Moodle: Activities & Resources: Quiz Question Types Overview

You may add a variety of different types of questions to the Question bank, both in the bank or through the quiz. The standard quiz question types are listed below with brief descriptions, and they are hyperlinked for further explanation on how each type of quiz question works.

While you can create questions directly in a quiz, this article will show you how to use the question bank. 
 

To Add Questions to the Question Bank:

1. In Moodle, go to the course in which you want to build your question bank.
    
2. In the upper right corner, click on the gear icon to open the administration menu. Click on Question bank, then click on Questions.
   
   
    
3. Click Create a new question to open the menu of options.
   
   
    
4. From the questions menu, click on the type of question you want. You will see a description of the selected question type on the right. Click Add at the bottom. Alternatively, you can double-click the question type to go directly to building that question. 
   
   
    

Quiz Question Types:

Click the hyperlinked names to view detailed information on that specific question type.

• Multiple-Choice question type:
  • Allows the selection of single or multiple responses from a pre-defined list.
• True/False question type:
  • A simple form of a multiple choice question with just the two choices 'True' and 'False'.
• Matching question type:
  • The answer to each of a number of sub-questions must be selected from a list of possibilities.
• Short Answer question type:
  • Allows a response of one or a few words that is graded by comparing against various model answers, which may contain wildcards.
• Numerical question type:
  • Allows a numerical response, possibly with units, that is graded by comparing against various model answers, possibly with tolerances.
• Essay question type:
  • Allows a response of a few sentences or paragraphs. This must then be graded manually.
• Calculated question type:
  • Calculated questions are like numerical questions, but with the numbers used in the question selected randomly from a set when the quiz is taken.
• Calculated Multichoice question type:
  • Calculated multichoice questions are like multichoice questions, but can include formula results from numeric values that are selected randomly from a set when the quiz is taken.
• Calculated Simple question type:
  • A simpler version of calculated questions, which are like numerical questions but with the numbers used selected randomly from a set when the quiz is taken.
• Drag and Drop into Text question type:
  • Missing words in the question text are filled in using drag and drop.
• Drag and Drop Markers question type:
  • Missing markers in the question text are filled in using drag and drop.
• Drag and Drop Onto Image question type:
  • Images or text labels are dragged and dropped into drop zones on a background image.
• Embedded Answers (Cloze) question type:
  • Questions of this type are very flexible, but can only be created by entering text containing special codes that create embedded multiple-choice, short answers and numerical questions.
• Gapfill question type:
  • Offers dynamic options with a simpler question-builder interface than the Cloze question type. It can consist of a passage of text that has various answers embedded in it. These answers can be in a drag-and-drop, gapfill short answer, or drop-down format. There are several settings options for this question type, including distractors and hints.
• OU Multiple Response question type:
  • A multiple-choice, multiple-response question type with particular scoring rules.
• Random Short-Answer Matching question type:
  • Like a matching question, but created randomly from the short answer questions in a particular category.
• Regular Expression Short Answer question type:
  • An enhanced short answer question type that analyzes the student's response more thoroughly by using regular expression (RegExp) syntax. It is best used with questions that require natural language answers and not mathematical or scientific answers.
• Select Missing Words question type:
  • Missing words in the question text are filled in using drop-down menus.
• WIRIS QUIZZES question type:
  • A question bank integration that adds new question types that can be selected when creating questions. This type of question can be set up to calculate answers according to an algorithm determined by the user. The Wiris question types are separated from the standard Moodle question types and are distinguished by an orange icon.
• Description:
  • This is not actually a question type. Instead it is a way to add some instructions, rubric or other content to the activity. This is similar to the way that labels can be used to add content to the course page.