Note

We're working on getting a processed .qmd file placed into the output directory.

assign: Authoring Homework Assignments and Solutions

Quarto extension for designing homework assignments and solutions in a single document.

This is the modernization of the assignr R package.

Installing

You can install the extension and receive a preset project by typing into Terminal:

quarto use template coatless-quarto/assign

This will install the extension under the _extensions subdirectory. If you're using version control, you will want to check in this directory.

Using

The extension takes a single document and creates three different outputs:

• assign/: Student facing assignment details.
• solution/: Solutions without any directions.
• rubric/ (Optional): Solutions alongside of grading criteria

To achieve this feat, the extension uses custom class names and hides content depending on the Quarto profile being displayed. We current recognize the following custom class names:

• .direction: shown in the assignment, but not the solution or rubric documents.
• .sol: shown in the solution and rubric documents.
• .rubric: shown only in the rubric version of the solutions.

In a Quarto document, this would look like:

This text will appear across all versions of the document

:::{.direction}

Only display the directions content in the assignment document

:::

:::{.sol}

Only display the answer in the solution or rubric documents

:::


:::{.rubric}

Only display the grading notes in the rubric document.

:::

Important

When authoring documents, there is no need to use all custom classes or profiles. At any time you can omit using a class or profile if it is not required by your usage scenario.

Example

For an example of each custom class, please see the template.qmd file for a demo assignment.

You can render documents under the desired profile by typing into Terminal:

quarto render --profile assign
quarto render --profile solution
quarto render --profile rubric

Note

We've inquiried about allowing for project profile options to be selected under the Render button in RStudio, but our issue went unanswered and was marked as stale. We've just filed a request for Quarto's VS Code extension.

Please note, you must have the necessary Quarto project profile present to correctly receive output in the relevant directories, e.g.

_quarto-assign.yml

project:
  output-dir: assign

_quarto-solution.yml

project:
  output-dir: solution

_quarto-rubric.yml

project:
  output-dir: rubric

You can specify a default profile like assign to run by adding into the main _quarto.yml:

project:
  default: assign