CTAT 2.7.1 Release Notes

What's New in CTAT 2.7.1

General Changes

None.

Flash Upgrades/Changes

• Replaced the standard Flash focus manager with one specifically designed for CTAT Flash components. This replacement allows authors to have more control over the keyboard tab order in a tutor and fixes a number of known bugs in the AS2 Flash focus manager, including:
  • CTAT2279 (Tab order does not work on subsequent problems in a sequence)
  • CTAT2284 (Pressing tab moves focus to hidden components instead of skipping them)
  • CTAT2283 (When using hints, entering an answer then pressing tab does not move focus or grade cell)

Flash Bug Fixes

• Fixed critical logging bug CTAT2282 (Flash client-side logging is disabled if too many messages sent too quickly). This bug affects tutors that use a feature called set-start-state-here, or example fading. The feature permits a tutor author to create a partially-worked example by designating some state (other than the graph's origin state) as the student's start state. During problem initialization at runtime, the behavior recorder will execute steps on the preferred path from the origin state to this designated state, much as it does when when you click on an arbitrary state in the graph as an author. In tutors using this feature, logging will stop completely after the first few log entries. We've found this to be the case on problems using this example-fading feature and on problems with a long series of tutor-performed steps.

Known Issues

Java

• NetBeans 6.7.1: class files are deleted if all jar files required for examples are not specified. Workaround is to add all JAR files required by the examples as described here.
• Jess tutor-performed actions are not logged (CTAT2222).
• The less-than sign does not display properly in CTAT’s separate hint window (but it’s fine in the integrated hint window).
• In Cognitive Tutors, skills (rule names) are not logged.
• DorminPicture does not provide any feedback message to the student when a step is out of order.
• If a graph contains a link that is not represented in the cognitive model, a No Model warning dialog no longer appears at author time when input matches that link.

Flash

• CommNumberBar: Can't set start state via demonstration (CTAT2264)
• CommNumberBar: Can't set CommTextArea or CommTextInput start state text if number bar is the next component in the tab order (CTAT2260)
• CommNumberBar: small steps sometimes have large tickmarks (CTAT2272)
• CommNumberBar does not behave the same when it is connected to the tutoring service vs. the Behavior Recorder for Flash (CTAT2278).
• The component-specific methods The Correct Method, The InCorrect Method, and The Reset Method do not work when Suppress Student Feedback is turned on. The solution is to use a new CommShell parameter, MonitorLog, which will receive tool_messages and tutor_messages as they are logged.
• In a Flash cognitive tutor, creating a start state no longer automatically generates working memory facts and templates for some components.
• Flash components Jumble, Multiple Selection, and Media Multiple Selection are buggy. To use any of these components, download the CommComponents bundle from the CTAT 2.2 release and use these components with the 2.2 version of the CommShell component.
• Flash widgets can’t be modified in Set Start State mode.
• CommCombobox does not work with some languages such as Japanese. The current workaround is to use HTML entities for these characters in these languages.
• Logging custom fields does not work from Flash using CommLoggingLibrary.

Both Flash and Java

• Inconsistent behavior when clicking on a state (CTAT2249).
• Can't demonstrate a link into a state added below a link (CTAT2257). Workaround is to save and reload the behavior graph.
• Tutor doesn't reconnect to the tutoring service if the same session ID is used (CTAT2199)
• Docked windows sometimes aren't loaded on Mac (CTAT2198)
• Demonstrating a step in an unordered graph that matches an existing step does no create a new link in the graph (CTAT2210). The workaround is to temporarily change the graph to "ordered" to demonstrate the step.
• In graphs with Suppress Student Feedback enabled, success and error-feedback messages are not displayed, but they are logged. The feedback should not be logged, since it never appeared to the student.
• Current state (a node with bold text) in an unordered graph is incorrect for Jess tutors (CTAT1927).
• The JavasrcInstaller, used to set up source documentation for Java functions in the Formula Wizard, does not extract sources on the Mac. To do this manually, see Installing the Formula Wizard.
• The enforceDone attribute of a behavior graph cannot be set from the CTAT user interface; it can only be set in the behavior graph XML using a text editor.