Lesson module: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:35, 22 March 2011

The lesson module presents a series of HTML pages to the student, who is usually asked to make some sort of choice underneath the content area. The choice will send them to a specific page in the Lesson. In a Lesson page's simplest form, the student can select a continue button at the bottom of the page, which will send them to the next page in the Lesson.

There are 2 basic Lesson page types that the student will see: question pages and content pages (formerly called "Branch Tables"). There are also several advanced navigational pages which can meet more specialized needs of the Teacher. The Lesson module was designed to be adaptive and to use a student's choices to create a self directed lesson.

The significant difference between a Lesson and other activity modules available in Moodle comes from its adaptive ability. With this tool, each choice the students makes, can show a different teacher response/comment and send the student to a different page in the lesson. Thus with planning, the Lesson module can customize the presentation of content and questions to each student, with no further action required by the teacher.

General information about the lesson and its methodology

The choice determines the way the lesson appears to the student. The lesson can be a series of pages presented in a linear fashion, like a slide show, or presented in a non-linear, branching manner, or a combination of the two. The teacher can use the Lesson settings to create a different student experience for each lesson. There are also special navigation pages that the teacher may use to change the way parts of the lesson are viewed by students. The lesson can be scored with the use of questions for a grade, or used simply as a resource of non-graded pages or a combination of both.

For example, a particular question's answer might send the student back in the lesson for a review of content pages, while another answer will advance the student to a new page. Sometimes the student will only be given the choice to "continue", or may see a series of labeled buttons below the content that will take them to different pages.

There are two basic modes: presentation and flash card. Most of the descriptions of a lesson in this document are about the presentation mode and the use of questions and content pages. The Flash Card section describes how to make lesson pages appear randomly.

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Presentation Lesson

The Lesson activity uses the standard Moodle HTML editor tool to make any page's content interesting. This tool can assist the teacher with pictures, links, fonts, tables and other graphics to engage the student's attention. Lesson settings also can keep students from straying from the overall teacher's plan with various settings including password protection, time limits and dependency on a previous lesson's activity.

Navigation pages are only seen by the teacher but will affect the order of the pages the student views. For example, a cluster is a series of pages bracketed by a navigational pages called a "start cluster" and a "end of cluster" page. Navigation pages are an advanced feature and are best added after the teacher has laid out their lesson with the pages that will be seen by the student.

Pages, questions, answers and responses

A lesson is made up of pages. For the teacher there are two basic types of Lesson pages: choice and navigation. The student sees choice pages that are called Content and Question pages. Content pages can provide links to one or more other pages in the lesson. Each question page can do the same but also can give an individual response and an individual score for each choice (the student's answer). The teacher decides upon the page type and how to best use its flexibility to achieve the educational goals of the specific Lesson or course.

For example, the default lesson question is a multiple choice page. The teacher might place content on the page and ask a question about it. The teacher can provide 1 to 20 answers. In a simple use of the multiple choice question, the teacher might decided to send the student back to the question again after a student selects a wrong answer, but with a correct answer move the student to the next page. On some answers, the teacher may decide to provide some explanation before sending the student along. Unlike a piece of paper, the answers are going to re arrange themselves every time the student enters the question page.

Of course the teacher can decide a more complex approach in constructing Lesson or a page. Using our multiple choice example,the teacher may give each answer a different score. And/or depending upon the answer, send the student to a different page for an appropriate review. The teacher may decide that a specific Lesson is a series of pages filled with information and only one choice (the continue button) that always sends the student to the next page, perhaps saving the question pages for the end.

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Edit order and navigation order

The teacher sees the pages in what is called the edit order when they edit a lesson. Teachers can move pages in the edit order.

The students see the lesson pages in the navigation order, which can depend upon Jumps. The teacher can see this order using the Preview tab or switching roles in the course to that of a student.

Jumps

Jumps are the primary tool the teacher will use to determine a student's navigation. For example, each different answer to a question, might send the student to a different page. Thus jumps allow the teacher to design a lesson for the students with "branches", loops and a non-linear structure.

There are two types of jumps, relative and absolute. The default jumps used by most pages are the relative jumps "Next page", "This page" and "Previous page". For example, the destination of the Next Page jump is always the next page in the edit order of the lesson. An absolute jump sends the student to a specific page, usually identified by the page title. A pull down list will show all available possible jumps.

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Answers

Typically each question within a lesson will have one correct answer and several wrong answers. For example, in a multiple choice question, each answer can receive an individual response from the teacher before sending the student (with a jump setting) to view the question again or to another page.

As will be seen later, there are two ways to score an answer. In one method, the direction students are sent in the edit order of pages determines if the answer was correct or wrong for scoring purposes. Usually a correct answer advances the student in the edit order and wrong answers send the students back to the question page or back in the edit order. The other method uses custom scoring and an answer is given a score to calculate the grade.

When a question page is added, the jumps with each answer have a default setting. The jump for the first answer is the "Next page" and it is a good practice to keep this as a right answer. The jumps for the other answers are set to "This page". These settings can be changed by editing the question. Remember the order of the answers is going to be random each time a student enters the question page.

When Custom Scoring is turned on in the Lesson settings, then each answer has a point value associated with it. Usually a correct answer receives a score of 1 and a wrong answer receive a score 0. It is possible to give a negative score or partial credit (say 3 for the best answer and 1 for a marginal answer) in some question types.

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Grading

A students answers to questions can be graded. The lesson scores and grades can be viewed on the "Reports" tab in edit mode and become part of the gradebook. A relatively simple formula is used to score the lesson. It is the number of correct answers divided by the number of question pages seen. This number score can be use by the grade scale.

When Custom Scoring is selected in the Lesson settings, then the grading method changes. With this option, the grade is based on earned points by the user, which is divided by the total points possible. When this option is turned on, the teacher can assign a score for each answer, this can be a negative or 0 (zero) or a positive number. Usually the score is 0 for a wrong answer and 1 for a correct answer. The point values associated with each of the user's answers are added up. That is then divided by the total of the maximum points that the user could have earned for each page answered. This number is then scaled by the grade parameter of the lesson.

The overall score is computed when the Lesson is completed by the student. A completed lesson usually means the student has viewed every page, or answered every question or is directed by a jump to the "end of lesson".

TIP: Grading can be continued when student leaves the lesson for some reason before completing it. The student does not have to go through all of the lesson in one "sitting". For example, if a student goes through some pages and then breaks off, the next time they view the lesson they are asked whether they want to start at the beginning of the lesson or at the point where they left off. The latter point is actually the page they reached with their last correct answer. The previous "attempts" are recorded and the grade for "broken" sessions will include pages seen and questions answered in the previous viewings.

The main focus of a lesson should be the transfer of knowledge in a reasonably interesting way. Giving a grade may well turn the lesson into a kind of quiz where giving the correct answer is the sole goal instead of exploring different ways of thinking about an idea. On the other hand, students like to get a perfect "score" and giving grades may well be the carrot needed to get the student to repeat the lesson until they get the magic 100%.

