Flows¶
All interactive content in RELATE is part of a flow. Relate uses the made-up word “flow” to denote an interactive experience that can be any of the following:
A quiz
A few pages of introductory text, combined with some videos
An exam
A long-form homework assignment
And possibly many more different things. Technically, a flow consists of multiple webpages, each of which may allow the participant some type of interaction, such as submitting answers to questions. All interactions of the participant with a flow constitute a session. A participant may have multiple sessions per flow, corresponding to, for example, being able to take the same quiz multiple times.
This chapter describes how flows are defined from the instructor’s perspective. This consists of two main parts. The first part is defining the interactions themselves, by providing content for the flow pages. The second consists of describing what participants are allowed to do, and what grades they are to receive for their interactions. The system allows tremendous latitude in defining these rules.
Things that can be decided by flow rules include the following:
Is student allowed only one or multiple sessions?
Is the student allowed to review past sessions?
What are the deadlines involved and how much credit is received for completing a flow?
Is a participant shown the correct answer and/or the correctness of their answer? When are they shown this information? (Right after they submit their answer or only after the deadline passes or perhaps right after they have submitted their work for grading?)
An Example¶
title: "RELATE Test Quiz"
description: |
# RELATE Test Quiz
rules:
# (Things behind '#' hash marks are comments.)
# Allow students to start two attempts at the quiz before the deadline.
# After that, only allow access to previously started quizzes.
start:
-
if_after: 2015-03-06 23:59:00
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
if_has_fewer_sessions_than: 2
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
may_start_new_session: False
may_list_existing_sessions: True
# Allow students to submit quiz answers before the deadline.
# After the deadline, the quiz becomes read-only. (The 'modify'
# permission goes away.)
access:
-
if_after: 2015-03-06 23:59:02
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, see_correctness]
-
permissions: [view, see_correctness, see_answer_after_submission]
# Record grades under the machine-readable name 'test_quiz'.
# If there is more than one grade, use the maximum.
grade_identifier: test_quiz
grade_aggregation_strategy: max_grade
grading:
- credit_percent: 100
pages:
-
type: Page
id: welcome
content: |
# Welcome to the test quiz for RELATE!
Don't be scared.
-
type: ChoiceQuestion
id: color
prompt: |
# Colors
What color is the sun?
choices:
- Blue
- Green
- ~CORRECT~ Yellow
completion_text: |
# See you in class!
Thanks for completing the quiz.
Overall Structure of a Flow¶
When described in YAML, a flow has the following components:
- class course.content.FlowDesc(entries: dict)[source]¶
- title¶
A plain-text title of the flow
- description¶
A description in RELATE markup shown on the start page of the flow.
- completion_text¶
(Optional) Some text in RELATE markup shown once a student has completed the flow.
- notify_on_submit¶
(Optional) A list of email addresses which to notify about a flow submission by a participant.
- rules¶
(Optional) Some rules governing students’ use and grading of the flow. See Flow rules.
- groups¶
A list of
FlowPageGroupDesc
. Exactly one ofgroups
orpages
must be given.
- pages¶
A list of pages. If you specify this, a single
FlowPageGroupDesc
will be implicitly created. Exactly one ofgroups
orpages
must be given.
Flow rules¶
An Example¶
Here’s a commented example:
rules:
# Rules that govern when a new session may be started and whether
# existing sessions may be listed.
start:
-
# Members of the listed roles may start a new session of this
# flow if they have fewer than 2 existing sessions if the current
# time is before the event 'end_week 1'.
if_before: end_week 1
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
if_has_fewer_sessions_than: 2
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
# Otherwise, no new sessions will be allowed,
# but existing ones may be listed.
may_start_new_session: False
may_list_existing_sessions: True
# Rules that govern what a user may do with an existing session.
access:
-
# Before the event 'end_week 2', a user may view, submit answers
# to the flow, and see the grade they received for their answers.
if_before: end_week 2
permissions: [view, modify, see_correctness]
-
# Afterwards, they will also be allowed to see the correct answer.
permissions: [view, modify, see_correctness, see_answer_after_submission]
