Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Number of replies: 17

Hi All

I have a class of 15 students, and they all get the same quiz.  However, for each student, their first question is a unique question aimed at that particular student.  So, it's not a random question; it contains information that is for that student only. 

Is there a way to designate a specific question 1 on the quiz (from a bank or otherwise) to a specific student?  I really don't wish to set up 15 individual identical quizzes and use the restrictions.  I also looked at User Overrides, but that does time only.

Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

Regards

Ken


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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Rick Jerz -
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I do not know of any way of matching a specific single question to a single student. In a "paper-based" system, how would you do this?

In Moodle, you might need to divide the quiz into two parts: 1) Initial question (this is the specific student question) and 2) Common questions. You could then create 15 groups, size one, and when you create the Initial question quiz, add an individual question and restrict it to this student. It's a lot of work for what you are trying to do, but doable.
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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi Rick

Thanks for your reply.

> In a "paper-based" system, how would you do this?

I would have each student's question on a separate piece of paper, with their name and ID number. Then, as I did the rounds to check their attendance, I would hand them their piece of paper. For 15 students, this is easily manageable.

Thanks for your suggestion. sigh sad. It's not your fault - I realise that no system can be flexible enough to easily accommodate everything.

Regards

Ken
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
As a rider to this, it would not have to even be a question - if I can give a unique instruction to each student (in this case, a password to a file that they had received earlier, but each student's password is unique), that would help.
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

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 don't know if this will work, but I just rememberd this plugin: https://moodle.org/plugins/filter_filtercodes. Creative use of that might solve you problem. (E.g. put the key information for each student in a custom user profile field.)
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In reply to Tim Hunt

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Thanks very much, Tim. unfortunately, I am not in a position to install and experiment with plugins.
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Rick Jerz -
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So why not email each student the first question and let them email their response back to you?
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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi Rick

Thanks, Yes, I thought of that, but then I'm reliant on a 2nd system, and, if there is a delay in the email, it is not recorded, and the students are delayed in the exam. An alternative is to set up a fake assignment, and to put the instructions and password in the feedback area for that assignment, and then make it visible at the time. Again, relying on two different systems, but at least still within Moodle.

Regards

Ken
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Rick Jerz -
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Okay, Ken. You seem to have a few ways of doing this.

I am trying to rethink what you are trying to accomplish. I think that you want the first question to be individualized for each of the 15 students, and that this is where you are going to provide each student their exam password. But it then seems like they are all going to take the identical exam. And I am not sure if your exam is going to be made available only during a specific timeframe. And then you would want 15 different passwords to provide access to the same exam. However, students have already authenticated themselves by logging into your Moodle with their username and password, so if they have already authenticated themselves, why is there a need for yet another (exam) password? And you appear to be doing all of this to avoid cheating. Well, I am a little puzzled.

If anything of what I have said is a little on target, then I would suggest a completely different approach. Create more, yet similar questions, and randomize the delivery of each exam. In this manner, no two students will get exactly the same exam. In the long run, this is probably a lot easier than why you are trying to do.

All of this is just to stimulate ideas, not to be critical or anything like that.
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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi Rick

Thanks for your reply. I really don't want to go into detail about how the exam is structured, but no, the password is not for the quiz, but is for an encrypted, password-protected data set file that the students will have been given beforehand.  But I want the students to decrypt their unique data set file ONLY once they have opened the quiz.  For this to happen, they each have to have a different password.  And I want to use the timing of the quiz, so the easiest would be if each student was given that information at the start of the quiz.  (The questions in the quiz are identical for each student, but the file on which they have work is unique).

So, as a student, you start the quiz when you can, and the timer starts.  In the quiz, as part of your instructions or your question 1, you are given the unique password for your data set file, you decrypt it, and then answer the quiz questions based on your data file set.  This ensures that students cannot share answers, because, although your question is the same as mine, your data set is different, so your answer will be different, and, if you share it with me, it will be wrong for my data set.

I don't want to include the data set in the quiz, because there are actually many files, and it will take time to download, which is why I send the encrypted file to the student about a week before the exam.

I hope that clarifies things.

Regards
Ken


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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Rick Jerz -
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So, how is it that they get their data set since you say it is not in the quiz?

I teach statistics with Moodle, and there are times where I want students to have their own dataset. What I do is to create different versions of the quiz, and then use Restrict Access to make the different quizzes available to specific students. I don't take it down to one data set per student, but more like one data set for around a group of 5-10 students, selected randomly. Sure, it is not the best. But it keeps me a little more sane. And it is not perfect at eliminating cheating, but since my course is online and students are dispersed geographically, I am fine with it.

I have also created somewhat randomized dataset using Calculated Multi-choice questions. It's a bit trickier, but this method allows me to have one exam for all students.
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by John Provasnik -
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The most natural core way to do this would be to create a separate quiz per student and group each quiz to the specific student - it's kinda the whole point of an LMS - to control the learning environment by ensuring each users sees only what they are intended to see. Takes some up front leg work, but not much more than when I'd have to spend an hour or so jigsawing different Quizzes together on a photocopier for my different student levels.

Not sure how your gradebook set up but you can dump all the quizzes in a subcategory and tell the subcategory to only count the highest attemp. 

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In reply to John Provasnik

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi John

OK, thanks, I might experiment still and see what can be done. It seems, though, that what I want to do is far more complex than I imagined, so I may have to change my approach.

Regards
Ken
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Jon Bolton -
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It’s dead easy with the filtercodes plugin, but you said you couldn’t install plugins.
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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Daniel Thies -
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Hi Ken,

You may be able to try this

  1. Create an assignment with grade none, no submission forms checked, and an appropriate feedback type enabled.
  2. Set availability conditions so it viewable only when quiz is.
  3. Grade the assignment and add your question to the feedback for each student.
  4. You can use activity name filter to link the assignment and quiz.
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In reply to Daniel Thies

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi Daniel

Thank you - yes, that sounds like the most straight-forward way to go.

Regards
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In reply to Daniel Thies

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi Daniel

> 2. Set availability conditions so it viewable only when quiz is.

I was hoping to set a restriction on the assignment to be available only after the student has opened the quiz. (Making it available at the same time does help a bit, but it also means that the student can still access it before accessing the quiz). Unfortunately, on the Restrict Access options ,there are only options for having completed the quiz, not merely opened it. sad.

Thanks, anyway.
Ken

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In reply to Ken Masters

Re: Can I give a specific question to a specific student?

by Ken Masters -
Hi Daniel

Brief update - but then I figured I can set the quiz to indicate it is complete if the student has opened it. This then automatically makes the assignment avaialbe for that student, and then Question 1 has the url to the assignment. The student clicks on that and gets taken to their pawword. It's a little strange, but I will have a practice quiz for them to practice on.

Thanks

Regards
Ken
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