Essay questions - number of attempts not working

Hi Jane,

Not sure how much help I'll be with this, but I did want to share some feedback and suggestions with you. Hopefully this will help :)

First, it's not possible to alter the maximum amount of characters in an essay. 5,000 is the max, and this is the design for this particular question. Also, there's no scoring as the survey questions are not graded - you can provide feedback, but this is generally just feedback thanking the learner for completing the survey. 

Attempts can also not be set to "Unlimited" for the essay, because it's a survey question. The learner cannot pass or fail this type of question, since it's not graded, so they wouldn't need to try again, like they would for graded questions. However, if you're concerned that learners will want to return to the survey and enter information all over again, you could change the revisiting settings for that question slide to "Reset to initial state". This means that if they visit the slide again, they will start all over again and they can enter their essay again. 

You can include a results slide as well, at the end of your course. Though, I'm not sure if you're mainly wanting to display their essay from the survey on this slide, or if you just want to give learners the option to print the essay content when they're finished. 

When you create a text entry field, like the one that's created by adding an essay, a variable is created. You can use that variable to display the content entered by the learner on a slide. 

Here's a very quick example:

Survey Example For Jane

I'm also attaching the file for this, just in case it might help.

Good luck with the project!

Yes, this does help for the most part.  I actually have a results slide already because someone else told me I needed that so I could print.   It's very cool that when I used your results slide, it worked great!  Mine printed the table but printed none of the data (answers to questions). Unfortunately, I'm not able to modify the print format and my client doesn't like it - but it's what I have to offer. 

Sadly, I don't grasp the use of variables yet. I know in concept what they are, but as far as applying them, I haven't got that yet. 

I know for a fact the students will want to answer and re-answer.  They are writing about themselves and it's a sure bet they will not want to accept the first versions of their essays. 

A friend knows how badly I want to become a Storyline expert and evangelist. I'm not doing all that well yet. She bought me a Udemy course, but well - let's leave it right there.  

I really appreciate your help. I am impressed that no matter how dumb my questions probably sound, someone with expertise gets back to me.

Thank you so much!

jane

Hi Jane!

"Yes, this does help for the most part.  I actually have a results slide already because someone else told me I needed that so I could print.   It's very cool that when I used your results slide, it worked great!  Mine printed the table but printed none of the data (answers to questions). Unfortunately, I'm not able to modify the print format and my client doesn't like it - but it's what I have to offer."

I'm glad it helped, even if it was only a little :) Make sure that you're assigning the results slide to the slide that contains the survey. This way, the response will show up in the printed report. Also, make sure that you don't test locally. If you view published output files locally, the print feature may not work properly. Try uploading to a server to test, if you haven't already. If you still have trouble with this, you're always welcome to post your .STORY file here. I'd be happy to take a look and see why the input isn't showing in the printed results.

"Sadly, I don't grasp the use of variables yet. I know in concept what they are, but as far as applying them, I haven't got that yet."

No problem at all! When I started using Storyline I was terrified of variables. They were confusing to me and I spent most of my time just trying to focus on triggers instead. However, the more you use them, the easier it gets. Before you know it, you'll want to make use of them. There are a lot of great resources out there on the topic, too. This is a great place to get started, and if you ever have any questions, this community is certainly one that can contribute to the learning process. 

"I know for a fact the students will want to answer and re-answer.  They are writing about themselves and it's a sure bet they will not want to accept the first versions of their essays."

If you give your learners an option to go back to the slide that contains the essay, as I did in my example, they can completely modify their answer. They can remove it entirely, or they can just make some changes. The content should still be there and available for modification. You can do this using a simple button and some triggers. 

"I really appreciate your help. I am impressed that no matter how dumb my questions probably sound, someone with expertise gets back to me."

You are very welcome! There are no dumb questions, we've all been there at some point. You'll get the hang of it and soon, you'll be giving advice to others. :)

Christine