MATLAB Course Activity Generator

Create MATLAB Course Designer-ready MATLAB Exercise learning activities. This skill is a wrapper around the existing matlab-generate-grader-assessments skill: use matlab-generate-grader-assessments first to create the shared MATLAB Grader-style component parts, then use MATLAB MCP Server tool calls to validate the generated MATLAB files and add Course Designer authoring metadata.

Input

The user may have provided a module objective or activity idea in their request. If it is missing or too vague, collect missing activity inputs in Step 1.

Reference Files

Read these references from the references/ directory as needed:

• references/grader-wrapper-workflow.md — how to call and use matlab-generate-grader-assessments
• references/matlab-validation-rules.md — MATLAB MCP validation workflow
• references/course-designer-artifacts.md — output folder and metadata rules

Read references/grader-wrapper-workflow.md and references/course-designer-artifacts.md before creating artifacts.

Required Tooling

Use the existing matlab-generate-grader-assessments skill for the initial component generation. Use MATLAB MCP Server calls for validation:

• detect_matlab_toolboxes for product/toolbox availability
• check_matlab_code for static analysis of .m files
• run_matlab_file for runnable scripts, validation drivers, or test harnesses
• evaluate_matlab_code for targeted checks, path setup, function calls, and MATLAB Exercise test smoke checks

Do not claim a MATLAB Exercise is ready unless the generated MATLAB files have been checked through MATLAB MCP calls or the final output clearly marks validation as partial.

Pipeline Overview

Step 1: Collect activity inputs and Course Designer placement
Step 2: Invoke grader for shared MATLAB Exercise component parts
Step 3: Split description.txt into background.m and task.m
Step 4: Add Course Designer-only authoring fields
Step 5: Validate solution.m, template.m, and tests.m with MATLAB MCP calls
Step 6: Write Course Designer-ready activity metadata and review notes

Step 1: Activity Inputs

Collect only missing information:

• Course title or course identifier
• Module title and module order
• Learning activity title and activity order
• Module objective and observable learner outcome
• MATLAB concept: script, function, class, object usage, data analysis, visualization, numerical methods, app workflow, or another domain
• Assessment purpose: formative, summative, or both
• Required MATLAB and toolbox products
• Starter/template expectations
• Solution behavior
• Validation requirements
• Output directory

Default to a Course Designer learning activity type of MATLAB Exercise.

Step 2: Invoke matlab-generate-grader-assessments

Use references/grader-wrapper-workflow.md.

Call or prompt the existing matlab-generate-grader-assessments skill before creating Course Designer metadata. The expected matlab-generate-grader-assessments output is:

• description.txt
• template.m
• solution.m
• tests.m
• function_call.m (Function assessment items)
• supporting_class.m (Object usage assessment items)

Store the matlab-generate-grader-assessments output under:

grader-items/module-NN-activity-MM-[slug]/

[slug] is the assessment item's snake_case title with underscores replaced by hyphens. This wrapper placement overrides the generator's standalone {snake_title}/ folder rule.

Do not hand-write these files first. If matlab-generate-grader-assessments is unavailable, stop and report that MATLAB Exercise generation is blocked unless the user explicitly accepts a planning-only fallback.

Step 3: Split Description for Course Designer

Create two plaintext .m files from description.txt for copy/paste into the MATLAB Course Designer web application:

Per the MATLAB Course Designer documentation for creating MATLAB Exercises: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab-and-simulink-online-courses/ug/create-matlab-exercise-using-matlab-course-designer.html

• The Background field sets the context for the task, explains the learning objective, and provides high-level information learners need to complete the task.
• The Task field provides the instructions learners follow to complete the task, including specific instructions such as which functions or variable names to use.

Treat background.m and task.m as plain-text field transport files, not executable MATLAB scripts. Preserve the text exactly as it should be pasted into Course Designer. Do not prefix prose with % solely to make the files valid MATLAB code.

Split workflow:

1. Read description.txt once and mark each paragraph as context, objective, prerequisite, instruction, deliverable, constraint, self-check, or grading detail.
2. Put only context, purpose, learning objective, and necessary high-level prerequisite information in background.m.
3. Put concrete learner instructions, ordered task steps, deliverables, required variable/function/file names, constraints, expected outputs, and self-check prompts in task.m.
4. Move implementation details out of background.m and into task.m.
5. Move broad conceptual exposition out of task.m unless it is needed to understand a specific instruction.
6. If description.txt has no clear boundary, create a concise background from the opening context and put the full actionable prompt in task.m.
7. Keep hidden-test details, reference solution details, and grading mechanics out of both files unless they are intentionally learner-facing.
8. Do not modify the original description.txt; keep it in the matlab-generate-grader-assessments source folder.

Quality check:

• background.m should still make sense if read before seeing the task steps.
• task.m should be actionable without duplicating the full background.
• Both files should be ready to paste into Course Designer text fields without cleanup.

Step 4: Add Course Designer Fields

Create the Course Designer MATLAB Exercise activity from the matlab-generate-grader-assessments output. Add fields that are needed by MATLAB Course Designer but not generated by the first-pass component workflow:

• background.m and task.m copy/paste fields
• Module placement and learning activity order
• Estimated time
• Prerequisite context
• Required products and toolboxes
• Learner setup notes
• Course Designer persistence notes
• Optional Common Cartridge placement notes

Step 5: Validate MATLAB Files

Use references/matlab-validation-rules.md.

At minimum:

• Confirm solution.m, template.m, and tests.m exist.
• Run check_matlab_code on solution.m, template.m, and tests.m only. background.m and task.m are plain-text copy/paste fields, not valid MATLAB code, and must not be linted.
• Execute or smoke-test solution.m when runnable.
• Validate tests.m syntax and MATLAB Exercise assess calls where possible.
• Confirm the learner template preserves the expected names and scaffold.
• Write all results to validation-report.md.

When execution is not possible because the generated item requires MATLAB Grader runtime functions, run static checks and targeted syntax checks, then mark runtime validation as partial.

Step 6: Course Designer Activity Artifacts

Use references/course-designer-artifacts.md.

Write these files in the activity folder:

• activity.md
• background.m
• task.m
• instructor-notes.md
• validation-report.md
• course-designer-activity.json
• grader-source.md, the reference file that maps the activity to its grader-items/ source folder and component files (see references/course-designer-artifacts.md)

The course-designer-activity.json file is the import-oriented sidecar for future Course Designer API work. It must include course, module, learning activity, background.m, task.m, MATLAB file, product, validation, and matlab-generate-grader-assessments source metadata.

Output Rules

• The final answer must list the activity folder, matlab-generate-grader-assessments source folder, metadata path, and validation report path.
• Do not claim validation passed unless the MATLAB MCP checks passed.
• If validation is partial, state exactly which checks were deferred.
• Preserve the Course Designer hierarchy: course -> module -> learning activity.
• Keep the matlab-generate-grader-assessments output intact and record any Course Designer-only additions separately.