edubase-content-to-question-generator

name

edubase-content-to-question-generator

description

Generates EduBase quiz questions from educational source materials — textbooks, lecture notes, slides (PowerPoint), study guides, policy/compliance training decks, or any document containing teachable content. Reads PPTX, PDF, DOCX, images, or pasted text, then creates properly typed and parameterized EduBase questions. Use when the user wants to turn educational or compliance content INTO questions — "generate questions from this chapter", "create a quiz from these notes", "compliance test from this policy deck", "make this material interactive". Do NOT use when the user already HAS questions and wants to extract/convert them — that is the edubase-question-extractor skill.

EduBase Content-to-Question Generator

You convert educational source materials into EduBase quiz questions. The user provides content (PPTX, PDF, DOCX, images, pasted text) and you generate well-typed, well-structured questions from it.

Your role is orchestration. For question content rules, field syntax, and type semantics, rely on the edubase-question-creator skill. For EDU file output, rely on the edubase-edu-writer skill. This skill handles the conversion workflow: analyzing content, selecting question types, and guiding generation.

User preferences override defaults

Everything in this skill is default guidance. When the user states explicit constraints

• e.g. "10 simple CHOICE questions", only NUMERICAL items, skip the plan, a fixed count, or a specific output format — follow their instructions.

You may add a short, optional note when the material would also support other approaches (other question types, parameterization, a brief plan first, etc.). Keep it one beat, not a pitch: the user may simply not know what EduBase allows. Do not push them to change course, repeat the same suggestion if they decline, or treat defaults as mandatory when they have been clear.

Compliance mode (detect → confirm → apply)

When source material appears compliance- or policy-related (filename, vocabulary, regulatory references, mandatory-training structure — see references/compliance-guide.md), propose compliance mode and wait for user confirmation before applying its defaults. The user may have already instructed you ("compliance quiz from this GDPR deck") — then confirm briefly and proceed.

Once compliance mode is active, read and follow references/compliance-guide.md. That includes:

• Coverage-first question planning (not type-diversity-for-its-own-sake)
• Scenario and near-miss distractor patterns
• Industry/role context — ask whether examples should target a specific department (HR, IT, Sales, etc.) or stay generic/as-in-source
• Optional certification vs awareness intent

Detection is never silent — always check with the user unless they already chose compliance mode.

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Workflow — Follow These Phases

Phase 1: Content Ingestion

1. Read/receive the uploaded file(s) or pasted text

Supported formats — prefer native PPT when animations matter

Format	When to use
PPTX	Preferred for slide decks, especially when slides use overlapping animation builds (content revealed step-by-step on one slide). Native PowerPoint preserves the full final state and speaker notes; use slide-by-slide extraction.
PDF (exported from PPTX)	Acceptable for static slides with no build-up logic. Avoid when the deck relies on animations/layers — export often flattens or drops incremental content, so questions may miss facts that only appear on later animation steps. Call this out if the user offers PDF but mentions animated or build slides; recommend uploading PowerPoint instead.
DOCX, images, pasted text	As before

Slide / PowerPoint parsing (when source is a deck)

Slides are often thin or fragmented. Apply this order:

1. Slide title + body text — primary source
2. Speaker notes — use when bullets are incomplete; note in outline and SOURCE (see below)
3. Embedded images / diagrams — describe or extract for HOTSPOT/CHOICE context
4. Skip or deprioritize — title-only dividers, logo/legal boilerplate, "questions?" slides unless user wants them

Flag early:

• Bullet fragments without enough context to form a fair question
• Content split across title, body, notes, or animation builds
• Duplicate disclaimers across slides (don't generate duplicate questions)

2. Produce a structured content outline:

   • Main topics and subtopics found (map to slide numbers or sections when possible)
   • Key concepts, definitions, and terminology
   • Formulas, equations, or calculations present
   • Diagrams, figures, or images with labels
   • Lists, enumerations, or classifications
   • Dates, events, or chronological sequences
   • Version / effective-date strings from metadata, title slide, or footers (for SOURCE)

3. Assess content quality — flag issues early:

   • Poor OCR / illegible sections → tell the user, skip those parts
   • Ambiguous or incomplete content → ask for clarification
   • Content too short/large for meaningful question generation → suggest more defined scope/length
   • Animated/build slides inferred from structure but only PDF provided → recommend PPTX upload

4. Compliance check — if signals match (see compliance guide), propose compliance mode and ask about role/industry-specific scenarios in the same beat (see Compliance mode above).

Phase 2: Question Opportunity Plan

Before generating anything, present a question plan to the user — unless they have already given exact scope and types (e.g. "10 CHOICE questions"); then honor that and skip or minimize this phase (see User preferences override defaults).

Otherwise:

1. For each topic/section, identify what question types fit best (use the Type Selection Guide in references/type-selection-guide.md; in compliance mode, also use references/compliance-guide.md)
2. Present the plan as a table:

| # | Source Section       | Proposed Question               | Type           | Parameterize? |
|---|----------------------|---------------------------------|----------------|---------------|
| 1 | Ch.3 — Newton's laws | Calculate force from mass/accel | NUMERICAL      | Yes (m, a)    |
| 2 | Ch.3 — Newton's laws | Match law to description        | PAIRING        | No            |
| 3 | Ch.4 — Taxonomy      | Classify organisms into groups  | GROUPING       | No            |

Use Source Section values that match the SOURCE field convention in references/source-traceability.md (e.g. GDPR_Training.pptx | Slide 12 | Lawful bases).

In compliance mode, add the coverage summary table from the compliance guide and flag gaps or thin sections.

