Note: this chapter applies only to making personal computer textbooks. HTML internet textbooks are just regular HTML quizzes (a long document containing many graphics followed by questions and graphics), with each webpage being a chapter in the textbook. To link the chapters together you must write a "Main" web page that will have links to the individual quiz/chapter pages that were made with this program. However reading the following chapter will give you many ideas about making an HTML internet quiz.
It is assumed that you have read the previous two chapters in this user's guide, "Displaying Graphics in a Quiz" and "Displaying Documents in a Quiz." A regular printed textbook is divided into chapters of information. Each chapter contains text and images explaining a subject. After reading the text and viewing the images, the student is usually asked questions about the material just covered to determine his understanding of it.
This program will allow you to do the same thing on a computer. However since this program was basically designed to ask and answer questions you are going to have to do it a little backwards, but not too much.
First use your word processing program to write the text of each of the chapters in your textbook. Remember that a document linked to a quiz can be ANY length. Each document is to be one entire chapter of your textbook. When you save your document give it a file name like CHAP01.TXT or CHAP21.TXT. As you are writing your text, whenever you come to a part in which you want to display a graphic or refer to an additional text make up a file name, or use the file name of an existing graphic or document, and enter it into your text. Example; [USMAP.BMP] or [CHART42.TXT].
After you have finished your text make a list of all the additional documents refered to in main text and create them. Then list all graphic images that you will need for all the texts, load the Windows Paintbrush utility and create the graphics that do not already exist. Remember to save each document and graphic using the same file name called for in your texts.
Now it is time to load Harris Test and write some questions. Remember, if you wish to allow your students to refer back to the text while they are answering the questions then your text must have begun with [ALWAYS], if not, then the text must have begun with [ONCE]. EVERY question must contain the file name of your main text. That way if you ask the questions in random order no matter which question is asked first the document will be displayed before any question is displayed. Also remember that you may not redisplay a document from a question if the question does not contain the file name of the document.
If you will need to view an image before you can answer a question enter the file name of the graphic into the question. NOTE: the image in the question DOES NOT have to be one of the images in the text, it can be a completely new image. Now it is time to create the images that are linked in the questions but were not linked in the texts. Remember that all of your texts and images must be in the same PATH on your disk.
Now it is time to "Make a quiz." Select all the questions for chapter 1 of your text book. Set the quiz parameters. When you make the quiz use the file name of CHAP01. (Remember to include the 0 for chapters 1 to 9.)
Now repeat this process for the rest of the chapters in your text book.
Always remember that the creation of a quiz or textbook chapter is QUESTION driven. When you compile, the questions are loaded first and any graphic or document filenames in the questions are stored. Once all the questions are compiled the program loads the documents and may find some more graphic and document filenames. After the last document the graphics are loaded. So as you can see, a quiz or textbook chapter does not require documents or graphics to be created but you MUST always have at least one question.
If you put all the questions for your textbook into the same question list, then when your students go to load one of the chapters using Harris Quiz they will all be under the same course name. (When you make each quiz, you select only the questions that go with one chapter in your text book.) After selecting your course name your students will be asked to choose from the quizzes CHAP01, CHAP02, CHAP03, etc.
ALTERNATE LOADING
When you use Harris Quiz to take a quiz the "Welcome to Harris Quiz" screen
will give you instructions for taking a quiz. These instructions are not
appropriate when this program is used for a computer textbook. Fortunately you
may use your own instructions, here's how.
Use your word processing software to write the instructions you want to display. The instructions must start with the symbol [START] and end with the symbol [END], include the square brackets and end each symbol by pressing [ENTER]. It will be displayed at 16 lines of 71 characters each per page. If a line contains nothing but the symbol [PAGE] you will force a page break at that point. Pages shorter than 16 lines will be vertically centered.
You may want to add a textbook title, table of contents, and a copyright notice to your instructions. A sample text is in figure 32. Save your instructions using an ASCII, .TXT or TEXT format if possible.
[START]
USING HARRIS TEST
This computer textbook will use text and graphics to teach you how to
use the computer software "Harris Test". There will be questions after
each lesson to help you see how well you have learned each lesson.
On the next page (press [PAGE DOWN]) is a Table of Contents
describing the area covered in each lesson.