Some instructors use Lessons as Formative Assignments where the grades, although some measure of activity, are not generally counted in the final mark for the course. If lessons are used in a formal way then it is probably best to use their grades in thresholds.
Many instructors use lessons to get across chunks of knowledge. The grading options enable instructors to utilize the "Practice Principle" of eLearning, in which immediate practice in answering questions about content leads to improved retention and understanding of the material.

With that in mind, a lesson has a Retake option.

Teacher review of students answers

The teacher has several options to review students answers in a lesson. The report tab provides both an overview of each student's attempt of a lesson, and a detailed summary of the class's answers to each question. It is also possible to see the same report via gradebook in the course administration block.

Student Review

Enabling student review will override custom feedback for questions. Forum discussion

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Re-takes

Allowing a student to re take a lesson is the default lesson setting under grade options. Each attempt at a lesson is normally recorded and the student can see a record of their performance by viewing their activity page. The teacher when creating a lesson has the option of showing the "final" grade as either the mean of all the attempts or the best (maximum score) of their attempts. This "final" grade is the one shown on the Grades page and the "Lessons" page. By default the mean of the grades is used.

In some learning environments, the teacher may not wish the students to have more than one attempt at a lesson. A particular lesson may be being used in an exam-like situation. Here the Lesson parameter for re-take is set to "No. Once completed the lesson will then not allow students to re-take the lesson. If, however, the lesson is not completed in one "sitting", students are still allowed to restart the lesson at the beginning or the page after the last question they answered.

As mentioned earlier a lesson can be used as a formative assignment, imparting some knowledge while at the same time making some demands on the students. It seems natural that students should be allowed to re-visit lessons and because they are given a grade many will want to achieve a good grade. This promotes re-takes.

Remember that even if a student has achieved the maximum possible grade in a lesson, allowing them to revisit the lesson to explore the various "wrong" paths in the lesson, may provide the student, you and your class additional insights.

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Building lessons

When creating a lesson the teacher must put some content using the HTML editor tool into the first page. Once the first page is in place the teacher has the option of adding more pages in front or after that page. Once a question or content page has been created, the pages can be edited by the teacher at any time. When the lesson contains more than one page the teacher also has the option of moving pages, that is, changing the order of the pages.

A lesson will normally cover a limited amount of material. A topic or week might contain many lessons. Lessons are shown to the student in the home page for the course within "weeks" or "topics", and/or in the activity block when it is part of the course home page.

As with any lesson, it is a good idea to have a plan before starting the presentation. Simple lessons that basically go from the start to the end in a straight line path, one page after the other, can be created from an outline. More complicated lessons require more planning. The good news is that a teacher can create a simple lesson and then based upon feedback and performance, can add refinements or complexity.

Adding_a_question_page- more help on adding question pages
Adding_a_content_page - more help on adding Content (Branch Table) pages

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Types of questions available within a lesson

Questions types in the Lesson module are similar to those in the Quiz module. However, the two modules are very different and questions may act different for both the student and teacher.

See Lesson questions for more information about using specific question types with this module. Remember that the powerful HTML tool bar will allow the teacher to add pictures to content and to question answers.

Multiple choice

In a multiple choice question, the student is given a question and a list of answers. In a Lesson, the answer list will be shuffled every time the question is view by a student. In a multiple choice question, the student selects one answer.

With multianswer box checked

A check in the multianswer box allows the teacher to determine that more than 1 answer is required for the student to receive credit for the question. There is no partial credit and the student must select just correct answers from a list.

See also Multiple_Choice_question_type which is a quiz question and works differently.

Short answer

In a short answer question the student is expected to answer with one word or a few words. Short-Answer question type gives more information about this kind of question Moodle1.6

Starting with Moodle 1.6, there are two different student answer analysis systems available for the Short Answer type of question in the Lesson Module: the simple system and the new regular expressions system. The simple system is the default and is the same used by the Quiz Module. There is a "Use Regular Expressions" option box on the Edit Question Page screen in the Lesson Module.

We suggest first reading about the Short answer question page with the examples of the "simple analysis", and then read the Short answer analysis page that gives more information about "Regular Expression analysis".

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True / false

The True/False question type is a special case of the multiple choice question. The student is prompted to choose which is the correct option. See multiple choice question above for details.

Matching questions

Matching

Matching questions consist of a list of names or statements, or pictures which must be correctly matched against another list. For example "Match the letter with its position in the alphabet. One list would have A, B, C, D, Z and the other in a pull down menu next to each item would have 2, 4, 3, 1, 26 .

See Matching question type for more information.

Numerical Question

This type of question requires a number as the answer. In it's simplest form it requires just one answer to be specified. For example "What is 2 plus 2?", where 4 is the correct answer. A numerical question will also accept a number in a range as being correct. The answers are similar to short answer, where the order that the teacher lists the answers is important.

See Numerical question type for more information about a Quiz question.

The lesson numerical question differs from the numerical quiz question and the numerical embedded question (Cloze)when it evaluates answers. For example there is no wild card.

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Essay Questions

Short essay questions were introduced in Moodle version 1.5. These are meant for short, paragraph or two type of essays one often finds on exams. Thus we did not use the html editor, preferring a simple text field. For longer essays, the assignment module is a better choice.

The student simply enters their essay in the box provided. The teacher sees ungraded essay questions when opening the lesson. After grading, the teacher can email their responses to the student.

Essay question type page has more information.

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Branches and branch tables

If your lesson delivers quite a lot of information, you can divide it into sections that are called branches in Moodle. One way of moving between these branches is by adding a Branch Table page.

Branch tables are simply pages which have a set of links/jumps to other pages in the lesson. The student sees labeled buttons under the page content to provide their choices. Branch tables are similar to a multiple choice question format. They have a title, content section, student choices (called descriptions) and jumps. There is no score for a student's choice, so branch tables are grade neutral. Branch tables also can be put to special uses by a teacher. To help understand these concepts we are going to call one use a "ordered branch" and the other a "classic branch".

Ordered branches

A table of contents is an example of a use of ordered branches. Typically a lesson may start with a Content page with the title "Table of Contents". The student selects a Description button and jumps to a page in the edit order that starts a series of pages about that subject. At the end of an ordered branch, the student is given several options by a question or a content page, such as: "Go to the next page", "Start of the series again", "End the lesson", or "Return to the Table of Contents.

TOC that leads to 3 ordered branches

Classic branches

The classic branch is an advanced navigational feature. It introduces random movement within a series of pages that the teacher determines. A classic branch needs a Branch Table at the start of the series and a special navigation page called "End of Branch" at the end of the series.

The default jump in an "End of Branch" page is the preceding content page as an absolute jump. After a classic branch has been created, the teacher will see 3 new relative jump options: "Unseen question within a branch", "Random question within a branch" and "Random branch page". The classic branch with its "end of branch" navigation page is similar to a cluster.

Tip: As with any advanced navigational feature, it is best to add it after the basic question and branch tables pages have been created. Checking the Lesson's behavior in a student role is another best practice with highly adaptive lesson formats.

Tips when using branches

The number of links shown when setting up or editing a content or a question page is set by the lesson setting "Number of Answers/Branches". This parameter can be changed on the fly by simply clicking on the "Update this Lesson" button at the top of the teacher's page and changing the value.

