Implementing Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in PHP Online Quiz System

How to Implement Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Online Quizzes

When designing an online quiz system, an important feature is the ability to dynamically adjust question difficulty based on user performance, providing a more personalized challenge. This article explains how to implement this functionality with concrete code examples.

Evaluating User Performance

First, it is necessary to determine how to evaluate a user's quiz performance. Common methods include assessing the user's correct answer rate and response speed. The correct answer rate can be calculated by dividing the number of correct answers by the total number of questions, while response speed is determined by recording the time taken to answer questions.

Defining a Difficulty Adjustment Strategy

Next, a strategy for adjusting question difficulty needs to be defined. A common approach is to use a variable difficulty to represent the difficulty level of a question. The higher the difficulty coefficient, the harder the question. Each question typically has a difficulty level that can be stored as an attribute in a database.

Dynamically Adjusting Questions Based on User Level

The system can dynamically adjust question difficulty based on the user's correct answer rate. When the correct answer rate is high, increase the difficulty coefficient to provide more challenging questions. Conversely, if the correct answer rate is low, reduce the difficulty coefficient to provide easier questions.

Example Code

import random

class Question:
    def __init__(self, content, difficulty):
        self.content = content
        self.difficulty = difficulty

class QuestionBank:
    def __init__(self):
        self.questions = []

    def add_question(self, content, difficulty):
        question = Question(content, difficulty)
        self.questions.append(question)

    def get_question(self, user_correct_rate):
        filtered_questions = [question for question in self.questions if question.difficulty <= user_correct_rate]
        if filtered_questions:
            return random.choice(filtered_questions)
        else:
            return None

# Initialize question bank
question_bank = QuestionBank()
question_bank.add_question("Question 1", 0.2)
question_bank.add_question("Question 2", 0.5)
question_bank.add_question("Question 3", 0.8)

# Simulate user answering process
user_correct_answers = 0
user_total_answers = 0

while True:
    # Get user correct rate
    user_correct_rate = user_correct_answers / user_total_answers if user_total_answers > 0 else 0

    # Get question suitable for user level
    question = question_bank.get_question(user_correct_rate)

    if question:
        # Display question and receive user answer
        user_answer = input(question.content)

        # Check if the answer is correct and update user status
        if user_answer == "Correct Answer":
            user_correct_answers += 1
        user_total_answers += 1

        # Adjust question difficulty based on user performance
        if user_correct_answers % 5 == 0:
            question.difficulty += 0.1
            print("Question difficulty increased!")
    else:
        break

print("Quiz finished")

Conclusion

With the above implementation, you can create an online quiz system that dynamically adjusts question difficulty based on user performance. This approach allows users to face questions matching their skill level, increasing engagement and providing a more challenging experience. The example code can be extended and optimized according to specific application requirements.