There's a little bug in the quiz module for moodle 1.6.1. In the quiz settings, when you change the questions per page initially everything is fine. However if you try to change it again after that, it won't. The only apparent way to change it back is if you turn shuffle questions back on. Can anyone else reproduce this error?
I tried posting this in the bug tracker but i got a db permission denied error.
The new bug tracker (tracker.moodle.org) is only a few days old so there may be teething problems (The old tracker is still there, but in read-only mode.)
My mistake, apparently the questions per page cannot be changed at all unless shuffle questions is turned on. Not sure if this is a bug or a feature 
Still can't access the bug tracker so here's the fix:-
in quiz/locallib.php function quiz_create_attempt($quiz, $attemptnumber), line 66 :
replace:
$attempt->layout = $quiz->questions;
with:
$attempt->layout = quiz_repaginate($quiz->questions, $quiz->questionsperpage);
Crafton
Still can't access the bug tracker so here's the fix:-
in quiz/locallib.php function quiz_create_attempt($quiz, $attemptnumber), line 66 :
replace:
$attempt->layout = $quiz->questions;
with:
$attempt->layout = quiz_repaginate($quiz->questions, $quiz->questionsperpage);
Crafton
In reply to Crafton Williams
The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Tim Hunt -
Clearly the way it works now confuses everyone, including me. I have filed a bug report about it in which I propose a more logical interface, but I've no idea when I might get time to implement this.
If we are going to discuss this, it is probably best to have the discussion here in the forum, then transfer the conclusions back to the tracker if we reach any. I'll repeat the description here to save you all a mouse click.
The quiz settings page has a 'questions per page' option where you can select an integer, or 'unlimited'. This gives the impression that quizzes are automatically paginated.
Well, if the option 'shuffle questions' is turned on, then they are automatically paginated.
But if the shuffle option is off, then they are actually manually paginated. The quiz 'questions per page' option then only has an effect when a new question is added. On the quiz editing page, there is a tick-box 'show page breaks' that can be turned on. If you do, you can then see where the page breaks are and move them up and down. With the check-box on, there is also a dropdown that can be used for repaginating the quiz. That is only only effective way to change the questions per page option after questions have been added to the quiz. Changing the quiz settings dropdown does not trigger an automatic pagination.
Anyway, it is horribly confusing, as evidenced by several bug reports and forum posts. And I have been thinking about the quiz for months, and only just understood all the intricacies myself. We need something less confusing. I suggest:
On the quiz settings form, we add the option 'manual page breaks' to the 'questions per page' dropdown.
If one of the current 'questions per page' options is selected (unlimited or n) then the quiz is always automatically paginated, and the 'show page breaks' option and the other options it hides are not available.
If 'manual page breaks' is selected, the page breaks are always shown, and the manual repaginate dropdown is always present, and when new questions are added to the quiz, no automatic page breaks are added.
It is an error to try to select both 'shuffle questions' and 'manual page breaks' at the same time.
When making this change, all existing quizzes will be analysed for where the page breaks actually are. If the page breaks are uniformly spread, then they will be set to that automatic pagination value. If the page breaks are irregular, they will be set to manual pagination.
At the same time, I propse to change the default setting for new quizzes to 'one question per page' becuase I believe that pedagogically it is best for students to concentrate on one thing at a time.
And if only one question per page is shown, I propose to change the paging bar, so that instead of 'page' is says 'question' (and references to description items will be referred to as 'info', not given a number).
(The bug is MDL-6353)
If we are going to discuss this, it is probably best to have the discussion here in the forum, then transfer the conclusions back to the tracker if we reach any. I'll repeat the description here to save you all a mouse click.
The quiz settings page has a 'questions per page' option where you can select an integer, or 'unlimited'. This gives the impression that quizzes are automatically paginated.
Well, if the option 'shuffle questions' is turned on, then they are automatically paginated.
