Quiz branching in Storyline 360 does not work properly
May 24, 2021
I am making a story which draws questions randomly from different question banks. Each question bank has a number of questions on a subject in the story. I have added a 'Try Again' button into the incorrect answer layer to draw a different question from the same question bank, and a 'Skip' button to proceed the the next question, which could be on a different subject. I thought it would be straightforward, but I am stuck. I have created a Boolean variable 'TryAgain' which has a 'False' default value, and if the learner clicks on 'Try Again' button, changes the value of the variable to 'True'. I created a decision making slide after the question slide in which the value of 'TryAgain' variable is checked and branches to the right questions, depending on its value. In the first attempt, I decided if the variable was 'False' it was directed to the next slide, which was a question from a different question bank, and if it was 'True' goes to the previous slide. My understanding was that when the control goes to the previous slide, which is 'draw a question from question bank 1', and it was set as random, it would draw a different question on the same subject, but it seems that my understanding was not true. It doesn't draw a random question, but it repeats the same question.
In the second attempt, I created two 'Draw from question bank 1' slides and put two decision making slides in between as shown in Figure 1 attached. If the learner gives the wrong answer to the question in slide 1.1 and clicks on 'Try Again' button, the 'TrayAgain' variable is set to 'True' and will be directed to a question of the same type in slide 1.3. If the answer to question in slide 1.3 is wrong and the learner clicks on 'Try Again' button, it will branch it to slide 1.1. It should be looped between these two questions, until the learner gives the correct answer or clicks on 'Skip' on the incorrect answer layer, which will take the control to slide 1.5 from of each of the decision making slides. I will hide the decision making slides, but at the moment I have set them to show the value of 'TryAgain' variable for troubleshooting.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work as I expected. It behaves correctly on the first slide, shows the 'True' value for 'TryAgain' on slide 1.2, and goes to slide 1.3. But after that it draws random questions from question bank 1 continuously. It does not show slide 1.4 and it does not go to slide 1.5 if the learner gives the correct answer or clicks on 'Skip' on the wrong answer.
I have reset 'TryAgain' variable to the default value 'False' at the start of each question in the question bank (Figure 2). Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the triggers for correct layer and incorrect layer. I have used Button 1 as 'Try Again' button and Continue as 'Skip' button.
I would appreciate your help. I am stuck with this in last few days.
10 Replies
Hello Naser and welcome to E-Learning Heroes. 😊
Thank you for reaching out and sharing what you are working on in Storyline 360.
I want to take a look at your project file to investigate what's happening with your permission. You can share it publicly here or send it to me privately by uploading it here. I'll delete it when I'm done troubleshooting.
Hi Leslie. Thank you for your response. I am happy to share my story publicly. In the file ending with Introduction 2 I have 2 questions which are supposed to be randomly drawn from a bank of 12 questions. The slides 2.2 and 2.4 are empty and are used only for decision making. Based on the status of the variable 'TryAgain', it will go to either previous slide or next slide. In the version with filename ending with Introduction, instead of going to a previous slide, it goes to a question of the same type. The slides 2.2, 2.4, 3.2 and 3.4 are only for decision making, but in 2.2 and 2.4 I have put a textbox showing the status of 'TrayAgain' variable and slide number of troubleshooting.
My problem is that every time that the flow goes to question slides, it does not draw a new question, but repeats the same question drawn before. In the properties of question bank, the default for 'When revisiting' for each question was 'Automatically decide'. I changed it to 'Reset to initial state', but nothing changed.
I would appreciate your help.
Hello Naser!
Great question! It looks like all you need is a blank Results Slide and a trigger to reset the results. This will ensure the learner receives a different question every time they restart the course.
I've made this change to Smart_Revision_ELEC313_Introduction_2.story.
I've also recorded a demo of how I made these changes in the .story file. Here's the link.
Hi Lauren!
Many thanks, it was really helpful. I used the same technique that you mentioned for branching between questions based on my 'TryAgain' variable and it works fine. The only problem was that by resetting results in empty result slides, I couldn't have the final results at Results.ScorePoints and Results.ScorePercent, but I sorted it out by defining a new variable.
I have tried it with only two questions from one question bank. But I think it will work well on the full story if I use the same principle.
Thank you again for your help.
Hi Lauren,
I tried the method that you mentioned before to all questions. Everything works fine, many thanks. I have only one problem:
I draw 10 questions randomly from 5 question banks (one draw at a time). I have set the draw randomly and include in shuffle randomly. Whereas all questions from the question banks are drawn randomly, the first question stays the same after the first draw (it always draws the same question). I have spent the whole day on it and I couldn't find the reason. It is not the problem with the question bank, becasue when it draws a question in middle of the quiz randomly and it is fine. The problem is only for the first question draw.
I would be grateful for your help.
Hello Nasar!
Apologies for missing your previous post! I'm seeing the same behavior and cannot find the culprit, so I've opened a case on your behalf with our Support Engineers. You should've received a confirmation email. Our team will take a look at your project and reply to you via email shortly!
Hi Lauren,
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have received the confirmation email from the support team.
Hi Lauren,
As I posted a few months ago, the method you suggested works fine. However, by resetting results in empty slides, the results submitted to the LMS will be always zero. I have defined a variable MyScore and copy the results for each question to that variable. I can use this variable to show the results in the final slide. However, I understand that sending variables to the LMS is not straightforward. I have gone through a few threads that it is possible to send variables through a survey result slide. But I wonder if there is any way to send quiz results directly. I have attached my story file.
Hello Naser!
You can send the value of a variable to your LMS by using short answer questions. This article explains this in detail.
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for your reply. I was aware of this method, but I thought there might be a more straightforward way. I have also read some threads that because my results are numeric, I need to use some JavaScript code to convert them to text. It will make also some implications in the LMS. But it seems that it is the only way. Thank you again.