The Aiken format lets you create multiple-choice or true-false questions using a simple, human-readable format that you can save as a plain text file and import into a Moodle course.

Write Questions in the Aiken Format

1. Write your questions in a word-processing application (e.g., MS Word) or a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or Text Edit (Mac OS X), and format as follows:
   • The question must be all on one line.
   • Each answer must start with a single uppercase letter, followed by a period "." or a right parenthesis ")", then a space.
   • The answer line must immediately follow, starting with "ANSWER: " (with a space after the colon) and then give the letter for the correct answer.
     Note: The word "ANSWER" and the answer letters (A,B,C etc.) must be capitalized as shown, otherwise the import will fail.
2. Use Save As and save your questions as a .txt (plain text) file in UTF-8 format.

Example:

---

The Loch Ness Monster is a type of?
A. Homonid
B. Lizard
C. Ape
D. Plesiosauria
ANSWER: D

The Coelacanth was considered a cryptid until 1938.
A) True
B) False
ANSWER: A

---

Import Questions into the Moodle Question Bank

Once you have saved your text file, you can import your questions into the Moodle Question Bank:

1. Log into Moodle and open the course where you would like to add questions.
2. In the menu bar at the top of your course page, select Course Management (gear icon  ). The Course Management panel will open.
3. On the Course Management panel, under Question Bank, click Import.  The Import questions from file page will open.
4. For File format, select Aiken Format.
5. Click the General heading to expand the settings and for Import category, select a Category (or use Default for course) .
   Note: To create a new category, return to the Categories tab. For more on creating categories, see Use the Moodle Question Bank.
6. Under Import questions from file, drag and drop your .txt file onto the blue arrow in the Import box, or alternately, click Choose a file.... to browse for the .txt file on your computer.
7. Click Upload this file. You will see a page with the messages "Parsing questions from import file" and "importing (# of) question(s) from file," with a list of the questions.
8. Click Import.
9. Click Continue. Your Question Bank will open. You can now further edit the questions or include the questions in a quiz.

For more on building quizzes, see An Overview of Quizzes in Moodle.