[PAGE]
Table of Contents
Lesson # Lesson #
O1. Program overview. 11. Displaying graphic / Quiz.
O2. Loading / Starting a quest. set. 12. Displaying text / Quiz.
O3. Main menu summary. 13. Computer textbook.
O4. Read questions from a text file. 14. Take a quiz / Harris Quiz.
O5. Enter / Edit questions. 15. Quiz management.
O6. Selecting questions. 16. Making a spreadsheet file.
O7. Organizing / Searching questions. 17. Splitting / Merging a file.
O8. Print questions. 18. Copy / Delete files.
O9. Print a test. 19. Trouble shooting.
10. Make a quiz.
[PAGE]
To view a lesson insert the disk containing that lesson into your
floppy drive. Change the "Current Drive" at the bottom right corner of
this screen to that floppy drive and press [ENTER]. If more than one
lesson is on that disk then choose the proper lesson by number.
[PAGE]
The software "Harris Test", "Harris Quiz", "Question Reader" and
the computer textbook "Using Harris Test" are
Copyright 1996 by Dale Harris
All rights reserved.
Unauthorized duplication by any means is prohibited.
[END] |
You may also enter the course name when starting the program. If the disk has files from many courses entering the course name will not allow your students to choose the wrong course. To do this start the program like this
Putting the command into a batch file would be a REAL good idea, then all a student has to do to load the program, load the textfile, and choose the course is to type in the name of the batch file.
Most word processing programs will create batch files, just save as a plain text file and use the .BAT extension in the filename. To create a batch file in DOS use the EDIT command or from the DOS C:> prompt type COPY CON FILENAME.BAT and press [ENTER], type in...
Now when you type FILENAME and press [ENTER] the batch file will enter all the other stuff for you.
When creating your textbook floppies the "Copy / Delete" function (see Copy / Delete) will create the sub-directories when it copies QUIZ.EXE and your .QIZ files from your hard drive. You must copy the .BAT and .TXT files yourself.
Note: After each lesson you will be asked if you want to take another. If you answer "Yes" the program will restart and try to load your text file again. This means that if you are running your textbook from floppies that EVERY floppy in your textbook MUST contain a copy of your text file. In figure 33 is an example of how you should load a textbook onto multiple floppies.
ROOT \TESTER \TESTER\LESSON
DIRECTORY DIRECTORY DIRECTORY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DISK TEXTBOOK.BAT QUIZ.EXE LESSON01.QIZ
1 INSTALL.BAT LESSON.TXT LESSON02.QIZ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DISK INSTALL.BAT LESSON.TXT LESSON03.QIZ
2 LESSON04.QIZ
LESSON05.QIZ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DISK INSTALL.BAT LESSON.TXT LESSON06.QIZ
3 LESSON07.QIZ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The contents of TEXTBOOK.BAT are... CD\TESTER
QUIZ/T:\TESTER\LESSON.TXT/F:LESSON
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The instructions printed on the disks are...
Insert disk #1 into drive.
Type TEXTBOOK and press [ENTER]
Follow instructions on the screen. |
MD C:\TESTER
MD C:\TESTER\LESSON
COPY TEXTBOOK.BAT C:\
COPY \TESTER\*.* C:\TESTER
COPY \TESTER\LESSON\*.* C:\TESTER\LESSON
Batch file that would copy the floppies listed
in figure 33 to the hard disk. |
Please note that in the above, the names FILENAME, ENGLIT, etc. were used as examples, you may use whatever names are appropriate. The basic template is...
TAKING A CHAPTER
When your student loads a chapter of your textbook he will first be asked
if he wants to change any of the quiz parameters unless you have locked them
all. If you are printing out a score sheet or saving the score to the disk he
will be asked his name. If entered, instructions will now appear on the screen.
If your quiz contains any survey questions (Student ID number?, Class?, etc.)
they will now be asked. Now more instructions, if entered. Now the text of your
chapter will be displayed. As he is paging through and reading it he may
display additional texts or images as needed. Once through with the text he
will now be asked questions related to what he has just learned, images may be
displayed as he is answering the questions.
PUBLISHING YOUR TEXTBOOK
The information you create using this program belongs to you. Make all the copies of Harris Quiz you want to and
give them away with your textbooks with my blessing. You can even charge for
your textbook while throwing in Harris Quiz for free and send me nothing.
