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Best Practices for creating a Moodle quiz (exam).

DELTA Testing Services

Make sure students can find the quiz

Quizzes (and other dated activities) will show up in the Timeline and Calendar views in the Dashboard. The Dashboard is a quick way to navigate to a quiz/exam.

The Activities Block includes a “Quizzes” link to allow instructors and students to easily locate all Moodle Quiz activities in the course. If you do not see the Activities Block in the right side block drawer, you can add it.

  1. On the main Moodle page, turn Edit mode on by clicking the toggle switch at the top right.
  2. If the Block Drawer on the right side is not open, click on the carat button to open it.
  3. Click the “Add a block” button at the top.
  4. In the pop-up menu, select “Activities.”
  5. The Activities Block will be added at the bottom of the Block Drawer. You can move it by clicking and dragging on the crosshairs in the top right corner of the block.

Note: the Upcoming Events block and Calendar block are also ways to quickly navigate to a Quiz

Make sure students can access the quiz

Dates/times should match what has been submitted to DELTA Testing Services. All exams should open at 8 am on the first day of the exam window and close at 11:59 pm on the last day of the exam window.

  1. In the Quiz Settings, go to the Timing section.
  2. Next to “Open the quiz”:
    1. Check the “Enable” box on the right side.
    2. Set the date and time that you want the quiz to open. Students will be unable to access the quiz before this date/time. Be aware that time is in 24-hour format (12:00 AM is the beginning of that day).
  3. Next to “Close the quiz”:
    1. Check the “Enable” box on the right side.
    2. Set the date and time that you want the quiz to open. Students will be unable to access the quiz before this date/time. Be aware that time is in 24-hour format. To allow students the entire day to take the quiz, set the close time for 23:59 (11:59 PM).
  4. Next to “Time limit”:
    1. Check the “Enable” box on the right side.
    2. Enter the duration of the quiz in hours or minutes.

To require a password to access the quiz:

  1. In the Quiz settings, go to the section “Extra restrictions on attempts.”
  2. Next to “Require password” enter the text you want to use. 
  3. Make sure that you share this same password with DELTA Testing Services to ensure students will be able to access it.

If Open/Close dates are set, students will not be able to access the quiz outside of that window. Hiding the quiz until the exam window is unnecessary, and can prevent students from being able to take the quiz if the instructor does not remember to change the availability before the beginning of the exam window.

  1. In the Quiz settings, go to the “Common module settings” section.
  2. Next to “Availability” select Show on course page.

In the Quiz settings under “Restrict access,” do not set additional restrictions based on date/time. This will reduce redundancy and potential interference with Open and Close dates.

Additional Resources

Click below for more information on Moodle Blocks and Moodle Quiz settings