Using Moodle quizzes for language teaching

You can create quizzes as self-assessment tools for students as well as part
of course assessment.
This DOTS activity discusses how the use of Moodle quizzes can help reduce
the workload for teachers durin the !usy teachin time and ive learners
almost instant feed!ack on their individual performance. This DOTS activity is
!uilt in a modular format" so that you can choose to do #ust one part of it or the
whole trainin sequence $ dependin on your needs and the time you have
availa!le.
What can I do in this DOTS
activity?
Where can I find the
information?
(click on the link to go to the section)
Part
%ind out a!out what Moodle quizzes are
and how people use them.
&. 'hat is a Moodle quiz(
Think a!out some pedaoical reasons
why ) would want to use Moodle quizzes
B. 'hy would ) want to use
Moodle quizzes in my
1
for my teachin.
teachin(
Part !
*earn a!out how people use Moodle
quizzes and a!out some question types
of Moodle quizzes.
C. Some !asic functions of the
Moodle quiz module
+onsider what ) need to keep in mind
when usin Moodle quizzes for my
teachin.
,-plore some pedaoical issues and
read one sample activity.
D. .edaoical considerations
and sample activity
%ind out a!out some easy and more
advanced technical steps that can help
me in usin Moodle quizzes in my
teachin.
,. .ractical suestions
Part "
+heck my understandin usin a quick
and easy checklist
%. +heck your understandin
Think !ack over what worked and what
didn/t work 0in the DOTS activity and1or
in my use of this tool2
3. 4eflect5
+heck out what other teachers do with
Moodle quizzes.
Discuss and evaluate ideas and activities
in a DOTS forum.
+reate additional tasks and share them
with colleaues online.
6. ,-plore and share5
,-plore different settins of quizzes used
for different purposes" e.. e-ams or
revision.
). .rotectin students/ privacy.
Part
A. What is a Moodle quiz?
)n this section you will find out what Moodle quizzes look like and how people
use them. )f you decide to use a quiz for your teachin" it will !e helpful to
know some !asics.
.articularly in distance learnin" independent study and !lended teachin
conte-ts" the frequent self-assessment of proress is invalua!le. Online
quizzes are an easy and sound way of offerin students a tool for self-
assessment. More and more" online quizzes are also used as an interal part
of course assessment.
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Moodle is a free" open source software" used for course manaement" it can
even !uild a whole course or series of courses online. %or more information
on Moodle see the DOTS activity 7sin the Moodle platform in class
0availa!le at8 http811moodle.dots.ecml.at12.
Moodle offers various modules 09activities:2 with different functionalities for
online teachin and learnin. One of these modules is called the 9quiz
module:. )n the quiz module" you can write questions" provide answers and
ive feed!ack on the learner/s performance. *earners can !e iven various
levels of support to increase their chances of comin up with the correct
answers. The quiz questions can !e com!ined in sets to form a complete
9quiz:.
Moodle quizzes are fully interated into the Moodle ;*, and can !e
presented as part of it. There are other quiz formats" e.. 6ot.otatoes" that
allow you to desin and present stand-alone quizzes for your own we!site.
The eneral" pedaoical principles of this activity will still !e relevant for
these types of quizzes" however" any technical information would need to !e
adapted for different applications.
The content of a Moodle quiz depends entirely on you and can !e as liht-
hearted or as serious as you make it. Some institutions use Moodle quizzes
as part of their formal assessment" and learners et marks on their
performance. )n other cases" the Moodle quiz is an optional activity for
students to check their proress independently.
You can download Moodle from http811moodle.or1. )f you are already usin a
Moodle ;*," you can activate the Moodle module when you are in editin
mode.
B. Why #ould I #ant to use Moodle quizzes in my
teaching?
<. =ecause reular evaluation of proress is important in lanuae study8
Deliverin tests on paper and correctin them takes a lon time.
'ith an online quiz you can save time and use it for other in$class
activities.
