This article explains how to import and export questions from external systems like Canvas and Moodle, details the supported question types and formats, and outlines the necessary limitations for marks and media.
This feature requires activation. Please contact the Service Desk to activate it for your Inspera Assessment tenancy.
Overview
If you have a large question bank in an external system like Canvas or Moodle, it is more effective to import those questions in bulk than to copy and paste them into Inspera Assessment. For this purpose, Inspera provides a free service that converts your input data into the standardized IMS QTI 2.1 format for direct import. This service only supports a subset of the question types available in those external platforms.
QTI conversion from Canvas and Moodle has been tested with limited content only, and there may be further limitations than what is outlined within the article.
The following specific formats are supported:
IMS QTI 1.2 XML, as exported from Canvas (there are also Moodle plugins that claim to export in this format).
Moodle Quiz XML format, as described here
The following question types are supported to import to Inspera Assessment from Moodle and Canvas:
- True/False (Canvas only)
- Multiple Choice
- Multiple Response
- Essay
Import questions to Inspera
Read the article Import questions and questions sets (QTI) to get more information on how to import.
Important to note:
-
To import an .xml file to Inspera Assessment, you need to select All Files in order to upload the file.
Behind the scenes, the system detects the file type, converts it to a zip-file in the IMS QTI 2.1 format, which is then imported into Inspera Assessment.
- We do not support importing media, audio, image (for Moodle), and sound files. If questions contain media, the files need to be added directly in Inspera post-import.
- We do support image files for Canvas, but they will be added as Main Illustrations.
Export questions from Moddle or Canvas
To export questions from Moodle or Canvas, follow the instructions for exporting the files on your relevant platform.
When importing from Canvas, the QTI import may not work when the questions are contained within question groups in Canvas. To work around this issue, create a new quiz in Canvas, add all of the questions you want to export to the new quiz, and export the quiz into Inspera.
Post-Import
Marks
By default, the different question types have the following mark settings:
- Multiple choice: 1 mark for correct and 0 marks for the wrong answer.
- Multiple response: 1 mark for correct and 0 marks for the wrong answer.
- Essay: Maximum 10 marks.
If you want to change the scoring options, this has to be edited in Inspera Assessment after import.
Formatting
The conversion and import routine tries to keep basic formatting intact; it also supports LaTex for equations and such.
Ensure questions look and work as intended by answering the questions in preview. It is also advised to check that formatted text and math (LaTeX) appears as intended.