Upload questions to moodle

Learning objectives

  • Learn how to create Moodle ready questions

  • How to bulk upload questions to moodle

Motivation

The National Medical Commission mandates the conduct of scenario-based MCQs for undergraduate students. A common practice is to write a few questions on paper, have them typed by a clerk, and then conduct the exam. Afterwards, the answer sheets are collected, evaluated manually, marks are totaled, and the mark list is prepared before publishing the results. This process is time-consuming, repetitive, and leaves room for errors and malpractice at several stages.

By contrast, if a comprehensive question bank is prepared in advance and stored in Moodle, exams can be conducted at short notice. The only significant manual task would then be the careful preparation and validation of a high-quality question bank.

NMC mandated theory question format

  1. LAQ: 1 question for 10 marks

  2. Applied SAQ: 4 questions of 5 marks each

  3. Scenario MCQ: 10-20 questions of 1-2 marks each

  4. Reasoning: 5 questions of 3 marks each

  5. SAQ: 3 questions of 5 marks each

  6. SAQ (including 1 ATCOM): 4 questions of 5 marks each

How to create a question bank?

It involves basically 3 steps

  1. Type the required questions and answers in a text editor.

  2. Convert them into a Moodle-compatible format.

  3. Upload the formatted file to the appropriate course in Moodle.

Moodle compatible formats

  • Aiken format

  • Blackboard

  • Embedded answers (Cloze)

  • Examview

  • GIFT format

  • Missing word format

  • Moodle XML format

  • WebCT format

GIFT

Questions can be created in textedit or notepad2

MCQ

::Q_01
::The question text goes here
{ =Correct Answer
~Distractor1
~Distractor2
~Distractor3 }

MCQ with multiple right answers

::Q_02
::The question text goes here
{ ~%-100%Correct Answer
~%50%Distractor1
~%50%Distractor2
~%-100%Distractor3 }

True or False

::Q_03
::The questions text goes here
{T}

Short Answer type questions

::Q_04
::Question text goes here
{=Version 1 of Correct Answer =Version 2 of Correct Answer =Version 3 of Correct Answer}

Matching type questions

::Q_05
::Match the predator to their preferred food.
{ =Wolf ->Deer
=Eagle ->Fish
=Bunny ->Vegetables
=Opossum ->Insects }

Select Missing Words type questions

::Q_06
::Hate is a form of {~objective =subjective ~reactive} involvement by which one is bound to the hated

Numerical type questions

::Q_07
::What year was Gengis Khan born?
{# =1162:0 =%50%1822:2 }

Essay type questions

Note that this type of question requires the teacher to manually mark the submission.
::Q_08
::Write a brief self-introduction as though it were a Marvel origin story. {}

Good Things to Be Aware Of

Question Name

Where no question name is specified, the entire question is used as the question name by default.

Feedback

Feedback can be included for each answer. To add feedback, follow an answer with the number sign/hash mark, and then the feedback text.
::Q_02
::What colour is the sky?
{ ~%-100%Yellow comment on wrong answer 1 goes here
~%50%Blue comment on correct answer 1 goes here
~%50%Black comment on correct answer 2 goes here
~%-100%Green comment on wrong answer 2 goes here }

Quick workaround for MCQ

Create questions and answers.

Keep right answer as first option

Use this link to copy and paste the questions and generate GIFT formatted questions

Save this as .txt file for uploading to Moodle

Create quiz in Moodle

Uploading process

  • Login to the Moodle

  • Find your course to which question bank has to be uploaded

  • Click on the settings wheel

  • Click on more

  • Scroll down in the “course administration” tab to see question bank

  • Click on import

  • Choose the file format (GIFT here)

  • Click on choose file, locate your .txt file and upload

To learn more about GIFT format, see here

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