| 1 | == Analytics == |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Bolt offers two web-based analytic tools, ''course maps'' and ''lesson comparer''. |
| 4 | You can use these tools to iteratively refine your course: |
| 5 | |
| 6 | 1. Develop an initial course |
| 7 | 1. Operate the course until a statistically significant sample size of interactions exists |
| 8 | 1. Use the course map tool to find problem spots |
| 9 | 1. Develop alternative lessons |
| 10 | 1. Operate the course some more |
| 11 | 1. Use the lesson comparer to find better lessons or to do demographic adaptation |
| 12 | 1. go to 1. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | === Course maps === |
| 15 | |
| 16 | A ''course map'' shows you the overall flow of students through your course |
| 17 | (in the style of Charles Minard's map of Napoleon's march to Moscow in the war of 1812), |
| 18 | revealing the points where they are getting bored or discouraged. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[Image(http://boinc.berkeley.edu/images/minard_napoleon.jpg)]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | A course map shows you graphically how many students enter each step of the course, |
| 23 | how many seconds they spend there, |
| 24 | and their average performance on exercises. |
| 25 | You can get a color-coded breakdown by any student attribute, |
| 26 | and you can select a subpopulation based on attributes. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | === Lesson comparer === |
| 29 | |
| 30 | You can develop several alternative lessons for the same concept and, |
| 31 | using the "set" construct, arrange for them to be selected randomly, |
| 32 | followed by a single exercise. |
| 33 | You can then use Bolt's ''lesson comparer'' tool to study the results. |
| 34 | The tool will tell you, for a given statistical confidence level: |
| 35 | * whether one lesson is worse than another, e.g. students viewing lesson A score worse than students viewing lesson B |
| 36 | * whether a given lesson is better for a particular demographic subgroup, e.g. a lesson is highly effective for females under 18. |