>. =ecause it ena!les your learners to choose the time and place for checkin
their proress8
&ll that learners need is internet access and lo-in details for the
Moodle workspace. They can take the quiz-test in their own time
and receive feed!ack almost instantaneously.
?. =ecause it allows you to develop your own questions tailored to the content
you are teachin8
You can write your own questions and feed!ack and you can
upload imaes or audio files. See 7sin &udacity for lanuae
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teachin 0availa!le at8 http811moodle.dots.ecml.at12 for a simple way
of creatin your own audio.
You can re-assem!le e-istin questions into new quizzes and adapt
them if necessary.
@. =ecause you can check your learners/ proress at a lance8
You can set the Moodle quizzes so that a summary of results for all
your students is visi!le to you.
A. =ecause it encouraes learners to !ecome more skilled in self-evaluation8
You can set the Moodle quizzes so that your students can also see
a summary of their results and et a sense of their own proress.
B. =ecause you can share questions with other teachers8
Moodle is widely used" and you can e-port and import sets of
Moodle quizzes if you want to share your resources with
colleaues.
C. =ecause Moodle is !uilt alon constructivist principles and encouraes
students/ e-ploratory learnin.
%or the theoretical !asis" see8
o http811docs.moodle.or1en1.hilosophy
o and Douiamas >DD?
http811douiamas.com1writin1constructivism.html
&s with any other teachin material" you need to keep the pedaoical
considerations in mind when creatin a useful quiz for your learners. To find
out more a!out these pedaoical considerations" please refer to section D.
Part !
C. Some $asic functions of the Moodle quiz module
First steps
)f you want to download your own Moodle ;*," start with the introduction
activity 7sin the Moodle platform in class 0availa!le at8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at12. You may also !e usin your institution/s Moodle
;*, or a ;*, that your colleaues have set up. )f you have editin rihts" i.e.
the rihts to chane settins and upload your own content" you can start this
activity.
You will need to create a quiz !efore you can add questions !y editin the
quiz. ,very question is created separately in Moodle quizzes. This ives you
the fle-i!ility to use the same question in different quizzes" e.. for different
courses.
'hen writin the questions you also decide what feed!ack to ive to your
learners" e.. whether they et the correct answer immediately or only after
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the second or third attempt. This will vary dependin on the question and on
what you are tryin to do with the quiz.
%or technical details on how to add and edit quizzes and questions" please
see Section ,.
Frequent uses
& quiz can !e added at the end of a thematic section or a study week in
Moodle. You can make the quiz part of your assessment stratey and collect
your students/ results in a rade !ook. Or you can use quizzes as self-
assessment tools for students.
Euestions within a quiz can !e presented in random order or in the same
sequence for every student and every attempt.
Many teachers use Moodle quizzes to test rammar points or voca!ulary. You
can interate imaes and audio files within the Moodle quiz question.
6owever" question types are limited 0see !elow2.
Question types
Moodle quizzes offer the followin question types8
multiple choice
true1false
short answer
numerical questions
matchin
description
short answer matchin
em!edded answer 0dra-and-drop2.
%or more details" see the followin pdf document" p. >-?8
http811www.!uddypro#ect.or1resources1moodle1pdf1MoodleEuizEuestionsS.pd
f
D. Pedagogical considerations and sam%le activity
)f you or your institution already use a Moodle platform" Moodle quizzes are
the easiest way to interate self-assessment or proress-check activities into
your course. 6ere are some issues you may want to consider when creatin a
Moodle quiz8
1. Avoiding ambiguous questions
'hen writin questions for online quizzes make sure that only one answer is
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possi!le. Students will et frustrated when a correct answer is counted as
wron. You should also consider whether a particular type of question" e..
multiple choice is is appropriate for a specific task.
&n e-ample of a !ad quiz question is availa!le here8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1quiz1view.php(idFGG
2. Computer feedback
'hen writin Moodle quiz questions" you will need to keep in mind that the
feed!ack students receive is limited to what you have prorammed the
computer to say. 4esponses need to !e as self-e-planatory as possi!le to
avoid student disappointment.