When a lesson includes one or more ordered or classic branches, teachers need to decide if their students must visit every branch. By adding a question or two in each branch, the teacher can set the "Minimum number of Questions" parameter to some reasonable number of questions that must be answered. Without this parameter a student might visit a single branch in the lesson, answer all its questions correctly and leave the lesson with the maximum grade based upon their attempts, not the total number of available questions.

Remember that using branches may encourage a student to revisit a question page more than once. This can impact scoring. Since scores can not be displayed for a teacher, it is a good practice for a new Moodling Teacher to log in as a student to check how the score is kept in their Lesson.

Choice pages gives detailed help about editing a branch . Adding a content page (branch table) reviews process.

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The Flash card lesson

The Lesson module can be used as a type of Flash Card assignment by changing the lesson settings. In this kind of lesson, the student is shown pages (cards) in random order. Usually these are question pages. There is no set beginning and no set end. Just a series of cards shown one after another in no particular order.

There are two very similar variants of Flash Card behavior. A Flow Control option, "After a correct answer" set to "Show an unseen page" never shows the same page twice (even if the student did not answer the question associated with the Card/Page correctly). The other option is "Show an unanswered page" which shows the student pages that may have appeared before but only if they answered the associated question wrongly.

When using either of these Flash Card lessons the teacher can decide to use either all the Cards/Pages in the lesson or just a (random) sub-set. This is done through the "Number of Pages (Cards) to show" parameter also found in the Flow Control settings. Make sure the number is less than the total number of available pages.

When using the Flash Card mode of presentation, setting the jumps is important. A correct answer jump should point to the Next Page, a wrong answer should stay on the same page.

The Lesson Flash Card mode is very similar to a random ordered Quiz, the difference is that the questions are shown one page at a time. And, extra text can be included with each question in the Flash Card.

There is also a Flashcard_module that can be added to a Moodle site. It is also possible to create lesson segment that is a mini flashcard lesson with the use of special jumps and navigational pages called Clusters.

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Lesson dependencies and linking

Dependency

A dependency setting allows the current lesson to be dependent upon a student's performance in one specific lesson that is in the same course. If the conditions(s) is not met, then the student will not be able to access this lesson.

These dependent conditions include: time spent, completed or receive a better than grade one specific lesson. Any combination of the conditions can be used. Please note, a Lessson must include one question for the dependent "completed" condition to be met.

A typical use of this feature is to "daisy chain" a series of Lessons to make sure the students take the lessons in order. This might be useful in a training type of course which has no open or close dates because it can be started and finished at any time.

Links to other places

Using the link to activity in the Lesson settings, will offer the student a direct link button to another activity in the course when they complete the lesson.

Another handy Lesson setting Pop-Up, will create a window the student can view while in the lesson.

