Niche Script: Convert Straighterline Exam Q & A into Anki Flashcards

Straighterline.com provides self-paced college level courses that transfer into some degree programs at brick & mortar universities. The courses are only eligible for transfer credit at a few higher-ed institutions, and they're a great option for self-motivated learners working on knocking out pre-requisites.

I completed several Straighterline courses when exploring another degree program. I like using Anki flashcards to reinforce my learning, and I wanted a way to quickly convert my graded Straighterline quizzes and exams into flashcards.

Here's the workflow that I used to convert graded Straighterline quizzes & exams into flashcards:

1. Run the script in the browser console

Running the following JavaScript in the browser console should copy the questions and answers to your clipboard in a comma-separated-value format.

const questions = [...document.querySelectorAll('.qtext')].map((q) => q.innerText);
const answers = [...document.querySelectorAll('.answer')];

const answersText = answers.map((answer) => {
  const isCorrect = !!answer.querySelector('.correct');

  if (isCorrect) {
    return answer.querySelector('.correct').querySelector('label').innerText;
  }

  const incorrectText = answer.querySelector('.incorrect').querySelector('label').innerText;

  return '🚨 INCORRECT: ' + incorrectText ?? 'ANSWER NOT FOUND';
});

const cleanString = (str) => str.replaceAll(',', ' ');

const questionAndAnswers = questions.reduce((acc, question) => {
  return `${acc}\n${cleanString(question)}, ${cleanString(answersText.shift())}`;
}, ``);

console.log(questionAndAnswers);

copy(questionAndAnswers);

2. Paste the script's output into a .csv file

The copied questions & answers should look something like this:

...
In the context of operant conditioning  identify a true statement about negative reinforcement.,b. It means following a behavior with the removal of something.
Which of the following statements about B. F. Skinner is FALSE?,🚨 INCORRECT: a. Skinner conducted many of his studies with animals as opposed to human subjects.
...

Take the copied Q & A and paste them into a new .csv file.

3. Import the .csv file into an Anki deck

Import the .csv file into Anki, making sure to select comma as the Field separator:

Conclusion

That's it!

The script/worflow is a bit of a hack, but it saved me some time. Maybe it will help someone else facing a similar problem 🤷🏻‍♂️

I last tried this in summer of 2023, and it's dependent on Straighterline's HTML remaining unchanged, so the script may require tweaking going forward. YMMV