But if the shuffle option is off, then they are actually manually paginated. The quiz 'questions per page' option then only has an effect when a new question is added. On the quiz editing page, there is a tick-box 'show page breaks' that can be turned on. If you do, you can then see where the page breaks are and move them up and down. With the check-box on, there is also a dropdown that can be used for repaginating the quiz. That is only only effective way to change the questions per page option after questions have been added to the quiz. Changing the quiz settings dropdown does not trigger an automatic pagination.
Anyway, it is horribly confusing, as evidenced by several bug reports and forum posts. And I have been thinking about the quiz for months, and only just understood all the intricacies myself. We need something less confusing. I suggest:
On the quiz settings form, we add the option 'manual page breaks' to the 'questions per page' dropdown.
If one of the current 'questions per page' options is selected (unlimited or n) then the quiz is always automatically paginated, and the 'show page breaks' option and the other options it hides are not available.
If 'manual page breaks' is selected, the page breaks are always shown, and the manual repaginate dropdown is always present, and when new questions are added to the quiz, no automatic page breaks are added.
It is an error to try to select both 'shuffle questions' and 'manual page breaks' at the same time.
When making this change, all existing quizzes will be analysed for where the page breaks actually are. If the page breaks are uniformly spread, then they will be set to that automatic pagination value. If the page breaks are irregular, they will be set to manual pagination.
At the same time, I propse to change the default setting for new quizzes to 'one question per page' becuase I believe that pedagogically it is best for students to concentrate on one thing at a time.
And if only one question per page is shown, I propose to change the paging bar, so that instead of 'page' is says 'question' (and references to description items will be referred to as 'info', not given a number).
(The bug is MDL-6353)
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by N Hansen -
I would be very wary about making it 1 question per page by default. For timed quizzes, this would eat into the students answering time. For quizzes in general, bug 5098 which continues to plague me will be even more likely to raise its ugly head.
In reply to N Hansen
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Tim Hunt -
Oh yes, that is the other horrible bit of the quiz UI. My suggestion there is:
Make an summary page for a quiz attempt. This lists all the pages/questions in the quiz, with an indicator of the status next to each one. The statuses could be something like
1. not yet viewed
2. viewed
3. attempt started
4. attempt finished
Each question in the summary is made into a link to go back to that question.
Maybe make this the first page students see on an attempt, or maybe not.
Change the 'Submit all and finish' button so that it redirects to this page, and put the real submission button on this page.
When only 1 question per page is shown, remove the duplicate submit buttons between the question and the foot of the page.
When only 1 qpp is shown, don't duplicate the paging bar at the top and the bottom.
Think about the caption text on each of these buttons.
(The timed quiz issue is not a big deal. If you add a time limit, you can change the layout. The default is untimed, so it should be 1 qpp.)
Make an summary page for a quiz attempt. This lists all the pages/questions in the quiz, with an indicator of the status next to each one. The statuses could be something like
1. not yet viewed
2. viewed
3. attempt started
4. attempt finished
Each question in the summary is made into a link to go back to that question.
Maybe make this the first page students see on an attempt, or maybe not.
Change the 'Submit all and finish' button so that it redirects to this page, and put the real submission button on this page.
When only 1 question per page is shown, remove the duplicate submit buttons between the question and the foot of the page.
When only 1 qpp is shown, don't duplicate the paging bar at the top and the bottom.
Think about the caption text on each of these buttons.
(The timed quiz issue is not a big deal. If you add a time limit, you can change the layout. The default is untimed, so it should be 1 qpp.)
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Ray Lawrence -
At the same time, I propse to change the default setting for new
quizzes to 'one question per page' becuase I believe that pedagogically
it is best for students to concentrate on one thing at a time.
...... so it should be 1 qpp.
Tim,
Do you have any evidence to support this proposal? This may be the case with lengthy case study type questions, for example, but makes no sense at all for, say, a wholly MC quiz. How many paper based tests have you encountered with one MC question per sheet?
Unlimited is the most sensible default. Please don't change this on a whim.
And if only one question per page is shown, I propose to change the paging bar, so that instead of 'page' is says 'question' (and references to description items will be referred to as 'info', not given a number).
