a good thing and tries to
be formative in its application.
Here I give reading quizzes that are not difficult at all, nor highly
randomized. Students get a series of multiple choice questions, have a
time limit on the folder, DO get multiple attempts (because of slips of
the mouse primarily), but do not get the status returned. The point is not
for them to get immediate feedback but for them to take an online quiz
that prods them to read. The answers open up a half hour before class when
the quiz closes.
If giving an online practice test, one would presumably do something
similar.
I agree that an instructor needs to think carefully about the mode in
which questions are delivered, but the power of LON-CAPA is that it can
allow a great variety of delivery modes for variety of styles
of assessment.
</$0.02>
Later,
Mark
On Wed, 30 Aug 2006, Edwin Kashy wrote:
> Robert,
> Bad idea...in my opinion.
> One of the attraction of LON-CAPA was that you could get a wrong answer and
> still get full credit when you succeed in a solution.
> Student are in school to learn, and making mistakes is part of that process.
> If you expect them to get it right on the first try, why are they taking your
> class and not a more advanced class? Homework is part of the process of
> learning and needs to be encouraged, a formative type of assessment. Exams
> take care of the 1 try situation.
> Ed Kashy
>
> Robert_Brewington@er.monroe.edu wrote:
>> Last year I limited to 1 attempt per problem. The students wanted some way
>> to determine what the actual answer was, so this year I will see what
>> happens allowing 4 tries.
>>
>> However, my scoring system only gives them credit for problems they answer
>> correctly on the first try. Incorrect answers, or correct answers after 3
>> or more tries result in negative scores, so there is incentive to get it
>> right the first time. Also, unanswered questions on a sheet where at least
>> one problem has been attempted yield large negative values, so students
>> can't cherry pick the easy questions.
>>
>> brew
>> -----lon-capa-users-admin@mail.lon-capa.org wrote: -----
>>
>> To: <lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org>
>> From: "Robley Light" <rlight@chemmail.chem.fsu.edu>
>> Sent by: lon-capa-users-admin@mail.lon-capa.org
>> Date: 08/29/2006 04:35PM
>> Subject: RE: [LON-CAPA-users] Importing library routines
>>
>> An interesting way to group problems. Thanks for making the code
>> available so others can see how you do this.
>> Since each question is a separate part, I presume you limit the
>> tries to 1 per part?
>> Robley Light
>>
>> *************************************************************
>> Robley J. Light Professor of Chemistry and
>> Biochemistry
>> Department of Chemistry Phone: (850) 644-3844
>> and Biochemistry Email: rlight@chem.fsu.edu
>> Florida State University Fax: (850) 644-8281
>> Tallahassee, FL 32306-4390 Home Page:
>> http://www.chem.fsu.edu/editors/rlight
>> <http://www.chem.fsu.edu/editors/rlight>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From: * lon-capa-users-admin@mail.lon-capa.org
>> [mailto:lon-capa-users-admin@mail.lon-capa.org] *On Behalf Of
>> *Robert_Brewington@er.monroe.edu
>> *Sent: * Tuesday, August 29, 2006 12:54 PM
>> *To: * lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org
>> *Subject: * Re: [LON-CAPA-users] Importing library routines
>>
>> My setup constructs a randomized set of problems for students.
>> It does a construct like
>> <part><import> prob7.library </import></part>
>> <part><import> prob5.library </import></part>
>> <part><import> prob72.library </import></part>
>> <part><import> prob14.library </import></part>
>> <part><import> prob23.library </import></part>
>> <part><import> prob53.library </import></part>
>> <part><import> prob11.library </import></part>
>> where each of 15 problem numbers is generated by a piece of code.
>> Using problems instead of the library did not work; I
>> think it
>> was because I cannot import problems, they have to be
>> libraries. I have tried to make all my code available to
>> everyone; you can look at
>> brewington/Chemistry/RegentsReview/FinalMaster.problem
>> to see how it works.
>> I can then set up a series of problem sheets (say, 50 of
>> them). Each student then sees 50 sheets of 15 problems each,
>> where the problems have been randomly selected from the main
>> pool of several hundred problems. Each student sees different
>> problems with different randomizations.
>> It works pretty well, although it unfortunately does not
>> allow
>> statistics on the problems. I guess problems are indexed by
>> their positions on sequences, not by an actual problem or part
>> id.
>> Last spring I had to have Guy manually move/rename stuff,
>> partly due to my learning curve and partly because I do not
>> have the access to do these operations. I am reluctant to keep
>> bugging him for my problem manipulations. He has lots of
>> serious stuff to do. On the other hand, I don't know if I have
>> enough time in the day to do this through the web interface...
>> Only a few days now until school starts!
>> I expect to add more problems to the pool twice a year, a
>> couple of hundred each time. It is very awkward not having the
>> ability to do mass deletes, moves, renames, and so on.
>> Apparently people running their own servers have root access,
>> so they routinely go in and do things with shell scripts. I
>> have the knowledge & experience to do this, but do not have
>> that access since I am hosted on the educog machine. In
>> addition, I am perhaps unusual in my structure and overall
>> number of problems.
>> Thanks,
>> brew
>> -----lon-capa-users-admin@mail.lon-capa.org wrote: -----
>>
>> To: lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org
>> From: Gerd Kortemeyer <korte@lite.msu.edu>
>> Sent by: lon-capa-users-admin@mail.lon-capa.org
>> Date: 08/29/2006 10:46AM
>> Subject: Re: [LON-CAPA-users] Importing library routines
>>
>> Hi Brew,
>>
>> On Aug 29, 2006, at 10:38 AM,
>> Robert_Brewington@er.monroe.edu wrote:
>>
>> > I am importing a couple of hundred questions into LonCapa.
>> >
>> > For my system, I need these to come in as libraries, not
>> as > problems. Currently, I have to do several
>> thousand mouse
>> clicks to > 1) rename each file to library, and 2)
>> replace the
>> <problem> tags > with <library>. I just did 50
>> questions, and it took 600
>> mouse > clicks and 250 screen loads just to rename
>> the files.
>>
>> I am not sure ... why "library"?
>>
>> - Gerd.
>>
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Mark Lucas email: lucasm@ohiou.edu
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