# Rules that govern how (permanent) grades are generated from the
# results of a flow.
# Grades for this flow are recorded under grade identifier 'la_quiz'.
# Multiple such grades (if present) are aggregated by taking their maximum.
grade_identifier: la_quiz
grade_aggregation_strategy: max_grade
grading:
-
# If the user completes the flow before the event 'end_week 1', they
# receive full credit.
if_completed_before: end_week 1
credit_percent: 100
-
# Otherwise, no credit is given.
credit_percent: 0
Overall structure¶
- class course.content.FlowRulesDesc(entries: dict)[source]¶
Found in the
rules
attribute of aFlowDesc
.- start¶
Rules that govern when a new session may be started and whether existing sessions may be listed.
A list of
FlowSessionStartRuleDesc
Rules are tested from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions apply determines the access.
- access¶
Rules that govern what a user may do while they are interacting with an existing session.
A list of
FlowSessionAccessRuleDesc
.Rules are tested from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions apply determines the access.
Grading-Related
- grade_identifier¶
(Required) The identifier of the grade to be generated once the participant completes the flow. If
null
, no grade is generated.
- grade_aggregation_strategy¶
(Required if
grade_identifier
is notnull
)One of
grade_aggregation_strategy
.
- grading¶
Rules that govern how (permanent) overall grades are generated from the results of a flow. These rules apply once a flow session ends/is submitted for grading. See Life cycle.
(Required if grade_identifier is not
null
) A list ofFlowSessionGradingRuleDesc
Rules are tested from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions apply determines the access.
Rules for starting new sessions¶
- class course.content.FlowSessionStartRuleDesc(entries: dict)[source]¶
Rules that govern when a new session may be started and whether existing sessions may be listed.
Found in the
start
attribute ofFlowRulesDesc
.Conditions
- if_has_role¶
(Optional) A list of a subset of the roles defined in the course, by default
unenrolled
,ta
,student
,instructor
.
- if_has_participation_tags_any¶
(Optional) A list of participation tags. Rule applies when the participation has at least one tag in this list.
- if_has_participation_tags_all¶
(Optional) A list of participation tags. Rule applies if only the participation’s tags include all items in this list.
- if_in_facility¶
(Optional) Name of a facility known to the RELATE web page. This rule allows (for example) restricting flow starting based on whether a user is physically located in a computer-based testing center (which RELATE can recognize based on IP ranges).
- if_has_in_progress_session¶
(Optional) A Boolean (True/False) value, indicating that the rule only applies if the participant has an in-progress session.
- if_has_session_tagged¶
(Optional) An identifier (or
null
) indicating that the rule only applies if the participant has a session with the corresponding tag.
- if_has_fewer_sessions_than¶
(Optional) An integer. The rule applies if the participant has fewer than this number of sessions.
- if_has_fewer_tagged_sessions_than¶
(Optional) An integer. The rule applies if the participant has fewer than this number of sessions with access rule tags.
- if_signed_in_with_matching_exam_ticket¶
(Optional) The rule applies if the participant signed in with an exam ticket matching this flow.
Rules specified
- may_start_new_session¶
(Mandatory) A Boolean (True/False) value indicating whether, if the rule applies, the participant may start a new session.
- may_list_existing_sessions¶
(Mandatory) A Boolean (True/False) value indicating whether, if the rule applies, the participant may view a list of existing sessions.
- tag_session¶
(Optional) An identifier that will be applied to a newly-created session as a “tag”. This can be used by
FlowSessionAccessRuleDesc.if_has_tag
andFlowSessionGradingRuleDesc.if_has_tag
.
- default_expiration_mode¶
(Optional) One of
flow_session_expiration_mode
. The expiration mode applied when a session is first created or rolled over.
Rules about accessing and interacting with a flow¶
- class course.content.FlowSessionAccessRuleDesc(entries: dict)[source]¶
Rules that govern what a user may do with an existing session.
Found in the
access
attribute ofFlowRulesDesc
.Conditions
- if_has_role¶
(Optional) A list of a subset of
[unenrolled, ta, student, instructor]
.