More advanced Moodlers can figure out how to place HTML links on a lesson page. Thus it is possible to create a link to another lesson/activity, a lesson/activity in another course, or even to a specific page in a lesson. While this method can be useful, the student may not be able to find their way back to the page with the link. In general, the links can be created by copying the location of the desired link from the browser's address bar, then pasting it as a link.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Lessons}}
-A '''lesson''' delivers content in an interesting and flexible way. It consists of a number of pages. Each page normally ends with a question and a number of possible answers. Depending on the student's choice of answer they either progress to the next page or are taken back to a previous page. Navigation through the lesson can be straight forward or complex, depending largely on the structure of the material being presented.
+[[Image:Lesson icon.gif]] The lesson module presents a series of HTML pages to the student, who is usually asked to make some sort of choice underneath the content area. The choice will send them to a specific page in the Lesson. In a Lesson page's simplest form, the student can select a continue button at the bottom of the page, which will send them to the next page in the Lesson.
+There are 2 basic Lesson page types that the student will see: question pages and content pages (formerly called "Branch Tables").  There are also several advanced navigational pages which can meet more specialized needs of the Teacher. The Lesson module was designed to be adaptive and to use a student's choices to create a self directed lesson.
+*The significant difference between a Lesson and other activity modules available in Moodle comes from its adaptive ability. With this tool, each choice the students makes, can show a different teacher response/comment and send the student to a different page in the lesson. Thus with planning, the Lesson module can customize the presentation of content and questions to each student, with no further action required by the teacher.
 == General information about the lesson and its methodology ==
+The choice determines the way the lesson appears to the student. The lesson can be a series of pages presented in a linear fashion, like a slide show, or presented in a non-linear, branching manner, or a combination of the two. The teacher can use the Lesson settings to create a different student experience for each lesson.  There are also special navigation pages that the teacher may use to change the way parts of the lesson are viewed by students. The lesson can be scored with the use of questions for a grade, or used simply as a resource of non-graded pages or a combination of both.
-A lesson is used when it is necessary to tell the students some information about the topic being taught. The topic is broken into small chunks and shown to the student bit by bit. Each part is re-enforced by requiring the students to answer questions. The students proceed through the material only by answering the questions correctly. Wrong answers are "penalised" either by showing the same material again or going even further back in the lesson, even to the beginning of the lesson!
+For example, a particular question's answer might send the student back in the lesson for a review of content pages, while another answer will advance the student to a new page. Sometimes the student will only be given the choice to "continue", or may see a series of labeled buttons below the content that will take them to different pages.
-Within the lesson these chunks are called Pages. The length of each page is arbitrary but normally it should not be more than the amount that comfortably fits on a screen.
-Each page can have a question at the end, and can lead to any other page. This module can create a series of pages which can be presented in a linear fashion, like a slide show, or in a non-linear, branching manner, or a combination of the two.  It can be graded, with questions, or ungraded and used simply as a resource.
+There are two basic modes: presentation and flash card.  Most of the descriptions of a lesson in this document are about the presentation mode and the use of questions and content pages.  The Flash Card section describes how to make lesson pages appear randomly.
-There are two basic modes: a flash card mode and a presentation mode.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-Lesson includes many features to make cheating more difficult and lesson presentation more interesting through question clustering, password protection, and time limits.
+== Presentation Lesson ==
+The Lesson activity uses the standard Moodle [[HTML editor]] tool to make any [[Page content|page's content]] interesting. This tool can assist the teacher with pictures, links, fonts, tables and other graphics to engage the student's attention.  Lesson settings also can keep students from straying from the overall teacher's plan with various settings including password protection, time limits and dependency on a previous lesson's activity.
-By mixing content with questions, lesson enables you to implement the Practice Principle of eLearning (see Clark and Mayer, 2004), where practice is integrated with instructional material.
+Navigation pages are only seen by the teacher but will affect the order of the pages the student views. For example, a [[Clusters|cluster]] is a series of pages bracketed by a navigational pages called a "start cluster" and a "end of cluster" page.  Navigation pages are an advanced feature and are best added after the teacher has laid out their lesson with the pages that will be seen by the student.
 ===Pages, questions, answers and responses===
+A [[Lesson_Pages|lesson is made up of pages]]. For the teacher there are two basic types of Lesson pages: choice and navigation. The student sees choice pages that are called [[Adding a content page|Content]] and [[Adding a question page|Question pages]]. Content pages can provide links to one or more other pages in the lesson. Each question page can do the same but also can give an individual response and an individual score for each choice (the student's answer).  The teacher decides upon the page type and how to best use its flexibility to achieve the educational goals of the specific Lesson or course.
-A lesson is made up of pages. Normally each page gives some information and then finishes with a question. The question can be easy or hard, depending on the audience. It should be directly related to the material covered in the page.
+:For example, the default lesson question is a multiple choice page. The teacher might place content on the page and ask a question about it.  The teacher can provide 1 to 20 answers. In a simple use of the multiple choice question, the teacher might decided to send the student back to the question again after a student selects a wrong answer, but with a correct answer move the student to the next page.  On some answers, the teacher may decide to provide some explanation before sending the student along.  Unlike a piece of paper, the answers are going to re arrange themselves every time the student enters the question page.
-Attached to each page is a set of answers to the question. Usually there is one correct answer and a small number of wrong answers. This type of question is called a multiple choice question. It's a common type of question and it's the default question type in the Lesson module. The number of answers can vary from page to page. Some pages can have one correct answer and three wrong answers, other pages may ask questions where there are three answers or even two answers (for example true or false, or just yes or no).
+:Of course the teacher can decide a more complex approach in constructing Lesson or a page. Using our multiple choice example,the teacher may give each answer a different score.  And/or depending upon the answer, send the student to a different page for an appropriate review.   The teacher may decide that a specific Lesson is a series of pages filled with information and only one choice (the continue button) that always sends the student to the next page, perhaps saving the question pages for the end.
-There is a limit to the number of answers. This maximum is one of the parameters of the Lesson module, set initially when you add a Lesson. However, this maximum limit is flexible and can be changed at any time. The limit just determines the number of boxes you see when adding or editing pages.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-Along with the answers there is a set of responses. Each answer has its own response. Once the student has chosen their answer that response is displayed before the "new" page is displayed. (The word "new" is in quotes because the student may well be shown the same page again if they choose the wrong answer.) The responses are usually short, a simple "That's right" or "That's wrong" might be sufficient. They could, however, explain why the answer which seemed right is actually wrong. But it's probably best not to try and second guess the student too much, always remember KISS (Keep it simple stupid!). In fact, responses can be left blank. The module then shows the student a standard "That's the correct answer" or "That's the wrong answer" type of response.
+===Edit order and navigation order===
-There may be circumstances when the teacher does not want to end a page with a question and a set of answers. This is allowed, the students are simply shown a Continue link and are shown the next page in the lesson. What exactly is meant by "the next page" is explained below.
+The teacher sees the pages in what is called the ''[[Edit page order (Lesson)|edit order]]'' when they edit a lesson. Teachers can move pages in the edit order.
-===Logical order and navigation order===
+The students see the lesson pages in the ''[[Navigation Page Order|navigation order]]'', which can depend upon Jumps. The teacher can see this order using the [[Viewing_a_lesson#When_the_lesson_already_has_content:|Preview tab]] or switching roles in the course to that of a student.
-The order of the pages of a lesson is usually determined by the material. Mostly the teacher will want to present the material in a way which is most easily understood and which builds in a logical and progressive way. In the Lesson module, this order is called the Logical Order and this is is how the pages are usually shown to the teacher. The teacher sees all the pages on one long screen with the first page at the top.