I can't make you a better deal than that, can I?
There are two ways to take a personal computer quiz. From "Harris Test" you can choose the "Take a quiz" option, or you can use the separate program "Harris Quiz".
The purpose of "Take a quiz" is to allow you to try out your quiz before you give it to your students. "Harris Quiz" is the program your students use to take the quiz.
There are a few differences between the two methods. Since "Harris Quiz" already knows which question list the quiz was made from, you do not have to choose it. If there are quizzes from multiple question lists on the disk, "Harris Quiz" will ask you which set of quizzes to choose from. (Also see Alternate Loading.)
If your quiz asks for an access number, "Take a quiz" will not lock it out after use, you can use the same number again. "Harris Quiz" will let each access number be used only once, until reset by "Quiz management".
Like "Harris Quiz", "Take a quiz" will write the scores to disk. Remember to use "Quiz management" to erase any scores from test runs before you let students take a quiz.
TAKING A QUIZ
If you are taking a quiz using "Harris Quiz" and there are multiple
question lists on the disk, you will be asked which question list your quiz
came from.
If there are multiple quizzes, you will be asked to choose one.
If the quiz was given a password, you will be asked for it.
If the quiz was given access numbers, you must type yours in.
If any of the parameters for the test were not locked, you may change them. Use the arrow keys to move the light bar up or down. Press "TAB" to toggle between "YES" and "NO", or enter the numeric value for the last three.
If your score is to be printed out or written to disk, you must give the computer your name. Since the score reader can sort the scores by name please enter it; Last name, (,) First name, Middle initial, ie; Doe, John J. A sample quiz is in figure 35.
QUEST. 23 OF 30 DOE, JOHN Computer Knowledge Chapter 11 | ||
The device used to communicate with other computers located at
distant places over telephone lines is
-----------------------------------------------
1) Monitor
2) Modem
3) SIMM
4) Pixel
5) CAD
| ||
Score
21
Correct |
[F1] = Type name [F4] = View text [HOME] = First [F2] = Jump to [PG UP] = Before [END] = Last [F3] = Graphic [PG DN] = Next [ESC] = Quit & Grade |
Time 11 Seconds |
(Start) Ti |
ime limit. Your have less than 7 minutes to finish this quiz. (Stop) |
To answer a cross match question type the uppercase letters from the right column above the corresponding lowercase letters from the left column that are already printed at the bottom of the entry box. Example; if one of the lines in the left column is "e) Nickel" and it matches the line in the right column that says "B) Five cents" then you would place a "B" above the "e". Continue until all answers are matched and then press [ENTER].
If a question is linked to a document that can be redisplayed, press [F4] to do so.
To bring up the next question press [PAGE DOWN] or [PG DN].
There are six functions you may encounter when taking a quiz.
1. In the lower left corner of the screen you may be given a current score while the quiz is in progress.
2. You may be able to use the arrow keys, [F2], [HOME] or [END] to move around the quiz.
3. In the lower right hand corner there may be a time limit for answering the graded questions.
4. You may be shown the correct answer if your answer is incorrect.
5. You may be shown a footnote after a graded question has been answered that either explains the answer or offers additional information on the topic.
6. You may be told if your answer to a graded question is correct or incorrect even if you are not shown the correct answer.
These six functions are controlled by three parameter settings. Figure 36 shows the combined effect of these three parameter settings.
Review your answer N Y N Y N Y N Y
Show correct answer N N Y Y N N Y Y
Time limit/quest (Sec) 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
Then you will
Show current score Y N Y Y Y N Y Y
Move around the quiz N Y N Y N Y N Y
Time limit/quest (sec) N N N N Y N Y N
Shown correct answer N N Y Y N N Y Y
Show footnotes N N Y Y N N Y Y
Told if answer correct Y N Y Y Y N Y Y
Y = Yes N = No 0 = 0 1 = Any number greater than 0 |
If you choose to "Print out score" a score slip will be printed to hand in to the instructor. (See Score slip.)
Quiz management is accessed from the main menu through "5. Make / Take / Manage a quiz." It has seven functions listed in figure 37.
