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Feature request: parserGraphTool piecewise-definition

Feature request: parserGraphTool piecewise-definition

by Nathan Warkentin -
Number of replies: 2

I am wondering whether there is any intention of eventually allowing entry of piecewise-defined functions into graphTool objects. From the PG side, it seems like it would be relatively easy to add domain bounds to graphical elements and to allow GraphTool objects to be arrays of arrays. I am not sure how hard it would be to put that functionality into the Java applet, though.

I ask simply because I have always coded such problems as multiple-choice graph-select problems. This is not a great way to formatively assess students' ability to work with piecewise definitions; it limits students' ability to make mistakes. It is also intensely time consuming to develop and code good distractors.

On a related note, how steep is the learning curve to move from developing problems in WeBWorK to adding to its code base? I wouldn't mind putting some time into developing support for piecewise-defined functions, but I am not sure whether I have the chops for it...

In reply to Nathan Warkentin

Feature request: parserGraphTool piecewise-definition

by Michael Shulman -

I would like this too!

But I assume from the fact that it went 3 years without a reply that the answer is no.

In reply to Michael Shulman

Feature request: parserGraphTool piecewise-definition

by Glenn Rice -

I don't remember this forum post from three years ago, but I would not say the answer is no. I would say that this would not be particularly easy to implement, and generally would need to be somewhat restrictive.  The graph tool does not support general functions to begin with.  So the pieces of the function would be restricted to those.  Furthermore, it would be quite the challenge just to figure out how the user interface should work for this, as well as implementing that interface.

I also use a multiple choice type problem for questions like this, and at least for my purposes, that is sufficient.