A package to export test questions into Moodle from python or latex
Project description
moodlexport
This Python module provides code which allows to easily generate families of questions (called categories in Moodle) that can be directly exported from either Python or Latex to Moodle, and use them to create a test. The main motivation behind this module is that :
- it is easier to define mathematical objects in Python than Moodle
- it is more comfortable to type maths in Latex
- generating random problems is simpler in Python and can go way beyond what Moodle proposes
- it is easier to store/manipulate locally a Latex or Python file than doing it on the Moodle interface. It also simplifies collaborating projects.
It can be installed with a pip command : pip install moodlexport
Some internal links within this documentation:
Main features of this module so far
- Creating a question. The only supported classes of questions are:
- "essay" : the student answers in a white text box.
- "multichoice" : the question comes with at least 2 possible answers.
- All the options available in Moodle are available here (defining a grade, information for the grader, feedback, etc). See more details below.
- Creating a category (family) of questions.
- Supports Unicode within python and latex : éà ê ...
- Supports Latex syntax in Moodle : correctly supports inline latex with
$e^x$
, and equation with$$ f(x) = \sum_i x_i^2 $$, \begin{equation*}...\end{equation*}, \begin{cases}
etc
Quick start
Simple examples from Python:
from moodlexport import Question
question = Question("essay")
question.text("What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?")
question.grade(1.5)
question.save("my first question")
Simple examples from Latex
You can produce the same result as above by defining your question directly in a Latex file.
Suppose for isntance that you have a Latex file myquestion.tex
containing the following :
\documentclass{amsart}
\usepackage{latextomoodle}
\begin{document}
\begin{question}[essay]
What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?
\grade{1.5}
\end{question}
\end{document}
Then you can convert this myquestion.tex
file directly into a readytoexport.xml
file, by using the following Python commands:
from moodlexport import latextomoodle
latextomoodle('myquestion.tex','my first question')
Note that if you wish to compile the .tex
file without errors, you will need to place the Latex package latextomoodle.sty
in the same folder. This package can be found in the latex folder of this project.
Exporting many questions at once
If you want to export more than one question, you might want to gather them within a category, which will produce a single file containing all those questions. Here is how to proceed:
In Python:
from moodlexport import Question, Category
category = Category("My little catgory name")
question = Question("essay")
question.text("What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?")
question.grade(1.5)
question.addto(category)
question = Question("multichoice")
question.text("Is every symmetric matrix invertible?")
question.grade(2.0)
question.answer("Yes", False)
question.answer("No", True)
question.addto(category)
category.save()
In Latex, followed by the python command latextomoodle('file_name.tex')
:
\documentclass{amsart}
\usepackage{latextomoodle}
\begin{document}
\begin{category}[My little catgory name]
\begin{question}[essay]
What is the derivative of $f(x) = e^x + 0.5 \Vert x \Vert^2$?
\grade{1.5}
\end{question}
\begin{question}[multichoice]
Is every symmetric matrix invertible?
\answer[0]{Yes}
\answer[100]{No}
\grade{2.0}
\end{question}
\end{category}
\end{document}
Documentation
Main commands
The Category Class
category = Category(string)
creates an object of class Category. string
here specifies the name of the category, which will appear in Moodle. It comes with a few methods:
category.save(string)
creates an XML file under the XML Moodle format, ready to import within Moodle. The name of the file is the name of the category by default. If astring
is given, the name of the file will bestring.xml
.category.description(string)
Adds a description to the category, which will appear in Moodle.
The Question Class
question = Question(type)
creates an object of class Question. The type
of the question can be essay
(default) or multichoice
. It comes with a family of methods question.OPTION(value)
where OPTION
describes every possible option that you can set in Moodle. The most important ones are:
question.title(string)
sets the title of the questionquestion.text(string)
sets the text (main body) of the questionquestion.grade(float)
sets the grade of the quesitonquestion.graderinfo(string)
sets the information to be given to the graderquestion.addto(category)
adds the question to acategory
Methods specific to the essay
type (answer via a text editor):
question.responseformat(string)
:editorfilepicker
lets the student upload a file as an answer (default) ,editor
forbids it.question.responserequired(bool)
:0
if no response is required (default),1
if a response is required.
Methods specific to the multichoice
type (finite number of possible answers):
question.answer(string, value)
: Adds a possible answer to the question.string
is the text of the answer,value
describes if this answer is correct or no. It can be described in two ways:- as a boolean
True
orFalse
(default) - as a percentage (integer between 0 and 100), which represents the fraction of the grade attributed to the answer. This is typically used for questions with more than 2 answers. A unique true answer has 100, a wrong answer has 0 (default)
- as a boolean
question.single(value)
:true
if only one answer is possible (default),false
if more than one answer can be selected by the student.
Main commands in Latex (bêta)
It is possible to use a similar syntax within a TEX document :
\begin{category}[name] ... \end{category}
defines the environment corresponding to a category. It is possible to write various categories within the same document.name
is the name of the category.\begin{question}[type] ... \end{question}
defines the environment corresponding to a question. It is possible to write various question within the same category.type
is the type of the question,essay
by default.- All the methods mentioned above can be used in latex. The analogue of
.OPTION(value)
becomes\OPTION{value}
in Latex (and must be placed within the corresponding environment). For instance :\description{string}
sets the description of a category\grade{float}
sets the grade of a question\answer[value]{string}
adds an answer to a multichoice question
The corresponding latex package can be found in the latex
folder.
Known issues/missing features
- for multichoice we never check that the sum of the fractions is equal to 100%
- for the latex package, there is issues with
newcommand
andrenewcommand
because for instance the document classamsart
definestext
but it is not the case forarticle
.
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