- if_has_participation_tags_any¶
(Optional) A list of participation tags. Rule applies when the participation has at least one tag in this list.
- if_has_participation_tags_all¶
(Optional) A list of participation tags. Rule applies if only the participation’s tags include all items in this list.
- if_in_facility¶
(Optional) Name of a facility known to the RELATE web page. This rule allows (for example) restricting flow access based on whether a user is physically located in a computer-based testing center (which RELATE can recognize based on IP ranges).
- if_has_tag¶
(Optional) Rule applies if session has this tag (see
FlowSessionStartRuleDesc.tag_session
), an identifier.
- if_in_progress¶
(Optional) A Boolean (True/False) value. Rule applies if the session’s in-progress status matches this Boolean value.
- if_completed_before¶
(Optional) A datespec. Rule applies if the session was completed before this time.
- if_expiration_mode¶
(Optional) One of
flow_session_expiration_mode
. Rule applies if the expiration mode (see Life cycle) matches.
- if_session_duration_shorter_than_minutes¶
(Optional) The rule applies if the current session has been going on for less than the specified number of minutes. Fractional values (e.g. “0.5”) are accepted here.
- if_signed_in_with_matching_exam_ticket¶
(Optional) The rule applies if the participant signed in with an exam ticket matching this flow.
Rules specified
- permissions¶
A list of
flow_permission
.submit_answer
andend_session
are automatically removed from a finished (i.e. not ‘in-progress’) session.
- message¶
(Optional) Some text in RELATE markup that is shown to the student in an ‘alert’ box at the top of the page if this rule applies.
Access permission bits¶
- class course.constants.flow_permission[source]¶
- view¶
If present, the participant may view flow pages.
- submit_answer¶
If present, the participant may submit answers to prompts provided on a flow page.
- end_session¶
If present, the participant may end their flow session and receive an overall grade.
- change_answer¶
Grants permission to change an already-graded answer, which may then be graded again. Useful for
course.page.PythonCodeQuestion
to allow iterative debugging. Requiressubmit_answer
to also be present in order to be meaningful. (If a participant may not submit answers in the first place, the ability to change answers is moot.)
- see_correctness¶
If present, the participant will be shown to what extent their submitted answer is correct. (See
submit_answer
.)
- see_answer_before_submission¶
If present, shows the correct answer to the participant even before they have submitted an answer of their own.
- see_answer_after_submission¶
If present, shows the correct answer to the participant after they have submitted an answer of their own (and are no longer able to change it).
- cannot_see_flow_result¶
If present, an overall result/grade for the flow will not be shown at the end of a flow session.
- set_roll_over_expiration_mode¶
Grants permission to let a student choose to let a flow “expire” into the then-current set of access rules instead of into being submitted for grading.
See Life cycle.
- see_session_time¶
Allows the participant to see the duration for which the session has been going on.
- lock_down_as_exam_session¶
Once any page of the flow has been viewed, access to all content except for this session on this RELATE instance will be denied.
- send_email_about_flow_page¶
If present, the participant can send interaction emails to course staff for questions for each page with that permission.
- hide_point_count¶
If present, the point count for the page will not be shown to the participant.
Determining how final (overall) grades of flows are computed¶
- class course.content.FlowSessionGradingRuleDesc(entries: dict)[source]¶
Rules that govern how (permanent) grades are generated from the results of a flow.
Found in the
grading
attribute ofFlowRulesDesc
.Conditions
- if_has_role¶
(Optional) A list of a subset of
[unenrolled, ta, student, instructor]
.
- if_has_participation_tags_any¶
(Optional) A list of participation tags. Rule applies when the participation has at least one tag in this list.
- if_has_participation_tags_all¶
(Optional) A list of participation tags. Rule applies if only the participation’s tags include all items in this list.
- if_has_tag¶
(Optional) Rule applies if session has this tag (see
FlowSessionStartRuleDesc.tag_session
), an identifier.
- if_completed_before¶
(Optional) A datespec. Rule applies if the session was completed before this time.
