Skip to content

FAQ

Jump to bottom
Phil edited this page Nov 12, 2025 · 1 revision

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Last Updated: 2025-01-12 | Version: Meteor 3.3.2+

📋 Table of Contents

General Questions

What is MoFaCTS?

MoFaCTS (Mobile Fact and Concept Training System) is an adaptive learning platform that uses spaced repetition and cognitive science principles to optimize learning and retention. It's like smart flashcards that adapt to your learning pace.

See: Home for a complete overview.

Who can use MoFaCTS?

  • Students - Practice lessons assigned by your teacher
  • Teachers - Create content and track student progress
  • Administrators - Deploy and manage MoFaCTS instances
  • Researchers - Design experiments and collect data

Is MoFaCTS free?

The MoFaCTS software is open source. However, running a server has costs:

  • Local development: Free (uses your computer)
  • Production server: $282-957/year depending on scale

See: Cost Analysis for details.

What browsers does MoFaCTS support?

MoFaCTS works best on:

  • ✅ Chrome (recommended)
  • ✅ Edge
  • ✅ Firefox
  • ⚠️ Safari (some features may have issues)

Where can I report bugs or request features?

Report issues on GitHub.

For Students

How do I start practicing?

  1. Log in to your MoFaCTS instance
  2. Go to the Learning Dashboard
  3. Find a lesson in the list
  4. Click Start (or Continue if you've already begun)

See: Student Overview for details.

Why do I keep seeing the same questions?

MoFaCTS uses spaced repetition to help you remember better. Questions you answer incorrectly will appear more frequently until you master them. This is intentional and proven to improve long-term retention.

Can I practice with voice input?

Yes! MoFaCTS supports speech recognition:

  1. Go to your profile page
  2. Toggle on speech recognition
  3. Set up your Google API key (one-time setup)
  4. Start a lesson and speak your answers

See: Student Overview - Speech Recognition

Can I have questions read aloud to me?

Yes, if your teacher enabled text-to-speech (TTS) for the lesson. Look for the headphones icon 🎧 next to the lesson name on your dashboard.

What happens if I get timed out?

If you don't answer within the time limit, the system will automatically advance and show you the correct answer. This helps keep you moving at a good pace.

My progress isn't showing up. What's wrong?

  • Check your internet connection - MoFaCTS needs to sync with the server
  • Try refreshing the page - Press F5 or Ctrl+R
  • Clear your browser cache - Sometimes old data causes issues
  • Contact your instructor - They can check your account

For Teachers & Content Creators

How do I create my first lesson?

  1. Download an example TDF from your server
  2. Edit the questions and settings
  3. Create a ZIP file with your TDF and stimulus file
  4. Upload via Content Upload in the admin panel

See: Quick Start: Content Creation

What's the difference between a TDF and a stimulus file?

  • TDF (Training/Tutor Definition File) - Controls lesson structure, timing, and behavior
  • Stimulus File - Contains the actual questions, answers, and media

Both are required and must be uploaded together in a ZIP file.

See: Content Creation Overview

What's the difference between learning sessions and assessment sessions?

  • Learning Sessions - Adaptive practice where MoFaCTS chooses which question to show next based on AI algorithms
  • Assessment Sessions - Fixed-order tests and quizzes with predetermined question sequences

See:

How do I download student performance data?

  1. Log in as an admin or teacher
  2. Go to the Data Download section
  3. Select the class or student
  4. Click download

See: Data Output for data format details.

Can I use images, audio, or video in my questions?

Yes! Stimulus files support:

  • Images (imgSrc)
  • Audio files (audioSrc)
  • Video files (videoSrc)
  • HTML text with formatting

See: Stimulus Files

My lesson doesn't appear on the student dashboard. Why?

Check that:

  • userselect is set to "true" in your TDF's setspec
  • The TDF was uploaded successfully
  • Students are enrolled in the correct class

How strict is answer matching?