,-amples of some different types of quiz questions are availa!le here8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1quiz1view.php(idFGC
3. Immediate feedback or several attempts
Decide whether it is more important for students to receive corrective
feed!ack instanteneaously or whether you want to encourae them to attempt
a quiz question until they find the correct answer themselves.
You also need to keep quizzes for assessment separate from quizzes for
students/ independent use8 %or assessment quizzes" disa!le the 9check:
function so students do not receive answers and share them.
!."inking to topics
Make sure that the content of the Moodle quiz questions is closely linked to
what you have !een presentin in class. &skin students to answer random
rammar question is not a ood way of motivatin them.
#. Allo$ing for differentiation
'hen creatin quiz questions" take into account weaker students as well as
those ettin ahead of the class. Make sure that some questions are easy
enouh to ive even the !ottom set a sense of satisfaction. Moodle quizzes
6
can !e easily raded from simple to more comple- !y fi-in the arranement
of questions 0rather than randomisin the order of questions2.
%. &ime limitation
Some teachers decide to limit the time that quizzes are open. This is
particularly important if quizzes feed directly into student assessment. )n other
courses it miht !e of interest to students to !e a!le to o !ack to earlier work
and re-check their understandin of a particular point. &s quiz author you will
need to make these decisions and proramme the Moodle quiz settin
accordinly.
Sample activity
)n a !einners/ distance learnin course" students work three weeks offline
with print and audio materials. The fourth week is devoted to online revision in
a Moodle workspace. 6ere is an overview of the tasks in 'eek @.
The ta!le !elow shows different tasks iven to the students" the purposes of
these tasks as well as the kind of feed!ack students are e-pected to et !y
fulfillin the tasks.
Task purpose feed!ack
+hecklist of
proress
self-evaluation of
students !efore
attemptin the revision
quizzes
eneral feed!ack on their
level of confidenceH advice
to review course materials if
confidence is too low
*anuae quiz testin students/
understandin of new
rammar points and
voca!ulary
detailed feed!ack on
individual questions" overall
feed!ack indicated !y reen
0success2 and red 0low
num!er of correct answers2
!ars
*istenin testin students/
listenin
comprehension with
simple interated
audio files" linked
closely to topics and
structures covered in
the three previous
weeks
detailed feed!ack on
individual questions" overall
feed!ack indicated !y
reen" orane and red !arsH
access to transcripts of
audio files after the
questions have !een
completed
4eadin testin students/
readin
comprehension usin
short te-ts linked
closely to topics and
structures covered in
detailed feed!ack on
individual questions" overall
feed!ack indicated !y
reen" orane and red !ars
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the three previous
weeksH occasional use
of imaes interated in
question
The learnin o!#ective of this activity is to support students in developin a
realistic assessment of their performance with respect to different aspects of
their learnin. The first activity encouraes students to evaluate their own
proress. The quizzes will then confirm or disprove their evaluation. The
settin of Moodle quizzes to ive feed!ack at the end of a series of questions
09su!mit quiz:2 allows students to et a more realistic impression of their
performance in listenin" readin or rammar 0red vs. reen !ars2.
8
9
E. Practical suggestions
'ithin a Moodle ;*, you can activate the Moodle quiz module when you are
in editin mode. +lick on the !utton 9add an activity: and choose 9Euiz:in the
dropdown menu.
This creates the empty shell of a quiz. 3ive it a title and select the settins
you want. These can always !e chaned later.
10
You now need to add questions8 +lick on 9Save and display:.
This will open the quiz for editin. The left hand side of the screen represents
your quiz which at the moment is still empty. The riht hand side of the screen
represents the question !ank 0if this is your first quiz" the question !ank will
also !e empty2. +reate new quiz questions choosin from the different
formats availa!le in the dropdown menu. ,-amples of formats are8 multiple
choice" true1false" short answer" etc.