This makes sense and would be welcome improvement.
...... so it should be 1 qpp.
Tim,
Do you have any evidence to support this proposal? This may be the case with lengthy case study type questions, for example, but makes no sense at all for, say, a wholly MC quiz. How many paper based tests have you encountered with one MC question per sheet?
Unlimited is the most sensible default. Please don't change this on a whim.
And if only one question per page is shown, I propose to change the paging bar, so that instead of 'page' is says 'question' (and references to description items will be referred to as 'info', not given a number).
This makes sense and would be welcome improvement.
In reply to Ray Lawrence
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Tim Hunt -
(As I said above: please discuss this in the forum, not the bug report. Definitely do not cross-post to both!)
It infuriates me that, given a computer that is powerful enough beat almost anyone in the world at chess, or immerse them in a 3D virtual environment like World or Warcaft, most teachers want to use it to set multiple choice questions!
I know that the other Moodle question types are not that exciting (yet?), but there are ones that challenge the student to think more than multiple choice Qs.
If I change the default layout, it is going to take you two mouse clicks to set it back for your pages of MC questions. Oh dear, I am so sorry.
It infuriates me that, given a computer that is powerful enough beat almost anyone in the world at chess, or immerse them in a 3D virtual environment like World or Warcaft, most teachers want to use it to set multiple choice questions!
I know that the other Moodle question types are not that exciting (yet?), but there are ones that challenge the student to think more than multiple choice Qs.
If I change the default layout, it is going to take you two mouse clicks to set it back for your pages of MC questions. Oh dear, I am so sorry.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Ray Lawrence -
Where to post: Oops mis-read that in the post above.
Tim, thanks for your reply. (No need to feel sorry, btw).
I used MC questions as an example, I think the principle is relevant for the majority of the other question types and suspect that multiple questions on a page is common practice for the presentation of the majority of quiz type activities.
I would respectfully suggest that whatever the default setting that the actual number of questions on a page will be set to address the specific needs of the quiz. Where there is the choice of unlimited or an arbitrary number for the default, IMO, unlimited as the starting point seems the most logical. The amount of mouse click is likely to be the same in majority of cases.
Tim, thanks for your reply. (No need to feel sorry, btw
).I used MC questions as an example, I think the principle is relevant for the majority of the other question types and suspect that multiple questions on a page is common practice for the presentation of the majority of quiz type activities.
I would respectfully suggest that whatever the default setting that the actual number of questions on a page will be set to address the specific needs of the quiz. Where there is the choice of unlimited or an arbitrary number for the default, IMO, unlimited as the starting point seems the most logical. The amount of mouse click is likely to be the same in majority of cases.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Jeff Forssell -
I think having a default one question per page has several advantages.
Less load on the server and the users bandwidth when the user checks his answer in a question that gives helpful feedback (One of the features of Moodle that I find exciting already, even though it can be improved). The connection doesn't have to reload ALL the questions and the student doesn't have to FIND the question again before seeing the feedback.
Scrolling is not bliss.
(I find question types: short answer, especially the regular expression variant, Cloze, numerical variants to be pretty exciting.)
Less load on the server and the users bandwidth when the user checks his answer in a question that gives helpful feedback (One of the features of Moodle that I find exciting already, even though it can be improved). The connection doesn't have to reload ALL the questions and the student doesn't have to FIND the question again before seeing the feedback.
Scrolling is not bliss.
(I find question types: short answer, especially the regular expression variant, Cloze, numerical variants to be pretty exciting.)
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Matt Campbell -
Two requests based off your idea -
A checkbox in the quiz settings for 'Allow students to mark questions for review', and then a checkbox on each quiz question that the student could click. This question would then show up on the summary page as 'marked for review' or something along those lines.
Also in the quiz settings, have a checkbox for Show (or hide) Summary Page so teachers could decide if students will get the review page. Obviously, this would be greyed out or throw an error of some sort if the marking option is selected.
