Tutorial 4 - Zigzag Generator: Generate Distractors and Assign Codes (step 2)

• In Tutorial 4, you can familiarize yourself with many tools for generating distractors manually or in a - fully or partially - automatised way. You can then preview the result using the Integrated Test, a module in the Zigzag Generator that allows you to see how the texts will appear when presented in the Zigzag Test application.
  

• To begin, open the File > Open Zigzag Project menu in the Zigzag Generator application.
  
  
• A window called Open Project will be displayed. Select the project Go play somewhere else 4 by clicking on the project icon and then on OK (or by double-clicking on the icon).
  
  

  
  
  
  
  Example of a fully automatised generation of distractors

• With the project Go play somewhere else text visible in the integrated editor of the Zigzag Generator application, select the Distractors > Homophones menu.
  
  
  
  

• A window called Homophones will appear.

• Check the box Random Generation of Distractors (Full text or selected Segments). The window will then change to look like this:
  
  
  

• Click on the checkmark labelled Generate Distractors. Then, click Close.
  

• To see the results of the entirely automatised generation of homophone distractors, select the Tools > Integrated Test menu (or click on the button on the toolbar).
  
  
  
  

• A window called Random Distribution of Targets will appear. Click Yes.
  
  
  
  

• Follow the instructions (i.e. Click here to start reading the test). Next, always click on one of the segments displayed in the first column. Occasionally, make a mistake. When this occurs, the erroneous segment will be replaced by the correct segment in color, then it is transfered into the preceding context field in the top left-hand corner.
  
  
• To exit the simulation in the Integrated Test module, reselect the Tools > Integrated Test menu (the option is checked!), or click on the button on the toolbar.
  
  
• You can cancel the execution of distractor generation in one of the following three ways:
  
  
  • Select the Edit > Cancel menu.
    
    
  • Use the Ctrl+Z shortcut.
    
  • Click on the button on the toolbar.
    
    

  (By canceling the execution of distractor generation, you can familiarize yourself with other tools for generating distractors without having to create a new Zigzag project each time.)
  
  
  

  Example of a partially automatised generation of distractors

• Select the View > Horizontal view menu (or click on the button on the toolbar). In horizontal view, you can immediately see the effect that different commands provoke.
  
  

• Select the Distractors > Nouns - Singular / Plural menu:
  
  
  

• A window called Nouns - Singular / Plural will appear. This time, do not check the Random Generation of Distractors (Full text or Selected segments) box. If the box is checked, uncheck it.
  
  
  
  

• Move the Nouns - Singular / Plural window in order to be able to properly see the first column of the test matrix. In the field that shows Segment No. 1, click on the segment plays and then on the option Generate Distractor (or simply double-click on plays).
  
  

• The segment plays will be transferred to the matrix displayed in horizontal view such that a distractor will be created ("Go plays somewhere else! You're). At the same time, the NoSP code suggested by default will be displayed at the top of the matrix.
  
  
  
  
• Using the arrows Previous without Distractor and Next without Distractor, go through the text segments as you wish and select the distractors of your choice.
  
  
  
  
• To see the results of the partially automatised generation of distractors, select the Tools > Integrated Test menu (or click on the button on the toolbar). Follow the steps described in the section Example of a fully automatised generation of distractors. (Displaying the text in horizontal view will also allow you to see the text and its distractors.)
  
  
• To exit the simulation in the Integrated Test module, reselect the Tools > Integrated Test menu (the option is checked!), or click on the button on the toolbar.
  
  
• You can cancel the generation of distractors in one of the following three ways:
  
  
  • Select the Edit > Cancel menu.
    
    
  • Use the Ctrl+Z shortcut.
    
  • Click on the button on the toolbar.

  
  (By canceling the execution of distractor generation, you can familiarize yourself with other tools for generating distractors without having to create a new Zigzag project each time.)
  

 

Example of a manual generation of distractors

• Select the Distractors > Individual Distractors menu (or click on the button on the toolbar).
  
  
  
  
• A window called Individual distractors will appear.
  
  
  
  
• When the row <empty> is selected, click on the button Modify. A second window called Modify distractor will open. Insert the distractor of your choice in the field and click OK.
  
  
  
  
• The distractor is transfered in the following manner in the matrix, visible in the horizontal view.
  
  
  
  
• You can also modify a target-segment (in red), in the event that an orthographic error went unnoticed in the first step of generation. With the row of the textual segment selected in the window Individual Distractors, click on the Modify button. The following window will appear:
  
  
  
  Confirm your choice by clicking Yes.
  
  
• To reverse the order of presentation of the target-segment and the distractor, use the upward and downward pointing arrows, respectively. To erase a previously created distractor, select it and click Erase.
  
  
• You can create distractors by choosing to click or not click the box marked With target. When the box is checked at the time of clicking on the button Modify, the segment suggested in the window Modify distractor is identical to the target-segment. This option is useful when the distractor to be generated is particularly long and differs only minimally from the target-segment. For example, to create a distractor of about forty letters that differs only by one letter from the target-segment, it is in your best interest to leave the option With target checked. That said, it is obligatory that you modify the suggested segment, a fact that you will be reminded of by an error message:
  
  
  
  Click OK and then modify the distractor.
  
  
• To assign distractors to another textual segment, click on it in the integrated editor of Zigzag Generator using the mouse, in vertical view. Contrary to the windows allowing partially or fully automatised generation, the Individual Distractors window does not have navigation arrows for Previous without distractor or Next without distractor. The only way to access other textual segments is to click directly on the desired segment. This is often easier in vertical view:
  
  

Assign a code to segments

• You can assign one or many codes to each segment in a text. The coding of segments is generally done as a function of the type of distractor selected (for example, all the segments having antonym distractors), but it can also be done as a function of the target-segment type (for example, the segments composed of a certain number of words). The advantage to coding segments is to not only obtain global results for the whole text but also detailed results sorted by specific difficulties targeted. When you generate distractors in a partially or fully automatised way, adding a code to segments can be done automatically. For example, when you use the command Tools > Antonyms, you can simply accept the default option suggested in the Antonyms window (i.e. Use the code 'Anto'). However, when you generate distractors manually using the command Distractors > Individual Distractors, you must also manually assign the codes to the segments. The same applies if you wish to code the segments along different criteria than the type of distractors (for example, all the segments with a word judged difficult). To manually code the segments of a text, you must first use the Tools > Define Codes command and then the Tools > Assign Codes to Segments command.
  
  
• To complete tutorial 4, select the File > Save Zigzag Project menu and the File > Close Zigzag Project menu.
  
  
  

• Tutorials - Overview
• Tutorial 1 - Zigzag Test: Take a test
• Tutorial 2 - Zigzag Calculator: Interpret and compare test results
• Tutorial 3 - Zigzag Generator: Generate a test (step 1)
• Tutorial 5 - Zigzag Generator: Add images to test (step 2)
• Tutorial 6 - Zigzag Generator: Add questionnaires to test (step 2)