The course document

The structure of a course is described by an XML course document. Here's an example course document:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<tp:course xmlns:tp="http://teachpoint.com">
    <tp:name>Sierra Conifers</tp:name>
    <tp:description>Learn to identify the major conifers of California's Sierra Nevada</tp:description>
    <tp:url_base>http://www.localhost.localdomain/tp/tree2/tmp_content</tp:url_base>
    <tp:content type="lesson" filename="intro.html"/>
    <tp:content type="exercise" filename="intro_ex.html"/>
    <tp:content type="lesson" filename="sierra.html"/>
    <tp:set show="1">
        <tp:content type="exercise" filename="sierra_ex1.html"/>
        <tp:content type="exercise" filename="sierra_ex2.html"/>
    </tp:set>
</tp_course>

The course documents elements are as follows.

<tp:course>
    ...
</tp:course>

The root element for the course document.

<tp:name>
    ...
</tp:name>

Short description of the course.

<tp:description>
    ...
</tp:description>

One- or two-sentence description of the course.

<tp:url_base>
    ...
</tp:url_base>

Base URL for course documents on your web server. Files are specified by their names relative to this prefix.

<tp:student_analysis_script_filename>filename<student_analysis_script_filename>
<tp:course_specific_attrs_form_filename>filename</tp:course_specific_attrs_form_filename>
<tp:expected_effectiveness_script_filaname>filename</tp:expected_effectiveness_script_filaname>
<tp:breakdown_filename>filename</tp:breakdown_filename>

These elements supply the filenames of XML documents to obtaining and using information about individual students.

<tp:content type="X" filename="Y" [title=U"] [id="T"] [show_in_outline="yes"] [command="V"] >
    <tp:content_attributes>
        ...
    </tp:content_attributes>
    ...
</tp:content>

Describes a lesson or exercise document. Attributes are:

type: "lesson" or "exercise".
filename: filename of lesson or exercise document.
command: the command line that generates the content file. This attribute is used only during the course generation process.
title: a short title for the content.
id: a unique ID for the item. Defaults to the filename.
show_in_outline="yes": if present, show this item in the course outline seen by students.

The <tp:content_attributes> element contains a course-specific description of the content's attributes (learning mode, reading level, etc.).

<tp:set [show="X"] [order="T"] [norepeat="S"] [title="W"] [id="V"] [show_in_outline="yes"] >
    <tp:content_attributes>
        ...
    </tp:content_attributes>
    ...
</tp:set>

Sets are the basis for defining course structure - both the hierarchical structure (outline) of the course, and the alternative paths of adaptive courses. Each set encloses a number of units (content items or other sets). Attributes:

show: the number of units to show out of the set; its value is an integer (the number of units to show) or a percentage. Default: show all the units.
order=random: show the units in a random order.
norepeat: if "yes" (default) show all the units before repeating any.
title: a short title for the set.
id: a unique ID for the set (defaults to the ID of the first item in the set).
show_in_outline="yes": if present, show this set in the course outline seen by students.

The <tp:content_attributes> element contains a course-specific description of the content's attributes (learning mode, reading level, etc.).

Next-> Course adaptation

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