How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Tony Chee -
Number of replies: 6

Hi, I am using Moodle 3.9 / 3.10 currently. I have a large number of test questions like the one below in microsoft word and PDF. I am trying to transfer these questions into Moodle - cloze format, drop-down list, etc for my students to practice on.

At the rate I am going, I think I will finish transferring 50,000 questions by the time I am 98 years old. [I am still relatively young at the moment] I know of Moodle2Word plugin but I still need to place the questions that I have, into the formatting that the plugin requires and transferring the pictures is also an issue/inefficient.

Is there any system / software / AI, that can make this laborious process more efficient?


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In reply to Tony Chee

Re: How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Eoin Campbell -
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The way the questions are written suggests to me that no automated system could possibly work. Given how the example questions are phrased, they don't seem to transfer well to an online environment without significant re-work and editorial input. For example, question 5.(a)(i) could be converted to a Short Answer question, but would be prone to mis-spellings ('slip ring', 'slipring', 'slip-ring', etc.) You could convert it to a drop-down, but this requires someone to think up 3/4 plausible alternative answers.
You could get your students to do the conversion/formatting work to turn them into questions in the required Moodle2Word plugin table format. If 50 students converted 50 questions each per year, you would be finished in only 20 years, leaving lots of time to enjoy your retirement! 
You can also give them course credits by getting them to import and test the questions in Moodle (a la PeerWise) to sweeten the pill.
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In reply to Tony Chee

Re: How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Rick Jerz -
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I can share some general comments.

1) Use the publisher question banks, whenever possible.  Some publishers provide their question banks in Blackboard format, and now even Moodle format.  Moodle can import most Blackboard question banks.

2) Convert your Word questions into a form that Moodle can read.  This might involve using Word's advanced find/replace tools.  I don't do this, but I think it's the GIFT format that might work.

3) I seem to recall some "question import" plugins.

4) In the past, I had success kind of with #2, except that I would read these into a product called ExamView 5 (now about 20 years own, but still works.)  Then, from ExamView, I could export these to XML and import the XML file into Moodle.

5) Where ever possible, consider using Calculated MultiChoice questions.  With this question type, you can somewhat easily generate a 100 (or more) versions of the same question.  I gave this presentation a few years ago at a MoodleMoot.

MoodleMoot2019 (Global and Mountain), "Using Calculated Multichoice Questions"

6) Pay some students to enter the questions into Moodle.

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In reply to Tony Chee

Re: How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Dominique Bauer -
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You still have time.

In 2019, John Goodenough won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He was 97 years old. Today, at the age of 98, he has not retired and is still an active professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
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In reply to Dominique Bauer

Re: How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Joseph Rézeau -
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Hi Dominique,

So there is no "age limit" for teaching/lecturing in an American university. In France the age limit is 65 years. When I was still working as a senior lecturer at my (French) university, I had my 65th birthday during the month of March. In order to be allowed to keep that job until the end of the academic year (31st of August) I had to produce a medical certificate. thoughtful Went to see my family doctor, who had never met with such a weird request, and finally certified that "my physical state of health" was compatible with my job at that university. No mention was made of my mental or intellectual abilities.wink

Not even sure I'd have been allowed to continue at university if I had won a Nobel prize (in Moodling).

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In reply to Joseph Rézeau

Re: How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Rick Jerz -
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Interesting, Joseph. I am surprised that France would think that an instructor doesn't become better with age, just as French wines do! 🍷

Did your doctor make you do 10 push-ups?  Or run a mile under 10 minutes?  Or respond to one of Rick's silly posts with an intelligent response?  😀
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In reply to Tony Chee

Re: How to create 50,000 quiz questions efficiently?

by Marcus Green -
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Install StudentQuiz and get the students to write them. They learn, you get the pick of the questions. Otherwise it will take about 150 years.
https://moodle.org/plugins/mod_studentquiz

I have been working on sample English language questions for my Gapfill question type since 2015 and now have about 600.....
https://github.com/marcusgreen/moodle-qtype_gapfill/blob/master/examples/en/english_language.xml
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