What’s new?

Complex variables

More complex variable definitions like $\overline{A+B}$ will soon be possible.

Shortcuts for Save and Run in edit page exercise (authoring)

CTRL+ALT+S and CTRL+ALT+R can be used to Save and Run an exercise on the edit page in the authoring environment of AlgebraKiT.

Update on speed

Evaluation and the generation of worked solutions of interactions with more complex polynomial input will have a significant increase of speed.

Option to define an interaction title

It is possible to define a title for an interaction, such that it is highlighted before the interaction block is presented to the student.

This functionality is available for all interaction types.

To set a title, click the settings item in the interaction menu.

At the Title text field, define your title.

When running your exercise, the title of the interaction will appear in bold at the top of your interaction.

Formula editor button for integral bracket notation

A dedicated button for boundary evaluation of definite integrals using square bracket notation has been added to the advanced formula editor palette under the ‘Calculus’ group.

This is an ease-of-use functionality such that students do not have to write []^a_b by hand.

Geometry interaction: measuring tools still available after finishing interaction

Settings menu item for allowed measure instruments

If an author has selected (one of) the allowed measurement tool(s) in the element panel, this measurement tool becomes available for the student in the top right corner of the interaction.

Top right menu during a session of the interaction

When finishing an exercise, the measuring instrument menu item now remains available, such that a student can measure items in their result to answer follow-up questions.

Top right menu after finishing the session of the interaction

Geometry interaction: circle centerPoint

Circle element now has a property centerPoint, with which you can build evaluation criteria referring to the center point of the circle.

Geometry interaction: verify the direction of a vector

It is now possible to verify the direction of a vector created by the student. A vector element now has properties startPoint and endPoint, and you can create an evaluation criteria such as

PointDistance[vectorStudent.startPoint, point1]<0.2 AND PointDistance[vectorStudent.endPoint, point2]<0.2

With vectorStudent the vector element created by the student, and point1 and point2 being defined by the author on the element panel, being the intended startpoint and endpoint respectively.

Geometry interaction: events numerical input fields now based on audience

This is concerning event input fields (i.e. the input fields in the Geometry Interaction Editor or when playing an exercise as student).

Numerical input fields (draw circle with specific radius, vector with given length, etc.) do now accept the decimal representation of numerical values, based on the audience settings. E.g. 2,5 and 2.5 in a Dutch audience is both correct for a radius of 2,5. (Previously, only dot-notation was accepted).

One by one exercises now have subpart overview

In case an exercise is set to ONE BY ONE in the exercise settings, a subpart overview is shown when running the exercise (both in authoring environment as well as in student play mode). The active subpart is highlighted.

Audience requests

Several client-specific audience requests have been integrated.

Scoring and marking

Scoring and marking is now more enhanced and can be adapted per interaction.

Number Line

Refer to this page for information on the new interaction type Number Line.

Option to insert nbsp as author

nbsp button

In the text-editor it is now possible to add a nbsp (no-break-space) in your text, to prevent AlgebraKiT from breaking up your text at that point. This is especially useful to make sure certain mathematical values combined with text will not be split to two lines in e.g. hint texts or question texts.

The nbsp can be inserted by using the space icon in the menu bar from the text editor.

Move/copy stages Math Entry and Table conditions

It is now possible to copy and move stages / conditions in the Math Entry interaction and in Table condition by using the arrows and the copy buttons on the right in each input line.

Math Table

Math Table rows, columns and cells have now more options for editing.

You can edit the color of a row or column by clicking on one of the three colors available:

To create e.g. the following colored table:

You can add text in front and/or after cell input by using the Settings button on the Cell tab.

Hint behavior

Hint behavior for inline interactions and table interactions are more aligned, that there is a central hint button and whenever a hint is requested, the most appropriate hint available is given, based on all cells/interactions available, instead of only looking at the cell/interaction the student is located at.

More keywords for step description added

Two extra keywords for step description will be added.

