Virtual Moving Window Programming Notes - Andrew Linn

KNOWN PROBLEMS: For some reason, the web version of this program does not work. I most strongly suspect something to do with how the files are being imported, but after several revisions and alterations, I could not get it to work over the web. Instead I created downloadable files that can be run off a computer's hard drive, and that seems to work just fine.

Notes:
This was our first and probably most difficult project. I had never done a program that could be changed by someone else, I had never used Director to read external files, and I had never tried to save data into an external file. Up to now, I had just done fully self contained programs that really didn't save or store anything.

Prof. Stewart uses these tests in his research and had an in-depth knowledge of the requirements and processes. He provided me with the word lists, the questions, and what he was looking for in the outputs. Once I had all the pieces, it became a matter of assembling them in a manner that would allow the program to function as expected.

I was provided with a total of 72 stories each told in partial sentences. There were also 4 stories to be used as practice examples 8 questions (84 individual items in total). The 72 stories were broken up into 3 categories, 24 stories each. These 3 categories were then mixed and matched to make 4 possible test series. Each test series would begin with the same set of practice examples before launching into the test itself.

To make matters even more interesting, part of our charter was to make each program we created configurable by an interested researcher. I needed to program Virtual Moving Window in such a way that someone could make up their own stories and questions and use them in research. To accomplish this goal, I had to use some of the features of Macromedia Director.

The stories are nothing more than words or sentence segments presented in a specific order: Sentence Segment #2 follows Sentence Segment #1 and is followed by Sentence Segment #3. In computer terms, this makes the stories an array - an ordered list of items of a particular content type. The tests were just arrays of stories interspersed with questions: In Test #1, Story 14 is followed by Story 32 which is followed by Question 3, then Story 6. Test #2 has Story 6 first, then Story 1, then Story 32 followed by Question 3, and so on.

To make the program configurable, I created a text file that contained the filenames of all the stories to be used for practice (PRACTICE.TXT), then separate text files that contain the filenames of all the stories and questions to be used in each of the 4 tests (LIST1.TXT, LIST2.TXT, LIST3.TXT and LIST4.TXT). I left room enough for up to 9 possible stories/questions for the Practice section and 200 possible stories and questions for the actual tests. The researcher can create a new story (configure as required to be importable as a Director List) add the file name for that story to one (or more) of the tests, and it will automatically be shown to the subject in the order in which it appears in the test list.

A bit about File Management: All the files, the executable, the stories, the questions, the lists that contain the order for the tests and the list for the order of the practice stories, are stored in the same directory as the executable (.DCR for the web optimized Shockwave file, .DIR for the original source code, and .EXE for the executable.)

To create your own story or set of stories, just create a text file correctly formatted as a Director List, then include the name of that text file (without the .TXT extension) in the appropriate LIST.TXT for that testing series. A Director List is enclosed in square brackets and each value is separated by commas. In the case of multi-word segments, such as these stories, enclose each segment in quotation marks.
Example: ["the quick", "brown fox", "jumped over the", "lazy", "dog"] Look at any of the included files for more examples.

Output: The output is in the form of a Comma Separated Value file that can be imported by any spreadsheet soft ware for analysis. The time, date, subject identifier, and test name are recorded along with the time (in milliseconds) from the time the subject saw the words appear on the screen to the time they pressed the space bar. For a further discussion on timing, please see : Computer Based Testing: A Question of Time

Original Director 8 source code if you have questions, please e-mail me at: alinn@willamette.edu

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