Numbas

Numbas is a web-based e-assessment system developed at Newcastle University. It consists of a set of tools which produce SCORM-compliant exam packages.

Features

  • Simple installation. Unpack Numbas anywhere on your computer.
  • Web-based, so it can run on a wide range of computers. In particular, Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems are supported, under Internet Explorer 8+, Mozilla Firefox 2.5+, Google Chrome and Safari.
  • Runs entirely on the client computer in JavaScript. This means there is no backend server, and exams can be deployed in a variety of locations, for example, in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) or Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Blackboard, DVDs, and even stand-alone on the web.
  • Extensive support for questions of a mathematical nature. Answers to questions can be complicated mathematical expressions.
  • Support for LaTeX, using MathJax.
  • Write questions using simple markup with any text editor.
  • Questions can be fully randomised.
  • Because the exam runs in the browser, rich content such as videos and interactive graphs can be included.
  • SCORM 2004 standards compliant, so the exams can be run in a VLE which supports this standard.
  • Support for themes to change the look and user interface of exams.
  • Support for extensions to add new features, such as new question types, or mathematical and statistical libraries.

Download

Numbas is released under the Apache 2.0 License and is freely available to download as a ZIP archive. Also see our github repository.

Installation

  • Install Python 3 (Windows users want the "windows x86 MSI installer").
  • Download Numbas (see above), and extract it somewhere on your computer.
  • Open a command prompt in the numbas directory. (Windows users: open the Start menu and type cmd, then press Enter.)
  • Type bin\numbas.py exams\example.exam
  • The exam is compiled and placed in the folder numbas\output\example. Open the file index.html in that folder to run the exam.
  • To create a SCORM object for uploading to a VLE such as Moodle or Blackboard, add the switch -sz to the numbas command, e.g. bin\numbas.py -sz exams\example.exam. A file called example.zip is produced in numbas\output.
  • We are working on a nice web-based interface for creating Numbas exams, which is significantly easier to use than the above method.

Examples

Blog

Numbas has a blog, where we collect useful information and news.

Contact

If you have any comments or questions about Numbas, please send an e-mail to numbas@ncl.ac.uk. Also see the e-Learning Unit of the School of Mathematics & Statistics.