I am a GCSE Biology teacher at a sixth form college in London. The GCSE syllabus we use is assessed 50% using multiple choice (MC)test papers that are produced externally by the exam board. Over the past two years the science department has used Blackboard to electronically mark MC papers . We did this by creating a test paper that was actually an answer sheet for a specific MC test paper in the following way:
We created a tab delimited table in text format which contained the correct responses for each of the 40 questions in a specific multiple-choice paper. We then used the browser to select the specific tab-delimited (answer sheet) file for each multiple choice paper and uploaded into Blackboard Test Bank using the ‘Tests, Surveys and Pools’ option in Course Tools, and they were them deployed in the appropriate folders on Blackboard. (please see attachemnt detailing each stage of this procedure)
The GCSE multiple choice papers containing the questions were available to students as pdfs, but they entered their responses to these MC papers on the answer sheet we created. The marks for each completed and submitted multiple choice test would appear in the grade centre etc.
Our college has this month transfered to Moodle, and we are finding it very difficult to create multiple choice answer sheets as we did in Blackboard. Moodle appears only to be able to store individual questions in the question bank, but does not have the facility to store or deploy files that contain a specific set of multiple choice responses to a specific multiple choice paper. We have been trying for the last two days to find a way of creating an electronic answer sheet specific to each past GCSE multiple choice paper, without success. Can you help us? We have tried the Blackboard_moodle converter but we keep getting error messages, we have also tried to create them in Moodle itself, but this only creates questions not entire answer sheets specific for each GCSE multiple choice question paper.
Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Sarah Lewendon -
Nombre de respostes: 15
En resposta a Sarah Lewendon
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Tim Hunt -
Have you tried the question import options. In particular, have a look at Aiken_format and GIFT_format.
En resposta a Sarah Lewendon
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Jim Gary -
I have a similar question.
I would like Moodle to insert random distractors from the correct answers of other questions into a quiz. This probably only works for ESL tests. Even then sometimes the question is easy to guess. Otherwise, the distractors wouldn't be very distracting at all!!
I would like to be able to do that but haven't found a way. This is probably the worst solution and I can hear people screaming as they read this! If I had real computer folks available, they could easily find a much better solution using a database query.
If there's already a way to do this, I'm all ears!!
I enter the questions and correct answers in a spreadsheet (a real database would be much better) and then do series of extremely low tech mail merges to plug the correct answer and random distractors (correct answers from other questions) into what eventually becomes a Moodle .xml format.
<!-- question: 1 --> replace the 1 with a record number field
<question type="multichoice">
<name><text>Question Name</text></name> I insert the correct answer field.
<questiontext format="html">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Question goes here</font>]]></text></questiontext> insert question field
<image></image>
<generalfeedback>
<text></text>
</generalfeedback>
<defaultgrade>1</defaultgrade> adjust scoring and other options as needed
<penalty>0.5</penalty>
<hidden>0</hidden>
<shuffleanswers>1</shuffleanswers>
<single>true</single>
<shuffleanswers>true</shuffleanswers>
<correctfeedback>
<text></text>
</correctfeedback>
<partiallycorrectfeedback>
<text></text>
</partiallycorrectfeedback>
<incorrectfeedback>
<text></text>
</incorrectfeedback>
<answernumbering>none</answernumbering>
<answer fraction="100">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Correct answer goes here</font>]]></text> Insert answer field
<feedback>
<text></text>
</feedback>
</answer>
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">1st distractor goes here</font>]]></text> Insert answer field (Note, this will insert the answer from the NEXT question.)
<feedback>
<text></text>
</feedback>
</answer> insert next record field
Copy and paste the above the required number of times.
Do the first merge. Put the results into ANOTHER sheet in spreadsheet.
This creates the first part of each question.
Then repeat the process to create the other distractors (part 2 of the question.)
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Distractor #2</font>]]></text> insert answer field
<feedback><text></text></feedback>
</answer> next record
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Distractor #3</font>]]></text>
<feedback><text></text></feedback>
</answer>next record
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Distractor #4</font>]]></text>
<feedback><text></text></feedback>
</answer>next record
</question>
Copy and paste the required number of times. I change the sort order to increase randomization
Do the merge three times with different sort orders.
Enter that into the same table that question part 1 is in in the "distractor" field.
Do ANOTHER merge merging question and distractors.
save as XML and import. I think it takes longer to describe what I do than just do it. HOWEVER, there has to be a better way. I just don't have the database skills to do it.
I would like Moodle to insert random distractors from the correct answers of other questions into a quiz. This probably only works for ESL tests. Even then sometimes the question is easy to guess. Otherwise, the distractors wouldn't be very distracting at all!!
I would like to be able to do that but haven't found a way. This is probably the worst solution and I can hear people screaming as they read this! If I had real computer folks available, they could easily find a much better solution using a database query.
If there's already a way to do this, I'm all ears!!
I enter the questions and correct answers in a spreadsheet (a real database would be much better) and then do series of extremely low tech mail merges to plug the correct answer and random distractors (correct answers from other questions) into what eventually becomes a Moodle .xml format.