+===Jumps===
-Once a lesson contains two or more pages the teacher can move existing pages around and add pages to any position within the set. This logical ordering of pages is also the default Navigation Order. The latter is order in which the students see the pages. In the default navigation order, correct answers show the next page (in the Logical order) and incorrect answers show the same page again, that is the student is asked the same question again. This default navigation order is possibly OK for the majority of lessons. However, it is possible to change the "Jump" associated with any answer so that a more complicated path through the lesson can be created.
+Jumps are the primary tool the teacher will use to determine a student's navigation. For example, each different answer to a question, might send the student to a different page.
+Thus jumps allow the teacher to design a lesson for the students with "branches", loops and a non-linear structure.
-These jumps can be divided into two types - Relative Jumps and Absolute Jumps. The default navigation using the relative jumps Next Page and Same Page, the destination of the Next Page jump is the next page in the logical order of the lesson. Absolute jumps specify the actual page to show next by specifying of the page's Title. Thus a lesson can have "branches", loops and a non-linear structure.
+There are two types of jumps, ''relative'' and ''absolute''. The default jumps used by most pages are the ''relative'' jumps "Next page", "This page" and "Previous page".  For example, the destination of the Next Page jump is always the next page in the edit order of the lesson. An ''absolute'' jump sends the student to a specific page, usually identified by the page title.  A pull down list will show all available possible jumps.
-The teacher can see how a lesson's navigation "works" by using Check Question button at the end of each page or by using the Check Navigation link at the very end of the lesson. The  Check button "launches" the lesson at that page. The Check Navigation links starts lesson the lesson at the first page, the way a student would see the lesson initially.
-One use of jumps which don't follow the standard pattern is allowing a question to have more than one correct answer. More of that below.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
 ===Answers===
-Typically each question within a lesson will have one correct answer and several wrong answers. In the current version of the Lesson module the answers are not flagged as being correct or wrong. Rather correct answers are ones which take the student further forward in the lesson and wrong answers take the student either backwards or they just stand still, showing the same page again. In the last case the student will, if sensible, choose another answer.
+Typically each question within a lesson will have one correct [[Answers|answer]] and several wrong answers. For example, in a multiple choice question, each answer can receive an individual response from the teacher before sending the student (with a jump setting) to view the question again or to another page.
+As will be seen later, there are two ways to score an answer. In one method, the direction students are sent in the edit order of pages determines if the answer was correct or wrong for scoring purposes. Usually a correct answer advances the student in the edit order and wrong answers send the students back to the question page or back in the edit order. The other method uses custom scoring and an answer is given a score to calculate the grade.
+When a question page is added, the jumps with each answer have a default setting. The jump for the first answer is the "Next page" and it is a good practice to keep this as a right answer. The jumps for the other answers are set to "This page". These settings can be changed by editing the question. Remember the order of the answers is going to be random each time a student enters the question page.
+When Custom Scoring is turned on in the Lesson settings, then each answer has a point value associated with it. Usually a correct answer receives a score of 1 and a wrong answer receive a score 0. It is possible to give a negative score or partial credit (say 3 for the best answer and 1 for a marginal answer) in some question types.
-The definition of further forward in the lesson or backwards in the lesson follows from the logical ordering of the pages. The teacher sees the lesson as a list of pages from the start of the lesson to its end. If the pages are not in the best order then the teacher can easily move the pages so that an optimum order is achieved.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-Thus answers which jump to the Next Page are by this definition correct and answers with jump to the Same Page are wrong. A page which has two answers with both jumps to the Next Page has two correct answers. An answer which jumps to the End of Lesson is again, by definition, correct. The End of lesson is not an actual page, it is a logical position after the last (logical) page. A student completes a lesson by reaching that point.
+===Grading===
+A students answers to questions can be graded. The [[Lesson score|lesson scores]] and grades can be viewed on the [[Lesson reports|"Reports" tab]] in edit mode and become part of the [[Grades|gradebook]]. A relatively simple formula is used to [[Lesson score|score]] the lesson. It is the number of correct answers divided by the number of question pages seen. This number score can be use by the [[Scales|grade scale]].
-So, an answer which takes the student to the first page of the lesson is a wrong answer. An answer which skips two pages (in the logical order) is a correct answer. An answer which goes back one page (again in the logical order) is a wrong answer.
+When [[Adding/editing_a_lesson#Custom_Scoring|Custom Scoring]] is selected in the Lesson settings, then the grading method changes.  With this option, the grade is based on earned points by the user, which is divided by the total points possible. When this option is turned on, the teacher can assign a score for each answer, this can be a negative or 0 (zero) or a positive number.  Usually the score is 0 for a wrong answer and 1 for a correct answer.  The point values associated with each of the user's answers are added up. That is then divided by the total of the maximum points that the user could have earned for each page answered. This number is then scaled by the grade parameter of the lesson.
-When a page is added, the jumps are set, by default, as follows. The jump for the first answer is the Next Page. The jumps for the subsequent answers are set to Same Page. If the jumps are not changed this means that the first answer is correct and the other answers are wrong. Of course, if this is not the required behaviour then the jumps can be changed either before the page is added or they can be easily altered by editing the page.
+The overall score is computed when the Lesson is completed by the student.   A completed lesson usually means the student has viewed every page, or answered every question or is directed by a jump to the "[[Lesson_Pages#End_of_Lesson_Page|end of lesson]]".
-Given this concept of correct and wrong answers it follows that we can grade a student's performance when they complete a lesson. How this is done is considered below.
+:''TIP:'' Grading can be continued when student leaves the lesson for some reason before completing it. The student does not have to go through all of the lesson in one "[[Adding/editing_a_lesson#User_can_re-take|sitting]]". For example, if a student goes through some pages and then breaks off, the next time they view the lesson they are asked whether they want to start at the beginning of the lesson or at the point where they left off. The latter point is actually the page they reached with their last correct answer. The previous "attempts" are recorded and the grade for "broken" sessions will include pages seen and questions answered in the previous viewings.
-===Grading===
+*The main focus of a lesson should be the transfer of knowledge in a reasonably interesting way. Giving a grade may well turn the lesson into a kind of quiz where giving the correct answer is the sole goal instead of exploring different ways of thinking about an idea. On the other hand, students like to get a perfect "score" and giving grades may well be the carrot needed to get the student to repeat the lesson until they get the magic 100%.
-Above we introduced the concept of correct answers and wrong answers. This lends itself to the giving students a grade when they have completed a lesson. In order to keep the method of grading reasonably transparent a relatively simple formula is used. It's the number of correct answers divided by the number of pages seen. Remember each page normally ends with a question so the number of pages seen equates with the number of questions asked. So the grade is really the number of correct answers divided by the number of questions asked. This number is then simply scaled by the grade parameter of the lesson.
+*Some instructors use Lessons as Formative Assignments where the grades, although some measure of activity, are not generally counted in the final mark for the course. If lessons are used in a formal way then it is probably best to use their grades in thresholds.
+*Many instructors use lessons to get across chunks of knowledge. The grading options enable instructors to utilize the [http://www.wcln.org/Flow_Documentation.htm#The_Practice_Principle "Practice Principle"] of eLearning, in which immediate practice in answering questions about content leads to improved retention and understanding of the material.
-A lesson is graded when the student reaches the End of Lesson. This point is usually reached by answering the question on the last (logical) page correctly.
+With that in mind, a lesson has a Retake option.
-The student does not have to go through all of the lesson in one "sitting". If a student goes through some pages and then breaks off, the next time they view the lesson they are asked whether they want to start at the beginning of the lesson or at the point where they left off. The latter point is actually the page they reached with their last correct answer. The previous "attempts" are recorded and the grade for "broken" sessions will include pages seen and questions answered in other sessions.
