Faded Parsons Problem Element for PrairieLearn

This repository collects a small set of curated Parsons questions that show the progression from a standard Parsons problem to faded Parsons variants, including one-tray layouts, distractors, and rspec mutation grading.

The element's PrairieLearn style spec is in the pl-faded-parsons docs.

Faded Parsons Examples

Standard Parsons

This is a Parsons Problem -- all unscrambling, no filling-in blanks. Students build up a solution by rearranging and reindenting the lines. The distractor code-line on the left is not part of the solution on the right!

Notice how the reference answer and student answer don't exactly match, even though they're equivalent? No problem! This works because the element emits all answers as simple code, this works just like a standard python question for the autograder!

Faded Parsons

Here is the zoomed-in Faded Parsons version -- it adds fill-in-the-blanks. As you can see, the student is in the middle of filling in the blanks.

One-Tray Faded Parsons

The element has many different formats, including using pre/post-text to structure context around a single-tray layout, shown below:

Because this is a ruby example, the autograder looks slightly different:

Syntax Guide for Adding and Removing Scaffolding

Consider a very simple parsons problem -- two lines, no blanks, standard layout:

<pl-faded-parsons answers-name="my-fpp" language="py">
    def greet(name: str):
        return ("Hello, " + name)
</pl-faded-parsons>

Since we know all the lines belong in the solution, we could remove the "unused" tray on the left and only have the solution tray:

<pl-faded-parsons answers-name="my-fpp" language="py" format="one-tray">
    def greet(name: str):
        return ("Hello, " + name)
</pl-faded-parsons>

Or instead, you might pin the def line to the top of the solution tray with #0given:

<pl-faded-parsons answers-name="my-fpp" language="py">
    def greet(name: str): #0given
        return ("Hello, " + name)
</pl-faded-parsons>

To make it harder, you could add a "distractor" or red-herring codeline with #distractor. Careful, you can't have format="one-tray" and distractors at the same time!

<pl-faded-parsons answers-name="my-fpp" language="py">
    def greet(name: str): #0given
        name = "Hello, " + name #distractor
        return ("Hello, " + name)
</pl-faded-parsons>

You can increase the difficulty further by adding blanks to the problem, using !BLANK

<pl-faded-parsons answers-name="my-fpp" language="py">
    def greet(name: str): #0given
        name = "Hello, " + name #distractor
        return ("Hello, " + !BLANK)
</pl-faded-parsons>

You can also add default starting text to blanks with a trailing #blank <help-text>

<pl-faded-parsons answers-name="my-fpp" language="py">
    def greet(name: str):
        name = "Hello, " + name #distractor
        return ("Hello, " + !BLANK) #blank _xxx_
</pl-faded-parsons>

Note: The tests are equipped to handle substring partial-credit. Try the faded version and submit name + "!" in the blank, or name[0], and see what happens!

What’s in this directory

Folder	Example	What it demonstrates
questions/basic-python-parsons	Fibonacci Parsons Problem (Unscramble Only)	A standard Parsons problem where all code blocks are provided and the student only needs to order them correctly.
questions/python-faded-parsons	Fibonacci Faded Parsons (Unscramble + Fill-in-the-Blanks)	A classic faded Parsons example that combines ordering with missing-code blanks.
questions/python-faded-parsons-multiples-of-three	Multiples of Three (Distractors)	A faded Parsons example that includes distractor blocks to make the ordering task more realistic.
questions/python-faded-parsons-count-long-words	Count Long Words (Blank Default Text)	A faded Parsons example that uses default blank text to guide the student toward filling in missing pieces.
questions/python-faded-parsons-first-uppercase	First Uppercase ('One-Tray' Format)	A one-tray faded Parsons example with the code and blanks arranged in a single tray.
questions/python-no-code-pre-post	Writing Code with Context (Pre/Post-Text in One-Tray Format)	Another one-tray example that combines surrounding context with the coding task.
questions/rspec-giftcard	Scaffolding Test-Writing in RSpec (Faded Parsons in Ruby)	A non-Python faded Parsons example that shows the same pattern applied to Ruby and RSpec.

Credits and Thanks

The element is the product of the work of

• Serena Caraco github
• Nelson Lojo github linkedin
• Nathaniel (Weinman) Gainsboro during his PhD @ UC Berkeley linkedin google scholar
• Armando Fox, generously advising them all github homepage