Introduction to Numbas

Christian Lawson-Perfect
Newcastle University

Plan for today

  1. Introduce Numbas and demo
  2. Write a first question
  3. Look at advanced features

Numbas

Key features

Question types

Math notation
Prompt text says 'differentiate the following function: f(x) = minus 6 x squared minus 7 x minus 10'. An input box contains 'minus 12 x minus 7', and is followed by a rendering in mathematical notation and a green tick
Number
Prompt text says 'write 1234.567 in continental European style. An input box contains '1.234,567' and is followed by a green tick.
Matrix
Prompt text says 'write a 3 × 3 identity matrix. Beneath are inputs labelled 'rows' and 'columns', and then a grid of inputs containing the entries of a 3×3 identity matrix, followed by a green tick.

Question types

Multiple choice
Prompt text says 'Tick each mammal'. Beneath are checkboxes labelled 'sparrow', 'shark', 'dog' (ticked) and 'cat' (ticked)', followed by a green tick. Prompt text says 'Select pairs of numbers that add up to 4. Beneath is a grid of checkboxes; the upper triangle is empty. The columns and rows are both labelled 1,2,3. 1,3 and 2,2 are ticked. The grid is followed by a green tick.
Short text
Prompt text says 'Write a headline in title case'. An input box contains 'Numbas Marks Answer Correctly', followed by a green tick.
Make your own
Prompt says 'Convert 240cm to metres'. An input box contains '2.4m', followed by text 'Include units in your answer' and a green tick.

Question types

Code
Prompt says 'Define a function called count_a which counts the number of times the letter 'a' appears in a string.' Beneath is a code editor containing Python code, followed by a green tick.
Spreadsheet
Prompt text says 'Before making a purchase, you always fill in a product fact sheet. Fill in the product fact sheet for the Autocomb Pro, using the information above'. Beneath is a spreadsheet interface with coloured areas headed 'Product name', 'Price', 'Running costs', 'Dimensions' and 'Reviews'. Numbers and text have been entered in the cells next to the headings. The spreadsheet is followed by a green tick.

Interactive diagrams

GeoGebra
JSXGraph

Modes of use

Sequential
A fixed list of questions.
Menu
Student picks which questions they want to try.
Diagnostic
Adapts to student's performance.
Explore
Student picks their own path through an activity.

How we use it

How to do it

numbas.org.uk/demo

The mathcentre editor

numbas.mathcentre.ac.uk

Let's make this

numbas.mathcentre.ac.uk/question/144306/my-first-question/preview/

Documentation

The Numbas documentation
docs.numbas.org.uk

Planning a question

Use projects

Organise material into folders

Use editing history to leave editing comments and set checkpoints

Write good variable descriptions

Use the "random person" extension

Create printable exams with the "printed worksheet" theme

Extensions add functionality

Custom part types allow different kinds of interaction

Thanks!

Website
numbas.org.uk
Email
numbas@ncl.ac.uk
Fediverse
@numbas@mathstodon.xyz
Source code
github.com/numbas

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