+===Teacher review of students answers===
+The teacher has several options to review students answers in a lesson.  The [[Lesson reports|report tab]] provides both an overview of each student's attempt of a lesson, and a detailed summary of the class's answers to each question. It is also possible to see the same report via [[Grades|gradebook]] in the course administration block.
-In a way giving a grade to a lesson is both a blessing and a curse. The main focus of a lesson should be the transfer of knowledge in a reasonably interesting way. Giving a grade may well turn the lesson into a kind of quiz where giving the answers correct is the sole goal. On the other hand, students like to get a perfect "score" and giving grades may well be the carrot needed to get the student to repeat the lesson until they get the magic 100%.
+===Student Review===
-Although lessons do have grades, they should not be considered as assignments which lead to meaningful "marks". They are most useful as Formative Assignments where the grades, although some measure of activity, are not generally counted in the final mark for the course. If lessons are used in a formal way then it is probably best to use their grades in thresholds. For example "You must get an average of at least 80% overall in the eight lessons in this course before you can take the XYZ assignment." Lessons are mainly used to get across chunks of knowledge. Testing that knowledge is something else.
+Enabling student review will override custom feedback for questions. [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=70798 Forum discussion]
-With that in mind, a lesson has a Retake option. That is the subject of the next part.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
 ===Re-takes===
+Allowing a student to re take a lesson is the default lesson setting under [[Adding/editing_a_lesson#User_can_re-take|grade options]]. Each attempt at a lesson is normally recorded and the student can see a record of their performance by viewing their [[Student_tutorials#Settings|activity page]]. The teacher when creating a lesson has the option of showing the "final" grade as either the mean of all the attempts or the best (maximum score) of their attempts. This "final" grade is the one shown on the [[Grades]] page and the "Lessons" page. By default the mean of the grades is used.
-As mentioned earlier a lesson can be used as a formative assignment, imparting some knowledge while at the same time making some demands on the students. It seems natural that students should be allowed to re-visit lessons and because they are given a grade many will want to achieve a good grade. This promotes re-takes.
+In some learning environments, the teacher may not wish the students to have more than one attempt at a lesson. A particular lesson may be being used in an exam-like situation. Here the Lesson parameter for re-take is set to "No. Once completed the lesson will then not allow students to re-take the lesson. If, however, the lesson is not completed in one "sitting", students are still allowed to restart the lesson at the beginning or the page after the last question they answered.
-By default lessons allow re-takes. Each attempt at a lesson is normally recorded and the student can see a record of their performance (by viewing their complete activity page). The teacher when creating a lesson has the option of showing the "final" grade as either the mean of all the attempts or the best of all the attempts. This "final" grade is the one shown on the Grades page and the "Lessons" page. By default the mean of the grades is used.
+*As mentioned earlier a lesson can be used as a formative assignment, imparting some knowledge while at the same time making some demands on the students. It seems natural that students should be allowed to re-visit lessons and because they are given a grade many will want to achieve a good grade. This promotes re-takes.
-Once a student has achieved the maximum possible grade in a lesson further attempts are allowed (although there is no benefit to their grade if the best grade is being used). They may well be exploring the various "wrong" paths in the lesson and may well come up with improvements.
+*Remember that even if a student has achieved the maximum possible grade in a lesson, allowing them to revisit the lesson to explore the various "wrong" paths in the lesson, may provide the student, you and your class additional insights.
-In exceptional circumstances the teacher may not wish the students to have more than one attempt at a lesson. A particular lesson may be being used in an exam-like situation. Here the Lesson parameter for re-take is set to No. Once completed the lesson will then not allow students to re-take the lesson. If, however, the lesson is not completed in one "sitting", students are still allowed to restart the lesson at the beginning or at the point where they left off.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
 ===Building lessons===
-When creating a lesson the teacher is required to enter the text of the first page and that page's set of answers and responses. Once the first page is in place the teacher has the option of adding more pages or editing that page. When the lesson contains more than one page the teacher has the addition option of moving pages, that is, changing the order of the pages. Thus once the lesson is under construction the teacher can add pages, edit pages, remove pages and move pages.
+When creating a lesson the teacher must put some content using the [[HTML editor]] tool into the first page. Once the first page is in place the teacher has the option of adding more pages in front or after that page.  Once a question or content page has been created, the pages can be edited by the teacher at any time.  When the lesson contains more than one page the teacher also has the option of moving pages, that is, changing the order of the pages.
-It is envisioned that a lesson will normally cover a limited topic in possibly five to ten pages. And a course might have possibly a larger number of lessons. The module is not designed to handle lessons which have a large number of pages, such "lessons" should be broken down into more manageable sections. The Lessons link (in the page header) shows all the lessons within a course and provides both teachers and students with a unifying framework.
+*A lesson will normally cover a limited amount of material. A topic or week might contain many lessons. Lessons are shown to the student in the home page for the course within "weeks" or "topics", and/or in the activity block when it is part of the course home page.
-== The Flash card lesson ==
+*As with any lesson, it is a good idea to have a plan before starting the presentation.  Simple lessons that basically go from the start to the end in a straight line path, one page after the other, can be created from an outline. More complicated lessons require more planning.  The good news is that a teacher can create a simple lesson and then based upon feedback and performance,  can add refinements or complexity.
-The Lesson module can be used as a type of Flash Card assignment. The student is shown some information (optional) and a question in basically a random order. There is no set beginning and no set end. Just a set of Cards shown one after another in no particular order.
+[[Adding_a_question_page]]- more help on adding question pages <br>
+[[Adding_a_content_page]] - more help on adding Content (Branch Table) pages
-In the Lesson module the cards are pages. Correct answers jump to the Next Page, wrong answers stay on the same page.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-There are two very similar variants of Flash Card behaviour. The option "Show an unseen page" never shows the same page twice (even if the student did not answer the question associated with the Card/Page correctly). The other option is "Show an unanswered page" which shows the student pages that may have appeared before but only if they answered the associated question wrongly.
+== Types of questions available within a lesson ==
+Questions types in the Lesson module are similar to those in the Quiz module.  However, the two modules are very different and questions may act different for both the student and teacher.
-When using either of these Flash Card lessons the teacher can decide to use either all the Cards/Pages in the lesson or just a (random) sub-set. This is done through the "Number of Pages (Cards) to show" parameter when setting up the lesson.
+See [[Lesson questions]] for more information about using specific question types with this module.  Remember that the powerful HTML tool bar will allow the teacher to add pictures to content and to question answers.
-In fact, this type of lesson is very similar to a random ordered Quiz, the difference is that the questions are shown one page at a time. Further extra text can be included with each question.
+[[Image:Question_type_tabs.GIF|Question tabs in Moodle 1.6]]
-== Types of questions available within a lesson ==
-===Multiple choice, multiple answer===
+===Multiple choice ===
+In a multiple choice question, the student is given a question and a list of answers.  In a Lesson, the answer list will be shuffled every time the question is view by a student. In a multiple choice question, the student selects one answer.
-There is variant of multiple choice questions called multiple choice multiple answer questions. These require the student to select all the correct answers from the set of answers. The question may or may not tell the student how many correct answers there are. For example "Which of the following were US Presidents?" does not, while "Select the two US presidents from the following list." does. The actual number of correct answers can be from one up to the number of choices. (A multiple choice multiple answer question with one correct answer is different from a multiple choice question as the former allows the student the possibility of choosing more than one answer while the latter does not.)
+====With multianswer box checked====
+A check in the multianswer box allows the teacher to determine that more than 1 answer is required for the student to receive credit for the question. There is no partial credit and the student must select just correct answers from a list.
