Creating and Editing your own Items · You can Copy and Edit one of your own items if you want two copies of it. Items you create or edit are called My Items. ... Write and balance

Introducing the Simple and Advanced Editors page 1

CreatingandEditingyourownItemsIntroducingtheSimpleandAdvancedEditorsSarah Smith [email protected]

This introduction describes how you can use the Enhanced Simple Editor and the Advanced

Editor to copy, edit, and create your own items.

Let’s start on a happy note. Whenever you edit an item, you are editing your own copy of an

item. Nothing you see will affect anybody else.

That means nothing can go wrong. Ever. You can’t screw up someone else’s copy of this item,

or the published copy.

This doesn’t mean that you’ll never make a mistake. You will. If you’re lucky, you’ll see me

making a mistake in training. But if worse comes to worst, just start again.

And here’s everything else you need to know about editing. Don’t worry about these now; come

back to them when they make sense:

The Enhanced Simple Editor is increasingly powerful; use it when you can.

The editors you use are, with tiny exceptions, exactly the editors our own content

creators use. That means, with tiny exceptions, you can copy and edit any Mastering

item.

You can switch back and forth between editors at any time after saving an item.

Before you save an item in either of the editors, validate it with the Validate button (the

one with a check mark). This validates the XML. If your item doesn’t pass validation, it

won’t save (which is good; you want valid XML).

An item without an answer won’t pass validation, so you always need to include an

answer. If you don’t have time to code an answer, use the default multiple‐choice

answer.

Don’t edit items from the introductory assignment; they all give students full credit. (If

you ever want an item to be for full credit, do copy and edit an item from the

introductory assignment.)


You can Copy and Edit one of your own items if you want two copies of it.

Items you create or edit are called My Items. They belong to you. They are stored either

in the chapter where the original item came from, if you copied and edited an item, or

in a special chapter called No Chapter Specified, at the top of the chapter list. Items not

from the book you’re currently using are also stored in No Chapter Specified. This

storage system should be better, and eventually will be.

In the Advanced Editor:

Right‐click on anything in the Advanced Editor to find a menu of things you can do.

Never copy directly from Word; it has invisible formatting that screws up XML. If you

want to copy material into an editor, copy it to NotePad or another plain‐vanilla editor,

then copy from NotePad into the editor.

A special note on editing items that are in an assignment:

Editing an item is different from updating an assignment. You can edit an item at any

time, even if it’s in an active assignment, without updating the item in the assignment.

This is good; your students won’t see anything you don’t want them to.

If you have edited an item and want it to be in a current assignment, delete the old

version from your assignment, then add the new version.

If you do this, students’ previous work on the item will be discarded.

For items you own, whether or not you change the version in the assignment, you’ll

always see the newest version in the editor.

Copying an assignment always copies the newest version, even if a previous version was

in the copied assignment. If you want the old version, copy the item to create your own

item.

That’s really all you need to know. Let’s look at the editors.

TheEnhancedSimpleEditorYou are probably familiar with the Simple Editor. In the Simple Editor, you can

Create problems and copy Mastering problems.

Edit all of the text in a problem

Add and resize images.

Edit images (e.g. by substituting a new one)


Add and remove hints and parts

Create several types of answers. Some numeric and string answers are now

randomizable:

o Multiple choice and multiple select

o Numeric value or expression

o Numeric with units of measurement

o Chemical formula or expression

o Essay

o Simple text input

Information on all of these answers is available by selecting [NEED ? ICON] whenever you’re in

the ESE. We’ll cover Multiple Choice and Randomization.

Create a new item by going to the Item Library and selecting Create a new item.

MultipleChoiceWhen you create a new item, the default answer type is Multiple Choice.

The default multiple choice answer is a working answer even though all the fields are blank.

Fill in the fields to create a meaningful set of answers. You can add images or formatted text

such as TeX.

To create more answer choices, select add choice.

Select the correct answer by selecting the radio button that appears next to it. If more than one

answer may be correct, select add an additional correct answer.

By default, answers appear in random order. Move answer choices up and down or lock the

position of an answer (for instance “All of the above”). Delete choices with the Delete icon

[ICON].

If students should choose more than one correct answer, use the answer type Multiple Select.

Switching between Multiple Choice and Multiple Select will retain any answers you’ve entered;

you don’t need to type them again.

Let’s try another type of answer. Add a second part by selecting Add Part at the bottom of the

item.


RandomizationRandomized items allow instructors to show different values of an assignment item to different

students. This helps to prevent cheating.

Those of you who have used the Mastering editors for some time are familiar with doing

randomization in the Advanced Editor. It’s now available in the ESE, with even more features,

and is even more easy to use.

To create the simplest type of randomized item, set up one or more variables and give them a

range of values.

1. In your item, select the dice icon in the Edit Item menu ribbon, then select Define New

Variable.

