Step 3: Assignments

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SimQuest 6.4 help

Getting started - Step 3: Assignments

In the third step of this tutorial, you will add two different assignments to the model and interface you already made. Assignments in SimQuest are, like interfaces, separate elements that you must drag from the library into the application window. It will now be explained how to add two different types of assignments to your application.

3.1 Adding a Do It assignment

The first assignment you are going to add to our application is a Do It assignment. This type of assignment is the simplest type of assignment in SimQuest. It is meant to make the learner perform a certain action. A Do It assignment does not check for input from the learner. To add a Do It assignment to your application:

1.	Go to the Instructional Measures folder in the Library. In the Assignments folder, select a Do It assignment.

2.	Drag the assignment to the tab sheet called 'New Equation Model' of your application.

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Dragging a Do It assignment to your application.

3.2 Adding the assignment text

3.	Select the assignment.

4.	Right click and choose Edit.

5.	In the editor, go to the Command tab-sheet. Here you can type the text for the assignment. For instance, make an introduction for your application. Type: "Welcome to the simulation on linear graphs. Try and see what happens if you change the value of a, and press Start.".

3.3 Setting the Control structure

Now things get a little bit tricky. For the first time you are going to use the Control On tab sheet. Using this option, it is possible to make various SimQuest elements, such as assignments, interfaces or explanations, control the opening and closing of other elements. You are going to set set the control of the Do It assignment in such a way that whenever this assignment is opened, the interface you made before will also be opened. This is done as follows:

6.	Edit the Do It assignment.

7.	In the editor, go to the Control On tab sheet.

8.	For now, you can leave the three pull-down menu's at the top of the tab sheet as they were: WHEN THIS ELEMENT IS Activated, THEN No command to THE SIMULATION, AND Activate THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS.

Now you must indicate what you mean by 'The following elements'. In other words, you must tell SimQuest which element is to be activated when this assignment is activated. In this case, choose the interface you made in Step 2. To set this so called 'Instructional Measure', you must drag the regarding element into the white box at the bottom of the Control On tab sheet. So what you have to do is select the interface in the application, and drag it to the white box on the Control On tab sheet of the Do It assignment. This is depicted in the figure below.

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Setting instructional measures: dragging an interface onto the Control On tab sheet of an assignment.

10.	Click Apply. Close the editor.

Now run the assignment: select it in the application, right click and choose Run. If all has gone well, things should look like this:

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The Do It assignment with an interface.

3.4 Adding an Investigation assignment

The second assignment you will add to our application will be an investigation assignment. The first four steps you have to take are identical to those of the Do It assignment (see above).

3.5 Modifying the Investigation assignment

1.	In the assignment editor. go to the Question tab sheet. Type a question. For instance: "What happens when the value of a increases?" . Click Apply.

2.	Go to the Answer tab sheets. You are going to add three propositions. To do so, click on New three times.

3.	Now type the propositions, for instance: "a. the graph becomes steeper", "b. the graph becomes less steep", "c. nothing happens".

4.	In the Correct column, mark the correct answer (a).

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Specifying the answer propositions of an Investigation assignment.

5.	Now follow steps 7 to 10 of the Do It assignment above, so that the interface will open when this assignment is opened.

6.	The final result should look like this:

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The final Investigation assignment with interface.

In the final step of this tutorial, it is explained how to add explanations to your assignments.

>> Continue to step 4: Explanations