Working with problems components

Created by Boris Chekaev, Modified on Mon, 19 Sep 2022 at 02:44 PM by Boyko Cholakov

Comment

Most of the cases are described in the open edX manual: 8.4. Working with Problem Components — Building and Running an Open edX Course documentation.

Defining Settings for Problem Components:

To access these settings, you edit the problem and then select Settings.

We will describe some items below:

AutoClick on Skip
Maximum Attempts
Problem Weight
Show Answer
Show Answer: Number of Attempts
Show Reset Button
Timer Between Attempts

Auto click on skip

«Next» unit will be automatically shown after «submit» is pressed in «…» seconds defined in this field

Maximum attempts

This setting specifies the number of times that a learner is allowed to try to answer this problem correctly. You can define a different Maximum Attempts value for each problem.

A course-wide Maximum Attempts setting (found in «Advanced settings» of the course) defines the default value for this problem-specific setting. Initially, the value for the course-wide setting is null, meaning that learners can try to answer problems an unlimited number of times. You can change the course-wide default by selecting Settings and then Advanced Settings.

(!) Note that if you change the course-wide default from null to a specific number, you can no longer change the problem-specific Maximum Attempts value to unlimited.

(!) It is recommended setting Maximum Attempts to unlimited or a large number when possible. Problems that allow unlimited attempts encourage risk taking and experimentation, both of which lead to improved learning outcomes. However, allowing for unlimited attempts might not be feasible in some courses, such as those that use primarily multiple choice or dropdown problems in graded subsections.

Problem Weight

(!) The Platform scores all problems. However, only scores for problem components that are in graded subsections count toward a learner’s final grade.

This setting specifies the total number of points possible for the problem. The problem weight appears near the problem’s display name.

An example problem that contains three questions, with the possible number of points, 3, shown near the display name.

By default, each response field, or answer space, in a problem component is worth one point. You increase or decrease the number of points for a problem component by setting its Problem Weight.

In the example shown above, a single problem component includes three separate questions. To respond to these questions, learners select answer options from three separate dropdown lists, the response fields for this problem. By default, learners receive one point for each question that they answer correctly.

Computing Scores

The score that a learner earns for a problem is the result of the following formula:

Score = Weight × (Correct answers / Response fields)

Score is the point score that the learner receives.
Weight is the problem’s maximum possible point score.
Correct answers is the number of response fields that contain correct answers.
Response fields is the total number of response fields in the problem.

Show answer

This setting adds a Show Answer option to the problem. The following options define when the answer is shown to learners:

Set «show answer» behavior in problem settings overrides global settings found in Advanced settings for the course:

Show answer settings

Value	Action
After All Attempts	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have used all of their attempts. Requires max attempts to be set on the problem.
After All Attempts or Correct	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have used all of their attempts or have correctly answered the question. If max attempts are not set, the learner will need to answer correctly before they can Show Answer.
After Some Number of Attempts	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have attempted the problem a minimum number of times (this value is set by the course team in Studio).
Always	Always present the Show Answer option. Note: If you specify Always, learners can submit a response even after they select Show Answer to see the correct answer.
Answered	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have correctly answered the problem.
Attempted	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have made at least 1 attempt on the problem.If the problem can be, and is, reset, the answer continues to show. (When a learner answers a problem, the problem is considered to be both attempted and answered. When the problem is reset, the problem is still considered to have been attempted, but is not considered to be answered.)
Attempted or Past Due	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have made at least 1 attempt on the problem or the problem’s due date is in the past.
Closed	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have used all attempts on the problem or the due date for the problem is in the past.
Correct or Past Due	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have correctly answered the problem or the due date for the problem is in the past.
Finished	Learners will be able to Show Answer after they have used all attempts on the problem or the due date for the problem is in the past or they have correctly answered the problem.
Never	Learners and Staff will never be able to Show Answer.
Past Due	Learners will be able to Show Answer after the due date for the problem is in the past.

Show Answer: Number of Attempts

This setting limits when learners can select the Show Answer option for a problem. Learners must submit at least the specified number of attempted answers for the problem before the Show Answer option is available to them.

Show Reset Button

This setting defines whether a Reset option is available for the problem.

Learners can select Reset to clear any input that has not yet been submitted, and try again to answer the problem.

If the learner has already submitted an answer, selecting Reset clears the submission and, if the problem contains randomized variables and randomization is set to On Reset, changes the values in the problem.

If the number of Maximum Attempts that was set for this problem has been reached, the Reset option is not visible.

This problem-level setting overrides the course-level Show Reset Button for Problems advanced setting.

Timer Between Attempts

This setting specifies the number of seconds that a learner must wait between submissions for a problem that allows multiple attempts. If the value is 0, the learner can attempt the problem again immediately after an incorrect attempt.

Adding required wait time between attempts can help to prevent learners from simply guessing when multiple attempts are allowed.

If a learner attempts a problem again before the required time has elapsed, she sees a message below the problem indicating the remaining wait time. The format of the message is, “You must wait at least {n} seconds between submissions. {n} seconds remaining.”