When evaluating this condition for in-progress sessions, the current time, or, if
use_last_activity_as_completion_time
is set, the time of the last activity is used.Since September 2017, this respects
use_last_activity_as_completion_time
.
Rules specified
- credit_percent¶
(Optional) A number indicating the percentage of credit assigned for this flow. Defaults to 100 if not present. This is applied after point modifiers such as
bonus_points
andmax_points_enforced_cap
.
- due¶
A datespec indicating the due date of the flow. This is shown to the participant and also used to batch-expire ‘past-due’ flows.
- generates_grade¶
(Optional) A Boolean indicating whether a grade will be recorded when this flow is ended. Note that the value of this rule must never change over the lifetime of a flow. I.e. a flow that, at some point during its lifetime, may have been set to generate a grade must always be set to generate a grade. Defaults to
true
.
- use_last_activity_as_completion_time¶
(Optional) A Boolean indicating whether the last time a participant made a change to their flow should be used as the completion time.
Defaults to
false
to match past behavior.true
is probably the more sensible value for this.
- description¶
(Optional) A description of this set of grading rules being applied to the flow. Shown to the participant on the flow start page.
- max_points¶
(Optional, an integer or floating point number if given) The number of points on the flow which constitute “100% of the achievable points”. If not given, this is automatically computed by summing point values from all constituent pages.
This may be used to ‘grade out of N points’, where N is a number that is lower than the actually achievable count.
- max_points_enforced_cap¶
(Optional, an integer or floating point number if given) No participant will have a grade higher than this recorded for this flow. This may be used to limit the amount of ‘extra credit’ achieved beyond
max_points
.
- bonus_points¶
(Optional, an integer or floating point number if given) This number of points will be added to every participant’s score.
- class course.constants.grade_aggregation_strategy[source]¶
A strategy for aggregating multiple grades into one.
- max_grade¶
Use the maximum of the achieved grades for each attempt.
- avg_grade¶
Use the average of the achieved grades for each attempt.
- min_grade¶
Use the minimum of the achieved grades for each attempt.
- use_earliest¶
Use the first of the achieved grades for each attempt.
- use_latest¶
Use the last of the achieved grades for each attempt.
Flow pages¶
Grouping¶
Each flow consists of a number of page groups, each of which is made up of individual Flow pages.
The purpose of page groups is to allow shuffling and random selection of some subset of pages. For example, this functionality would allow you to have a flow consisting of:
a fixed introduction page (that is always at the beginning)
a group of exam questions randomly selected from a bigger pool
a fixed final page (that may ask the student to, say, affirm academic honesty)
Each of these would be a separate ‘group’.
Each group allows the following attributes:
Per-page permissions¶
The granted access permissions for the entire flow (see
FlowSessionAccessRuleDesc
) can be modified on a
per-page basis. This happens in the access_rules
sub-block of each page,
e.g. in course.page.ChoiceQuestion.access_rules
:
- class course.content.PageAccessRules¶
- add_permissions¶
A list of
flow_permission
values that are granted in addition to the globally granted ones.
- remove_permissions¶
A list of
flow_permission
values that are not granted for this page even if they are granted by the global flow permissions.
For example, to grant permission to revise an answer on a
course.page.PythonCodeQuestion
, one might type:
type: PythonCodeQuestion
id: addition
access_rules:
add_permissions:
- change_answer
value: 1
Life cycle¶
- class course.constants.flow_session_expiration_mode[source]¶
- end¶
End the session upon expiration. Participants may always choose this mode.
- roll_over¶
Upon expiration, reprocess the session start rules and treat the session as if it was started the moment of expiration. This may be used to ‘roll over’ into another set of grading rules, say ones assigning less credit for homework turned in late.
Allowed by
flow_permission.set_roll_over_expiration_mode
.
Automatic point computation from textual feedback¶
If you write your textual feedback in a certain way, Relate can help you compute the grade (and update it when rubrics change):
Crossed all t’s [pts:1/1 #cross_t]
Dotted all i’s [pts:2/2 #dot_i]
Obeyed the axiom of choice [pts:1.5/1 #ax_choice]
The hash marks (and arbitrary identifiers after) are optional. If specified, they will permit Relate to automatically update the grade feedback with a new rubric (while maintaining point percentages for each item, as found by the identifier).
