Open Text Fields - Key Words

Hey All,

While working on a combustible dust safety course, I encountered a scenario that gave me a bit of trouble. I created a question asking my learners to list the five components of the dust explosion pentagon.

 

The Issue

In theory, this is a relatively simple request. However, the variety of ways a user could input their answers into the field is vast.

Example Answers:

• Combustible Dust, Dispersion, Ignition Source, Oxidant, Confinement (ideal answer)
• Dispersion, Combustible Dust, Ignition Source, Oxidant, Confinement (correct but order/capitalization issues)
• An oxidant; confinement; Combustible Dust; (extra words, semicolon, only 3 answers)

 

My requirements

1. I need learners to list all five answers (no more, no less).
2. The key words from the ideal answer must be included (e.g., "Explosion" is not an acceptable answer).
3. Two of the answers are two words long (e.g., "Combustible Dust," not just "dust").
4. Order and capitalization don’t matter.
5. The format of the list (comma, semicolon, space, or Enter key) doesn’t matter.

The default open text field quiz question option in Articulate Storyline 360 doesn’t allow for these conditions without listing every possible variation of answers in the Form answers section.

 

My Solution

To address this, I created my own quiz question. I manually created the text field and variables, and used the Execute JavaScript function to enforce these rules. I also added the orange text (see screenshot) to guide my learners on the desired formatting.

I did my best to make it comprehensive, but I'm only somewhat familiar with JavaScript. A work colleague helped me simplify the code and it is working for most cases. The code and variables I used are attached to this post.

 

Improvements Needed

One issue I'm still facing is that the "Incorrect" layer doesn't appear when someone enters 5 answers, but one of them is wrong. Nothing happens in this case. I also can't get the "Incorrect" layer to appear if there are fewer than 5 answers. Interestingly, when inspecting the code in the console tab during the preview, it seems to be working correctly. Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

 

Work Around

If necessary, I can switch the question to a multiple-choice format and give learners a list of options to verify their knowledge. However, this is not the format my SME and I envisioned, and I'd prefer to keep it open text if possible.

 

Feature Request

I also spoke with the Articulate Tech team about this scenario, and they’ve entered a feature request for a new question type that would allow answers to be marked as correct based on specific keywords. If this would be helpful to you in your e-learning projects, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments below!