Control answer matching with these TDF settings:

  • lfparameter - How much of the answer must be correct (0-1, default 1)
  • useSpellingCorrection - Accept minor spelling errors
  • allowPhoneticMatching - Accept answers that sound similar

See: Content Creation Overview

For Administrators

What are the system requirements?

Minimum:

  • 3GB RAM (MoFaCTS-Mini)
  • 40GB storage
  • Docker and Docker Compose
  • Linux server (Ubuntu 18.04+)

For ML features:

  • 64GB RAM (MoFaCTS-Full)

See: Installation Guide

Should I use MoFaCTS-Mini or MoFaCTS-Full?

Use MoFaCTS-Mini (recommended for most):

  • Standard classroom use
  • Up to hundreds of students
  • 3GB RAM requirement

Use MoFaCTS-Full (advanced):

  • ML-powered content generation
  • Research applications
  • 64GB RAM requirement

See: Installation Guide

How do I install MoFaCTS locally for testing?

git clone https://github.com/memphis-iis/mofacts-docker.git
cd mofacts-docker
nano /mofactsAssets/settings.json  # Edit settings
vagrant up && vagrant ssh
# Access at http://localhost:3000

See: Local Install

How do I deploy to a production server?

See: Remote Install for complete instructions.

Key steps:

  1. Set up a Linux server with Docker
  2. Create /mofactsAssets/settings.json
  3. Run docker-compose up -d
  4. Configure reverse proxy (Apache/Nginx)
  5. Set up SSL with Let's Encrypt

How do I update MoFaCTS to a newer version?

cd /var/www/mofacts/
sudo docker-compose pull
sudo docker-compose down
sudo docker-compose up -d

See: Remote Install

How do I backup the database?

docker exec mongodb mongodump --out /backup

Then copy the /backup directory to a safe location.

Where are the asset files stored?

Assets (TDFs, images, audio, etc.) are stored in /mofactsAssets/ on your server. Make sure to backup this directory regularly.

Technical Issues

"Cannot find module" error when starting

Solution: Rebuild Docker images without cache:

docker-compose build --no-cache
docker-compose up -d

Port 3000 is already in use

Solution: Either:

  1. Stop the other application using port 3000, OR
  2. Change the port in docker-compose.yaml

Container keeps restarting

Check logs:

docker logs mofacts --tail 100

Common causes:

  • Insufficient memory (increase to at least 3GB)
  • Missing or invalid settings.json
  • Database connection issues

502 Bad Gateway error (production)

Check:

  1. Is the MoFaCTS container running? (docker ps)
  2. Is Apache/Nginx running?
  3. Is the reverse proxy configured correctly?
  4. Are firewall rules allowing traffic?

Speech recognition isn't working

Requirements:

  • Google API key set up correctly
  • Microphone permission granted in browser
  • Chrome or Edge browser (recommended)
  • HTTPS connection (required for microphone access)

Students can't log in

Check:

  1. Are user accounts created?
  2. Are students using the correct URL?
  3. Is the server running? (docker ps)
  4. Check server logs: docker logs mofacts

TDF upload fails

Common issues:

  • ZIP file must contain both TDF and stimulus file
  • File names must match (check stimulusfile in TDF)
  • JSON syntax errors (validate with a JSON linter)
  • File names can't have special characters

Questions aren't displaying correctly

Check:

  1. JSON syntax in stimulus file
  2. correctResponse field is spelled correctly
  3. Media files are included in the ZIP package
  4. File paths in stimulus file match actual file names

Getting More Help

Documentation

Community & Support

Contributing

MoFaCTS is open source! Contributions welcome:

  • Report bugs
  • Suggest features
  • Submit pull requests
  • Improve documentation

Can't find your answer? Report your question as an issue on GitHub so we can add it to this FAQ!

🏠 Home

🎓 For Students

👨‍🏫 For Teachers & Content Creators

⚙️ For Administrators

🛠️ For Developers

📚 Resources

Clone this wiki locally