How to Write Computer Assisted Test/Homework Questions

Please note that the following pages were lost and partially recovered, and therefore are (temporarily, I hope) filled with errors. Therefore, as you proceed, a note from you concerning errors would be greatly appreciated.
I can be reached at david@uconnvm.uconn.edu. Thank you.
Carl David

Perl, CGI, HTML, CGI.pm Latex2HTML and Java among other things

This material is intended for persons who have seen the material on Computer Assisted Testing/Homework using the World Wide Web at Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Examination Questions, and want to write questions of their own. The Physical Chemistry questions referenced (above) are quite advanced, but one can get a flavor for the kinds of mathematical responses that students can give by looking at these examples, especially the first semester `Preliminary Material' questions. In this ``chapter'' you will find a host of problems approached in different ways, which consist of pre-college math and physics questions. I am attempting to provide an encyclopedia of CAT/H formats with the hope of enticing others into using these schemes for their students.

There is a second, alternative site, which covers freshman (elementary) chemistry. This site is under constnat development also, and needs to be regarded as highly experimental in nature. Its address is:
Freshman Chemistry Examinations
and you are welcome to browse there also. However, be prepared for some difficulties, as we are attempting to implement Java chemical formula inputting, and experiencing some difficulties with this new scheme.

The material covered herein addresses elementary HTML, elementary Perl, use of CGI.pm as a Perl library for easy WWW programming, and lots of examples of question types which require mathematical answers. In addition, the use of Latex2html to create formulae using TeX and LaTeX in a natural way will be discussed. Finally, drawing tools for creating appropriate figures will be discussed.

This material is under constant revision, and is subject to additions (and corrections) as time allows. Any suggestions or corrections would be greatly appreciated.

Tentative Table of Contents

• Introduction OK, III/4/02
  • Intro1 How was this page written?OK, III/4/02
  • Intro2 What you will need to learn to create CAT/H questions. OK, III/4/02 for the World Wide Web.
  • Intro3 Underlying Philosophy Concerning CAT/H. OK, III/4/02
• Preliminaries Hardware assumptions. OK III/5/02
  • A HOME PAGE What an HTML document looks like. OK III/5/02
  • Unix and its directoriesLost in Space OK III/5/02
  • Unix and its editorsCurse the terse OK III/5/02
  • Unix and its permissions (chmod) or, how the devil do I debug these things? OK III/5/02
• Perl 1 (Resources)Where, oh where, is Perl information located?
  • How Does one use the cgi-bin Perl script to address the World Wide Web OK III/6/02
  • Overview of How Computer Assisted Testing Might Work OK III/6/02
  • What to do when your URL was not found OK III/6/02
  • Writing A Simple QuestionOK III/6/02
  • A Simple Question in standardized mode(advanced material, skip on first reading)OK III/6/02
  • Writing A Simple Question in standardized mode (see Prototype Question section[below])OK III/6/02
    1. CleanUp.plOK III/14/02
    2. explain.plOK
    3. count.plOK III/14/02
    4. reports.plOK
  • Simple Question with Numerical Input ModeThis subsection includes debugging information concerning cgitap. OK III/14/02
    • Prototype with Help on ErrorHelp is offered only after a student has submitted an answer which is judged incorrect.OK
    • Prototype with Nested Help on Error OK
    • Prototype with Numerical InputNumerical Input is via typing, not mouse choice. OK
    • Prototype with Alternative Numerical InputNumerical Input is via mouse choice.
    • Prototype with Random NumbersEach student sees a slightly different question, requiring slightly different work. OK
    • Prototype with Equation InputStudents are asked to input equations, not just numerical expressions.
    • Prototype with Multiple Equation Input Students are asked to carry out a kind of orderly derivation.
    • Prototype with Equation1 = Equation2 ProofsStudents are asked to carry out a formal derivation.
• Comments on Password FilesThe password discussion (below) is obsolete, and left in only for reading/writing interest. See this page to continue.
• Read a Student Password FileOK III/17/02
• Write a Student Password FileOK IV/17/02
• Read and Add to a Student Password FileOK IV/17/02
• Generating PasswordsOK IV/17/02
• Login Guest/Student(an example)OK IV/17/02
• Putting it Together, Files/Passwords/Choices(an example)OK IV/17/02
• Putting it Together, Files/Passwords/Choices(the Perl program)OK IV/17/02
• Implementing a Counter (the Counter Itself)OK IV/17/02 ???
• Implementing a Counter (the Perl Program)OK IV/17/02 Main HTML file for System (Try me. This will lead to a main_menu.pl and then to an example of a menu of either examinations or questions.)
  • Main Menu System ExplainedOK IV/17/02
  • Alternate Signin Using FramesOK IV/17/02
  • The GuestBookOK IV/17/02
  • Diagram of Signin ProcessLOST
  • A Prototype QuestionOK IV/17/02
  • Directory Structure LOST
  • A Prototype Question (extended-count)OK IV/17/02
  • A Prototype Question (extended-logging, an example)
  • A Prototype Question (extended-logging, the text)
  • A Prototype Question (extended-logging & student comments)
• Keeping Random Variables constant During Answer Submission
• Regular Expressions, A Tutorial and Exercise Set of Pages
  • Regular Expressions (the m-operator)Introduction, escape character, \b, \w, \s, [], ^, $.
  • Regular Expressions (the m-operator) (Part 2)Slightly more advanced, +, ?, {}, \d, \D, \w, \W.
  • Regular Expressions (the m-operator) (Part 3)Slightly more advanced, ()
• Regular Expressions (the s-operator)
• Regular Expressions (the tr-operator)
  1. Regular Expression Testing This is the m-operator tester without the text!
  2. Regular Expression Testing via Replacement This is the s-operator tester without the text!
  3. Regular Expression Testing via Translate This is the tr-operator tester without the text!
• HOWTO's, a listing:
  1. Rounding Numbers and for loops
• Using FTP to move files about as needed between the development site and the server site.
• Using Latex2HTML to include equations properly
• Creating and Using Pictures in Questions
• Some Java Learning Materials. These materials were created using NetBeans, and employed the 1.4 release of Java, so, when they've gone on to Java 47, please be aware that most of this will be obsolete!
  1. Inputting Chemical Symbols Using Java (Actually, this is java 1.1, and no IDE used in its creation. A better version is coming, soon??????).
  2. Java 1.4 Examples using Swing
     1. (Simple) Java Usage of JScrollPane
     2. (More Complicated) Java Usage of JScrollPane
     3. Some Tree Examples
        1. primitive Java Usage of JTree
        2. primitive Java Usage of JTree and jScrollPane
        3. Java JTree, JScrollPane and Editable Leaves
        4. Java JTree, JScrollPane and Editable Leaves and Adding New Nodes
        5. Java JTree, JScrollPane and Editable Leaves and Adding and Deleting New Nodes
     4. Mouse Usage, In JScrollPane
     5. Combining Using JSplitPane
     6. Using functions in two different classes and files Not ready yet.
• Packages and Modules and Things Like That Not ready yet.
• Repairing (afterthoughts)