Research/COLKnowledge/Pedagogical Templates Report

This report was created by Robert Kruhlak(User:Kruhly). It records the lessons learned during the research and creation of pedagogical templates for the WikiEducator wiki. The templates were used in an additional interactive science activity that can be found at: Images.

Template Research
Initially, I identified three main problems on WikiEducator that are related to pedagogical templates:
 * 1) Templates could not be passed complex data without breaking.
 * 2) A multichoice question template did not exist.
 * 3) The flash extension for embedding flash simulations could only handle flash simulations that did not have FlashVars parameters.

The first problem above was most urgently related to my objectives and I spent the majority of my time researching a solution. I also spent significant time researching the alternatives for the multichoice question template. I believe that problem three needs to be tackled in the very near future so that it does not limit the growth of the WikiEducator community.

Passing complex data as template parameters
During my research, I was able to determine that most complex template parameters did not work with WikiEducator templates because of an "=" in the parameter passed to the template. The solution is to pass the parameters explicitly using the argument name (ie using the following syntax):
 * , where ArgumentName must be used even if ArgumentName= {1,2,3,..., N}. Some examples that are currently working on WikiEducator are listed below:

1. A Tip template nested inside an Activity template:

2. An Activity template that has a Url with an "=" in its parameter and is nested inside an Exploration Activity template:

This problem has been resolved in all cases that I have tried since learning of the solution. I suggest that the WikiEducator community consider rewriting many of the pedagogical templates so that they have named arguments which will significantly reduce the risk of encountering this problem. I also suggest that the newbie tutorials should be updated to include information about the solution.

Multichoice Question (MCQ) Template
Searching for the best method to implement a MCQ template resulted in the creation of two MCQ templates and in locating the extension for a wikiquiz. I requested that the quiz extension be enabled. After some modifications by the creator and people at Wikiversity and a significant time lag, the extension was enabled on WikiEducator. The syntax for a single quiz question is as follows:

{This is a question}

+ This is a correct answer

- This is an incorrect answer

{This is a question} + This is a correct answer - This is an incorrect answer

The wikiquiz looks to be a powerful tool for self-assessment. However, it has some quirks that need to be resolved.
 * 1) The quiz extension disables/breaks all templates that use the javascript navigation toolbar on the page that it is used. For example see Problems with Wikiquiz
 * 2) The default for the quiz is to post a purple marker with a label "syntax error." This happens even when there is not problem with the syntax as far as I can tell. This is very confusing and would definitely scare away new users. A wishlist item for a "Simple" format has been added on mediawiki.org.
 * 3) Feedback is given when a "Correction button" is clicked by the user. However, the "correctness" is only indicated by a color scheme. This color scheme has green for correct and red for incorrect. Thus there is a significant risk that color blind technology (and persons) would not be able to indicator the correct answer.
 * 4) The correction button that is used to display the answers and feedback does not allow for the learner to try again with a fresh question. My preference would be to have the correction button be replaced with a try again button after the feedback for the "chosen" answer is displayed.

I am participating in an ongoing discussion to improve the extension. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to explore the use of this extension in the additional lesson. I do think that time should be spent in the future, testing its implementation, improving its implementation, and implementing it in WikiEducator. In addition to implementation there needs to be a continuous dialog between Wikiversity and WikiEducator (see OER grapevine) to ensure that modifications made to the extension on one wiki are compatible with the other wiki.

OER Grapevine Discussion
A discussion has been started at OER grapevine: MediaWiki Pedagogical Templates. Currently there is a listing of several activities at Wikiversity and Wikieducator but no significant discussion to date. Hopefully, this will change in the near future.

Additional Lesson
In addition to the new and improved templates mentioned above, I believe that it is important to enable the "Labeled Section Transclusion" extension so that an environment exists where lessons can be quickly and easily be re-contextualized. Adding a newbie tutorial about this subject should also be considered a high priority.

Future
This research has made large strides in improving the resources available for educators on WikiEducator for creating rich media tutorials and lessons. As the future activity boxes in the previous sections suggest, the work is not complete. In addition to the future activities previously mentioned, there are several activities that need attention and the time spent on them depends on the resources available. They involve research and discussion, and the time devoted to them would best be determined by Commonwealth of Learning.

If you have any questions about this report do not hesitate to contact me at my talk page.

-- Kruhly 08:26, 18 April 2007 (CEST)