-Again the correct answers are flagged using forward jumps, the wrong answers by same page or backward jumps. When there is more than one correct answer the jumps should all go to the same page, similarly with the wrong answers. If that is not the case a warning is given on the teacher's view of the lesson. The correct response, if required, should be given on the first correct answer and the wrong response, if required, should be on the first wrong answer. Responses on the other answers are ignored (without warning).
+See also [[Multiple_Choice_question_type]] which is a quiz question and works differently.
-e.g. Which of the following are mammals?
-- A dog
-- An ant
-- A buttercup
-- A cow
 ===Short answer===
+In a short answer question the student is expected to answer with one word or a few words. [[Short-Answer question type]] gives more information about this kind of question
-In a short answer question the student is prompted for a short piece of text. This is checked against one or more answers. Answers can be either correct or wrong. Each answer can optionally have a response. If no response is entered for an answer then the default response "That's the Correct Answer" or "That's the Wrong Answer" is shown to the student. If the text entered does not match any of the answers then the answer is wrong and the student is shown the default wrong response.
+{{Moodle 1.6}}
+Starting with Moodle 1.6, there are two different ''student answer'' analysis systems available for the Short Answer type of question in the Lesson Module: the '''simple system ''' and the  new  '''regular expressions system'''.  The simple system is the default and is the same used by the Quiz Module.  There is a "Use Regular Expressions" option box on the Edit Question Page screen in the Lesson Module.
-By default the comparisons ignore the case of the text. There is an option to make the comparisons case sensitive.
-There is a fundamental problem with this type of question. If you ask a question like "Who wrote Elegy written in a Country Churchyard?" as a Short Answer question it's fine for the students who know the answer. But how about those who do not? To avoid those students getting stuck in a loop the Lesson module has a "Maximum number of Attempts" parameter which sets an upper limit on the number of times a student can attempt a question. The default value is 5 times. (This can be reduced to 1 if you wanted students to have only one attempt at each question.)
+We suggest first reading about the  [[Short-Answer question type|Short answer question page]] with the examples of the "simple analysis", and then read the [[Short answer analysis]] page that gives more information about "Regular Expression analysis".
-There is a slight complication here . The "Maximum number of Attempts" mechanism relies on looking at the record of attempts. That is fine for students as their attempts are all recorded. However, when a teacher looks at a lesson their attempts are not recorded. (The attempts are used to calculate grades and as teachers aren't interested in their own grades...) So teachers are not subject to the number of answers limit. But they should know the answers, shouldn't they!
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
 ===True / false===
-The True/False question is a special case of the multiple choice question.The student is prompted to choose which is the correct option.
+The True/False question type is a special case of the multiple choice question. The student is prompted to choose which is the correct option. See [[Lesson_module#Multiple_choice|multiple choice question]] above for details.
 ===Matching questions===
+[[Image:Question Matching pulldown 1.JPG||thumb|80px|right|Matching]]
+Matching questions consist of a list of names or statements, or pictures which must be correctly matched against another list. For example "Match the letter with its position in the alphabet.  One list would have A, B, C, D, Z and the other in a pull down menu next to each item would have 2, 4, 3, 1, 26 .
-Matching questions are much more interesting than the last type of question. They can make quite powerful and flexible questions. They consist of a list of names or statements which must be correctly matched against other list of names or statements. For example "Match the Capital with the Country" with the two lists Japan, Canada, Italy and Tokyo, Ottawa, Rome. It is possible to have repeated entries in one of the lists but care should be taken to make the repeats identical. For example "Identify the type of these creatures" with the lists Sparrow, Cow, Ant, Dog and Bird, Animal, Insect, Animal.
+See [[Matching question type]] for more information.
-When creating this type of question the items for the first list go into the Answer boxes and items for the second list go into the Response boxes. Once created a more sensible labelling scheme is shown. When the student successfully matches the items the jump on the first answer is used. An unsuccessful answer jumps to the page on the second answer. The question does not support custom responses, the student is told how many matches are correct or if all the matches are correct.
 ===Numerical Question===
+This type of question requires a number as the answer. In it's simplest form it requires just one answer to be specified. For example "What is 2 plus 2?", where 4 is the correct answer. A numerical question will also accept a number in a range as being correct.  The answers are similar to short answer, where the order that the teacher lists the answers is important.
-This type of question requires a number as the answer. In it's simplest form it requires just one answer to be specified. For example "What is 2 plus 2?" with the answer 4 given a forward jump. However, it is better to specify a range because the internal rounding of numerical values can make single numeric comparisons rather hit or miss. Thus, if the question were "What is 10 divided by 3" it would be necessary to give the answer as Minimum:Maximum, that is two values separated by a colon. Thus if 3.33:3.34 is given as the acceptable range for the answer, then the answers 3.33, 3.333, 3.3333... would all be taken as correct answers. "Wrong" answers would include 3.3 (less than the minimum) and 3.4 (greater than the maximum).
+See [[Numerical question type]] for more information about a Quiz question.
-More than one correct answer is allowed and the answers can be either single or pair of values. Note that the order in which the answers are tested is Answer 1, Answer 2... so some care needs to taken if the desired response is to appear. For example the question "When was Larkin born?" could have the single value of 1922, the exact answer, and the pair of values 1920:1929, the 20's, as the less exact answer.The order in which these values should be tested is, obviously, 1922 then 1920:1929. The first answer might have the response "That's exactly right" while the other answer's response might be "That's close, you've got the right decade, it is was actually 1922."
+The lesson numerical question differs from the numerical quiz question and the numerical embedded question (Cloze)when it evaluates answers. For example there is no wild card.
-Wrong answers can be given but depending on their actual range, care should be taken to place them after the correct answers. For example in adding the wrong answer 3:4 to the "10 divided by 3" question it needs to come after the correct answer. That is the answers are ordered 3.33:3.34 (the "correct" answer) then 3:4 (the "wrong" answer, but not wildly wrong answer!).
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
 ===Essay Questions===
+Short essay questions were introduced in Moodle version 1.5. These are meant for short, paragraph or two type of essays one often finds on exams. Thus we did not use the html editor, preferring a simple text field. For longer essays, the assignment module is a better choice.
-Short essay questions are a new feature in Lesson. These are meant for short, paragraph or two type of essays one often finds on exams. Thus we did not use the html editor, preferring a simple text field. For longer essays, the assignment module is a better choice.
+The student simply enters their essay in the box provided. The teacher sees ungraded essay questions when opening the lesson.  After grading, the teacher can email their responses to the student.
-The student simply enters their essay in the box provided.
+[[Essay question type]] page has more information.
-To grade lesson essay questions, first click on the name of the lesson in your course page. If there are essay questions to be graded, there will be a link saying "Grade essay questions" (see red arrow). Click that link.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-This will open a screen showing you how many ungraded essay questions there are. Ungraded essay questions will be in listed in red. Click the link for the essay you wish to grade.
+== Branches and branch tables ==
+If your lesson delivers quite a lot of information, you can divide it into sections that are called [[Lesson_Pages#Branch_.28Branch_Table.29-_Choice_Pages|branches]] in Moodle. One way of moving between these branches is by [[Adding_a_branch_table |adding a Branch Table page]].
+Branch tables are simply pages which have a set of links/jumps to other pages in the lesson.  The student sees labeled buttons under the page content to provide their choices. Branch tables are similar to a multiple choice question format.  They have a title, [[Page content|content]] section, student choices (called descriptions) and [[Jumps|jumps]]. There is no score for a student's choice, so branch tables are grade neutral.  Branch tables also can be put to special uses by a teacher.  To help understand these concepts we are going to call one use a "ordered branch" and the other a "classic branch".
+===Ordered branches===
+A table of contents is an example of a use of ordered branches. Typically a lesson may start with a Content page with the title "Table of Contents".  The student selects a Description button and jumps to a page in the edit order that starts a series of pages about that subject.  At the end of an ordered branch, the student is given several options by a question or a content page, such as: "Go to the next page", "Start of the series again",  "End the lesson", or "Return to the Table of Contents. [[Image:Lesson visual order graphic1.png|thumb|100px|center|TOC that leads to 3 ordered branches]]
+===Classic branches===
