Respondus question format generator for Respondus 4.0 formatting and import

Respondus question format example

Below are three questions exactly as the VidQuiz export writes them: a multiple choice item, a true or false item and a short answer item sent as an essay. Each block starts with its number, the feedback lines sit above the choices, and the asterisk touches the correct letter with no space. A blank line separates one question from the next.

The ~ line is what Respondus shows a student who answered correctly and the @ line is what it shows one who did not. VidQuiz writes the same explanation in both, followed by the minute in the recording the question came from, so a student who missed it knows exactly where to rewatch.

1) What does the hidden layer of a neural network learn?
~ It learns intermediate features of the input. Covered at 04:12 in the source recording.
@ It learns intermediate features of the input. Covered at 04:12 in the source recording.
a) The raw pixel values
*b) Intermediate features of the input
c) The final class label
d) The learning rate

2) A network with more layers always trains faster.
~ Deeper networks usually take longer to train. Covered at 09:30 in the source recording.
@ Deeper networks usually take longer to train. Covered at 09:30 in the source recording.
a) True
*b) False

Type: E
3) Name the activation function used in the example network.
~ The lecture uses ReLU in every hidden layer. Covered at 06:45 in the source recording.
@ The lecture uses ReLU in every hidden layer. Covered at 06:45 in the source recording.
a) ReLU

Why is my Respondus import not working?

Word auto numbering is the most common cause. When Word numbers a list for you, the number is formatting rather than text, so Respondus sees a question with no number and the asterisk lands in the wrong place. Every campus guide says the same thing: turn off automatic numbering and lettering and type them yourself, or use the Answers: list at the end of the file instead of asterisks.

Next come gaps in the numbering, a space between the asterisk and the letter, and True and False in the wrong order. The quiet failure is an unmarked question, because Respondus then treats choice A as correct and only mentions it in the preview window, which is easy to click past at eleven at night. A generated file avoids all of these because nothing in it was typed by hand.

• Turn off Word auto numbering and lettering
• Keep the numbers sequential with no gaps
• No space between the asterisk and the letter
• Put True before False
• Read the preview warnings before pressing Finish

Can Respondus import questions from a Word document?

Yes. Respondus 4.0 imports Microsoft Word, rich text, plain text, QTI and tab or comma delimited files, and Word keeps images and formatting such as subscripts intact. The format rules are the same in every case, which is why the guides warn so much about Word: it is the file type most likely to add hidden numbering and smart formatting that the importer reads differently from what you see.

VidQuiz exports plain text because it is the one file type with nothing hidden in it. If you want to add an image or an equation to a question, import the .txt, then add it in the Respondus editor, or open the file in Word, save it as .docx and import that.

Does Respondus 4.0 work with Canvas New Quizzes?

Yes, with a recent version. The University of Missouri System notes that Respondus 4 version 4.1.0.02 or later publishes to Canvas New Quizzes as well as Classic Quizzes, and the Publish Wizard asks which of the two you want. Older guidance from several universities says otherwise because it predates that update, so check Help, Check for Update before assuming New Quizzes is off the table.

Retrieving questions back out of Canvas into Respondus is a separate matter, and campus pages still disagree on it. If the question set has to live outside Respondus as well, the same VidQuiz quiz also exports a QTI 1.2 package that Canvas imports directly.

Is there a Respondus 4.0 for Mac?

No. Respondus 4.0 is a Windows application, and the campus pages that distribute it say so plainly. Mac users either run it in a Windows virtual machine or a campus computer lab, or skip it and import into the learning system directly.

The second route is where VidQuiz is useful on its own. The quiz is written in the browser, and the same question set exports as QTI 1.2 for Canvas and Brightspace, GIFT and Aiken for Moodle, and a tab delimited file for Blackboard, so a Mac user never needs Respondus to get questions into a course. Our page on the Respondus 4.0 alternative covers that route in detail.

Can a Respondus test maker write the questions for me?

Respondus 4.0 cannot. It is an authoring and publishing tool: it holds, edits, prints and publishes questions you supply, from your own file or a publisher test bank. VidQuiz is the step before it. Paste a YouTube link and it reads the video directly. For a Panopto, Kaltura, Zoom or Teams recording, paste the transcript the platform already produced next to the link. Or paste up to 60,000 characters of lecture notes on their own.

You choose up to 30 questions per quiz and the difficulty. Each multiple choice item comes with three wrong answers written to be plausible, the correct answer marked, an explanation and a timestamp. It is a draft for an instructor to check, and every stem, choice and answer is editable before you export. The demo runs the real generator on your own material before you pay anything.