This document outlines a project to develop enhanced question banks in Moodle for complex problems. The goals are to offer 24/7 e-learning, personalized training, and instant feedback to improve learning. Question banks were created for topics in statics and dynamics at different levels, with feedback. Students found the quizzes helpful for practice and exam revision. Developing complex quizzes for other topics could save substantial academic time spent on marking assignments in the future as class sizes increase. Further improvements and expanding the banks to additional topics are proposed.

1. Pilar Garcia Souto
p.garciasouto@ucl.ac.uk
Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, UCL

2. Aim of the project
 Offer a 24h e-learning environment
 Students can test their understanding
 Instant feedback
 Personalized training
 Improve overall learning experience
 System should be usable for learning, formative self-assessment
and/or summative coursework
 Create question banks in Moodle for complex problems
 Develop, document, and integrate
 Use Moodle as platform for consistency
 Key concepts: Complex quizzes & database of quizzes

3. History & acknowledgments
 Introducing e-learning environments to the Biomedical Engineering
Programme I. Summer Studentships UCL Engineering Faculty
Fund 2014 (4 weeks studentship)
 Introducing e-learning environments to the Biomedical Engineering
Programme II. UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Department Fund 2014 (4 weeks studentship)
 Introducing Enhanced Question Banks in Moodle for Complex
Problems. UCL E-Learning Development Grant 2014 (£2000)

4. Why complex quizzes?
 To really test the capabilities of the students
 Longer questions, no “clues” of the answers, monitor full question
 Current options:

5. Why databases of quizzes?
 Multiple examples of each question
 Reduce the “cheating/copying” even in large classes or
across years
 Can be used for:
 Learning
 Exam revision
 Assessment

6. What was needed?
 Good understanding of Moodle capabilities
 Matlab
 Xml
 Loads of patience

7. Summer Studentships UCL Engineering Faculty Fund 2014
 Aimed to develop maths questions for ENGS103P –Mathematical
Modelling and Analysis
 Worked with Dr. Tristan Robinson
 Our contribution:
 Provide feedback from a student/academic point of view for the quizzes
generated over the summer
 Identify how to include 2+ answers (numerical, short answer and/or multiple
choice) in a given question. E.g.:
 Matlab and XML script provided to Dr. Tristan for incorporation in his Moodle
quizzes.
Our achievements

8. UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering Dept. Fund
2014 & UCL E-Learning Development Grant 2014
 Question banks for 6 topics { training quizzes and CW quizzes}:
 Free body diagrams
 https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/mod/quiz/attempt.php?attempt=2521365&page=4
 Simply supported beams (5 levels)
 https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/mod/quiz/attempt.php?attempt=2613003
 Cantilever beams (5 levels)
 https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/mod/quiz/attempt.php?attempt=2566737&page=4
 Warren truss ( 4 levels)
 https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/mod/quiz/attempt.php?attempt=2615345
 Centroid and second moment of area (5 levels)
 https://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/mod/quiz/attempt.php?attempt=2607695&page=4&scrollpos
=0#q1
 Dynamics (1 level)
Our achievements

9. Cantilever beam: Levels 1 to 5
Level 5 = level 4 + beam weight

10. FBD and simply supported beams

11. Warren Truss levels 1 and 4

12. Centroid and second moment of area - levels 1 and 5

13. Dynamics

14. Example of question and feedback

15. Students feedback
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
How easy was it to access the quizzes?
How was the presentation of the quizzes?
Did the quizzes aid your learning?
Did the quizzes allow you to learn at your own pace?
Did the quizzes allow you to practice questions
adapted to your own level?
Did you have enough question samples to practice
each level and topic?
Was the number of levels of difficulty for each topic
appropriate?
Did you find useful to know right away if your answer
was correct?
Did you find the hints and feedback given by the
system useful?
How helpful were the training quizzes on preparation
for the CW quizzes?
Are you likely to use the quizzes for the exam
revision?
Students feedback

16. Found more useful
 Good practice
 Good revision for exams
 Can practice more than one time
 Know the answer immediately
 Allows to learn at own speed
 Has different levels
 Training quizzes has different questions each time
 Feedback specific to the question, e.g. answer
 Allows me to see how well I actually know the topic as
opposed to how well I think I know it

17. Suggestions for improvements
 Make the hints and tips more useful
 More variety and range of questions in training
quizzes
 Answers that accept rounding and precision errors
This is a reflection of the of the limitations and
encountered problems that we faced!

18. 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
What is your view of the quizzes on statics
overall?
Do you think we should develop other complex
quizzes for the other areas of this module?
Do you think we should develop other complex
quizzes for the other modules?
Students overall feedback

19. Time assessment
 Time spent -year 1:
 14 weeks over 2
studentships
 ~ 10h for PGTA
 ~ 30-60 h academic time
 Supervision
 Setting of quizzes
 Development
 Debugging
 Time spent – year 2:
 1-10 h academic/PGTA
time
 Academic time saved:
 Year 1 (12 students)
 12 stu * 5CW/stu * 15 min/CW = 15h
marking
 5CW * 2h setting up = 10 h
 Total =25h  NONE
 Year 2 (~30 students)
 37.5h marking  NONE
 Year 3 (~100 students)
 125 h marking  120 h SAVED
(that is over 15 working days or over
£1560 in PGTAs)
 Year 10 (~300 students)
 375 h marking  370 h SAVED
(that is over 46 working days or over
£4680 in PGTAs)

20. Other benefits
 Further development time decreases while benefits increase
linearly
 Highly reduces the administration time
 No lost CWs
 Reduces students questions to PGTAs and academics

21.  Solve the limitations/problems identified
 Generate better feedback and tips for each question
 Create question banks of complex quizzes for the rest of
the MHY102P Mechanics and Materials Module
 Create question banks of complex quizzes for other
modules
 Seek for financial support/collaborators for further
development/future studentships
Future work

22. Thanks for listening.
Questions?
p.garciasouto@ucl.ac.uk