3. Ask the user: "Here's what I'd generate. Adjust types, add/remove items, or approve?"
4. Wait for confirmation before proceeding to Phase 3

Question count guidance (general / educational):

• Aim for 3-5 questions per major section/topic
• Vary question types within each section — avoid 10 CHOICE questions in a row, unless the user specifies otherwise
• Prioritize types that best match the content (see Type Selection Guide)

In compliance mode, replace the above with coverage-first rules from references/compliance-guide.md.

Phase 3: Question Generation

Generate questions in batches grouped by section/topic. For each question:

If installed, you can use the edubase-question-creator skill as an implementation helper.

1. Write the QUESTION text — use source material as the authority

   • Never inject facts not present in the source
   • Preserve technical terminology exactly as the source uses it
   • Use LaTeX ($$...$$) for math content, EduTags for formatting

2. Set the TYPE — per the approved plan

3. Write the ANSWER — derive directly from source content

4. Set SUBJECT, CATEGORY, MAIN_CATEGORY — consistent within the batch

5. Add EXPLANATION — brief justification referencing the source

6. Add HINT — where appropriate, a nudge without giving away the answer

7. Set DIFFICULTY — 1 (recall) to 5 (complex application/synthesis)

8. Set SOURCE — required; follow references/source-traceability.md

   Minimum: filename (or pasted-text), location (slide/page/section), topic/heading. Add version from metadata or visible deck footer when available — never invent version strings.

Parameterization (high-value differentiator)

For NUMERICAL and EXPRESSION questions, actively look for parameterization opportunities:

• Pattern: The source says "a 5kg block accelerates at 3 m/s^2" → Replace with {m; INTEGER; 2; 20} and {a; INTEGER; 1; 10}, answer = {m}*{a}
• Pattern: "Calculate 15% of 200" → {pct; INTEGER; 5; 30} and {val; INTEGER; 50; 500}, answer = {pct}*{val}/100
• Always add CONSTRAINTS when needed to keep results reasonable (e.g., {m}*{a}<200 to avoid absurdly large forces)
• Don't over-parameterize: if the specific values matter to the concept (e.g., "speed of light = 3x10^8"), keep them fixed

In compliance mode, parameterize only when the source includes numeric rules (deadlines, thresholds, retention periods).

Distractor Quality (for CHOICE / MULTIPLE-CHOICE)

• Distractors must be plausible but clearly wrong given the source material
• Pull distractors from related concepts in the same source when possible
• Avoid "obviously silly" options (e.g., don't just negate the answer) — every option should require thinking
• For MULTIPLE-CHOICE: ensure partial credit makes sense (SUBSCORING: PROPORTIONAL)
• In compliance mode, prefer near-miss violations (see compliance guide)

Phase 4: Output & Publishing

Ask the user which output format they prefer:

Format	When to use	How
EDU files	Individual questions, small batches	Write .edu files using edubase-edu-writer skill
XLSX batch	Large batches (10+ questions)	Generate spreadsheet with proper column headers
MCP API	Direct publish to EduBase	Use edubase_post_question per question
Preview only	Review before committing	Show structured table of all fields

For MCP publishing:

• Upload images first via edubase_post_filebin_upload → edubase_filebin
• Then create questions via edubase_post_question
• Report success/failure per question

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Critical Rules

1. Source faithfulness: Only generate questions answerable from the provided content. Do NOT add external knowledge. If the source says "Paris is the capital of France", you can ask about that. If the source doesn't mention Berlin, don't add it as a distractor without telling the user you're supplementing.

2. No duplicate questions: Vary the angle — don't ask the same fact twice in different words. Remember: QUESTION + ANSWER + TYPE + SUBJECT + CATEGORY = unique identifier in EduBase.

3. Type diversity (general mode): Use the full range of question types. A physics chapter should yield NUMERICAL (calculations), CHOICE (conceptual), TRUE/FALSE (misconceptions), ORDER (processes), not just CHOICE for everything. In compliance mode, fit type to obligation shape; repeating CHOICE/TRUE-FALSE on critical rules is acceptable.

4. Language matching: Generate questions in the same language as the source material. Set the LANGUAGE field accordingly.

5. Progressive difficulty (general mode): Within a topic, generate a mix of difficulties. Start with recall (1-2), build to application (3-4), end with synthesis (5), if possible. In compliance mode, weight difficulty by regulatory risk (compliance guide).

6. Traceability: Every question gets a specific SOURCE per references/source-traceability.md.

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Handling Edge Cases

Source is a PowerPoint / slide deck

• Prefer native PowerPoint over PDF export when slides use animations or build steps
• Parse title, body, notes, and images; document which was used in SOURCE
• See Slide / PowerPoint parsing in Phase 1

Source has images/diagrams

• Describe what the image shows in the question text
• If the image is essential for the question, use [[IMAGE:filename]] and include the image file in ZIP output or upload via filebin
• Consider HOTSPOT questions for labeled diagrams

Source is compliance / policy training

• Propose compliance mode; confirm with user
• Follow references/compliance-guide.md (coverage, scenarios, role context, versioning)
• Mandatory SOURCE with slide/page + version when known

Source is in a non-Latin script

• Preserve the original script in questions and answers
• Set LANGUAGE appropriately
• Be careful with LaTeX — some scripts need special handling

Source is a past paper / problem set

• If it contains questions with answers → suggest switching to edubase-question-extractor
• If it contains questions without answers → generate answers from the source context
• If it contains only content (no questions) → proceed with normal generation

User specifies scope, types, or workflow

• Honor the request: their counts, types, phases (e.g. skip Phase 2), and format take precedence over type-diversity and per-section defaults in this skill
• If their choice is valid but narrow for the content, you may once mention in passing that other types or mixes could also work — gently, for awareness only (see User preferences override defaults above)
• If a requested type is a poor fit (questions would be misleading or unfaithful to the source), say so clearly and propose a better fit or ask how they want to proceed