Learnvia chapters, modules, tasks, and activities

Learnvia courseware has a table of contents like a textbook, but with some differences due to the courseware's interactive comprehensive nature. The hieararchy is: 

• Chapters
  • Modules
    • Tasks: Lesson, Homework, or Quiz
      • Activities: Like answering a question, watching a video, tinkering with a tool, etc.

Chapters: The courseware's "library" configuration has main-topic-based chapters just like a textbook. For example, Calculus 1 has: (1) Intro, (2) Limits, (3) Derivatives, (4) Applications of Derivatives, (5) Integrals. However, the courseware encourages configuration by instructors to match their syllabus such that each chapter is a week. For example, a particular instructor's configuration might be: (1) WK1: Functions and Intro to Calculus, (2) WK2: Limits, (3) WK3: Intro to Derivatives, (4) Basic Derivative Rules, ..., (13) Definite Integral and Fundamental Theorem, (14) Net Change Theorem and Substitution. Such configuration improves the course's transparency for students, and importantly, enables a simple recurring assignment pattern with each week covering one courseware chapter. 

Modules (1-1.5 hrs): Each chapter consists of several modules, aka "section" in textbook lingo. A library configuration might have 10-15 modules per chapter, while a weekly configuration has perhaps 2-5. We use module to avoid confusion between a content section and a class section. 

Tasks (10-15 min): Each module consists of a series of tasks, aka "subsection" in textbook lingo. The term task has the benefit of making clear the content is interactive. Three types of tasks exist: 

• Lessons: A lesson is the initial intro to a topic. A lesson typically has brief text, a 1-2 min video, and 10-20 learning questions, which explore concepts, teach calculations, and prepare students for homework. 
• Homework: A homework typically has 10-20 questions, giving students further practice on calculations, exploring concepts further, and preparing students for quizzes. 
• Quizzes (coming early 2026):  Quizzes typically have about 10-20 questions, checking for understanding of concepts and for skill with calculations. The questions on a Quiz Task are appropriate for various summative assessments in a course, like quizzes, midterm exams, final exams. 

Tasks consist of fine-grained activities like answering a question, typically tens of activities per task. Each module and task in the table of contents shows the number of activities within (e.g., 8 / 56 means 8 of the 56 total activities have been completed). 

The modality differs: 

• Lessons provide hints, solutions, and explanations, which students can just copy to answer questions. 
• Homeworks provide hints, solutions, and explanations, BUT if the students shows a solution before correctly answering, a new question is auto-generated that students must correctly answer on their own. 
• Quizzes provide no hints, solutions, or explanations while the student is taking the quiz; students simply answer each question. After submitting, students can see solutions and explanations.  

The above tasks arrangement follows key educational design principles of chunking, scaffolding, and alignment.

• Chunking breaks learning into bite-size pieces [1], not only to improve learning, but to accommodate students' often-fragmented available study periods. Every task is designed to be about 10-15 min. 
• Scaffolding designs learning to be incremental, without too large a step [2]. The questions in a lesson build incrementally. Then homework questions are a bit more challenging. And quizzes may include even more challenging problems.  
• Alignment ensures everything connects [3]. Lessons build to homeworks, which build to quizzes. In fact, Learnvia courseware is created via another educational design principle known as backwards design: Authors define desired learning outcomes first, then final exam questions directed to those outcomes, then quiz questions directed to final exam questions, then homework questions directed to quiz questions, and finally lessons directed to homework questions. (Students in courses often complain that course work didn't prepare them for their exams). 

[1] Humphries, B. and Clark, D., 2021. An examination of student preference for traditional didactic or chunking teaching strategies in an online learning environment. Research in Learning Technology, 29.

[2] Doo, M.Y., Bonk, C. and Heo, H., 2020. A meta-analysis of scaffolding effects in online learning in higher education. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(3), pp.60-80.

[3] Biggs, J., 1996. Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher education, 32(3), pp.347-364.