Moodle in English: Question from an experienced user: How do I create a quiz?

I have been using Moodle for nearly six months, primarily to create and deliver quizzes that simulate standardized math tests. I have over 1300 questions in the database and I have created over 40 quizzes. I guess that makes me an experienced user

But even so, I have a pretty basic question: How do you create a quiz using ONLY Moodle and no other tools?

I am not joking! I really do not understand how to create a quiz using ONLY Moodle. Let me explain.

My question database has 33 categories, for example: geometry/triangles and algebra/inequalities. A typical quiz takes one or two questions from each category. When creating a quiz, the "Editing Quiz" page lets me select a category and then lists the questions in that category. Because of the size of my database, the list usually spans several pages. Suppose I were looking at the geometry/triangles category. Here's what I would see:

   CATEGORY: geometry/triangles

   Question name

       ttt.1.2
       uuu.1.3
       vvv.2.4
       www.2.17
       xxx.14.5
       yyy.12.15
       zzz.8.42
       ...
       Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 (Next)

My question names tell me the source of the question (the format is <textbook>.<chapter>.<problem number>). The names don't contain any semantic information. For example, they don't tell me if the problem is easy or hard, if it's a right triangle problem or a triangle area problem, etc.. Even if I used a different naming scheme, there is no way I could pack enough semantic information into the name to allow me to decide, based on the name alone, whether I want to use the question. I must see the question itself.

Using ONLY Moodle, I would have to preview six pages of questions, one question at a time. I would also need a photographic memory to remember all the questions I had seen, so that I could go back to the good ones after I had previewed them all.

Obviously this is not infeasible. So I keep four two-inch binders containing all 1300 questions, with a section for each category. The questions are printed one per page so that I can recategorize them easly, and the pages are ordered in Moodle database order. Instead of previewing using Moodle, I flip through the pages of my four big books.

In other words, I maintain a completely redundant database outside of Moodle. I don't know any other way to do it.

The problem gets worse. Starting in September, three other math teachers want to use MY questions to make quizzes for THEIR classes. What do I tell them?

So back to my original question: How do you create a quiz using ONLY Moodle and no other tools?

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: a listing of all question texts

Ray Lawrence - 2006年06月18日星期日 18:03

John,

I'm with you on this. This sort of functionality has been requested in bug 4793. Perhaps you, and others, could vote for it...

Pierre

With your option (4) would this simply create another seperate database - replacing a the current paper one with an electronic one?

It's an interesting idea though...perhaps to might be possible to adapt the Database module code to fulfill this functions for questions.

Tim (if you're reading this)

Is this concept on the OU to do list?

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: a separate database or not

Dennis Daniels - 2006年06月18日星期日 21:46

I've been trying to implement a question creation interface in the database 1.7 DEV module with the goal that all users will have the ability to create a variety of question types. Frankly, in my opinion, the database module is not mature enough to handle this ambition. 1.7 is scheduled to offer roles where Admins could assign roles to vaious users at a variety of levels, namely for the purposes of this discussion, creation of questions.
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Roles

Two pronged development on the database and the roles? Roles, and all of the permissions that would need to be vetted, is a daunting but worthy step forward. The database module might be the first step though towards early implementation of putting more responsibility on the learners to reflect their learning. The responsibility as a teacher would be able to structure the database interface to meet the needs of the learners.

Dennis

平均分： -

Re: a separate database or not

John Isner - 2006年06月18日星期日 22:42

Re: searching in questions. When I am searching for a particular math question, I am 99% of the time able to guess which category I put it in. With a "preview category" feature (bug 4793), I could use the Google toolbar to search the preview page. No additional Moodle database functionality would be needed.

On the other hand, suppose I know a question name or Moodle id# but not its category. For example, say someone sends me an e-mail referring to question xxx.5.17. How do I find it? A small feature that would be easy to implement and very handy to have is a question lookup by name or moodle id#.

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: a listing of all question texts

John Isner - 2006年06月18日星期日 22:49

Yes, bug 4793 ("preview category") is the same issue! Thanks for pointing it out. However if "preview category" is to support quiz construction, it needs to be integrated with a mechanism for selecting just those questions that you want included in a quiz. For example, a check box next to each question in the preview.

Incidentally I would like to vote for this bug, but moodle says I already did (I didn't). Is there a bug in the bug tracker?

平均分： -

Re: a listing of all question texts

Ray Lawrence - 2006年06月18日星期日 23:39

Hmmm... might it be cumbersome to use this as the interface for questions construction (questions have a degree of separation from Quiz in 1.6 onwards). As an early implementation perhaps this just needs the Preview functionality and Add to Quiz chevrons/check boxes.

Ding! Whilst typing I've had a thought which may provide a short term work around. I've not reflected on this so it may be riddled with problems, but here goes....

