Creating a Branching Quiz

Branching (also known as contingency branching) can be defined as the path that learners take through the Captivate demo based on their responses to click boxes, data-entry boxes, buttons, or question slides. When you use contingency branching, your Captivate files can react to learners’ performances. For example, if they fail a quiz, they can be redirected to another Captivate file or some other type of learning object to review the subject matter. After completing the review, learners can then be given the option of retaking the quiz.

Click the following link to try out the completed Captivate branching presentation for an assessed simulation:

Play the demo: Creating a Simulated Assessment with Branching Slides

Note: Learning objects are small units of learning that are:

• Self-contained
• Reusable
• Groupable into a larger collection of learning content

In the following series of steps, I show you how to redirect learners who failed a training simulation to another learning object where they can review the course material related to the quiz. After learners review the subject matter, they will be redirected back to the quiz to give the demo another try. (Later in this article I discuss how to create a branching quiz with question slides.)

For the purpose of this demonstration, download and unpack the branching01.zip sample file if you haven’t already done so. The ZIP file contains the following two files:

• branching01_start.cp
• branching01_complete.cp

Setting the User Attempt Value

In this series of steps you change the number of times learners are allowed to click outside a click box before they fail this part of the quiz. This simply gives learners two attempts at clicking the correct object before Captivate displays the next slide:

1. Open branching01_start.cp and save it as mybranching01.cp.
2. Double-click the first slide, entitled “Start.”
3. Press Control+Alt+T to show the Timeline.
4. Double-click the Click Box object on the Timeline.
5. Under “If the user clicks outside the click box,” enter 2 in the Allow User Attempts text box.
6. Click OK.

Labeling the Pass and Fail Slides

Label the last two slides in this project. The first slide, “Pass Slide,” appears only if learners successfully complete the simulation; the last slide, “Fail Slide,” is displayed only if learners fail the simulation:

1. Select Slide 7 in the Filmstrip (the panel on the left side of the Captivate window).
2. Choose Slide > Properties to open the Slide Properties dialog box.
3. Enter Pass Slide in the Label text box.
4. Click OK to close the Slide Properties dialog box.
5. Select Slide 8 in the Filmstrip.
6. Choose Slide > Properties.
7. Enter Fail Slide in the Label text box and click OK to close the dialog box.

Setting Options for Scoring

Apply settings in the Quiz Manager so that learners receive a score at the end of the quiz:

1. Choose Movie > Quiz Manager.
2. On the Reporting tab, click the Enable Output Options check box, click the E-mail option, and enter a valid e-mail address in the text box provided.
3. In the Report Pass or Fail area, click the Report Pass/Fail option.
4. Select the Quiz tab.

5. In the Settings area, make sure the Allow Backward Movement check box is selected.

   Note: If this option is not selected, learners will not be able to move backward in the simulation or demonstration because the entire project is treated as a scored learning object.

6. Select the Options tab.
7. In the If Passing Grade area, select Jump to Slide in the Jump To pop-up menu.
8. Select Pass Slide in the Jump to Slide pop-up menu.
9. In the If Failing Grade area, enter 2 in the Allow User…Attempts text box.
10. Select Fail Slide in the Jump to Slide pop-up menu.
11. Click OK to close the Quiz Manager.

Setting Options on the Fail Slide

Determine what happens if learners click either of the two buttons on the Fail slide:

1. Select Slide 8.
2. Select the first button, “Review the WA eCart tutorial.”
3. Choose Edit > Properties to open the Button Properties dialog box.
4. Make sure the Button tab is selected.
5. In the If the User Clicks on the Button area, select Open URL for File in the On Success pop-up menu.
6. In the Open URL or File text box, enter http://www.webassist.com/Products/ProductDetails.asp?PID=54.
7. Click the menu to the right of the URL text box (with the down-arrow) and select New. Also, make sure that Continue Playing Movie is not selected.
8. Click OK to close the Button Properties dialog box.
9. Double-click the second button on Slide 8, “Try the assessment again.”
10. Make sure the Button tab is selected in the Button Properties dialog box.
11. In the If the User Clicks on the Button area, select Jump to Slide in the On Success pop-up menu.
12. Select Start in the Jump to Slide pop-up menu.
13. Click OK to close the Button Properties dialog box.
14. Save the Captivate file.

Testing the Branching Quiz

In order to test the branching functionality, follow these steps:

1. Choose Preview > In Web Browser (or press F12).
2. Click the Shoe Shop heading on the screen that appears. Notice the “Click here!” failure caption.

3. Click the “Your Shopping Cart” table heading. Again, a failure caption is displayed but now you see a new panel onscreen. This panel appears because you attempted to click the correct region of the screen twice and failed, so Captivate continues with the next slide in your Captivate demo and shows the WA eCart panel.

4. Click the Available combo box and select orderHistory from the pop-up menu.
5. Click the Charges tab.

6. Click the Plus button. (This marks the end of the quiz.) After completing the quiz, Captivate displays the score slide. Here you can see that you failed the quiz.

7. Click the Next button. You are now be presented with the Fail slide, which gives you the option of either reviewing the WA eCart tutorial or retaking the quiz.
8. Click the Review the WA eCart Tutorial button. This opens the WA eCart product page at WebAssist.com.
9. Close this browser window.
10. Click the Try the Assessment Again button. This time Captivate takes you back to the beginning of the quiz and gives you the opportunity to take the quiz a second time. If you complete the quiz successfully, the Captivate demo branches to the Pass slide and displays the success message.