Short answer questions

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Petra Bonfert-Taylor

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Oct 4, 2022, 12:07:29 PM10/4/22
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Hi,

I know that there is not (yet) a way to evaluate short answer questions in-browser and so currently the <response/> element to a short answer question renders as nothing on a non-capable platform. I am wondering whether we could have a textfield even on a dumb platform however? 

Educational theories suggest that reflection is extremely important for learning. So even if the student simply collects their own thoughts in the textbox which won't end up being submitted to anywhere, it would still be quite valuable.

Thanks- Petra

Rob Beezer

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Oct 4, 2022, 3:14:55 PM10/4/22
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Dear Petra,

Discussion just now at Runestone Drop-In with Tom, Brad and David. Sounds like
we have all the infrastructure in place for this, courtesy of Runestone Services.

1. Local storage (per-device) should remember what a student wrote. You want
that, too? ;-) It definitely won't follow a student from laptop to phone to
mainframe.

2. Definitely should be under the influence of a publication file setting (but
I can't think of just what to call it).

3. I'd put some "placeholder" text in the initial empty box that makes it clear
the box is for "collecting your thoughts" and not going to be graded. (I guess
that needs internationalization, then.)

Rob
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Petra Bonfert-Taylor

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Oct 4, 2022, 4:41:39 PM10/4/22
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Dear Rob,

This sounds perfect! Yes, in-browser local memory would be fabulous. And “placeholder” text sounds like a good idea. Can that be done once somewhere or would it have to be entered with every <response/> element?

Thanks!!

—Petra

> On Oct 4, 2022, at 3:14 PM, Rob Beezer <bee...@ups.edu> wrote:
>
> Dear Petra,
>
> Discussion just now at Runestone Drop-In with Tom, Brad and David. Sounds like we have all the infrastructure in place for this, courtesy of Runestone Services.
>
> 1. Local storage (per-device) should remember what a student wrote. You want that, too? ;-) It definitely won't follow a student from laptop to phone to mainframe.
>
> 2. Definitely should be under the influence of a publication file setting (but I can't think of just what to call it).
>
> 3. I'd put some "placeholder" text in the initial empty box that makes it clear the box is for "collecting your thoughts" and not going to be graded. (I guess that needs internationalization, then.)
>
> Rob
>
>
> On 10/4/22 09:07, Petra Bonfert-Taylor wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I know that there is not (yet) a way to evaluate short answer questions in-browser and so currently the <response/> element to a short answer question renders as nothing on a non-capable platform. I am wondering whether we could have a textfield even on a dumb platform however?
>> Educational theories suggest that reflection is extremely important for learning. So even if the student simply collects their own thoughts in the textbox which won't end up being submitted to anywhere, it would still be quite valuable.
>> Thanks- Petra
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PreTeXt support" group.
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Rob Beezer

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Oct 4, 2022, 5:28:35 PM10/4/22
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On 10/4/22 13:41, Petra Bonfert-Taylor wrote:
> And “placeholder” text sounds like a good idea. Can that be done once somewhere or would it have to be entered with every <response/> element?

Consistency is our hallmark. ;-) It'll be provided by code, and likely we will
allow versions in different languages.

Rob Beezer

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Oct 4, 2022, 6:09:30 PM10/4/22
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I've got this working on a branch.

Placeholder text will need to wait on an update from Brad.

Speaking of which - there is a lot of extra stuff here. Such as a "Save" button
(necessary?), and a feeback box for an instructpr's comments, etc. We will get
local storage from the Runestone Javascript, so it is not as simple as just
adding a text area to a non-Runestone build. Any chance of ditching some of
this via a flag/attribute?

Just to be clear - screenshot is a non-Runestone build, modified to create a
Runestone interactive version of a short answer question (signaled by the
"response" element).

Compare with:

Exercise 18.: Short Answer
https://pretextbook.org/examples/sample-book/noparts/html/interactive-exercises.html#short-answer-question
Screenshot 2022-10-04 at 15-01-17 SB Interactive Exercises.png

Rob Beezer

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Nov 9, 2022, 10:34:03 PM11/9/22
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Done. A publisher option defaults to a response area only if it can be graded,
but can be set to *always* show a "dumb" response area. (The area is dumb, not
the idea of having one!)

Start here, and follow a link for syntax of the switch. Reports of use in the
wild welcome.

Subsection 4.12.8: Short Answer Exercises
https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/topic-interactive-exercises.html#short-answer-exercises

Rob

On 10/4/22 09:07, Petra Bonfert-Taylor wrote:
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Petra Bonfert-Taylor

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Nov 10, 2022, 9:14:15 AM11/10/22
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This is AMAZING! Thank you so much!!! Testing right now…

—Petra

> On Nov 9, 2022, at 10:33 PM, Rob Beezer <bee...@ups.edu> wrote:
>
> Done. A publisher option defaults to a response area only if it can be graded, but can be set to *always* show a "dumb" response area. (The area is dumb, not the idea of having one!)
>
> Start here, and follow a link for syntax of the switch. Reports of use in the wild welcome.
>
> Subsection 4.12.8: Short Answer Exercises
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpretextbook.org%2Fdoc%2Fguide%2Fhtml%2Ftopic-interactive-exercises.html%23short-answer-exercises&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cpetra.bonfert-taylor%40dartmouth.edu%7Ce42b95db548c49a70cca08dac2cc6b06%7C995b093648d640e5a31ebf689ec9446f%7C0%7C0%7C638036481260146397%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=1x4u4DnqoPGO7H8G%2B5DBtKnqhDFK2tygpFQoGssuCPM%3D&amp;reserved=0
>
> Rob
>
> On 10/4/22 09:07, Petra Bonfert-Taylor wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I know that there is not (yet) a way to evaluate short answer questions in-browser and so currently the <response/> element to a short answer question renders as nothing on a non-capable platform. I am wondering whether we could have a textfield even on a dumb platform however?
>> Educational theories suggest that reflection is extremely important for learning. So even if the student simply collects their own thoughts in the textbox which won't end up being submitted to anywhere, it would still be quite valuable.
>> Thanks- Petra
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PreTeXt support" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com>.
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