Set up course.
Set up a quiz for each question category
Add all questions in category to the quiz
Hit the Quiz Preview tab
Ta-da - instant preview of all questions in category......

Ray

平均分： -

Re: a listing of all question texts

John Isner - 2006年06月19日星期一 01:29

Ray,
The quiz-per-category idea was mentioned by Pierre earlier, but it is not usable for two reasons:

To be sure he sees the CURRENT versions of all questions, the quiz developer must (re)create the 'category quiz' every time he wants to select questions from a category (remember that question creators and quiz developers work independently). With six pages of questions in a category, this would be tedious and error-prone.
Quiz Preview displays the moodle id#. Unfortunately, questions in the "Editing Quiz" window are listed by name, not id#. To get the question name, you currently must edit the question in the preview!

If Quiz Preview displayed the question's name as well as its id#, the second problem would be solved. However there is a remaining problem. Once you see a question you want for your quiz, you must go back to the Editing Quiz window, find that question in the long list, and select it. Too many steps!

平均分： -

Re: a listing of all question texts

Ray Lawrence - 2006年06月19日星期一 02:40

The quiz-per-category idea was mentioned by Pierre earlier

Oops, I didn't read that closely enough.

Yes, I can't deny that this proposal isn't perfect. Looks like we're back to square one.

平均分： -

Re: a listing of all question texts

Ray Lawrence - 2006年06月18日星期日 23:42

Voting for bug 4793

I can only see my vote (and Gustav's original one).

Have you created an account?

平均分： -

Re: a listing of all question texts

John Isner - 2006年06月18日星期日 22:21

To clarify, my "question database" is Moodle. I create my questions in GIFT files and upload them to Moodle. Then I destroy the GIFT files. Moodle IS my database, and I maintain my questions there. For example, if I fix a typo or add feedback, I do it using Edit Question.

The database is growing. Two months ago, it had 800 questions. Now it has 1300. By September, it will have close to 2000. Many questions have math graphics and there is a lot of LaTeX code, so the raw text is hard to read. The questions must be previewed.

Currently, I am working alone on this project, building the question database. Other teachers will join the project in September as quiz developers while I continue to build and maintain the database. So sharing is not currently an issue, but it will be.

When sharing questions with colleagues, I want them to see exactly the same versions of questions that I see. Any form of copying (e.g., export/import, cut/paste) will not do because a copy is, by definition, a separate version.

In September, we will have a dedicated site and I will be able to publish my categories. That will solve the sharing problem. However my colleagues will experience the same Moodle usability issues that I am currently experiencing when building a quiz. They will also need to preview six pages of questions in order to choose two. They will need four or five big books, which will quickly become outdated because the database is constantly changing.

I have dreamed of a "preview category" option on the Editing Quiz page that would allow me to scroll quickly through all the questions in a category and click check boxes next to the questions I want in my quiz. When I close the preview category window, just those questions would be added to the quiz.

平均分： -

Re: a listing of all question texts

Ray Lawrence - 2006年06月18日星期日 23:26

I have dreamed of a "preview category" option on the Editing Quiz page that would allow me to scroll quickly through all the questions in a category and click check boxes next to the questions I want in my quiz. When I close the preview category window, just those questions would be added to the quiz.

I think this functionality is alsovery important for editng of questions by editing panels. My dream extends to recording when versions were updated and by whom. Being able to view questions in a category would be a good start though.....

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: A short example

John Isner - 2006年06月19日星期一 01:57

Actually, scrolling through a hundred problems is not too bad in a preview window when 'max number of questions per page' is set to 'unlimited.'

Printing a book of questions, even a compact one, is not an option in our situation. Starting in September, the quiz developers will work independently of the question developer (me), so their books would become out-of-date almost as soon as they were printed. As the question developer, I do keep a book, but only because I am forced to. The book is difficult to maintain, and I must exercise extreme caution when modifying it. For example, when I recategorize a question in moodle, I have to remember to move the question page from one section of my book to another, and I must put it in its proper place within the new section. Ability to recategorize is why I print one question per page, and that's why my "book" is actually four large volumes! I want to be able to throw my book away and rely solely on Moodle!

Your moodle_head_exp works well for short questions. Unfortunately, many of my questions start with a math graphic and have LaTeX markup. Truncating these at some arbitrary limit would sometimes work and sometimes would not. Also, how would such questions look if squeezed into the right column? Would they be split into groups of 20, or would you display them all?

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re:What feature is the most important

John Isner - 2006年06月19日星期一 04:35

Yes to 1, 2, 3, and 4, but "no" to your interpretation of what features are needed to support 1. The problem is not that we cannot search. Searching is useless to me, except for the two simple cases I mentioned: search for a question by name or id#.

The problem is that we cannot browse a category and pick just the questions that we like for a quiz.

