Extention to Quiz or 'Exercise Module'

Extention to Quiz or 'Exercise Module'

by Richard Krampitz -
Number of replies: 3

Dear community!

The quiz-module is great, but it has the character of "assessing knowledge". It is quite formal with the students having to start it by clicking 2x and getting the feedback on a separate page.

In many traditional schools of teaching there is a phase called exercise.
After being presented with the new material, the students practice the new rule/etc. by doing several exercises.

The difference to the quiz-module would be that the students are "helped" and there is no test situation.

  • uncomplicated feedback after every gap (or other exercise type) e.g. via java script (=not on a separate page, no need to be "cheating-safe")
  • feedback on cloze/short answer exercise automatically detects common spelling problems and lets the student correct those (e.g. "You have misplaced an accent. Try again." instead of just saying "WRONG!")
  • no grading / scoring visible to the student. An overview for the teacher might be useful to see if the students need more practice or explanation.
  • starts with a single click (maybe possible in current version already)


Could this functionality be integrated into the quiz module?
It would be beneficiary to use the same test question database.

Maybe somebody is already working on something similar?
I even know a programmer who might write this software for me (in Q1/2009). I would like to contribute the extension back to the community. Is there anything I have to pay attention to?


Yours Sincerely

R. Krampitz


PS: There is no need to tell me that the present-practice-produce (ppp) paradigm is frowned upon in many modern theories about learning. The situation I am facing here is to implement Moodle as a blended learning solution with a teaching staff that is mostly sold to ppp. So I either find a way to offer practice exercises in Moodle or it's not happening.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Richard Krampitz

Re: Extention to Quiz or 'Exercise Module'

by Itamar Tzadok -
I agree with the need and I will have to implement the sort of practice enviroment you describe sometime in the near future. I haven't investigated the available options yet but I think that a lesson activity can do something like that. In each page of the lesson you can add a question (e.g. multiple choice, short-answer, etc.) and you can set the branching of the page such that an incorrect answer returns to the same page and only correct answer or explicitly navigating to another page leaves that page. But this is just from a quick look at the activity and so just a thought. thoughtful
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Extension to Quiz or 'Exercise Module'

by Richard Krampitz -
Thank you for your reply. I tried it out with Moodle 1.8.1 and it really is less "testy". However, the questions have to be exported to GIFT and then imported to the "Lesson" activity. Not quite smooth.

Besides, the features JavaScript-based feedback while filling out the gaps and tolerant feedback for minor typos are still missing.

BTW: I just realised I misspelled 'extension' in the original subject line. Is there any way I could fix this? Kind of embarrasing.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Richard Krampitz

Re: Extention to Quiz or 'Exercise Module'

by Tim Hunt -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
I think that Moodle already does some of what you ask if you use Adaptive mode, and create questions with good built in feedback. Of course, adaptive mode is not perfect by any means. At the OU, we made some improvements to adaptive mode which you can see at http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3484. Time permitting, I want to incorporate these changes into Moodle 2.0.

Also, I feel no need to apologise for a PPP approach. Sure, Moodle provides a lot of great tools for collaborative learning, and that is great. But there are still some situations where PPP is the best approach, and it is important that Moodle provides those tools too. That is the place of the quiz module, although I believe that quizzes can do more than just assess knowledge. Then can also be a tool for learning, and they can assess and develop students applications of knowledge and methods as well as facts.


Average of ratings: -