Creating E-learning Content > Including a Flash learning interaction in a document > Using the quiz templates

 

Using the quiz templates

Each of the quiz templates is set up to let you easily build multipart courses that use the Flash learning interactions. The quiz templates provide built-in navigation to advance between interactions. They also include ActionScript that can pass tracking information to a web server.

The quiz templates are fully functional. After creating a new document from a quiz template, you can immediately test the document, before modification, to see how the quiz functions. Included with a quiz are six learning interaction types that are stored in movie clips in the library. These movie clips are simply containers for the collection of elements that make up each interaction. You break apart the movie clips to edit the pieces.

Three quiz templates are included with the Flash learning interactions. Each has a different graphic look and feel, but they are otherwise identical. They all contain the following elements:

A Welcome page

One of each of the six learning interaction types

A Results page

Navigation elements

ActionScript to gather AICC and SCORM tracking information

 
To create a quiz:

1

Create a new file by choosing File > New from Template.

2

In the New Document window, select Quiz in the Category column, then select one of the sample quizzes in the Category Items column.

The quizzes are identical in content but provide different format options. Click a template name to preview the format.

3

Click Create.

The quiz and its interactions appear on the Stage. The layers of the quiz appear on the Timeline.

 
Setting the quiz parameters

The next step is to set the quiz parameters. These parameters control how the entire quiz is presented to users—for example, whether the questions are presented in a random or sequential order, LMS tracking information, and whether the Results page is displayed.

 
To set quiz parameters:

1

Select the Quiz component with instructions on the left side of the Stage. The component allows you to set the parameters for the quiz.

Note: These instructions do not appear in the final movie.

2

Do one of the following to open the Component Parameters panel:

Choose Window > Component Parameters.

In the Property inspector, click Launch Component Parameters.

Note: If the text in the Component Parameters panel is too small to be legible, drag a corner of the panel to enlarge it.

3

Select Randomize if you want the quiz questions to be presented in a random order, not necessarily in the order in which they appear in the Timeline.

4

In the Questions to Ask text box, specify the number of questions to ask for one presentation of the quiz. If you set this number to 0, the quiz will use all the questions you add to the document. If you enter a number larger than the number of questions in the quiz, the quiz will display only the number of questions that are in the quiz and not duplicate any of them.

For example, if you have 10 interactions in your quiz, you can specify that a lesser number, such as 5 interactions, appear to the user. This feature is especially helpful when used with the Randomize feature to create quizzes with unexpected questions in an unexpected order.

5

If you intend to have users log in to take the quiz, and the quiz is not launched through an AICC-compliant LMS, enter a URL in the Login File URL text box. The Flash movie will redirect the user's browser to this URL if the user has not logged in.

When an AICC-compliant LMS launches a quiz, it includes parameters that the HTML code that launches the EMBED tag for the Flash movie looks for, and the course loads properly. If the launch parameters do not exist, the login file URL performs the automatic redirect. This redirect does not occur in the SCORM template.

6

In the Activity ID and Activity Name text boxes, enter the activity ID and activity name of your LMS, if you are using one. If you are not using an LMS, you can either accept or delete the default entries.

7

Select Show Results Page if you want to present quiz results to users after they have completed the quiz.

 
Modifying learning interactions in a quiz

Each question in the quiz is considered an interaction.

When you use a quiz template, you place interactions sequentially between the first and last frame of the Interactions layer. You may add or remove frames and keyframes as needed, as long as the interactions remain sequential and the first and last frames are reserved for the Welcome page and Results page.

For example, the following frames would comprise a 10-question quiz:

Frame 1 = Welcome page keyframe

Frames 2-11 = interactions keyframes

Frame 12 = Results page keyframe

These 12 keyframes are on the Interactions layer.

 
To modify learning interactions in a quiz:

1

Select the first frame in the Interactions layer and make any modifications you want to the text of the Welcome page. Make sure you include text to indicate that the user must click the Next button to continue. Do not add an interaction to this page.

2

Select each of the learning interactions in the next six frames and do one of the following:

If you want to use the interaction, follow the instructions in Configuring a Learning Interaction component.

If you do not want to use the interaction, follow the instructions in Removing a learning interaction from the Timeline.

3

Select the last frame in the Interactions layer and make any modifications you'd like to the text of the Results page. Be careful, however, to leave the supplied dynamic text field names intact, or the results will not appear. If the Results Page quiz parameter is turned off for the quiz, this frame will never be called, but it is still reserved. Do not place interactions in this frame.