Creating moodle quizzes for the subjects of mathematics and statistics corresponding to the first years in engineering studies

In 2005 the virtual campus Atenea of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) started to use Moodle, an open source learning management system that offers a wide variety of teaching tools [3]. One of these tools, the quiz module, represents an alternative to traditional face-to-face courses and paper-based testing. In order to explore how to apply this new strategy, in 2008 we started to carry out a project subsidised by the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) of the UPC. The project title was “Creating Moodle quizzes for the subjects of Mathematics and Statistics corresponding to the first years in engineering studies”. It covered the compulsory undergraduate subjects in applied mathematics included in the first- and second-year syllabus for all branches of Engineering. The aims were to elaborate a substantial range of Moodle question pools and to design, implement and assess a series of quizzes, to use Moodle quizzes to promote more effective, dynamic and autonomous learning, and to change teachers’ and students’ attitude towards the campus Atenea.