If at least one “denominator” is specified, Relate will automatically compute the total and set the grade percentage. If no denominator is specified anywhere, Relate will compute the sum and set the point count.
—
If there is a line with three or more hyphens on its own, everything after that line is kept unchanged when updating feedback from a rubric.
[pts:-1.5] Negative point contributions work, too.
Note
The feedback update facility is not currently implemented (but planned!).
Sample Rule Sets¶
RELATE’s rule system is quite flexible and allows many different styles of interaction. Some of what’s possible may not be readily apparent from the reference documentation above, so the following examples serve to illustrate the possibilities.
Simple Single-Submission Assignment with a Due Date¶
The rules for this can be written as follows:
title: "An assignment"
description: |
# An Assignment
rules:
start:
-
if_before: my_assignment_due
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
if_has_fewer_sessions_than: 1
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
may_start_new_session: False
may_list_existing_sessions: True
access:
-
# 'modify'-type permissions are automatically removed at
# session end. Add the following if desired:
#
# see_correctness
# change_answer
#
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session]
grade_identifier: "my_assignment"
grade_aggregation_strategy: max_grade
grading:
-
credit_percent: 100
due: my_assignment_due
description: "Full credit"
pages:
- ....
Exam¶
This rule set describes the following:
An exam that can be taken at most once in a specified facility.
Instructors can preview and take the exam from anywhere, at any time, as many times as needed.
No feedback on correctness is provided during the exam.
The rules for this can be written as follows:
title: "Midterm exam 1"
description: |
# Midterm exam 1
rules:
grade_identifier: exam_1
grade_aggregation_strategy: use_earliest
start:
-
if_has_role: [instructor]
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
if_in_facility: "cbtf"
if_has_role: [student, instructor]
if_has_fewer_sessions_than: 1
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
if_in_facility: "cbtf"
if_has_role: [student, instructor]
may_start_new_session: False
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
may_start_new_session: False
may_list_existing_sessions: False
access:
-
if_after: end_of_class
if_has_role: [unenrolled, student]
permissions: []
-
if_in_facility: "cbtf"
if_has_role: [student, instructor]
if_after: exam 1 - 1 week
if_before: end:exam 1 + 2 weeks
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, cannot_see_flow_result, lock_down_as_exam_session]
-
if_has_role: [instructor]
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, cannot_see_flow_result, lock_down_as_exam_session]
-
permissions: []
grading:
- generates_grade: true
pages:
- ....
Pre-Lecture Quiz with Multiple Attempts and Practice Sessions¶
This rule set describes the following:
A quiz is due at the start of a lecture.
After that deadline, the quiz remains available to take for half-credit for a week.
After that week, the quiz will remain available for practice, but no attempt will be counted for credit.
Three for-credit attempts are allowed. Any attempts beyond that are simply for practice and not counted for credit.
Visitors/unenrolled students can view the questions, but not interact with them.
Feedback on correctness is provided after an answer is submitted.
The correct answer is revealed after completion.
The rules for this can be written as follows:
title: "Quiz: Lecture 13"
description: |
# Quiz: Lecture 13
rules:
tags:
- regular
- practice
start:
-
if_has_role: [unenrolled]
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: False
-
if_after: lecture 13 - 4 weeks
if_before: lecture 13 + 1 week
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
if_has_fewer_sessions_than: 3
tag_session: regular
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
tag_session: practice
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
access:
-
if_has_role: [unenrolled]
permissions: [view]
message: |
It does not look like you are enrolled in the class, that's why you
cannot make changes below. Please verify that you are signed in,
and then go back to the class web page and find the big blue "Enroll"
button near the top.