<!-- question: 1 --> replace the 1 with a record number field
<question type="multichoice">
<name><text>Question Name</text></name> I insert the correct answer field.
<questiontext format="html">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Question goes here</font>]]></text></questiontext> insert question field
<image></image>
<generalfeedback>
<text></text>
</generalfeedback>
<defaultgrade>1</defaultgrade> adjust scoring and other options as needed
<penalty>0.5</penalty>
<hidden>0</hidden>
<shuffleanswers>1</shuffleanswers>
<single>true</single>
<shuffleanswers>true</shuffleanswers>
<correctfeedback>
<text></text>
</correctfeedback>
<partiallycorrectfeedback>
<text></text>
</partiallycorrectfeedback>
<incorrectfeedback>
<text></text>
</incorrectfeedback>
<answernumbering>none</answernumbering>
<answer fraction="100">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Correct answer goes here</font>]]></text> Insert answer field
<feedback>
<text></text>
</feedback>
</answer>
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">1st distractor goes here</font>]]></text> Insert answer field (Note, this will insert the answer from the NEXT question.)
<feedback>
<text></text>
</feedback>
</answer> insert next record field
Copy and paste the above the required number of times.
Do the first merge. Put the results into ANOTHER sheet in spreadsheet.
This creates the first part of each question.
Then repeat the process to create the other distractors (part 2 of the question.)
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Distractor #2</font>]]></text> insert answer field
<feedback><text></text></feedback>
</answer> next record
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Distractor #3</font>]]></text>
<feedback><text></text></feedback>
</answer>next record
<answer fraction="0">
<text><![CDATA[<font size="4">Distractor #4</font>]]></text>
<feedback><text></text></feedback>
</answer>next record
</question>
Copy and paste the required number of times. I change the sort order to increase randomization
Do the merge three times with different sort orders.
Enter that into the same table that question part 1 is in in the "distractor" field.
Do ANOTHER merge merging question and distractors.
save as XML and import. I think it takes longer to describe what I do than just do it. HOWEVER, there has to be a better way. I just don't have the database skills to do it.
En resposta a Jim Gary
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Yulia I -
Really it's a mess %)
That's why I use my solution:
multichoice
Question text, <b>bold text</b>, <i>italic text</i>
A) choice 1
B) choice 2
C) choice 3
Answer: c
feed.1. feedback for choice 1
feed.2. feedback for choice 2
feed.3. feedback for choice 3
and place this to the Moodle XML Converter (http://moodle.heroku.com) to convert automatically XML file for import in Moodle
That's why I use my solution:
multichoice
Question text, <b>bold text</b>, <i>italic text</i>
A) choice 1
B) choice 2
C) choice 3
Answer: c
feed.1. feedback for choice 1
feed.2. feedback for choice 2
feed.3. feedback for choice 3
and place this to the Moodle XML Converter (http://moodle.heroku.com) to convert automatically XML file for import in Moodle
En resposta a Yulia I
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Itamar Tzadok -
I think the point is not so much the XML conversion as it is the distractors generations.
En resposta a Itamar Tzadok
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Jim Gary -
Told you I could hear people screaming!! 
But, this is still better than doing it by hand.
Yes, that's the hard part. A short answer quiz using this method is a breeze. Takes about 5 minutes. I forget the package but there's one quiz generator that will create distractors automatically from the other answers. I may just have to pay a developer to set up a database app for me. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
But, this is still better than doing it by hand.Yes, that's the hard part. A short answer quiz using this method is a breeze. Takes about 5 minutes. I forget the package but there's one quiz generator that will create distractors automatically from the other answers. I may just have to pay a developer to set up a database app for me. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.
En resposta a Jim Gary
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Yulia I -
Do you want simply generate distractors from given answers of other questions?
Say,
question 1
choice1.1.
choice2.1 - place here answer2 from question2
question2
choice2.1
choice1.1
question3
choice3.1
choice2.1
choice1.1.
Is that right?
Say,
question 1
choice1.1.
choice2.1 - place here answer2 from question2
question2
choice2.1
choice1.1
question3
choice3.1
choice2.1
choice1.1.
Is that right?
En resposta a Yulia I
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Jim Gary -
I'm not familiar with that format. So, I'm not sure!! The vocab database has word/definition pairs. The question is the definition. What I would like to do is insert 4 random distractor words to go with the correct word. Although the format is a quiz, it's actually used to introduce new vocabulary so I run it in adaptive mode. This way, they see all the words several times. It's pretty effective because I penalize .5 marks for an incorrect choice and require a 100% mark before the class so they will know the words used in that lesson, in theory anyway!!
En resposta a Jim Gary
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Yulia I -
Can you provide an example question?
The sentense for choices is always alone, but one word is changing? Or answers are generated completely different from provided set of choices?
The sentense for choices is always alone, but one word is changing? Or answers are generated completely different from provided set of choices?
