Determining the Difficulty Level of Tasks in Online Courses

Abstract

Online courses on different platforms provide thousands of students with the knowledge and skills they need. This paper presents the results of a survey of students, during which they expressed their opinion on the use of electronic resources in teaching. The survey showed that students are more motivated to study when they understand how their knowledge will be used in their professional activities. The survey results also showed that the objectivity of knowledge control is essential. Students are usually familiar with the criteria for assessing the performance of the task. Knowing the criteria for evaluating the task itself, understanding why it is possible to get this particular number of points for completing the task will help students to approach their studies more responsibly. We analyzed the tasks that will be offered to students in the course of learning the MAXScript language. These tasks are assessed according to factors that affect their complexity and the maximum number of points that students can receive for their correct performance. The resulting complexity value can be adjusted after analyzing the scripts written and the trainees' time. This approach to assessing tasks can be applied in the study of information technology and other disciplines.