The purpose of quiz management is to allow you to read or erase scores, or to change and reuse a quiz without having to recreate it.
Quiz management 1. Manipulate scores. 2. Change password. 3. Print access numbers. 4. Restore access numbers. 5. Change quiz parameters. 6. Print out/display quiz. 7. Printer setup. 3 60 3 8. Quit. |
After selecting this function you will be offered seven sub-functions.
The "Copy quiz scores and answers" sub-function reads scores from a floppy disk from another computer. This way you can give 30 quizzes on 30 computers and instead of the student handing in a printout he can hand in his quiz results on a disk that can be read into your computer. Of course each computer can give several quizzes, say 6 computers can each give 4 quizzes and you can read all the scores from each computer after all the quizzes are done.
To use this option you must make sure that all the scores are erased from your computer and the floppies before giving the quizzes. You can use the "Erase scores" function from this menu to erase the scores on your computer. After you read a score from a floppy you will be asked if you want to erase the scores from the floppy, choose "Yes".
The reason that you would want to read all the scores into your computer is that you can then print out a grade sheet for all your students. You can print out and post the class scores as soon as you have read the last floppy, before the class is even over. See below.
The "Display one student's scores and answers" sub-function lists all the student's scores in the score file by name and lets you choose which one to display. The "Print one...." sub-option sends the file to the printer.
The "Print all student's scores only" sub-function will print out the class scores.
Here are step by step instructions on how to do this.
A. Create the quiz on your computer using this program. Make sure that "Record score on disk" is "Yes"
B. Using blank formatted disks, use the "Copy / Delete files" function to copy only the program "Quiz" and your quiz. Note; if your computer has only one floppy drive and no hard drive you will have to copy these files onto a "System" disk.
C. Either repeat step 2 or copy the disk until you have one disk for each computer.
D. While the students are taking the quiz, run "Harris Test" on your computer. From the main menu choose "Make / Take / Manage a quiz", then "Manage a quiz". From the quiz list choose the quiz the students are taking. Now choose "Manipulate scores."
E. When all the students are finished with the quiz collect the disks. Put them into the computer one at a time and select "Copy quiz scores..." After each floppy is read, erase the scores so that you can use the disks for your next class.
F. Once all the floppies have been read, choose "Print all student scores only" and then one or more of the sort options to print out the scores.
G. Choose "Erase scores" to clear your disk. You are now ready for your next class.
The first few times you do this it would be a good idea to also print out score sheets as the quizzes are taken in case something goes wrong. Remember, once you erase the scores on all the disks and your computer, the only record you will have of the quiz scores are your printouts.
The "Print analysis of score data" sub-function will print a list of how the students answered each question. For example, on question #1, 12 students chose A, 3 chose B, 0 chose C, 5 chose D, and 0 chose E. For a fill in the blank question it will print how many students answered correctly and incorrectly.
The "Make spreadsheet readable file" sub-function will use the score file, which cannot be read by a spreadsheet program, and copy it into another file which can. To use this function you must first copy all the scores from any floppies. One the "spreadsheet" file has been created you can load that file into most spreadsheet programs. More on this in the next chapter.
The "Erase scores" sub-function will erase the score file. Make sure that you have done everything you want to with the file before you erase it.
2. Change password.
This function allows you to change the password on the quiz.
3. Print access numbers.
This function prints out the access numbers for a quiz on your printer.
Negative numbers are ones that have been used.
4. Restore access numbers.
After each access number is used it is locked out, this function unlocks
the numbers.
5. Change quiz parameters.
This function allows you to change the quiz parameters, locks and printer
setup without having to recompile the quiz.
6. Print out/display quiz.
This option will allow you to select questions to be displayed on the
screen, or display your entire quiz on the screen, or print out your entire
quiz on your printer. If you choose your entire quiz it will be printed /
displayed with the questions in sequential order and the answers will also be
in sequential order, ie; not random order.
7. Printer setup.
Before sending data to your printer you may choose the number of lines that
will be printed on each page for a top and bottom margins and lines of text. It
is important to choose correctly otherwise the text on each page will begin
higher or lower on each following page. In general a printer that uses fan-fold
paper (with holes on both edges) will use 3 lines for each margin and 60 lines
of text, single sheet printers will use 0 lines for margins and 60 lines of
text.