+The classic branch is an advanced navigational feature.  It introduces random movement within a series of pages that the teacher determines.  A classic branch needs a Branch Table at the start of the series and a special navigation page called "End of Branch" at the end of the series.
+The default jump in an "End of Branch" page is the preceding content page as an absolute jump.  After a classic branch has been created, the teacher will see 3 new relative jump options: "Unseen question within a branch", "Random question within a branch" and "Random branch page".  The classic branch with its "end of branch" navigation page is similar to a [[Clusters|cluster]].
+:''Tip:'' As with any advanced navigational feature, it is best to add it after the basic question and branch tables pages have been created.  Checking the Lesson's behavior in a student role is another best practice with highly adaptive lesson formats.
+===Tips when using branches===
+*The number of links shown when setting up or editing a content or a question page is set by the lesson setting "[[Adding/editing_a_lesson#The_Maximum_Number_of_Answers_.2F_Branches_in_a_Lesson|Number of Answers/Branches]]". This parameter can be changed on the fly by simply clicking on the "Update this Lesson" button at the top of the teacher's page and changing the value.
-The essay grading screen shows the title of the question, the student's essay response, and a place you can write optional comments and give the essay a score.
+*When a lesson includes one or more ordered or classic branches, teachers need to decide if their students must visit every branch.  By adding a question or two in each branch, the teacher can set the "[[Adding/editing_a_lesson#The_Minimum_Number_of_Questions_in_a_Lesson|Minimum number of Questions]]" parameter to some reasonable number of questions that must be answered.  Without this parameter a student might visit a single branch in the lesson, answer all its questions correctly and leave the lesson with the maximum grade based upon their attempts, not the total number of available questions.
-Click the Submit grade button to record your score and comments.
+*Remember that using branches may encourage a student to revisit a question page more than once.  This can impact scoring.  Since scores can not be displayed for a teacher, it is a good practice for a new Moodling Teacher to log in as a student to check how the score is kept in their Lesson.
-Graded questions will be displayed in green.
+*[[Lesson_Pages#Branch_.28Branch_Table.29-_Choice_Pages|Choice pages gives]] detailed help about editing a branch . [[Adding_a_content_page|Adding a content page (branch table)]] reviews process.
-Repeat the process to finish grading. Click the "Email graded essays" link to email your responses to your students.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-== Branches and branch tables ==
+== The Flash card lesson ==
+The Lesson module can be used as a type of Flash Card assignment by changing the [[Adding/editing_a_lesson|lesson settings]]. In this kind of lesson, the student is shown pages (cards) in random order.  Usually these are question pages. There is no set beginning and no set end. Just a series of cards shown one after another in no particular order.
+There are two very similar variants of Flash Card behavior. A Flow Control option, "After a correct answer" set to [[Adding/editing_a_lesson#Action_after_a_Correct_Answer |"Show an unseen page"]] never shows the same page twice (even if the student did not answer the question associated with the Card/Page correctly). The other option is "Show an unanswered page" which shows the student pages that may have appeared before but only if they answered the associated question wrongly.
+When using either of these Flash Card lessons the teacher can decide to use either all the Cards/Pages in the lesson or just a (random) sub-set. This is done through the [[Adding/editing_a_lesson#Number_of_Pages_.28Cards.29_to_Show|"Number of Pages (Cards) to show"]] parameter also found in the Flow Control settings. Make sure the number is less than the total number of available pages.
+When using the Flash Card mode of presentation, setting the jumps is important. A correct answer jump should point to the Next Page, a wrong answer should stay on the same page.
+The Lesson Flash Card mode is very similar to a random ordered Quiz, the difference is that the questions are shown one page at a time. And, extra text can be included with each question in the Flash Card.
+There is also a [[Flashcard_module]] that can be added to a Moodle site.  It is also possible to create lesson segment that is a mini flashcard lesson with the use of special jumps and navigational pages called [[Clusters]].
-If your lesson delivers quite a lot of information, you can divide it into chapters or sections.  These sections within a lesson are called branches in Moodle.
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
-Branch tables are simply pages which have a set of links to other pages in the lesson. Typically a lesson may start with a branch table which acts as a Table of Contents. Each link in a branch table has two components, a description and the title of the page to jump to. A branch table effectively divides the lesson into a number of branches (or sections). Each branch can contain a number of pages (probably all related to the same topic).
+== Lesson dependencies and linking ==
+===Dependency===
+[[Adding/editing_a_lesson#Dependent_on|A dependency setting]] allows the current lesson to be dependent upon a student's performance in one specific lesson that is in the same course. If the conditions(s) is not met, then the student will not be able to access this lesson.
-The end of a branch is usually marked by an End of Branch page. This is a special page which, by default, returns the student back to the preceding branch table. (The "return" jump in an End of Branch page can be changed, if required, by editing the page.)
+These dependent conditions include: time spent, completed or receive a better than grade one specific lesson.  Any  combination of the conditions can be used. Please note, a Lessson must include one question for the dependent "completed" condition to be met.
-There can be more than one branch table in a lesson. For example, a lesson might usefully be structured so that specialist points are sub-branches within the main subject branches. (Thus the name used is Branch Table rather than Table of Contents page.)
+*A typical use of this feature is to "daisy chain" a series of Lessons to make sure the students take the lessons in order.   This might be useful in a training type of course which has no open or close dates because it can be started and finished at any time.
-The number of links shown when setting up or editing a branch table is set by the "Number of Answers/Branches". This parameter can be changed on the fly by simply clicking on the Update the Lesson button at the top of the teacher's page and changing the value.
+===Links to other places===
+Using the [[Adding/editing_a_lesson#Link_to_activity|link to activity]] in the Lesson settings, will offer the student a direct link button to another activity in the course when they complete the lesson.
-It is important to give students a means of ending the lesson. This might be done by including an "End Lesson" link in the main branch table. This jumps to the (imaginary) End of Lesson page. Another option is for the last branch in the lesson (here "last" is used in the logical ordering sense) to simply continue to the end of the lesson, that is, it is not terminated by an End of Branch page.
+Another handy Lesson setting [[Adding/editing_a_lesson#Pop-up_to_file_or_web_page|Pop-Up]], will create a window the student can view while in the lesson.
-When a lesson includes one or more branch tables and you are not using custom scoring (where you enter a point value for each question) it is advisable to set the "Minimum number of Questions" parameter to some reasonable value. This sets a lower limit on the number of pages seen when the grade is calculated. Without this parameter a student might visit a single branch in the lesson, answer all its questions correctly and leave the lesson with the maximum grade!
+*More advanced Moodlers can figure out how to place HTML links on a lesson page. Thus it is possible to create a link to another lesson/activity, a lesson/activity in another course, or even to a specific page in a lesson.  While this method can be useful, the student may not be able to find their way back to the page with the link.  In general, the links can be created by copying the location of the desired link from the browser's address bar, then pasting it as a link.
-Further, when a branch table is present a student has the opportunity of re-visiting the same branch more than once. However, the grade is calculated using the number of unique questions answered. So repeatedly answering the same set of questions does not increase the grade. (In fact, the reverse is true, it lowers the grade as the count of the number of pages seen is used in the denominator when calculating grades does include repeats.) In order to give students a fair idea of their progress in the lesson, they are shown details of how many questions they are answered correctly, number of pages seen, and their current grade on every branch table page. (This is one other thing teachers don't get to see - sorry!)
+[[#top|Table of Contents]]
 == See also ==
+*[http://moodle.heroku.com moodle.heroku.com] Moodle XML Converter to easily create set of quizzes with minimum effort.
+*[[Lesson samples]] down loadable and on line demonstrations of the Lesson module.
+*[[Using Moodle book]] Chapter 9: Lessons
+*[[Grades]] See how individuals and the class answered the questions (must not be a practice lesson)
+*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq3das503-Q Creating a Decision-Making exercise (role play) using a Lesson]
+*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjXelUZguw Creating a Lesson video tutorial]
+*[http://moodle.tokem.fi moodle.tokem.fi] Go to teacher's manual and select lesson. For versions 1.5.4 and 1.6.4, a good supplement or alternative to MoodleDocs.  Very hands on for specific type of teacher.
-*[http://download.moodle.org/docs/using_moodle/ch10_lessons.pdf Using Moodle Chapter 10: Lessons]
+[[Category:Modules]]
-[[Category:Teacher]]
+[[es:Lecciones]]
+[[eu:Ikasgaiak]]
+[[fr:Leçon]]
+[[de:Lektion]]