Stricter interpretation of authoring input

Stricter interpretation of input made by authors. This means in case of doubt always a popup for the Symbols tab, and error messages in case the input of multiple steps causes inconsistency in the Mathematical definition of the exercise.

Measure keyword for step description added

Keyword “Measure” added to options for step descriptions

Mass update of approved exercises

Users with manage permissions are able to mass update approved exercises with a new default editor, audience or question-type. On the subject settings page a default value can be selected and the applicable exercise-types can be updated accordingly.

Geometry variable concept extended

The geometry variable concept is now also available for use with the radius/angle elements.

Inline interaction settings menu

For Algebra and Math entry interactions which are added as inline interaction in the question text editor, a new menu is available via the select arrow in the inline interaction. As an author, you can now easily set whether the interaction should inline, or inline extended, and what the size of the box should be.

Moving course subject

Moving subjects (folders) in courses will now be possible. You can move a subject within the course, or to another course by using the move item in the subject menu.

Updated authoring layout

March 2021

To simplify authoring, we made some changes in the authoring screen.

What was changed?
We have hidden some of the less-used elements, such as settings, script and metadata. You can make these elements visible again whenever you need to add or change them. The functionality of the authoring environment remains unchanged. Also, all exercises you have created in the past will behave the way they did.

General settings block collapsed by default

New version

The first block on the page contains a lot of information that is one-off. Therefore, it is now collapsed by default.

The name of the exercise (text input) and the audience (dropdown select) remain directly available for change. These are the first two items in the row visible.

The exercise-ID is not directly visible anymore, but available via the clipboard copy button at the end of the row.

The remaining options are available via the available tabs (when they were set in the exercise before).

If a tab is not listed, you can add it by clicking the settings button in front of the row, and selecting the name of the tab you want to access.

The general settings and metadata are now available via the settings tab, rather than directly visible upon opening the exercise.

Interaction settings hidden by default

The interaction settings are now available via the interaction dropdown menu rather than directly visible at each interaction. By clicking the arrow next to the interaction name, you can access the settings.

Hints opens the context hints item as before, but is now called hints, rather than context hints.

Step settings item removed

The step settings are now not available for selection anymore, as they have been deprecated and replaced by new functionality. In case you want to use a different evaluation method or want to describe specific answers, the interaction type Math Entry is recommended.

The Actions dropdown button lists all the step settings which are available, such as accuracy, units, alternative answers, etc.

Note

In the overview above, we use an exercise with (an) Algebra interaction(s). The changes are on exercise and interaction level, but are not related to the type of interaction. Therefore, the differences discussed below are similar for the other interactions. For simplicity, we left these out.

In case there are any questions, you can always contact us via the regular contact methods.

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Audience default editor

A new option has been added to the list of editors: automatic. This setting bases its selection on the audience change. Changing the audience of an exercise automatically updates all editor selections in the exercise, instead of requiring a manual update for each interaction. It provides a new degree of flexibility in creating your exercises.

Note: contact your stream lead / course managers to request this functionality with AlgebraKiT. An audience default editor can be set for each audience in a course. By default, this is the algebra editor.

Moving exercise

With the new simplified layout, moving an exercise is only possible from the subject page from an exercise.

Click on the icon in front of the exercise.

Click “move”. You will get a popup view at the top of the screen where you can change to location by changing the Course and/or the Subject.

Note: By clicking close on an exercise you automatically navigate to the subject page of the exercise.

Currency xx,- notation

Since the new release, students can enter currencies using the xx,- notation. That is, for an answer that would be $3,00\ euro's$ , the student can either enter:
$3,- euro$
$€3,-$

Note: A student is not able to answer something like $1,- + 2,-$ .

Rounding versus Accuracy

As there has been some confusion between rounding and accuracy, we have added soms backend checking to prevent authors from setting too inaccurate accuracy for intermediate steps. Authoring feedback is yet to come.