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)n your ne-t step you add questions to the quiz !y selectin them and
choosin 9&dd to quiz:. )n 9.review: mode you can then look at the quiz as it
will appear to students and check for any mistakes.
You can start straiht away !y tryin out the !asic functions of Moodle
quizzes in a trial-and-error method" or you can access the online user uides
and tutorials that are availa!le on the Moodle we!site. The eneral user
uides are availa!le in many lanuaes at http811docs.moodle.or1overview1.
You can start with the eneral Moodle quiz uide
Ihttp811docs.moodle.or1en1EuizJmoduleK which will help you to understand
how Moodle quizzes work" or with the more practical tips on 9&ddin1updatin
a quiz:.
The %&E section I http811docs.moodle.or1en1EuizJ%&EK and the specifc
forum on Moodle quizzes I http811moodle.or1mod1forum1view.php(idFC?CK
will help with any pro!lems and you normally et very quick responses to any
specific questions.
)f you want to watch a video that uides you throuh creatin a Moodle quiz"
try searchin YouTu!e with the keywords8 9Moodle quiz create:. +urrently
there are two short videos in ,nlish that seem helpful8
http811www.youtu!e.com1watch(vFr%noLLrT-?c
http811www.youtu!e.com1watch(vFdL;TrDAO<qcMfeatureFrelated
12
%or information on how to search YouTu!e see the DOTS activity 7sin
YouTu!e in class 0availa!le at8 http811moodle.dots.ecml.at12.
)f you are workin with the 9trial-and-error: method" you can click on the
question mark in Moodle to open an additional help pae.
)f you are worried a!out e-perimentin" you can make a !ack-up of your quiz
questions and e-port a file in Moodle NM* format to keep them safe.
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Part "
F. &hec' your understanding
) can do this O
) would like to look at that
aain
Descri!e Moodle quizzes to
others 0e.. colleaues2 !riefly

+lick here.
3ive three reasons for usin
Moodle quizzes in lanuae
teachin

+lick here.
Descri!e and use !asic
features of Moodle quizzes

+lick here.
7nderstand the pedaoical
ains of usin online quizzes
in eneral

+lick here.
Set up a simple Moodle quiz
module

+lick here.
7nderstand practical
considerations around usin
different settins for MoodleP
quizzes in your class
0e-perimentin with the toolH
different purposes for quizzesH
computer needs and settinsH
support and feed!ack2

+lick here.
G. (eflect)
6ere are two possi!le ways of uidin your reflection. Select the questions
that are the most relevant for you.

I. Think about the following issues concerning the activities in this
section:
(To o when you have finishe this activity sequence!
- 6as this worksheet * 3o to the DOTS ,-plore and share forum 0availa!le
14
iven you enouh
information1confidenc
e to try out a Moodle
quiz(
- 'ill you !e a!le to
take this worksheet
and implement the
suestions
straihtaway( )f not"
what else do you
need(
at8 http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1forum1view.php(
idF?G2" find out what other people use Moodle quizzes
for.
- Discuss your planned use of Moodle quizzes in the
DOTS forum 0availa!le at8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1forum1view.php(idF?G2
to et helpful tips from e-perts and teachers.
* Credit for illustrations: fotographic1980/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
II. "eflect on the following questions concerning your use of #oole
qui$$es as a tool an a resource for your course:
(To o after your first attempt at using #oole qui$$es in your teaching %
your class!
- )s this tool1resource
relevant for
your course(
Does it fit
with your
teachin
approach
and aims(
Does it
help !rin
more
linuistical
ly and
culturally
accurate
material(
- )s this tool relevant
* &fter you/ve used Moodle quizzes in your class"
share your e-perience in the DOTS forum 0availa!le
at8 http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1forum1view.php(
idF?G2.
- Share suestions for new uses of Moodle quizzes in
the DOTS forum 0availa!le at8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1forum1view.php(idF?G2.