En resposta a Yulia I
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Jim Gary -
The distractors come from other words in the quiz
En resposta a Jim Gary
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Itamar Tzadok -
ESL, FTL, LFL and GFL as I am (and hopefully I haven't generated here a foul word), I hear you. It should be possible to select random incorrect answers for distractors in Excel. The problem is, as you note somewhere above, that not all incorrect answers are necessarily effective distractors for any correct answer. This, however, is not a matter of database queries but of carefully organizing the data in designated sets and associating each question with its proper distractors set(s). Otherwise, you do a simple random selection and go over the result questions to refine the distractors where needed.
En resposta a Jim Gary
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Itamar Tzadok -
En resposta a Jim Gary
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Itamar Tzadok -
To begin with, since you already have the data in the worksheet you can put also the XML there, so that you won't have to copy/paste the way you do it now.
<!-- question: 1 --> replace the 1 with a record number field
Don't waste your time on anything enclosed by <!-- -->. The import ignores these lines!
Suppose your data is organized in the following way:
Column A: Question Name
Column B: Question Text
Column C: Correct answer
...
Enter in another column something like:
="<question type='multichoice'><name><text>"&A1&"</text></name><questiontext format='html'><text><![CDATA[<font size='4'>"&B1&"</font>]]></text></questiontext> ...
Add all the other relevant tags. You can skip tags that you don't use so if you don't use general feedback you don't have to add
<generalfeedback><text></text></generalfeedback>
to your import file. Etc. It may be easier to divide that part to several columns and then join them in another one. See example in this post.
Then, copy this cell to all rows with data.
<!-- question: 1 --> replace the 1 with a record number field
Don't waste your time on anything enclosed by <!-- -->. The import ignores these lines!
Suppose your data is organized in the following way:
Column A: Question Name
Column B: Question Text
Column C: Correct answer
...
Enter in another column something like:
="<question type='multichoice'><name><text>"&A1&"</text></name><questiontext format='html'><text><![CDATA[<font size='4'>"&B1&"</font>]]></text></questiontext> ...
Add all the other relevant tags. You can skip tags that you don't use so if you don't use general feedback you don't have to add
<generalfeedback><text></text></generalfeedback>
to your import file. Etc. It may be easier to divide that part to several columns and then join them in another one. See example in this post.
Then, copy this cell to all rows with data.
En resposta a Sarah Lewendon
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Yulia I -
Hi, Sarah
can you attach a sample question?
can you attach a sample question?
En resposta a Yulia I
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Sarah Lewendon -
I have attached the tab-delimited response sheet (and an excel version). There are no questions attached to response sheet. The questions are supplied to students as pdfs of actual GCSE multiple choice past exam papers (attached is the Edexcel multiple choice exam paper for this response sheet). What we managed to do in Blackboard was to create a response sheet for each of the Edexcel GCSE past papers. The response sheets had no questions attached. They were basically quizzes without questions. The question area was left blank. What we have done by using this protocol is to create an electronic version of the Edexcel exam answer sheet (attached Edexcel answer sheet)
The good thing about being able to do this, is that you can use any multiple choice exam papers from different sources, electronically, hard-copy etc and in five minutes you can create a response sheet for this specific multiple choice exam and upload it onto Blackboard. It allows a lot more flexibility for revision, as you do not have to design and enter a question for each response, you simply use the exam boards question paper.
Would it not be possible to develop some thing similar in Moodle?, as we found this facility in Blackboard prooved very useful, and it is the only area in Moodle which I feel is less flexible than Blackboard which seems more geared up for simply creating multiple choice exam responses.
The good thing about being able to do this, is that you can use any multiple choice exam papers from different sources, electronically, hard-copy etc and in five minutes you can create a response sheet for this specific multiple choice exam and upload it onto Blackboard. It allows a lot more flexibility for revision, as you do not have to design and enter a question for each response, you simply use the exam boards question paper.
Would it not be possible to develop some thing similar in Moodle?, as we found this facility in Blackboard prooved very useful, and it is the only area in Moodle which I feel is less flexible than Blackboard which seems more geared up for simply creating multiple choice exam responses.
En resposta a Sarah Lewendon
Re: Importing Multiple Choice Quizzes from Blackboard to Moodle
per Itamar Tzadok -
Moodle appears only to be able to store individual questions in the question bank, but does not have the facility to store or deploy files that contain a specific set of multiple choice responses to a specific multiple choice paper.
And for a good reason. These files are an unnecessary step but you can always emulate them if you really want to. In Moodle you create a quiz activity which is a container of a specific set of multiple choice questions (from the question bank). Students submit their answers by attempting the quiz, entering their choice responses, and submitting the attempt. The score is recorded in the Moodle gradebook. You can prepare a pdf version of a particular quiz and deploy to students so as to allow them to work out their responses offline and attempt the quiz online only for entering and submitting their answers.
hth
And for a good reason. These files are an unnecessary step but you can always emulate them if you really want to. In Moodle you create a quiz activity which is a container of a specific set of multiple choice questions (from the question bank). Students submit their answers by attempting the quiz, entering their choice responses, and submitting the attempt. The score is recorded in the Moodle gradebook. You can prepare a pdf version of a particular quiz and deploy to students so as to allow them to work out their responses offline and attempt the quiz online only for entering and submitting their answers.
hth