Learn@Illinois Moodle - Using the Quiz Activity as a Lecture

Learn how to use the quiz activity to build lectures interspersed with comprehension questions. Changing security settings, adjusting timing settings, using the question bank, using the description question type, creating headings, allowing multiple attempts, and allowing students to check answers immediately after answering are excellent ways to make interactive lectures using the quiz activity.

For a permanent link to this information, please use: https://go.illinois.edu/MoodleQuizasLecture

Changing Security Settings

There are two security settings that it is important to change when making a lecture using the quiz activity. It is important to make sure that security settings for them are set up properly so that students can easily view all slides and are not prevented from navigating other parts of the course while they view the lecture.

Showing Blocks

Make sure that blocks can be viewed while students are viewing the lecture.

Navigate to the quiz you would like to edit.
In the upper right corner, click the Actions menu gear.
From the drop-down menu, select Edit Settings.
Scroll down and click Appearance.
Click Show more.
Under "Show blocks during quiz attempts", select Yes from the drop-down menu.
Save.

Lessening Browser Security

Make sure that students can view the rest of the course site while they are viewing the lecture.

Navigate to the quiz you would like to edit.
In the upper right corner, click the Actions menu gear.
From the drop-down menu, select Edit Settings.
Scroll down and click Extra restrictions on attempts.
Under "Browser security", select None from the drop-down menu.
Save.

Adjusting Timing Settings

Navigate to the quiz you would like to edit.
In the upper right corner, click the Actions menu gear.
From the drop-down menu, select Edit Settings.
Scroll down and click Timing.
Edit the open and close dates and time limit as appropriate. It is likely that you will want all three checkboxes unchecked.

Using the Question Bank

We always recommend creating your slides in the Question bank using categories for optimal organization. See Using the Question Bank for more information.

Using the Description Question Type

Add content to the lecture by adding "Description"-type questions.

Navigate to the quiz you would like to edit.
In the upper right corner, click the Actions menu gear.
Drop the drop-down menu, select Edit quiz.
To add a new question, click Add.
From the drop-down menu, select a new question.
Under OTHER, select Description. This allows you to add slides that do not have a question. Then, click Add.
You must have at least one question included in the quiz as a whole. It is possible to set up a dummy question at the end of the lecture if you don't want a real question.

Creating Headings

Create headings so that students can skip back through the lecture and find sections they would like to review. See our help page Creating Headings in Quizzes.

Allowing Multiple Attempts for Full Credit

If you would like to give participation credit for viewing the lecture and answering questions, but not penalize students for wrong answers, we suggest allowing unlimited attempts and taking the highest grade. To do this:

Navigate to the quiz you would like to edit.
In the upper right corner, click the Actions menu gear.
From the drop-down menu, select Edit Settings.
Click Grade.
Under "Attempts allowed", select Unlimited. Under "Grading method", select Highest grade.
Click Save and return to course.

Allowing Students to Check Answers Immediately After Answering

You may want to allow students to check their answers immediately instead of waiting until they finish the entire lecture. Using "Adaptive mode (no penalties)" allows students to click a gray "Check" button below question types such as multiple choice questions to check their answer immediately.

Question before

When students click "Check", their answer will be marked to indicate that it is either correct or incorrect.

Question after

Navigate to the quiz you would like to edit.
In the upper right corner, click the Actions menu gear.
From the drop-down menu, select Edit Settings.
Click Question behavior.
In the "How questions behave" drop-down menu, select Adaptive mode (no penalties).
Note: Selecting "Adaptive mode (no penalties)" will override the percentage penalties that are selected under "Multiple tries" in the individual quiz questions.
Click Review options.
Under "During the attempt", ensure that the "Whether correct" box is selected.
Click Save and return to course.

Moodle.org Documentation

Question behaviours