Project Detail

Description

The task for this job is to take a program which was created in JustBasic (a dialect of Basic, available for free over the internet) for a vocabulary training program, and alter it to make three more types of instruction programs, retaining the look and feel of the original program.

Spelling program

The input file is a text file with simply a bunch of words, one per line, arranged in order of word length. That is, there are some four letter words, five letter words, etc.

The ini file specifies the default starting level for the length of words used in the program. During the use of the program, the user can move to longer or shorter words by pressing the + or – key.

The program displays at the top of the screen the number right and the number wrong so far, and the (right-wrong)/minute, the elapsed time, and the “level,” which is the word length.

The program randomly selects a certain number of words, (default 4 words, specified in the ini file). The program then displays the direction, “Please type X,” where X is the word. The word remains on the screen while the user types it, so the user can study how it is spelled and refer back to it while typing it. If the user types the word correctly, the program advances the number right by one. If the user types the word incorrectly, the program displays a message that says “The word presented was X and the word you typed was Y. Please try again.” The number wrong advances by 1.

Immediately after the word is typed, the direction changes to, “Please type the word you see flashed.” The same word is now presented for a fraction of a second (default time specified in the ini file). The user now types the word in, without the word on the screen. If the user gets the word right, the number right advances by 1. If the user gets the word wrong, the program gives the same error message as before, and leaves the error message on the screen while the user types in the correct word.

The program then goes to the next word, with two presentations, one with the word left on the screen and one immediately afterwards with the word flashed on the screen.

When all four (or however many) words have been presented in this way, the program then presents the words randomly by flashing then on the screen, for a default of two repetitions each, and this default is also changeable in the ini file.

Then the program picks four more words that were not picked the first time, and continues. When the program has used all the words of the length set, the program starts over again picking from all the words at random.

At intervals specifiable in the ini file (default 5 minutes), the program queries the user about his or her “persistence power,” by asking the user, “Please rate your persistence power at this moment on a scale of 1 to 9. 1=I can’t go on any longer, 9=I’m brimming with energy to continue.” At these interrupts, please display the (right-wrong)/minute since the last interrupt.

There is a pause button and a stop button. There is a box for the user to enter his name. The program saves to a text file the right-wrong/minute for each interval (default 5 minutes) and the overall right-wrong per minute, and the average level used, the user’s name, and the date.

The user hits the return key after each word typed. The program should allow the user to type at top speed during the entire use of the program, except during the queries about persistence power.

The following is a sample file for use in constructing the spelling program. The real file will have words as long as 15 letters or more.

its
led
buy
tie
dew
easy
half
hymn
it's
knee
aisle
among
angel
angle
apply
argue
dismal
doctor
dollar
easily
effect
chimney
citizen
climbed
clothes
collect
college
colonel
carrying
category
cemetery
changing
clothing


Math Facts Program

All the answers to the questions for this program will be one digit. The user inputs the answers without having to press the enter key. The user will probably use the number keys at the top of a laptop computer keyboard. The input by keyboard can be very rapid, limited only by the user’s calculation time.

The user’s name is specified as in the previous program. The user clicks the start button. There are several levels of difficulty; the default level is the highest level; the level is able to be changed by the + and – keys and by the ini file.

The program displays the number right, number wrong, elapsed time, math problem and the user inputs the single digit answer. The right answer results in advancing the number right by one and rapid display of the next problem. The wrong answer advances the number wrong by one and results in an error message which leaves the student’s response on the screen, but below it writes, the correct answer to this is X. Please type X to continue.

At intervals specifiable in the ini file, with default 5 minutes, the program queries about persistence power, as above. At these interrupts, the elapsed time, the number right and wrong, and the (right-wrong)/minute since the last interrupt are displayed on the screen.

Because I want to be able to input expressions rather than just two-number combinations, I’ll input the problems and their answers as a text file with the following structure. An asterisk separates each problem from the next. The first line after the asterisk gives the level of difficulty of the problem. The second line gives the problem itself. The third line gives ans=x, where x is the one digit answer.

One programming task that would be challenging for me (but hopefully easy for you) is that I want to have problems at the highest level with negative answers. Thus if the first character the user inputs is the negative sign, the program should wait for the next digit. Otherwise, the program takes whatever digit is input as the answer, without the user having to push the enter key.

The following is a sample text file for use with this.

*
1
0+1
ans=1
*
1
0+2
ans=2
*
1
0+3
ans=3
*
2
7-4
ans=3
*
2
10-7
ans=3
*
2
8-4
ans=4
*
3
18-9
ans=9
*
3
15-8
ans=7
*
3
16-9
ans=7
*
4
25/5
ans=5
*
4
42/7
ans=6
*
4
56/8
ans=7
*
5
(-21)/3
ans=-7
*
5
64/(-8)
ans=-8
*
5
(-32)/(-8)
ans=4




Multiple Choice Question Program

This program presents multiple choice questions, the answers to which are input through the keyboard, as in the previous programs.

The input file structure is that an asterisk separates each question from the next. On the line after the asterisk is a number indicating the difficulty level of the question. Next come several lines of text with the question and the possible answers. Next comes a line like
ans=3
that gives the correct answer. The number of possible answers will always be between 2 and 9 inclusive.
There may be more lines of text between that line and the asterisk line. If so, those lines are instruction that is meant to appear near the bottom of the screen, giving general hints to the user on what is needed to answer the question.

Everything is as before as for queries about persistence power etc. When the interrupts about persistence power come, please display the (right-wrong)/minute since the last interrupt.


Here is a file to use in constructing this one.

*
3
There are x wheels per truck. If there are y wheels in all, how many trucks are there?"
1. x+y
2. x-y
3. y-x
4. xy
5. x/y
6. y/x
ans=6
The total number of something equals the number per group, multiplied by the number of groups there are. You can manipulate this basic formula by multiplying or dividing both sides by the same quantity, to get the formula into the form relevant for the question.
*
3
An item costs y dollars. How many items identical to that one can you buy, if you are willing to spend a total of x dollars?
1. x+y
2. x-y
3. y-x
4. xy
5. x/y
6. y/x
ans=5
The total amount spent on some identical items equals the cost for each item multiplied by the number of items bought. You can manipulate this basic formula by multiplying or dividing both sides by the same quantity, to get the formula into the form relevant for the question.
*
4
The potential difference across a circuit is x, and the resistance of that circuit is y. What’s the current that goes through the circuit?
1. x+y
2. x-y
3. y-x
4. xy
5. x/y
6. y/x
ans=5
The formula relevant here is V=IR, where V is the potential difference, I is the current, and R is the resistance. You can manipulate that formula to get the form relevant for the question.
*
4
“I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962.

In the sentence above, the word anyone is a
1. noun
2. pronoun
3. adjective
4. adverb
ans=2
*
“A false friend and a shadow attend only when the sun shines.” Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790.

The sentence above has most to do with the psychological skill of
1. courage
2. conservation
3. loyalty
4. joyousness
ans=3
Courage means being brave enough to do what is best. Conservation means not being wasteful of resources. Loyalty is fulfilling commitments to people and standing by the people who have been good to us. Joyousness is being cheerful and having pleasant feelings.