Quiz Statistics Sort

Full Description for Moodle.org Submission

Quiz Statistics Sort - Enhanced Quiz Analysis for Educators

What it does

Quiz Statistics Sort is a lightweight local plugin that enhances Moodle's built-in Quiz Statistics report by adding interactive sorting capabilities to the "Quiz structure analysis" table. It allows teachers to sort quiz questions by their Facility Index with a simple click, making it dramatically easier to identify which questions students found most challenging.

The plugin adds a clickable header to the Facility Index column that cycles through three sorting states:

• Ascending (-): Displays questions from lowest to highest facility index, showing the most difficult questions first
• Descending (-): Displays questions from highest to lowest facility index, showing the easiest questions first
• Unsorted (↕): Restores the original question order as they appear in the quiz

By default, the table automatically sorts in ascending order (most difficult first) when the statistics page loads, immediately highlighting problem areas.

Why you need it

As an educator using Moodle quizzes daily in the classroom, identifying student misconceptions is critical for effective teaching. The default Quiz Statistics report displays questions in their original quiz order, which means teachers must manually scan through the entire table to find questions with low facility indices.

Common teaching scenarios where this plugin helps:

1. Post-quiz review: Quickly identify which concepts students struggled with most to inform your next lesson
2. Curriculum adjustment: See patterns in difficulty across multiple quizzes to refine your teaching approach
3. Question bank improvement: Easily spot questions that may be poorly worded or too difficult
4. Formative assessment: Use the sorted data to provide targeted intervention for struggling students
5. Standards alignment: Verify that question difficulty aligns with your learning objectives

Time savings: Instead of manually reviewing dozens of questions to find the 3-4 that need attention, teachers can instantly see problematic questions at the top of the list.

Pedagogical benefit: The Facility Index is one of the most important metrics for understanding question difficulty and student comprehension. Making this data easily sortable transforms it from a passive statistic into an actionable teaching tool.

Key Features

• Zero configuration: Works immediately after installation with no setup required
• Non-intrusive: Doesn't modify any Moodle core files or database tables
• Lightweight: Pure JavaScript implementation with minimal performance impact
• Intuitive: Clear visual indicators (arrows) show current sort state
• Flexible: Teachers can easily switch between sorted and original order based on their needs
• Privacy-compliant: Stores no user data; all sorting happens client-side
• Compatible: Works with Moodle 4.5+ and all standard quiz question types

Technical Details

The plugin uses AMD JavaScript modules to dynamically sort the statistics table in the browser. It hooks into the quiz statistics page using Moodle's standard callback system and requires no additional dependencies beyond jQuery (already included in Moodle).

Perfect for

• Teachers using quizzes for formative or summative assessment
• Course coordinators analyzing quiz effectiveness across sections
• Instructional designers evaluating question quality
• Department heads reviewing assessment standards
• Anyone who regularly reviews quiz statistics and wants faster insights into student performance