TIP: Review and Retry Non-Adjacent Quiz Questions Without Seeing the Content Slides In Between

Sep 25, 2020

You have a course with sets of graded-question slides separated by content slides. And you have one Results slide at the end that combines the scores from all of the questions. The Review Quiz and the Retry Quiz buttons will take the user back to the first question. But you discover that the user will also have to step through the slides in-between the different sets of questions. Aaaccckkk!

How can you ensure that the user only steps through the questions when reviewing or retrying the quiz, even though all the questions aren't adjacent?

I've seen that question multiple times in the Forum. The answer below describes a fix, which is implemented in the attached Storyline file.

  • Create a variable to track the path the user should take. (For example, I used a text variable called QuizPath, with an initial value of standard.)
  • On the Results slide, add a trigger to the Review Quiz button that adjusts the variable to indicate the quiz will be reviewed (e.g., QuizPath = review). And add a trigger to the Retry Quiz button that adjusts the variable to indicate the quiz is being retried (e.g., QuizPath = retry).

Note: Be sure these Set-variable triggers appear before the triggers that leave the slide. (Storyline can't run a trigger after it leaves the slide the trigger is on.)

Do the following on the last question slide in each question set. In other words, do this on any question that is followed by a content slide instead of another question.

  • Set the Slide Properties to show the Next button. (This needs to be done to make the default Next-button trigger visible.)
  • Include a trigger that changes the state of the Next button to Hidden when the timeline starts with the condition that the variable indicates the user is answering the questions (e.g., QuizPath = standard or QuizPath = retry).
  • Revise the Next button trigger so it jumps specifically to the next question with the condition that the variable indicates the user is reviewing their completed quiz (e.g., QuizPath=review).

  • For the Continue button on both the Correct and Incorrect Layers, revise the triggers for advancing.
    • One trigger should jump to the next slide (i.e., a content slide) with the condition the user is taking the quiz for the first time (e.g., QuizPath = standard).
    • Another trigger should jump specifically to the next question with the conditions that the user is reviewing or retrying the quiz (e.g., QuizPath = review or QuizPath = retry).

A few extra notes:

  • If you don't provide immediate feedback to your questions, you'll have to adjust triggers for the Submit button instead of the Continue buttons.
  • The above instructions work well as long as you don’t include the default Menu. Showing the Menu would allow the user to jump to slides without adjusting the path variable, which could screw up how the user encounters the questions. 
  • If you want more info about variables and conditions, refer to Articulate's Tutorials and User Guides (https://community.articulate.com/articles/tutorials-and-documentation).
8 Replies
Judy Nollet

My own preference: Include knowledge-check questions at the end of each topic, but without a Results slide.

Then repeat all the questions (with scrambled answers) in a final quiz with a Results slide at the end of the course.

Not only is that easier to program, it also provides a bit of spaced practice.

Judy Nollet

Sylvia,

For the instructions in the initial post:

  • The learner would re-answer the questions if they start with the Retry Quiz button/trigger.
  • The learner would just review the already-answered question if they start with the Review Quiz button/trigger.
  • Those are built-in functions. The point of the instructions in the post is to be able to skip any content slides that are in-between the question slides.

For my preferred quizzing method (in the first comment): Yes, the learner answers each question twice:

  1. Unscored Knowledge Check presented close to the content slides
  2. Scored Final Quiz at the end of the course