Thanks,
Matt
A checkbox in the quiz settings for 'Allow students to mark questions for review', and then a checkbox on each quiz question that the student could click. This question would then show up on the summary page as 'marked for review' or something along those lines.
Also in the quiz settings, have a checkbox for Show (or hide) Summary Page so teachers could decide if students will get the review page. Obviously, this would be greyed out or throw an error of some sort if the marking option is selected.
Thanks,
Matt
In reply to Matt Campbell
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Tim Hunt -
You can already control what students can review and when on the quiz settings page. And if you turn of all the check-boxes then the students cannot access the review page at all. Perhaps this is not documented well enough.
About the checkbox: This would make the interface more cluttered for not very much benefit. Students can already query posts by forum message, email, in person, etc. If they do it that way, they can explain why they thing the question is wrong at the same time.
About the checkbox: This would make the interface more cluttered for not very much benefit. Students can already query posts by forum message, email, in person, etc. If they do it that way, they can explain why they thing the question is wrong at the same time.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Ray Lawrence -
Matt,
Did you mean:
Allow students to mark a question for later review by a teacher (e.g. if considered ambiguous), or
Allow students to mark an question which they might wish to review later whilst taking the quiz (e.g. skipped it to answer others, not sure about the answer and want to return to it), or
None of the above?
Did you mean:
Allow students to mark a question for later review by a teacher (e.g. if considered ambiguous), or
Allow students to mark an question which they might wish to review later whilst taking the quiz (e.g. skipped it to answer others, not sure about the answer and want to return to it), or
None of the above?
In reply to Ray Lawrence
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Matt Campbell -
Sorry about that, it sounded better in my head than how it looks on screen....
This would be available while the student is actually taking the quiz. If the teacher has the option turned on, then students would see a 'Mark for Review' checkbox in the corner of the quiz question - probably upper right corner.
Then, when the student clicks on 'Submit all and finish' they would get a summary page that would look something like this:
X - Question has been answered
! - Question has not been answered
M - Question has been marked for review
Each of the question numbers would hyperlink back to that question in the quiz, and then there would be a 'Finish Quiz Attempt' at the bottom of the summary page that students would click which would submit the quiz for grading.
The 'Mark for Review' is helpful when the student just doesn't know or isn't sure of the answer but needs to move on (usually because of time limitations). Often moving on with the test and coming back to the question later will help the student think of the correct answer.
Thanks,
Matt
This would be available while the student is actually taking the quiz. If the teacher has the option turned on, then students would see a 'Mark for Review' checkbox in the corner of the quiz question - probably upper right corner.
Then, when the student clicks on 'Submit all and finish' they would get a summary page that would look something like this:
| 1 | X | 5 | XM | 9 | X | 13 | X | 17 | X |
| 2 | ! | 6 | X | 10 | X | 14 | X | 18 | ! |
| 3 | !M | 7 | X | 11 | X | 15 | XM | 19 | X |
| 4 | X | 8 | ! | 12 | X | 16 | X | 20 | XM |
X - Question has been answered
! - Question has not been answered
M - Question has been marked for review
Each of the question numbers would hyperlink back to that question in the quiz, and then there would be a 'Finish Quiz Attempt' at the bottom of the summary page that students would click which would submit the quiz for grading.
The 'Mark for Review' is helpful when the student just doesn't know or isn't sure of the answer but needs to move on (usually because of time limitations). Often moving on with the test and coming back to the question later will help the student think of the correct answer.
Thanks,
Matt
In reply to Matt Campbell
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Tim Hunt -
Oh, I see, you mean that students flag questions for themselves to come back and look at again before finishing the quiz. That is a less silly idea.
I thought you were talking aobut a way for students to challenge questions where they throught the teacher had made a mistake.
The summary screen is definitely a good idea. http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=52274#239502
I thought you were talking aobut a way for students to challenge questions where they throught the teacher had made a mistake.
