The Question Bank in Moodle can be used to create a repository of questions that can then be used in the Quiz activity. It can also sprawl into a complex list without any organization, especially during course copies or restores. Categories can be used to organize existing questions for easier findability, and to use Random questions.

This article provides instructions for creating and managing Question Bank categories.

Accessing Question Bank Categories

A question bank category is created to hold a set of questions. Categories are generally managed in their own page.

To access the Question categories page:

1. In the course menu at the top of the page, select the More tab.
2. Select Question bank from the list that appears.
3. In the drop-down menu at the top left of the page (that initially says Questions), select Categories.

The Question categories page can also be accessed through a Quiz:

1. In the Quiz menu at the top of the page, select the Question bank tab.
2. In the drop-down menu at the top left of the page, select Categories.

Both methods navigate to a list of question bank categories, where each category is listed and indented to indicate hierarchy.

Category Context Trees

The Question categories page, depending on where it is accessed from, will generally have two contexts available to instructors. These are detailed in the "Moving Question Bank Categories into Different Contexts" article.

When creating categories, it's best to use the course context for categories that will be used across multiple Quizzes, and best to use the Quiz context for categories that will only be used in that Quiz.

Adding a Category

To add a category in the Question categories page:

1. Click the Add category button at the top of the page.
2. Select the parent category that this category should be placed into.
3. Give the category a name in the Name field.
4. Click the Add category button at the bottom of the page.

There is also a Category info field to fill out that can be used to provide a description of the category, visible in the Question categories page.

Managing Category Hierarchy

Categories can be placed into hierarchies, with parent categories and child categories, for organization. It may be useful, for example, to create categories by topics covered in Chapter 1 of a course textbook, and then to create a parent category titled Chapter 1 to hold all the topic categories.

For additional details and instructions on how to organize categories into hierarchal structure, see the "Organizing Question Bank Categories in Moodle" article here.

Additional Resources

Adding a Question to a Question Bank Category (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Organizing Question Bank Categories in Moodle (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Deleting All Questions in a Question Bank Category (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Question categories (Moodle Doc)

Managing questions (Moodle Doc )

Question bank (Moodle Doc)

Question contexts (Moodle Doc)

For additional assistance, please contact the LearnTech Help Desk at learntech@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-7094, or via the Get Help form on the DELTA Knowledge Base.