In addition to importing questions which you have created in activities, questions can be imported in bulk into Q-Bank using a CSV file import utility.  This provides a quick and easy way to import large numbers of questions from an external source.

The imported questions must be contained in a CSV file complying with a specific layout including precisely defined column headings. A template defining this layout is available for download from the import utility screen.  There are a few limitations to this import process:

Images for the questions cannot be imported using a CSV file.  If images are required, these can be uploaded and applied to each question after importing.

Only multiple choice, open text questions, numeric response questions, or information questions can be imported. There is currently no way to import Likert scale, HotSpot or Label questions into Xorro-Q.  Not all functionality available in the Xorro-Q question types is supported through the import utility:

• For Multiple Choice questions, only one feedback field is imported; this will be applied to all option feedback fields in Xorro-Q's question;
• There can be only one correct text answer string for an imported text question.  Additional text assessment details can be added to the question after the import;
• There is no provision for tolerances or for the prefix and suffix fields in Numeric questions.

To launch the CSV Question Import

To import questions in bulk into Q-Bank, click on the "Import from CSV" button at the top of the Q-Bank page.  The import utility form appears. 

The various properties which you choose on this form will be applied to all of the imported questions.  

Questions are organised in Q-Bank using the properties submitted when the questions are imported.  These properties can later be edited using Q-Bank's question editor. Using the question import process, properties can be chosen and applied to all of the selected questions at once.  The properties available are:

Category: Select up to three categories or sub-categories with which this question is to be associated.   If none of the provided categories suit, select "Others".  Note that you can create your own sub-categories in this list. See: Question Category (in Q-Bank); Adding new categories to your Q-Bank;

Share to:  Select the Scope to which you want to share this question.  If you do not wish it to be shared at all through Q-Bank, select "Mine" (this is the default value).  If you want to share the question with other facilitators in your institution, select "Institution".  If you want to share this question with all Xorro facilitators, select "Global" (See Question Scope in Q-Bank);

Source:  This is an open text field where the question's source or author might be enterred, in case this is helpful for later search purposes;

Tags: Here you should enter any tags which will be useful for searching this question in future. Typically, tags might include an activity name, a course identifier, a topic, learning outcome served by this question, a degree of difficulty, etc.  (see Using tags in Q-Bank).

Preparing the CSV Questions file

A template for the CSV file is available for download from the import utility form.  Use this template to set up your questions in the appropriate format for import.  Just delete the sample data (rows 2 and below), leaving the header row exactly as it is.  Then add your questions, one to each row, completing the question fields as appropriate.  You must add as a minimum, the Question Type and the Question Text for each question.  For multiple choice questions, you must also add at least two options.  Depending on the question type, some of the fields will be relevant. 

The following fields are available for import:  Question Type (Required), Difficulty, Source, Reference, Question Text (Required), Feedback, Correct, A, B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J.

Each of these is explained in more detail below, having reference to the import context.

Question Type:  Question Type is a required field.  Use one of the following five terms shown in capital letters(do not include any spaces or punctuation): INFO, TEXT, NUMERIC, MC, MC_M .  These denote the Question Type.  For detailed descrioptions of all Question Types in Xorro-Q, see Question Types.  Note that not all question types are supported through the import process.  The following notes apply to the five Question Types which are supported.

• INFO:  Use this to denote an Information Question, for which no participant response is requested.  These are typically used for introductions or conclusions to an activity, or as "teaching pages" in between questions within an activity.  There will be no data in the "Correct" field or in any of the Option fields (labelled A through J).  See: Information Questions
• TEXT: Use this to denote a Text question, ie one which requests participants' response in text (see Text Response Questions).  There may be feedback provided.  There may be data also added to the "Correct" field (see below) if there is a particular "correct" term which the participant must enter in order to achieve a correct response.  There will be no data in any of the Option fields (labelled A through J).
• NUMERIC: Use this to denote a question which participants must answer with a numeric response (see Numeric Response Questions).  There may be feedback provided.  There may be numeric data also added to the "Correct" field (see below) if there is a particular "correct" numeric term which the participant must enter in order to achieve a correct response.  There will be no data in the any of the Option fields (labelled A through J).    Note that some functionality of numeric questions in Xorro-Q such as prefix or suffix values and tolerances, is not supported through the CSV import process, and will need to be added after the import.
• MC: Multi-choice question to which the participant responds with one answer (see Multiple Choice Questions (with single selection enforced)).  There will be at least two options for this question; these will be entered into the fields labelled A through J (see "A-J", below).  There may be feedback.  There may be one character (either A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I, or J) entered in the "correct" field.  
• MC_M: Multi-choice question allowing the participant to respond with multiple answers (see Multiple Choice Questions (with multiple selections permitted)).  There will be at least two options for this question; these will be entered into the fields labelled A through J (see "A-J", below).  There may be feedback.  There may be multiple characters (between A and J, inclusive) entered in the "correct" field.  

Difficulty: This optional field will be displayed in Xorro-Q as a degree of difficulty tag (see Using tags in Q-Bank for an explanation of how this tag is used).  Choose a value between 1 and 3, where "1" denotes an entry level, "easy" standard; "2" denotes moderate or average, or expected level of difficulty, and "3" denotes challenging, stretch, or fully competent standard.  

Source: "Source" is an optional field in which you can reference the source of the questions, or their author.  This will be added to the questions' "Source" property in Q-Bank.

Reference: "Reference" is an optional field in which you can add further useful reference tags.

Question Text: "Question Text" is a required field.  This is the main body text for your question (ie not including any options).

Feedback: "Feedback"is an optional field.  Note that only one feedback field is supported through the import process.  Text from this field will be applied to all feedback fields for the question in Xorro-Q.  Feedback for each imported question can later be edited using the Question Editor, eg to support different feedback for different selected options, or to differentiate feedback for "ciorrect" answers from that for "incorrect" answers.

A - J:  The ten columns headed "A" through "J" are for ten fields applying to each option of a multiple choice question (either single selection or multiple selection types).  These columns must be left blank for all question types other than the two multiple choice question types.  Each multiple choice question must have data in at least two (A, B) of these fields.  Enter the option texts into the columns provided (one option per column, starting from "A").  The last of the option fields containing data will determine the number of options created for this question in Xorro-Q.  (For example, if data is entered into fields A,B,C,D and E then the question will be created as a five-option question).  This import utility only supports up to 10 options in a question (ie up to "J");  if your question has more than 10 options then the additional options can be added later directly to the question using the Question Editor.  

Categories: Xorro-Q, Facilitators.
Tags: q-bank.