[Andrew Field]

I'm about to release the finished version of Practice Paper but need your assistance with a couple of final aspects. There has been an immense development effort with this program as all sorts of technical issues from question handling, character encoding, printing to javascript, browser issues and Flash-html. All sorts of things that are very much behind the scenes and that have taken ages to get sorted.

Suffice to say I believe and hope all these things are now. What started as what I thought would be an easy to produce generator has turned into an enormous challenge.

The nearly finished exercise can be tried here:
http://www.contentge...r/release_test/

The updates in this release are / will be:

• New menu options on exercise index page
  
• Additional graphics - extending additional range
  
• Menu option allows printing - option to print all questions or all questions and answers before working on the exercise
  
• Menu option - information - not done yet, but where the user will be given ideas how to use the exercise
  
• Printing fully functional - within each question you can print the current question, answer + model answer
  
• Additional menu options mean before you start you can select the timings and questions (as you could already) but now you also enter your name
  
• This name will then appear automatically on the printouts at the top
  
• New menu options at the end of the exercise - you now have extensive printing options
  
• Generator program allows you to add your own time limits / remove time limits
  
• Generator prorgam allows you to set the question options e.g. allow one random question etc.

I have two questions though and I'd appreciate your ideas.

1. The rest of the exercise now looks quite funky - as hopefully you can see in the example but the printing options (from the end of exercise menu) looks awful - any ideas how to improve it? See below:


2. When the questions are printed out (either at the start or at the end) they are shown in the order that the exercise puts them in. Thus, if you've set your exercise to randomize the questions, the list of questions is similarly randomized. The only problem with this is that when you get a class printing out their questions, this could potentially mean that you get a list of questions all in a strange order. The question ordering is by default randomized, but I think it might be better to make it not random by default. Any ideas?

[goneunderground]

1) Well, personally I can't see anything wrong with how the printing options look!
2) I definitely agree about making the default option NOT random
Am now off to have a look at your example!

[Andrew Field]

goneunderground, on Feb 26 2007, 12:04 AM, said:

1) Well, personally I can't see anything wrong with how the printing options look!
2) I definitely agree about making the default option NOT random
Am now off to have a look at your example!

Great thanks. I've just updated the example too with the information screen now working plus a few other tweaks. Thanks for understanding my second question too - far too complex a query which is, in reality, quite simple - it is much better to make all questions appear in order and only if requested make them appear randomly.

[Richard Smart]

Andrew... this is great I can't wait to use it. We have state tests coming up in may. This may be the way to get some of my department using technology in their teaching...

I agree that the default option should not be random... it would make grading difficult, unless you retained the question numbers from the generation of the test instead of the random order.

I like the print options too... I wonder if the use of different icons for each option (reflecting the choices) might be helpful...

However, I am illiterate at all this flash whiz-bang and leave in awe of this program!

Richard

[Douglas Bell]

Andrew...

Don't see anything wrong with the options page as this give best flexibilty for the user.

When printing, especially when correcting work, the random option seems awkward as each user may have a completely different set of questions, whereas, printing all questions and answers, would help pupils revise better as they can then see all of the potential questions and learn how to answer these type of questions correctly.

Douglas

[SandraT]

Hi Andrew

The printing screen is fine.

Is there a way of capturing student name so that when they come out of the printer they can be identified?

I haven't had a chance to look at the final version yet so I don't know whether you have already thought of this.

Sandra

PS Any news of the MSI?

[Tim Laver]

The print options are fantastic. At that point I think you need it to be clear rather than funky.

The animations in other places are spot on.

This software is so much better than it originally set out to be, the hard work is worth it.

I'd also put in a plea for the pupils name to be added to the print out.

Well done.

[Andrew Field]

Thanks for the positive comments - much appreciated. To pick up on a few of the ideas.

1. When the user begins the exercise they are asked to enter their name. If they do, this name appears at the top left of every printout.
2. The printing options page - I've updated it slightly with some small icons to make it slightly more apparent what each button will do. I hope this doesn't clutter the page, but I don't think it does.
3. Random questions - this now works much more effectively. If you select 'all' questions, you don't get them in a random order - you get them in the order that the creator of the exercise inputted them. If you select 1 or 3 (or 5) questions, these are in a random order. However, the exercise now cleverly keeps two sets of questions, meaning if you ever select to print all the questions (and / or all the model answers) these are always in the correct, original order.
4. The drop-down options display - 'all', '3 questions', '1 question' if you have six or fewer questions. This changes to 'all', '5 questions' and '1 question' if you have seven or more questions. I was going ot make this an option, but thought it would be easier to automate it.
5. I'm now going to work on the ability to enter your own time limits and then I'll release this

[Andrew Field]

I have now released what I'm calling 1.0 RC2. Can be downloaded from the Practice Paper customer area at:
http://www.contentgenerator.co.uk/forum/in...p?showtopic=622

Some of the solutions I mentioned above were tricky to implement but I believe that they are now all working.

[Art Lader]

Andrew Field, on Feb 27 2007, 08:51 PM, said:

I have now released what I'm calling 1.0 RC2. Can be downloaded from the Practice Paper customer area at:
http://www.contentgenerator.co.uk/forum/in...p?showtopic=622

Some of the solutions I mentioned above were tricky to implement but I believe that they are now all working.

Hmmm... I seem to be locked out. How do I get access?

Thanks,
Art

[Andrew Field]

Hi Art - the actual forum is for those who have purchased Practice Paper or would like to have a look at it. I've given you access now. I hope to have the finished version available later today.

[Art Lader]

Our summer holidays begin in June. I expect to create many useful resources with this app for next year.

Thanks, Andrew!

Regards,
Art

[jules1974]

looks good to me!