John, the session score is what I was referring to. I was under the impression that it was a cumulative score and didn't realize it was designed to reset after each login. I guess that's why you named it "session score."
As the developer for HamTestOnline, one of the challenges I face is how to provide features that my students love without making the user interface overly confusing. The session score is typical. Some people tell me that they find it motivating. For example, they might decide to study each day until the session score tells them they have answered 100 unique questions. Yet I get a lot of questions about why the session score acts the way it does. (I usually just quote the definition of the session score from the FAQ page.)
It's the same with user rank. Some people like to watch their rank relative to everyone else on the system. They will set a goal for their study session and keep working until they achieve it. For example, if you start at rank 1733, you might decide to keep going until you reach 1000. Yet I get questions from people who can't understand why their user rank slips when they don't study for a while. It's because other people were studying while you were snoozing, duh! (OK, I usually leave off the "duh" from my response.)
Does all this matter? Only in that it helps motivate people to keep studying. HamTestOnline is like a cross between a video game and homework. It's a lot more fun than reading a book, but not nearly as much fun as asteroids. I use features like session score and user rank to distract my students from the fact that they are actually doing homework.
That's also the idea behind the user interface design: one click to answer, and you get instant feedback. plus the next question (including any diagrams). As long as I can get the next question back in your face in less than half a second, you're going to be seriously tempted to answer it, even if bedtime was an hour ago and you have to get up early in the morning. ("OK, just this ONE more, and then I'm going to bed. This time I MEAN it!") It's all a nefarious plot to keep you coming back for more.
You could say the same thing about the "Skip subject for now" and "Skip all calculations for now" buttons. Some people will say, "If it asks me one more question about logic circuits, I'm going to quit!" The skip buttons give them more control over the study session, which makes it more pleasant, which keeps their keesters in the chairs, which means they get their licenses instead of asking for refunds! See how I am? ;-)
73,
John, W1AI
www.hamtestonline.com
