Guidelines for Emailing Success Codes to an Instructor

The Teacher App is able to quickly validate a large collection of Success Codes from a properly formatted text file. The process involves copying and pasting the text into a field on the Teacher App and tapping on a button. The detailed directions for doing this are provided elsewhere. The process works very well but requires that the information in the text file is formatted in a specific manner. Improper formatting is a common cause for error. The decryption program looks on specific lines for specific information that must be properly spelled. If that information is not found, then the decryption does not work and an error message results.

This page describes the rules for formatting such a text file. Users of iOS and Mac devices are able to tap an Email Success Codes button and automatically create and email the text file to themselves or to the teacher. (As of this writing the button does not work consistently on Android devices and Chromebooks.) Here are the line-by-line guidelines of what should be included in the text file. To facilitate the process, The Physics Classroom is preparing a collection of Micorsoft Word documents and Google docs that can be downloaded, distributed, and used as templates.

Line 1: Includes the words: "Success Codes for:"

Line 2: Inludes the words "Name: " followed by the name of the student. This is the name that will be reported to the teacher once the decryption process is complete and a report of the results is posted. Unless otherwise noted by the teacher, the name spelling is not important.

Line 3: Includes the words "Student ID#:" followed by a space and then followed by the student's ID# that was used when doing the missions. This ID# should be consistent with the ID # that the teacher said should be used.

Line 4: Includes the words "Teacher Code:" followed by a space and then followed by the teacher code that was used when doing the missions. This Teacher Code is unique to the teacher. If it isn't, then the teacher will have no means of checking the success codes that are submitted. No two teachers will ever be assigned the same Teacher Code. Any teacher receiving the Teacher App will only be able to use it with their Teacher Code. This insures the security of the whole process. Students who get a hold of the app by impersonating a teacher and then acquiring a Teacher Code will not be able to use the app with a Teacher Code other than the one they were assigned ... which will be different than that of their teacher's.

Line 5: Includes the words "Module:" followed by a space and then followed by the properly spelled name of the module. Module names recognized by the Teacher App are:

Kinematic Concepts, Kinematic Graphing, Newton's Laws, Vectors and Projectiles, Forces in 2 Dimensions, Momentum, Work and Energy, Circular and Satellite Motion, Static Electricity, Electric Circuits, Wave Motion, Sound and Music, Light and Color, Reflection and Mirrors, Refraction and Lenses.


Line 6: This is an empty line. No words. No spaces. Nothing.

Line 7: Includes the words "Gold Codes" and nothing else.

Lines 8 - ???: The next several lines include a short-hand abbreviation for each of the mission, followed by a colon, followed by a space, and followed by a gold code. The space is critical; it must be included! The decryption program expects the success code to be included after the first occurence of a space. The success code must be listed accurately with the hyphens and without any spaces. It must have the following format: gAB-CD-EFG. Note the hyphens and the absence of spaces. There should be as many of these lines as there are missions wihtin that module or topic area. The table at the bottom of this page lists the appropriate module names, the corresponding abbreviation, and the number of missions per module.

The gold codes are followed by two blank lines.

The remainder of the document follows the same pattern for Silver Codes and Bronze Codes. The decryption program looks for the phrase "Sliver Codes" on its own line followed up by the shorthand abbreviation for each mission ... like KC1, KC2, ... followed by a colon, then a space, and then the silver code for that mission. For each line, the success code must come after the first occurence of a space.


The table below provides the proper name spelling for each module, its corresponding abbreviation, and the number of missions present in that module. Strict adherence to these properties is essential for the electronic validation of students' success codes.
 

Module #	Module Name	Abbreviation	# Missions
1	Kinematic Concepts	KC	8
2	Kinematic Graphing	KG	11
3	Newton's Laws	NL	12
4	Vectors and Projectiles	VP	10
5	Forces in 2 Dimensions	2D	6
6	Momentum	MC	10
7	Work and Energy	WE	10
8	Circular and Satellite Motion	CG	10
10	Static Electricity	SE	12
11	Electric Circuits	EC	12
12	Wave Motion	WM	8
13	Sound and Music	SM	11
14	Light and Color	LC	9
15	Reflection and Mirrors	RM	11
16	Refraction and Lenses	RL	11