Question Bank

Question Bank Set up

Before adding questions to your course, make sure you set up your Question Bank > Categories.

It is recommended that the Question Bank be set up at the course level rather than the Quiz activity level, so you can use your questions in more than one Quiz activity.

Categories and sub-categories are very powerful when combined with random questions.  Once the categories are set up, you can select questions either from one category or from a combination of categories.  The more refined your categories, the more randomized you can make your quiz. We recommend that you use topics for your categories if you are planning on creating questions from scratch. If you are planning on uploading a publisher's question bank, then using chapters for your categories works best.

 If you need help or have questions, please contact the COTROnline Help Desk; contact information and hours of availability can be found at the bottom of all site pages.

Import Questions

To add questions from another source (e.g. publisher's question bank) or course, first go to the course to which you want to add the questions.

On the main course page, go to the Administration block > Course Administration

Scroll down to the Question Bank and open it by clicking on the arrow: 

To add questions, click Import.

Select the file format to be uploaded by ticking the white button beside it.  Publisher's question banks may not have a Moodle XML option and it is recommended you use either GIFT or Blackboard as an alternate.

General settings can be left at the defaults unless you want to change the Import Category.

Either drag the question file into the Choose a File box or search by clicking on Choose a File.

Once the file displays in the Choose a File box, click Import.

Export Questions

If you have questions in one course that you want to use in another, the questions can be exported from the one course, then imported into the other.  This is preferable to copying a Quiz because each time a Quiz is copied from one course to another, the entire Question Bank is copied with the Quiz.

To Export questions, start on the homepage of the course where the questions are currently located.

Go to the Administration block > Course Administration.

Scroll down to the Question Bank and open it by clicking on the arrow: 

To add questions, click Export.

Select the file format to be Exported by ticking the white button beside it. Moodle XML is the best choice if the questions are to be imported into another Moodle course and XHTML is the best choice if the questions are to be read.

Select the Export Category from which the questions will be pulled, from the drop-down menu.

Click Export Questions to File

Uploading Publisher's Question Banks

If you are using a textbook with a question bank, the questions can usually be uploaded into your course, but before you do that, you need to ensure that your question bank is set up.

Best formats to use for successful import into COTROnline Moodle are, in order of preference:

• Moodle XML
• GIFT
  
• Blackboard
• Aiken
  

Note, if you change textbooks, then publishers usually expect the questions from old textbooks to be removed.

Creating Questions from Scratch

While creating questions from scratch takes time, there are some specific benefits:

• questions can be customized for your course(s)
• questions do not need to be removed every time you change textbook.
• quizzes don't need rebuilt each time you change textbook.
• overtime your question bank can be expanded and fine-tuned to meet your assessment needs.

Before you start creating questions, make sure your question bank is set up to receive them.                    

GIFT is the most versatile format for creating questions outside of Moodle because questions created using GIFT can be imported into your courses.

Questions can be created directly in a Quiz, but for the greatest versatility, we recommend creating them in the Question Bank at the course level rather than the Quiz activity level because questions created at the Quiz activity level can only be accessed and used by that specific quiz.

Go to the Administration block > Course Administration > Question Bank > Questions.

In the window that opens, Select a Category from the drop-down list.

Once you have opened the category to which you want to add questions, click Create a New Question.

Clicking the radial button beside a question type in the Choose a Question Type to Add list, provides some general information about that specific type of question.

Once you have selected the question type you wish to add, click Add at the bottom of the pop-up window.

A blank question form will open. The forms vary depending on the type of question you are adding.

Once you Save Changes, you will be returned to the list of questions in the Question Bank category

Once you have some questions in your Question Bank, it is possible to create more fairly quickly by Duplicating the questions and changing details (e.g. change the location and names of participants in a case study, the image being used, etc.).

Explore other options by clicking Edit, then select Duplicate/Edit question/Preview/History/Delete/Export as Moodle XML from the drop-down menu.

If you need help or have questions, please contact the COTROnline Help Desk; contact information and hours of availability can be found at the bottom of all site pages.