General purpose

We are often faced with creating quizzes, assigments, and online tests using tools such as canvas or even simply writing LaTeX files for distribution. Platforms such as blackboard make it possible to realize that objective but their format is unforgiving and does not allow for advanced formatting (including the insertion of math symbols). At the same time, we wish to keep those questions in a raw form so that they can be archived, edited, and reused. Here, I introduce the use of a standard yaml file for this purpose. The goal of yaml2lms is to convert a yaml file into a file usable for multiple-choice questions in LMS. The code also creates LaTeX and PDF files as needed.

In addition to creating neat files, this approach is a good way to archive questions in a flexible format and it also provides a spellchecking utility.

Warning

yaml2lms is a hack. No question about it. It was written as a utility that has saved me a lot of time and headache as a certain pandemic forced online teaching. It is not an example of best practice in coding but it works. It really does (I think).

Functionalities

  1. Creation of files needed for integration with LMS or Canvas, including math symbols.

  2. Creation of latex files using the exam class.

  3. Creation of latex files with answer keys.

  4. Spellchecking.

Installation

There is no installation needed as this is a simple Python script. It can be downloaded from Download.

Just make sure to have:

  1. A working LaTeX environment in place

  2. Python installed

Note

If you wish to use specific LaTeX packages in your mathematical formulas, you will need to edit the python script directly. There is work in progress to make this process simpler.

Hint

Feel free to contact me by email with any question!