In your last sentence, you write "Category preview with a return of the selected questions." Yes, yes, yes! That would be the perfect solution!

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re:Moodle version problem?

John Isner - 2006年06月19日星期一 06:22

> Do you only need the preview of the questions because the question text is not sufficient to select the questions or do you need something else?

Does Moodle Head display images and expand LaTeX markup? If so, Moodle Head is sufficient. If not, it will be difficult for a quiz developer to guess what the question is about, seeing only the question text. For example, I can't really figure out what the following question is about from only the text without the image:

In the following figure, BCD is a line segment and $$m\angle BAC = \frac{1}{4}m\angle ACB$$. What is $$m\angle ACD$$?

If Moodle Head expands LaTeX AND displays images, my only remaining concern is that, by squeezing questions into 1/3 of the screen width, the question layout becomes distorted and might require a horizontal scrollbar (ugh). That is why I thought a full-screen category preview would work best.

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: An image is better than 1000 words!

Ray Lawrence - 2006年06月19日星期一 17:07

Looks good to me, especially when viewed from "Questions" in the Admin block etc.

If there was the option to show/hide the buttons shown in "Preview" question mode for each of the questions in this expanded view then this would be great for panel review of questions too.

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: An interesting but difficult improvment

Howard Miller - 2006年06月19日星期一 23:20

Anywhere interesting, Pierre?? We are not allowed holidays here in Scotland

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re: An image is better than 1000 words!

John Isner - 2006年06月19日星期一 19:07

Pierre,
I apologize for the example I sent. Something happened to the LaTeX that I do not understand. I have retyped it below with the double dollar signs replaced by the word "dollardollar." If you don't mind re-doing the example, I will go to your site http://132.208.141.198/moodle_head_exp/ and look at the result. Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the following figure, BCD is a line segment and
dollardollar m\angle BAC = \frac{1}{4}m\angle ACB dollardollar.
What is dollardollar m\angle ACD dollardollar?

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re:diff files and bug 4793

John Isner - 2006年07月26日星期三 03:57

Pierre,
I finally got around to integrating your patch. I like it! I hope it will be included in 6.2.

I made the changes by hand. Is there a cvs command I could have used? I'm a cvs novice.
Thanks again for contributing this.
John

平均分： -

Re:diff files and bug 4793

John Isner - 2006年08月19日星期六 05:08

Hi Pierre,
I have been using your changes since you published them, and they have worked splendidly. I'm in the process of moving my site to another host, and now there are problems.

My questions contain math markup. When I pressed your "Display the Question Text" button on the old site, the math markup is filtered properly. On the new site, the same text is not being filtered. The attached screenshot shows the problem.

It's not a problem with math filtering in general. As you can see in the screenshot, if I click the magnifying glass icon, the "classic" preview window shows the math being filtered.

This is probably significant: I was using jsMath on the old site, but the new site uses mimetex. jsMath does the filtering in the browser using javascript, while mimetex does the filtering on the server.

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re:comment on the code necessary to obtain this display

John Isner - 2006年06月20日星期二 18:54

I like it except that LaTeX math markup is not expanded, making math problems more difficult to read. Would it be possible to also run the math filter on the displayed text?

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re:A further discussion

Tim Hunt - 2007年02月20日星期二 10:57

I have now checked this improvement in to 1.8 beta. It would be great if people could test it.

The person you should really thank is John Isner, who gave a talk at last Friday's Moodle Moot in Albuquerque that I enjoyed listening to, and then, when I was feeling well disposed towards him, reminded me of MDL-4793.

(I'm afraid this is 1.8 only. It took a bit of rewriting to get this to work in the latest version, and therefore, it would be more work to get the changes into the older versions too. Also, I always think that adding new features to stable branches kind of defeats the whole purpose of a stable branch.)

平均分： -

Re:A further discussion

Anthony Borrow - 2007年02月20日星期二 11:43

Tim - thanks for your work on getting this feature into 1.8. I will give it test run and see how things work and let you know if I find any problems. Peace. p.s. - I still owe you a beer.

平均分： -

Re:A further discussion

John Isner - 2007年02月20日星期二 12:48

Hi Anthony,
While you're at it, would you mind trying a question with some LaTeX and maybe an image? (you could use that piecewise function of yours

I promise to install 1.8 this week.

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。

Re:A further discussion

John Isner - 2007年02月20日星期二 12:32

Hi Tim,
I am very happy (and grateful) that you took the time to add Pierre's patch. I know how busy you are!

平均分： -

Re:A further discussion

Tim Hunt - 2007年02月21日星期三 00:02

Well, I must admit that I did most of the work sitting at the back of talks at the ITC eLearning conference that were aimed more at teachers than software geeks.

平均分： -

本讨论区帖子的内容已移除，无法再访问。