Re: course <-> topic, take 3

["Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh" <ilya@total-knowledge.com>]

Anatoly Volynets wrote:
> Could you mark necessary changes to specs below  to reflect your  your
> understanding, point C specifically?
>
>
>    Course
>
> [edit
> <http://www.total-knowledge.com/wiki/index.php?title=UU&action=edit&section=15>]
>
> Necessary Features
>
>    * Title
>
>    * Author(s)
>
>    * Choice of server:
>
> Open Server or Proprietary one
>
>    * Choice of access for students:
>
>    *
>          o Free or Paid Course
>
> [edit
> <http://www.total-knowledge.com/wiki/index.php?title=UU&action=edit&section=16>]
>
> Optional Features
>
>    * Topics.
>
>    * Tests
>
>    * Competitions
>
>    * List of experts
>
> [edit
> <http://www.total-knowledge.com/wiki/index.php?title=UU&action=edit&section=17>]
>
> Topic
>
>
>      Necessary Features
>
>    * Title
>
> [edit
> <http://www.total-knowledge.com/wiki/index.php?title=UU&action=edit&section=19>]
>
>
>
>      Optional Features
>
>    * Summary (Annotation)
>
>    * Test
>
>    * Explanations
>
>    * Blocks of problems of different difficulty levels
>
> [edit
> <http://www.total-knowledge.com/wiki/index.php?title=UU&action=edit&section=20>]
>
No changes required to any of these so far.
>> What this means for logical organization of functionality (Model layer).
>>
>> Course becomes a direct derivative of topic: it basically has same
>> functionality
>> as normal topic (has problems, tests, subtopics, etc). Plus it has some
>> extra
>> functionality: it takes care of students signing up for it, getting
>> grades (if we
>> ever implement this kind of thing), etc.
>>   
> Doesn't hurt as soon as end-user finds course and topics where they
> belong: course is the face and topics are listed in the course content.
Correct. This is _logical_ organization. Users don't see it. Anything
that concerns users
was described in section above.
>> What this means on data layer:
>>
>> Course becomes an additional set of data pieces that is associated
>> with some
>> topics. In other words: each course has a TLT (top level topic), that it
>> is associated
>> with.
>
> I need clarification here. I understand that logically a course does
> have kind of TLT (say Geometry), but normally it does not have it
> structurally, right?
If you are talking in terms of data organization, it does. If you are
talking in terms of data
presentation, it may or may not have one - depending on teacher. In our
case, TLT will be
completely hidden from course creator. We can decide if we want to hide
it from repository
as well, or not (I think it doesn't make sense, but I'm not 100% clear
on that yet)
> And if you want it structurally, how would it look? My first
> impression is negative, but I'm ready to look into it.
What kind of structure are you talking about: visual, data, or what?
>>  More then one course can have same TLT - this is how course
>> sharing/copying
>> is implemented. Topic doesn't have to have direct relationship with
>> course
>> (could be just a stand-alone object not yet used anywhere, could be
>> subtopic
>> of some other topics).
>>
>> try to keep all three layers in mind.
>>   
> Did I fulfill the last requirement right ? :)
:)

-- 
Ilya A. Volynets-Evenbakh
Total Knowledge. CTO
http://www.total-knowledge.com