Derivative Graph Matching Flash Applet Sample Problem

Sample Problem with derGraphMatchWW.swf embedded

This sample problem shows how to use the derivative graph matching applet.

This applet and WeBWorK problem are based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE-0941388.

A standard WeBWorK PG file with an embedded applet has six sections:

1. A tagging and description section, that describes the problem for future users and authors,
2. An initialization section, that loads required macros for the problem,
3. A problem set-up section that sets variables specific to the problem,
4. An Applet link section that inserts the applet and configures it, (this section is not present in WeBWorK problems without an embedded applet)
5. A text section, that gives the text that is shown to the student, and
6. An answer and solution section, that specifies how the answer(s) to the problem is(are) marked for correctness, and gives a solution that may be shown to the student after the problem set is complete.

The sample file attached to this page shows this; below the file is shown to the left, with a second column on its right that explains the different parts of the problem that are indicated above. A screenshot of the applet embedded in this WeBWorK problem is shown above.

The student can draw on the graph tiles by pressing 'p'. One of the graph tiles in the screenshot is shown with the critical points marked along the x-axes. Pressing 'p' again turns off drawing and allows dragging of the graph tile. Pressing 'u' erases the drawing on the most recently selected tile. One of the tiles shows six buttons which when pressed will shade the graph marking the regions where the function is positive, negative, increasing, decreasing or concave up or down. Several of the tiles in the screen shot are shaded. Three of the tiles can be seen to be shaded in the same part of the graph. These tiles match, that is, they are the function and its first two derivatives.

Graph tiles are transparent. This can help the student identify which tiles match. Instructions for the applet are provided within the applet. Different instructions appear depending on what is under the mouse.

There are other sample problems using applets:
GraphLimit Flash Applet Sample Problem
GraphLimit Flash Applet Sample Problem 2
trigwidget Applet Sample Problem
uSub Applet Sample Problem

PG problem file Explanation

##DESCRIPTION
##  understanding derivatives graphically
##ENDDESCRIPTION

##KEYWORDS('derivatives', 'graph')

## DBsubject('Calculus')
## DBchapter('Limits and Derivatives')
## DBsection('Derivatives')
## Date('7/25/2011')
## Author('Barbara Margolius')
## Institution('Cleveland State University')
## TitleText1('')
## EditionText1('2011')
## AuthorText1('')
## Section1('')
## Problem1('')

###################################################
# This work is supported in part by the
# National Science Foundation under the
# grant DUE-0941388.
###################################################


This is the tagging and description section of the problem. Note that any line that begins with a "#" character is a comment for other authors who read the problem, and is not interpreted by WeBWorK.

The description is provided to give a quick summary of the problem so that someone reading it later knows what it does without having to read through all of the problem code.

All of the tagging information exists to allow the problem to be easily indexed. Because this is a sample problem there isn't a textbook per se, and we've used some default tagging values. There is an on-line list of current chapter and section names and a similar list of keywords. The list of keywords should be comma separated and quoted (e.g., KEYWORDS('calculus','derivatives')).

DOCUMENT();

"PGstandard.pl",
"AppletObjects.pl",
"MathObjects.pl",
);


This is the initialization section of the problem. The first executed line of the problem must be the DOCUMENT(); command. Note that every command must end with a semicolon.

The loadMacros command loads information that works behind the scenes. For our purposes we can usually just load the macros shown here and not worry about things further.

# Set up problem
TEXT(beginproblem());
$showPartialCorrectAnswers = 1; Context("Numeric");$ans =Compute("1");

$showSolution = 0; if(time>$dueDate){
$showSolution = 1; } #match first and second derivatives$isit2der = 1;


This is the problem set-up section of the problem.

The derGraphMatchWW.swf applet requires the student to match three sets of graphs. If $isit2der is set to zero, the student must match three pairs of graphs of functions and their derivatives. If $isit2der is set to one, the student must match three triples of graphs of functions and their first and second derivatives. The screenshot above shows the applet with $isit2der=1. $showSolutions is turned on when the due date is passed. The solutions are shown within the applet. The problem author can add some explanatory text in the pg file. The applet shows the graphs in the correct positions with shading turned on so that the student can see the function is concave up where its derivative is increasing and the second derivative is positive.