- 'hen you have developed a Moodle quiz" share it
with colleaues !y e-portin the questions as Moodle
NM* file and uploadin this file to the DOTS wiki
0availa!le at8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1wiki1view.php(idF>@2.
<
Our forums and wikis are multilinual" so whatever the
lanuae you teach" please upload your material and
you can !e sure that you will !e helpin less
1
=y downloadin the Moodle NM* file" any other user can interate your questions into their
own quizzes on a Moodle workspace.
15
for your learners
0ae" level" interest"
Q2
)s the level
appropriat
e for the
intended
users(
- +an the tool
accommodate
learners with a
rane of levels( )f
so" how(
- )s the lanuae
used in the
instructions and
reference material
suita!le(
- %or which skills
and activities do you
think quizzes are
!est used(
Does it
allow for
interactive
activities
to
maintain
student
interest(
&re there
a variety
of
e-ercises
and tasks
that can
!e !uilt
with this
tool(
- 6ow user-friendly
is the tool(
)s the quiz
clear and
e-perienced colleaues.
* Share what you have done with
your colleaues in your institution.
6ere is the place to !ra a!out it5
Don/t hide your liht under the
!ushel.
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easy to use
for your
students(
Does the quiz
necessitate
some trainin
activities for
your
students(
- Technical
considerations
'hat
equipment
and technical
support is
required(
)s this availa!le
in your
institution(
'hat on-oin
costs are
involved 0e..
licences for
software2(
* Credit for illustrations: fotographic1980/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
H. +,%lore and share)
6ere are some suestions on where to o from here. .lease feel free to add
your own suestions in this section $ they can !e your own lesson plans"
ideas" pro!lems" etc.
Talk to your students a!out online quizzes. Do they like them( Do they
see a !enefit in doin them( )f you have different opinions in your
class" you can discuss the pros and cons and perhaps link them to
different learnin styles. ,mphasise the relevance of realistic self-
evaluation for proress and independent learnin.
Talk to your colleaues a!out Moodle quizzes. Do they use them( 6ave
they created any new quiz questions themselves( .erhaps you can
work toether to !uild your own repository of questions which can !e
adapted to different topics" levels and lanuaes.
Discuss Moodle quizzes in the forum and find new ideas for lanuae
specific use of quizzes. Do other teachers use quizzes differently(
6ave they reported any pro!lems( .erhaps you can share your
17
question files and !uild your own repository of questions which can !e
adapted to different topics" levels and lanuaes.
You miht want to consider runnin some of the comprehension tests
and e-ams on Moodle quiz to save the time and effort spend on
markin. You can e-plore the use of 9rade !ook: with your colleaues.
http811docs.moodle.or1en13rades
)f you need additional information on various aspects of Moodle quizzes"
check out the technical section or the Moodle.or we!site
0http811docs.moodle.or1en1EuizJmodule2.
I. Protecting students- %rivacy
4ather than protectin your students privacy 0for eneral considerations
check the .rivacy forum availa!le at8
http811moodle.dots.ecml.at1mod1forum1view.php(idF>R2 quiz settins can helpt
to protect the validity of quiz results.
The purpose of quizzes is important when decidin on the appropriate
settins. )f you use the quiz for e-am purposes" you need to keep the correct
answers hidden from students. Your feed!ack can ive eneral
encouraement or e-plain when the answers will !e revealed.
)f the quiz is used for revision" your settins miht allow students a num!er of
attempts !efore revealin the answer" to encourae reflection and self-
correction. Your feed!ack can help students to find the correct answer
themselves !y revealin part of it or ivin eneral hints and tips.
This work is licensed under a +reative +ommons &ttri!ution ?.D 7nported *icense.
Attribution: Original activity ro! DO"#$ D%v%lo&ing Onlin% "%ac'ing #(ill$ Bit%)
*i+% "raining or ,anguag% -ro%**ional*. .%/iu!)t%r! &ro0%ct 2008)2011 1 2C.,.
'tt&:33/ot*.%c!l.at3.
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