Need creative ideas for failed test
Aug 08, 2019
I'm looking for ideas for how to deal with multiple fails on a test.
I am working on a course that will act as a pilot for my company. Typically, we restrict the menu, and restrict previous and next buttons. We also force users to progress through the course in a specific order, by disabling buttons in a main "course map" slide until previous sections have been completed.
In our pilot course, we want to try allowing users the freedom to choose which sections to look at, and even allow them to access the test right from the start of the course, if they feel they already know the material. I have still kept the menu navigation as "restricted", but removed the "restrict prev/next buttons" option. There are a couple of interaction slides in each section that force you to practice the learning objectives before you can click next; they work by flipping a variable to true once the activity is complete. That way, if users return to the interaction, they can skip by without redoing the activity.
Here's where I need help: If the user fails the test 3 times, I would like to have something change so that they have to review some or all of the material. We haven't decided exactly what that will look like, but I'd like to start exploring options to pitch.
This is what I've come up with so far:
On the third fail, the user is returned to the "course map" slide. The test button is disabled (the test section also does NOT appear in the menu).
They are told to go through the entire course. Each slide in the course content would add +1 to a variable at the end of its timeline, and a true/false variable would flip at the same time to both allow the user to progress to the next slide, AND provide a way to prevent the variable from adding +1 again if the user repeats the slide (ie. Adjust variable +1 if variable = false).
Once the variable equals the number of content slides, the test button could become active again.
What I don't like about what I've come up with is that the menu is still available; if a user first accesses all the slides, then they can freely navigate the menu. That could lead to them not waiting until each slide completes, and therefore not reactivating the "test" button - which will ultimately drive our training administrator crazy when users call in for support.
I'm open to any other ideas for "punishing" three failed attempts. Another colleague suggested having the "test" button locked for a certain amount of time, but I'm not yet sure how I would go about that. Another suggestion was to gamify the fail, by saying you need to collect a certain number of points by reviewing the training; then certain slides could garner you points that you could see in the upper corner of each slide.
I'm wondering if anyone else has tried any of these methods, or invented other ways to deal with multiple fails. I'm open to all your suggestions!
Thanks in advance!
8 Replies
Let's see. I'm not sure about points process, but assuming we created variable for each section:
Section1Done
Section1Done
Section2Done
etc...
These are all TRUE to start.
Each is also set to TRUE again when the user complete individual sections.
When all of these variable are true, the TEST button would appear. So the test is available at the start, as is free navigation.
When user completes the the TEST another variable (TestCount) increments by 1. Pass or fail, this just happens.
If they take the test again and it reaches the Results again, TestCount = +1
A global variable is watching for whenever the TestCount variable changes. When it reaches a count of 3, if the results are still not passing, all the Section1Done variables are set to FALSE (for the first time) and other variables kick in that disable the TEST access. Also, the section variables now make it possible to disable access to the sections until prior ones are done, forcing them to start at section1 and move forward only.
Maybe? Does this address your concerns?
Yes, this is exactly along the lines I was thinking! However, the problem is that the Menu doesn't/can't reset, as far as I know. I am told there may be some way to disable the menu with javascript, so I may explore that option. As long as the menu is available, the user may choose to navigate the course using the menu. In that case, they could simply skip straight to the slide that changes the SectionDone variable. Or else they may skip that slide accidentally, and not know how to trigger the variable change that would make the test available again.
You can edit how much detail shows in the MENU. In the Player controls you could opt to remove the individual slides of a section and leave the introductory slides. This way they only way they can get to the "sectiondone" variables is to click through most of the slides since they aren't listed in the menu.
Another way is turn off the built in menu, expand the width of your project and create your own more surgical menu system on the left within the SlideMasters, this way you have 100% control of how this menu behaves.
The downside is the setup, but once done, you can reuse the resulting masterslide as a template for future reuse.
I like having the menu present, because I like to see where I am in a course. I also like being able to easily navigate to a particular slide. However, I may turn it off and see if I can make some other visual representation work, like a progress bar. I don't think I'll get into making my own menu, as that sounds like a major headache!
Use the trigger action "Restart Course" after they fail 3x. That trigger will wipe out all of their test scores and return them to the beginning.
That would be perfect except the test button will still be immediately available. I'm going to remember that one for our courses that are built so that the test is not available, though!
My colleague found the Javascript code for turning off the menu, and it is actually super easy, so I think I'll pursue that route for now. Here's a link for anyone else interested:
https://elearningbrothers.com/blog/javascript-tricks-articulate-storyline-3-360/
We found we needed to change single quotes (') to double quotes (") in the code to make this work in 360, but after that simple change, it works like a charm!
Wondering, when you use the javascript, does the menu panel disappear as well, or just the menu content? I wasn't able to use that code because it left a big empty menu panel.
We noticed it acted like that in the modern player, but not the classic. I'm not sure if that will help you or not.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.