###################################
###################################
$appletName = "derGraphMatchWW";$applet =  FlashApplet(
codebase
=> findAppletCodebase("$appletName.swf"), appletName =>$appletName,
appletId        => $appletName, setStateAlias => 'setXML', getStateAlias => 'getXML', setConfigAlias => 'setConfig', getConfigAlias => 'getConfig', maxInitializationAttempts => 5, answerBoxAlias => 'answerBox', height => '600', width => '550', bgcolor => '#ffffff', debugMode => 0, submitActionScript => qq{getQE("answerBox").value =getApplet("$appletName").getAnswer() },
);
###################################
# Configure applet
###################################

#initialization data - problem setup
#  $problemSeed - random seed # used to setup problem #$isit2der - set to 1 if student
#      must match function
#      to first and second derivate
#           - set to 0 if student
#      must match function
#      to first derivative
#  $showSolution - set to 1 if #$dueDate is passed, 0 otherwise
#  success - 0 if work not complete yet

$applet->configuration(qq{<xml> <seed>$problemSeed</seed>
<isit2der>$isit2der</isit2der> <showSolution>$showSolution</showSolution>
<stat success="0"/></xml>});
$applet->initialState(qq{<xml> <seed>$problemSeed</seed>
<isit2der>$isit2der</isit2der> <showSolution>$showSolution</showSolution>
<stat success="0"/></xml>});

TEXT( MODES(TeX=>'object code',
HTML=>$applet->insertAll( debug=>0, includeAnswerBox=>1, )));  This is the Applet link section of the problem. Those portions of the code that begin the line with # are comments and can be omitted or replaced with comments appropriate to your particular problem. You must include the section that follows # Create link to applet. If you are embedding a different applet, from the derGraphMatchWW applet, put your applet name in place of 'derGraphMatchWW' in the line $appletName = "derGraphMatchWW";. Enter the height of the applet in the line height => '600', in place of 600 and the width in the line width => '550', in place of 550.

The lines $applet->configuration (qq{<xml><seed>$problemSeed</seed> <isit2der>$isit2der</isit2der> <showSolution>$showSolution</showSolution> <stat success="0"/></xml>});  and $applet->initialState (qq{<xml><seed>$problemSeed</seed> <isit2der>$isit2der</isit2der>  <showSolution>$showSolution</showSolution> <stat success="0"/></xml>}); configure the applet. The configuration of the applet is done in xml. The $showSolution variable is set zero initially and to one after the due date, the problem seed is the WeBWorK environmental variable $problemSeed. Success is set to zero until the student solves the problem. $isit2der records whether the student is to match one or two derivatives. If $isit2der=1, then the student must match the graph of the function with the graphs of its first two derivatives.

The code qq{getQE("answerBox"). value=getApplet("$appletName").getAnswer()} is called when the 'Submit Answers' button in the problem is pressed. This code queries the applet as to whether the student has succeeded in matching the graphs. A "1" is returned if the graphs are matched. "0" is returned otherwise. TEXT( MODES(TeX=>'object code',  HTML=>$applet->insertAll( debug=>0, includeAnswerBox=>0,  reinitialize_button=>permissionLevel>=10, ))); actually embeds the applet in the WeBWorK problem. When the submit button is pressed the work in the applet is checked via the WeBWorK answer checker. TEXT(MODES(TeX=>"", HTML=><<'END_TEXT')); <script> if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE") > 0) { document.write("<div width='3in' align='center' style='background:yellow'> You seem to be using Internet Explorer. <br/>It is recommended that another browser be used to view this page.</div>"); } </script> END_TEXT  The text between the <script> tags detects whether the student is using Internet Explorer. If the student is using this browser, a warning is issued and the student is advised to use another browser. IE mis-sizes the applets. Some will work correctly when displayed at the wrong size, but others will fail. We do not recommend using IE with WeBWorK problems with Flash embedded. BEGIN_TEXTBR

$BR Put the tiles into place, then press 'submit answers'. END_TEXT Context()->normalStrings;  This is the text section of the problem. The TEXT(beginproblem()); line displays a header for the problem, and the Context()->texStrings line sets how formulas are displayed in the text, and we reset this after the text section. Everything between the BEGIN_TEXT and END_TEXT lines (each of which must appear alone on a line) is shown to the student. Since the student answers the question within the applet, no answer blank is provided here. ################################## # # Answers # ## answer evaluators NAMED_ANS('answerBox'=>$ans->cmp());

ENDDOCUMENT();


This is the answer section of the problem. The pg file compares the answer returned from the applet (either a "0" or a "1") to the correct answer (a "1") and grades the question accordingly.

The solution is embedded in the applet and becomes available when the due date has passed.

The ENDDOCUMENT(); command is the last command in the file.