2. Choose Numeric.

3. In the name, enter A.

4. Enter for min/max/step values, 1, 10, and 1. This will give the range 1,2,3…10.

5. Select OK.

6. Select Define New Variable again, and again choose the Numeric type and enter B.

7. Enter for min/max/step values, 4, 32, and 4. This will give 4,8,12,16…32.

8. Change the answer type to Numeric value or expression [CHECK THIS].

9. In the Answer Instructions, enter “What is the product of A and B?”

10. Select A and select the dice icon. This will mark A as a variable. Do the same for B.

You should see the following:

[IMAGE]

11. In the answer box, type the correct answer, A*B.

12. Validate your item by clicking on the Validate checkbox icon, then select Save&Preview.

13. Select Manage item > Restart to see the same item with new values.

Now let’s try some variations on randomization. Numeric List and String List are attractive,

randomizable alternatives to simple multiple choice.

Numeric List lets you enter a list of specific numeric values, such as 1, 15, 82, 368.

String List lets you enter a list of strings. Strings can be formatted; for instance, you can

enter chemical formulae using ChemTeX.


Variables

Variables can be used to define other variables. For instance, if you have created A and

B, you can define a variable C to be A divided by B.

You can link variables with each other by using a common List ID. When Mastering

chooses a value for the variable from the first list, it chooses the corresponding value for

the solution from the second list. For instance, if HCl is the third item in the first list,

Mastering chooses the corresponding item in the second list, “hydrogen chloride.”

Let’s use some of these by creating a new randomizable part.

We set up (at least) two lists, one with a list of variable values and the other with the solutions

corresponding to those values. The two lists have a common ID.

1. Select Define New Variable and choose String List.

2. Enter Name.

3. Enter the ID 1.

4. For the first value, enter the text \rm{HNO_3} and select tex from the formatting

ribbon. Do the same for \rm{HClO_4}. In the following fields, enter HF and HBr. Add a

new choice and enter HCl.

The formatting in the first two fields is ChemTex, the standard language for typesetting

chemical formulae. In the documentation page [LINK], you’ll see a full explanation, with

all the examples you will ever need. Use TeX for all scientific formatting; see [DOC LINK]

for examples or search on “TeX” in the documentation index.

5. Create another string list, also with the List ID 1. Because the ID numbers match,

Mastering links these values. When Mastering chooses a value for HX—say, the third

value in the list—it’ll choose the third value in the Eq list when it sees Eq.

6. Select the [CHECK THIS] answer type.

7. In the Part Text, enter the following:

Acidification of sodium bicarbonate (\rm{NaHCO_3}) produces carbon dioxide in a two‐


step process. The first step produces carbonic acid (\rm{H_2CO_3}). The second step is

the decomposition of carbonic acid to carbon dioxide.

8. In the Answer Instructions, enter the following:

Write and balance the molecular equation for the first step of the reaction of sodium

bicarbonate with HX. Write the balanced chemical equation without phases.

9. Select the formulae. Format them by selecting tex in the left‐hand column. Yellow [tex]

markers surround the tex. In a future release, the TeX will format.

10. Select HX and select the dice icon to mark it as a variable.

11. In the answer box, type the correct answer, Eq.

Note: If you have done string variables in the Advanced Editor, note that you don’t need

the colons in the ESE. CHECK THIS.

12. Validate your item with the check icon

ICON

then select Save & Preview.

TheAdvancedEditorFor more complex answer types, we use the Advanced Editor. This is the same editor that our

own authors use for more complex answer types, and we’ve made it simple to use and robust.

Eventually, we plan to move all answer editing over to the ESE. In the meantime, it’s a good

investment of your time to learn the Advanced Editor.

HowtoopentheAdvancedEditorThis is the hardest part of using the Advanced Editor. No kidding.

For the Advanced Editor, you must use Internet Explorer. You may need to customize your copy

of Internet Explorer to use the Advanced Editor. Here is how to do it:

GIVE URL WITH MOST RECENT INFORMATION.

ToeditPearson‐supplieditemsintheAdvancedEditor1. Go to Item Library.

2. Open an item.

3. In the Manage Item menu, click Copy and Edit. You now have your own copy—you can

play with it as much as you want and you won’t affect the published item.

4. Make any changes you like in the ESE. Remember any part you create must have an

answer before you can save your work. The default multiple‐choice answer is fine.


5. Select Open Advanced Editor.

TouroftheAdvancedEditor[LINK TO MARIA’S DOC]

Today you’ll learn how to code labeling and add video to your item.

LabelingLabeling is the simplest of a number of answer types in which you double‐click on the Correct

Answer field to edit a graphic item.

As users of Mastering, you can adapt any of the instructor resources, such as images, for your

own assignment items. You may want to adapt an image and ask students to label parts of the

image.