The summary screen is definitely a good idea. http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=52274#239502
In reply to Matt Campbell
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by N Hansen -
Matt-This is a good idea. I know recently I accidentally deleted one of my students' quizzes while it was still in progress (they had left it and were going to come back and finish it). I had to retrieve it from a backup to restore it and in cutting a pasting the student's answers back into the quiz I noticed they were doing it as you described. Some of the questions were answered, others not, and others were obviously half-finished and the student was still thinking about his answer. So I think a feature like this would be very useful to have.
In reply to N Hansen
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Ray Lawrence -
Yes, I agree this would be useful. Matt you wrote:
Each of the question numbers would hyperlink back to that question in the quiz, and then there would be a 'Finish Quiz Attempt' at the bottom of the summary page that students would click which would submit the quiz for grading.
I think what happens when the candidate has gone back to a page to review a question is important. The way I read your explanation above it assumes that the next step after reviewing (and attempting a question) is to finish the quiz. What about if there are more to review, how does the candidate return to the table of questions? (Without having given this much thought) perhaps there should be a "Review questions" button to navigate back to the review table on all pages in a quiz where this option is enabled.
I think this concept would be a welcome addition to quizzes - now the big questions: are you able to develop it? Tim is this (or could it be) in your plans at all?
Each of the question numbers would hyperlink back to that question in the quiz, and then there would be a 'Finish Quiz Attempt' at the bottom of the summary page that students would click which would submit the quiz for grading.
I think what happens when the candidate has gone back to a page to review a question is important. The way I read your explanation above it assumes that the next step after reviewing (and attempting a question) is to finish the quiz. What about if there are more to review, how does the candidate return to the table of questions? (Without having given this much thought) perhaps there should be a "Review questions" button to navigate back to the review table on all pages in a quiz where this option is enabled.
I think this concept would be a welcome addition to quizzes - now the big questions: are you able to develop it? Tim is this (or could it be) in your plans at all?
In reply to Ray Lawrence
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Tim Hunt -
I definitely want to do this, but I don't know when I will have time.
In reply to Tim Hunt
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Jennifer Sheppard -
A while back I (along with another developer and instructional designer) created a dashboard (by modifying course format) for students to view when they first enter a course. This dashboard includes their progress per book (number of pages viewed derived from log files/number total pages) in addition to the number of questions a student has marked for review per each quiz.
I have created a "mark for review" checkbox for a couple of question types (the question types that were necessary per our course). The student checks a checkbox beside questions while taking a quiz. They see the full quiz review upon completing the quiz. When they return to the course dashboard page, beside each quiz, there is a number of how many questions they marked for review per that quiz, in addition to their score. If they click on this number/marked for review icon it shows a "marked for review" review page (variation of review) that shows their checked/marked questions only. If they click on the quiz, they can still access the full review page.
My time is very limited, and I am unsure of how to contribute this code. If anyone has time to further its development, I will be happy to send you the zipped files.
I have created a "mark for review" checkbox for a couple of question types (the question types that were necessary per our course). The student checks a checkbox beside questions while taking a quiz. They see the full quiz review upon completing the quiz. When they return to the course dashboard page, beside each quiz, there is a number of how many questions they marked for review per that quiz, in addition to their score. If they click on this number/marked for review icon it shows a "marked for review" review page (variation of review) that shows their checked/marked questions only. If they click on the quiz, they can still access the full review page.
My time is very limited, and I am unsure of how to contribute this code. If anyone has time to further its development, I will be happy to send you the zipped files.
In reply to Matt Campbell
Re: The interface for putting page breaks into quizzes is confusing
by Juan Carlos Gonzalez -
Hi Matt,
That´s exactly what I am looking for.
Does it exist?
Thanks,
JC
That´s exactly what I am looking for.
Does it exist?
Thanks,
JC
Hi Crafton,
Any idea if this bug (Shuffle questions / Questions per page) was fixed in Moodle 1.6.5 and others 1.7/1.8 ?
Regards,
Ghassan
Any idea if this bug (Shuffle questions / Questions per page) was fixed in Moodle 1.6.5 and others 1.7/1.8 ?
Regards,
Ghassan