Hi folks,
I am about to attempt to import a test batch of quiz questions from the word export option offered by LXR to Moodle using the Aiken format.
The goal is to convert about 2000 questions from several courses into Moodle.
Is there a better - more efficient - more effect way of doing this?
I checked and could only find one very old forum thread on this.
Cheers,
Jamie
Jean-Michel might jump in to help.
It depends, I am not familiar with LXR. What is this?
Moodle can import a wide variety of formats, but I find that it is still a little tricky. It also depends on what question types you want to import, True/false, multiple choice, etc.
I tend to experiment on a local MAMP Moodle. Once successful, I export the questions from my experimental moodle and then import them into my production moodle.
Does LXR have a Blackboard question bank? Sometimes I have better luck using Blackboard as a converter.
Once the 2000 questions are into your Moodle, you might want to categorize them. Or are they already in separate categories?
Well doing an import format is not that hard, I have done it several times.
But we need to answer some questions :
Hi Jean-Michel,
It looks like its built with or from a Windows database.
LXR*TEST 6.1 incorporates Microsoft JET engine database technology
(LXR*TEST databases are Microsoft Access databases) which is intended
for use by small workgroups. Online LAN or web testing requires
scalability in support of concurrent access of the online testing databases
by examinees. LXR*TEST achieves the necessary scalability by using
upsized SQL databases and it’s therefore assumed that your online
testing architecture will include Microsoft SQL Server. Online testing
environments that do not utilize SQL Server are not supported by LXR. From http://documents.goamp.com/software/Documents/knowledge/lxrtest61GuideToOnlineTesting.pdf
Oi!
Okay, about that "export." Can you export a small sample of a quiz to each of the different export types, and then post them here? Maybe someone will see something.
I see at its webpage it states:
Can you export to these formats for us, too?
Thanks Rick,
There is a thread that began in 2003 --> https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=3984 about LRX to Moodle.
LRX in a proprietary test bank program that is no longer being supported by its developers.
Yes, the questions are already categorized and I'll be importing them by course.
With the Aiken format - is there a way to name or re-name the questions before you import them?
I have a sinking feeling that Aiken is the best option with this.
I think there are three feasible formats you could use. In order, they go from easiest to author, to supporting more features:
Aiken does not let you set the question name.
You would not want to author Moodle XML by hand.
One option would be:
Thanks Tim,
Aiken uses the Question Text as the Question Name, so at least there is something to go on. I suspect the ideal will be to number the questions once they are in Moodle and have a key.
Well, if you have hundreds of questions, editing the names in the Moodle UI will be very many mouse clicks. So if you want to change the question names, editing them all in the same text file might be quicker. But it is really up to you.
Ok, then that's the advantage - doing it in a text file?
Ok, then that's the advantage - doing it in a text file so its easier to edit - got it
So I have imported a small test in Aiken format to Moodle and have now exported same from Moodle to Gift which gives me the text below. So now I would edit
name: The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.
to name: Something unique
And then import that into the Moodle courses?
I tried to export to Moodle XML but the file opened in Adobe Illustrator on my Mac.
With the Moodle XML format it looks like there is an opportunity to add feedback etc.
Is that possible in Gift format? Got it open in text editor.. pasted some below the Gift example.
// question: 0 name: Switch category to $course$/Default for Portfolio
$CATEGORY: $course$/Default for Portfolio
// question: 76 name: The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.
::The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.::[html]The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.{
=True
~False
}
// question: 75 name: The Loch Ness Monster is a type of?
::The Loch Ness Monster is a type of?::[html]The Loch Ness Monster is a type of?{
~Homonid
~Lizard
~Ape
=Plesiosauria
}
Ok, changed preferences and have opens the Moodle XML file in texteditor
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<quiz>
<!-- question: 0 -->
<question type="category">
<category>
<text>$course$/Default for Portfolio</text>
</category>
</question>
<!-- question: 76 -->
<question type="multichoice">
<name>
<text>The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.</text>
</name>
<questiontext format="html">
<text>The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.</text>
</questiontext>
<generalfeedback format="html">
<text></text>
</generalfeedback>
<defaultgrade>1.0000000</defaultgrade>
<penalty>0.3333333</penalty>
<hidden>0</hidden>
<single>true</single>
<shuffleanswers>true</shuffleanswers>
<answernumbering>abc</answernumbering>
<correctfeedback format="html">
<text></text>
</correctfeedback>
<partiallycorrectfeedback format="html">
<text></text>
</partiallycorrectfeedback>
<incorrectfeedback format="html">
<text></text>
</incorrectfeedback>
<answer fraction="100" format="html">
<text>True</text>
<feedback format="html">
<text></text>
</feedback>
Sorry Tim,
Still trying to figure this out.
So, Aiken will only work for Multiple Choice questions.
I have the questions (actually will have) in word format and they include more than just MC.
Does it make sense to convert the word doc to a plain text doc and then edit into Gift format and then import the Gift formatted text doc into Moodle?
I looked at the user guide for LXR. It says that there is an option to export questions in Merge format. This file format is documented in Appendix C of the guide. This file looks like it could be converted to GIFT or XML with an Excel template or with a mail merge in Word.
Thanks Daniel,
It turned out that the questions were quite simple and converting to Gift format worked well.
Cheers,
Jamie