[IMAGE WITH LABELS]

Images smaller than 1 MB can be added to the item. They are called assets and they remain with

the item when it’s copied. Other things [MORE DETAIL ON THIS] can also be assets.

Start by picking out a graphic that you’d like to label.

1. Go to Item Library and create or open your item. Don’t edit it yet. [THIS MAY CHANGE]

2. In the Manage Item menu, click Manage Assets. This opens a window.

3. Browse to select a .JPG file from your computer or elsewhere.

The best images are wider than they are long and are about the size of the typical

computer display. Images that are too large are clipped; they do not scroll. When in

doubt, try it; you can always change the background image.

4. Click Upload to make the file an asset of the item.

5. Copy the item’s name from the Manage Assets window.

6. Close the Manage Assets window.

7. In the Manage Item menu, click Open Advanced Editor.

8. Now remove the multiple‐choice answer. Right‐click anywhere in the answer. Select

remove, then answer.

9. Add a new answer. Click on the underlined add… and select answer.

10. In the blue box, click add


Here is where the Advanced Editor pays off—look at all the other answer types you

now have access to. Click solutionAppletLabel, the labeling answer type.

11. In the Answer Instructions, enter “Drag the labels to the appropriate location on the

image.”

12. In the blue answer box, paste the name of the background image that you copied from

the Manage Assets window.


13. In the Item ID field, type the number 1. In the label field, select htmlText and type a the

text of a label.

14. Tab, type the Item ID 2, select htmlText and add label text.

15. Tab, type the Item ID 3, select htmlText and add label text.

(You can also make images into labels. They must be the right size when you add them;

they won’t resize.)

16. Double‐click on the Correct Answer field.

A new window opens.

You see the background image and the labels.

17. Drag the labels onto the background image where you want them. You can drag labels

and delete targets. The icons at the lower left give further options. When you are

satisfied, click Save.


18. You see a prompt with an answer string. It will look something like

target_0=1:target_1=2:target_2=3

Copy the correct answer string and select OK.

19. Go back to the Item Editor window and paste the string in the Correct Answer field.

20. Validate your item by clicking on the green Validate checkbox icon. XML won’t save if it

isn’t valid.

If you see “The document is valid,” save your work.

21. Go back to the main window and try out your new problem.

You can use the same process to enter wrong answers.

Many graphical answer types work similarly. You set up the parameters, such as a graphic

background, open a graphical editor, enter the correct answer graphically, and copy a string.

Mastering does all the rest.

IntegratedMultimediaStudents love multimedia, and it’s very easy to integrate multimedia into Mastering.

To show students a video that is available on a public server, such as a school server or YouTube,

simply link to it. You can do this in the Simple Editor by entering text and selecting the hyperlink

icon. The video will open in a new window.


You can do the same thing in the advanced editor. Select text, select a from the left bar, and

type the URL in the href attribute field. Enter _blank in the target attribute field to open in a

new window.

You can also show media directly, rather than through a hyperlink.

1. In the part text of any item, select a location.

2. On the left bar, click media.

3. Enter the height and width of the display area for the media.

4. Enter a URL for the media. If the media is less than 1 MB, you can add it as an asset of

the item; in that case, simply enter the filename, as you did for the background image of

the tiger.

5. Validate and save your work.

AddingyourediteditemstoyourassignmentIn Mastering, editing an item does not automatically update it in an assignment. Frequently

you’ll want to make some edits in an item without changing the earlier version in a current

assignment or course.

If you want to replace a Pearson‐supplied item with one of your own items

1. Go to the assignment and find the item in Select Content.

2. Uncheck it to remove it from the assignment.

3. Find your own item in My Items and add it to the assignment.

If you want to update one of your items for a current assignment

1. Go to the assignment and find the item in Select Content.

2. Uncheck it.


3. Recheck it.

The new version of the item is now in the assignment.

Note: If this is a current assignment, any students who have already finished the item will have

their work erased. They will need to do the item again. They seldom mind this, since it gives

them a free second chance at getting a good grade.

If you do not update an item in an assignment, the updated version will appear if the

assignment is copied. Only updated items are replaced automatically; your item does not

automatically replace a Pearson item.

Reminder:HowtoviewcompleteEditordocumentationNow you’ve seen some Editor basics, consult the complete Editor documentation for more

answer types.

[DETAILS NEEDED HERE]

Find About answer types in the index to see every sort of answer Mastering can accept, and a

link to exactly how to create them. [UPDATE THIS AS NECESSARY. Maria, this is the page I

mentioned to you; we always show it during training and the customers always say “Aaaahhh!”

and write the name down.]

Answer types contain links to any other specialized information you will need, such as TeX

examples.

Documents

Creating and Editing your own Items · You can Copy and Edit one of your own items if you want two copies of it. Items you create or edit are called My Items. ... Write and balance