Hello Moodlers,
I'm curious about how Moodle can support online tests and sequences. By sequence, I mean an ordered presentation of content to the student/user in which the student can't go back. (I imagine Moodle can support a set of content where the student can go forward and back.) By online test, I mean form-filling pages where the student responses are stored on the server.
Some background:
It's a common goal for learning researchers here at the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center to administer online pre and posttests--sets of online problems, sometimes sequenced, that gauge student knowledge. Further, they often administer experimental treatments by presenting different sequences of tutored problems to students in conditions. (The tutors are often created in Flash or Java, and log to a special logging server.) Gracefully transitioning from a pretest item to a tutored problem is ideal.
Up to this point, we've had to innovate a solution for doing sequences: we created a database-driven web application to serve these sequences to students. The system would take care of user authentication, course registration (here, I mean "course" as a basic sequence of content), and student placement in that sequence. Our solution works, but it is cumbersome to work with--all course editing is done by editing a mySQL database (ugh!)--and it does not handle many situations gracefully.
The only other system we've evaluated and used is a proprietary online learning environment developed by Carnegie Mellon University called OLI (Online Learning Initiative), which itself is also cumbersome to work with.
I'm interested in how Moodle might help us out, either as an existing solution that does what we want, or as a framework for which we can add our own "module". What is the current state of "strict" sequencing (no navigating forward or back) in Moodle? What about online tests (form-filling pages where the student responses are stored on the server)? (For extra credit, I'd also like to know about embedding Flash content in a Moodle page--is it commonly done, is it doable?)
Thanks a lot,
Brett
In reply to Brett Leber
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Ger Tielemans -
In the last 30 years we created lots of closed systems where we could control the complete learning scene: starting with the hobby-computer in 1982 from small (CAI) to big (CBT). More and more we realised that we could not predict how all these weird students wished to behave in our learning systems: bumping against the walls of our closed systems highly demovated them.
Instead of trying to build even more intelligent systems we started around 1996 to use the intelligence on the other side: the brain of the student. To make that possible we offered them a proposal for a studytour on the PC with lots of choices for them and sometimes with more closed parts: Moodle fitted perfectly in that view of choice freedom and the flexible SCORM-player fulfills the need for the more sophisticated constructed local closed (and personal) exercises.
The combination offers you a perfect hybrid system of freedom (with teacher monitoring options) and automated feedback/control.
For a researcher there is new area to exploit: what will a student choose and how will a student behave in a rich VLE.
In reply to Ger Tielemans
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Brett Leber -
Ger,
I'm not sure we're talking about the same things. I'm not proposing that learning activities in an online environment take the form of sequenced exercises or tests; I'm only asking if this functionality is possible for a researcher's pretest or posttest, in which the researcher tries to gain knowledge about the students by asking each student the same questions.
Most of the learning interventions proposed by researchers are in the form of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs). We might consider embedding these in Moodle activities. But to gain knowledge about learning, researchers need a reliable way of testing students' existing knowledge. I'm asking if Moodle could help us do this (via something like the quiz module, but in a more restricted sense).
I'm not sure we're talking about the same things. I'm not proposing that learning activities in an online environment take the form of sequenced exercises or tests; I'm only asking if this functionality is possible for a researcher's pretest or posttest, in which the researcher tries to gain knowledge about the students by asking each student the same questions.
Most of the learning interventions proposed by researchers are in the form of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs). We might consider embedding these in Moodle activities. But to gain knowledge about learning, researchers need a reliable way of testing students' existing knowledge. I'm asking if Moodle could help us do this (via something like the quiz module, but in a more restricted sense).
In reply to Brett Leber
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Michael Penney -
But to gain knowledge about learning, researchers need a reliable way of testing students' existing knowledge. I'm asking if Moodle could help us do this (via something like the quiz module, but in a more restricted sense).
Yes, absolutely, many people use the Moodle quiz and lesson modules for authentic assessment of learner knowledge. You can certainly ask different students the same questions. It sounds like the particular methodology your team is using would require a custom module that uses the question engine in Moodle, but restricts what the user's can see and do based on your requirements.
Sequencing as I've seen it used generally has referred to activities (the user must do this activity before they can do that activity), however a custom module that sequenced individual questions could certainly be made using the Moodle API.
Yes, absolutely, many people use the Moodle quiz and lesson modules for authentic assessment of learner knowledge. You can certainly ask different students the same questions. It sounds like the particular methodology your team is using would require a custom module that uses the question engine in Moodle, but restricts what the user's can see and do based on your requirements.
Sequencing as I've seen it used generally has referred to activities (the user must do this activity before they can do that activity), however a custom module that sequenced individual questions could certainly be made using the Moodle API.
In reply to Michael Penney
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Ger Tielemans -
As I said, in a Scorm-package you can create a complete set of control for pretest-exercise-posttest. The advantage for you as researcher is that you can implement these packages in other VLE's too.. so you can broaden your research scope.
Inside Moodle you can use the lesson module for this kind of controled situations, but if a designer puts so much effort in his design, I always advise platform independent Scorm-tools.
In reply to Ger Tielemans
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Michael Penney -
How would you share questions questions in SCORM?
I have seen one set of SCORM based resources that shared content among different objects (though it seems that is not recommended by the standard), but it was difficult to update, and difficult to move from one platform to another.
The fancier SCORMs I've seen also seem to use a good deal of internal javascript, which can make browser support problematic, as well as lead to accessibility issues that can be expensive to fix. For instance, if a SCORM uses javascript to make roll over buttons and other fancy stuff, does it need to embed this code in every page of the SCORM? If the same .js code is used in every page of 10 different SCOs in a course, how can all 10 share the same javascript file and stay within the standard?
I have seen one set of SCORM based resources that shared content among different objects (though it seems that is not recommended by the standard), but it was difficult to update, and difficult to move from one platform to another.
The fancier SCORMs I've seen also seem to use a good deal of internal javascript, which can make browser support problematic, as well as lead to accessibility issues that can be expensive to fix. For instance, if a SCORM uses javascript to make roll over buttons and other fancy stuff, does it need to embed this code in every page of the SCORM? If the same .js code is used in every page of 10 different SCOs in a course, how can all 10 share the same javascript file and stay within the standard?
In reply to Michael Penney
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Ger Tielemans -
Hello Michael, My system admin has the same feelings about SCORM inside Moodle: it takes lot of resources. Good point about the shared resources.
On this moment we use for some other reasons (we have to share content with some less gifted VLE's) only one Scorm creation tool: eXeLearning. But as soon as the publishers offer their own Scroms, created with more sophisticated tools, then..
In reply to Michael Penney
Re: Moodle support for online tests and strict sequencing.
by Brett Leber -
This is very encouraging. I'll experiment with the lesson module, and read about the Moodle API. I'll also investigate using SCORM. There's lots to learn.
My guess at this point is that preventing a student from viewing a previously answered question will be the most challenging aspect. But I'd guess that students are often more interested in making progress--even on an assessment--than viewing past problems.
Assessment is our most pressing need at the moment, but I could see adopting Moodle for other types of activities as well.
My guess at this point is that preventing a student from viewing a previously answered question will be the most challenging aspect. But I'd guess that students are often more interested in making progress--even on an assessment--than viewing past problems.
Assessment is our most pressing need at the moment, but I could see adopting Moodle for other types of activities as well.