-
if_after: end_of_class
if_has_role: [student]
permissions: []
-
if_has_role: [student, instructor, ta]
if_in_progress: True
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, see_correctness]
-
if_has_role: [student, instructor, ta]
if_in_progress: False
permissions: [view, see_correctness, see_answer_after_submission]
grade_identifier: "quiz_13"
grade_aggregation_strategy: max_grade
grading:
-
if_has_tag: practice
description: "Practice session"
generates_grade: false
-
if_completed_before: lecture 13
description: "Graded session at full credit"
due: lecture 13
-
if_completed_before: lecture 13 + 1 week
description: "Graded session at half credit"
credit_percent: 50
due: lecture 13 + 1 week
-
credit_percent: 0
pages:
- ....
Homework Set with Grace Period¶
This rule set describes the following:
Homework that is due at a time given by an event
hw_due 2
.Visitors/unenrolled students can view the questions, but not interact with them.
For-credit sessions are tagged as “full-credit” (
main
) or “half-credit” (grace
) and earn credit correspondingly.Students are allowed to decide whether they would like to auto-submit their work at the deadline or keep working.
Due dates are shown as given by
hw_due 2
and a week after that.At the deadlines (or soon after them), an instructor “expires” the sessions using a button in the grading interface, thereby actually “realizing” the deadline.
Correct solutions are revealed after the main deadline passes.
The rules for this can be written as follows:
title: "Homework 2"
description: |
# Homework 2
rules:
tags:
- main
- grace
start:
-
if_has_role: [unenrolled]
tag_session: null
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: False
-
if_after: hw_due 2 - 3 weeks
if_before: hw_due 2
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
if_has_fewer_tagged_sessions_than: 1
tag_session: main
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
if_after: hw_due 2
if_before: hw_due 2 + 7 days
if_has_role: [student, ta, instructor]
if_has_fewer_tagged_sessions_than: 1
tag_session: grace
may_start_new_session: True
may_list_existing_sessions: True
-
may_start_new_session: False
may_list_existing_sessions: True
access:
-
if_has_tag: null
permissions: [view]
-
if_after: end_of_class
if_has_role: [student]
permissions: []
-
# Unfinished full-credit session marked 'end' after due date.
if_has_tag: main
if_in_progress: True
if_after: hw_due 2
if_expiration_mode: end
message: |
The due date has passed. If you have marked your session to
end at the deadline, it will receive full credit, but it
will end automatically fairly soon. If you would like to
continue working, please mark your session to roll over
into 50% credit by selecting 'Keep session and apply new rules'.
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, see_correctness, change_answer, set_roll_over_expiration_mode]
-
# Unfinished full-credit session marked 'roll_over' before due date.
if_has_tag: main
if_in_progress: True
if_expiration_mode: roll_over
message: |
You have marked your session to roll over to 50% credit at the due
date. If you would like to have your current answers graded as-is
(and receive full credit for them), please select 'End session
and grade'.
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, see_correctness, change_answer, set_roll_over_expiration_mode]
-
# Unfinished Full-credit session before due date.
if_has_tag: main
if_in_progress: True
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, see_correctness, change_answer, set_roll_over_expiration_mode]
-
# Full-credit session before due date. Don't show answer.
if_has_tag: main
if_before: hw_due 2
if_in_progress: False
permissions: [view, see_correctness]
-
# Full-credit session after due date? Reveal answer.
if_has_tag: main
if_after: hw_due 2
if_in_progress: False
permissions: [view, see_correctness, see_answer_before_submission, see_answer_after_submission]
-
# You're allowed to keep working during the grace period
if_has_tag: grace
if_in_progress: True
permissions: [view, submit_answer, end_session, see_correctness, change_answer, see_answer_before_submission, see_answer_after_submission]
-
if_has_tag: grace
if_in_progress: False
permissions: [view, see_correctness, see_answer_before_submission, see_answer_after_submission]
grade_identifier: "hw_2"
grade_aggregation_strategy: max_grade
grading:
-
if_has_tag: null
description: "No-credit preview session"
generates_grade: false
-
if_has_tag: main
credit_percent: 100
due: hw_due 2
description: "Full credit"
-
if_has_tag: grace
credit_percent: 50
due: hw_due 2 + 7 days
description: "Half credit"
-
credit_percent: 0
pages:
- ....