When setting accuracy to rounded, the student has to round his answer to finish this step, but he also has to continue his calculations with a rounded answer.

Normally, accurate to is the setting you want to use for intermediate steps (you have to write your answer accurate to AT LEAST x decimals, but more is also fine). You can continue your calculations with the exact value, or any having at least the x decimals, while still being able to find the final answer. As an author, you are responsible for setting the accuracy high enough such that this condition holds. Extra backend checking now has been added.

Refer to the accuracy settings post for more information.

Math Table (beta) released

There is a new math table interaction. Some authors might have already seen/used the interaction (called Math Table (beta)). This version is now upgraded to the default table interaction type. Exercises authored in the “old” interaction type are still accessible but new table questions have to be authored in the new interaction style.

Example exercises

We have setup a specific folder in the Library containing example exercises. Each exercise is setup to explain a specific type of behavior or way of authoring. In most of the exercises, explanatory descriptions are given to provide some reference material. The questions in this folder use the latest authoring methods, compared to other questions in the library.

By using the copy to course method, you can copy such question to your course to modify and use for your own reference.

Test sessions

In case you have successfully authored your exercise, you can create a so called Exercise test. This way, AlgebraKiT will regularly validate whether your exercise still works as intended.

Check whether all required inputs are accepted and whether all buggy steps are recognised by testing the exercise yourself.

Once you are done testing all inputs, or when the question is finished, you can save that run by entering a name in the Name field of the Store as unit test section, and checking the Store as testcase checkbox and click Store.

Store your run as test case by checking the Store as testcase checkbox before clicking Store.

Your testrun is now visible under the Exercise tests section. Here, you can play your test and verify what input was working with which feedback and hints (left column below). AlgebraKiT uses these test cases to verify whether AlgebraKiT’s behaviour does not change exercise behaviour. Automated tests validate regularly whether created test cases are still valid in the current AlgebraKiT version. The right column below is only visible for AlgebraKiT employees.

NOTE: When you update your question and/or make significant changes to the question, make sure to create a new exercise test and remove the old one. That way, you will make sure that AlgebraKiT will always test the last version of your exercise. A test case is testing input on the exercise as authored at the moment of creating the test case, not on the latest version of the exercise!

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Multiple symbol definitions

When authoring an exercise, it might be the case that you want to use the multiple definitions of the same symbol next to each other in the exercise.

Let us look at an example using the physics formula $W=m \times g$ where $W$ is the weight, $m$ the mass of the object, and $g$ gravitational acceleration.

In the above exercise, the symbols $m$ and $g$ are used with multiple definitions:

$m$ for the variable representing mass and the unit meter
$g$ for the variable representing gravity and the unit gram

Although the unit gram might not be directly used in the exercise definition, it is included in the context, since the unit $kg$ is used, and thus AlgebraKiT automatically derives that $g$ might also be used as a unit of weight.

For both symbols, we can define that they have multiple definitions, such that AlgebraKiT understands the exercise definition and is able to generate the worked solution and process student input automatically.

To enable this functionality, go to the Symbols tab at the top of the exercise, and add your symbol (in our example $m$ ) as a multiple. Next, add the required entries. In our example, one for unit, and one for variable. Give your entries a name. For example:

You can now author the question as you intended, except you have to use the names you just created to refer to the specific symbol. So in our example, we use $mUnit$ to refer to the unit meter and $mVar$ to refer to the variable $m$ for mass.

The student can still write $m$ to refer to both inputs, and AlgebraKiT will match which of the two $m$ definitions is intended.

The same applies for symbol $g$ , which is left as an exercise for the reader (or refer to this AlgebraKiT Library example where the question is available for your reference).

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Functions as student variables

This information will be available soon.

Math table beta testers

We have selected a number of authors for our beta version of the new math table interaction. The interaction type is available to all authors in the dropdown list, but we only provide support to the selected beta users until the final version of the math table interaction is released. Questions or issues on the math table interaction raised by other users will not be processed until then.

VERSION INFO