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Adding Activities

8. Quiz

8.1. Quiz writing advice

Writing a quiz

To maximise the use of a quiz to test the understanding of the course materials it is important to make sure you base the quiz questions on the course content and on the learning outcomes. If you are not the author of the course materials you need to read the materials before starting to write the quiz. If you are the author of the course materials, it is good practice to draft quiz questions as you write, then review the questions you’ve drafted (even if they’re very rough and under-developed) when you’ve completed writing the content.

There are several techniques for writing effective questions:

  1. Using scenario-based questions to test application.
    This goes beyond simply recalling facts! Can your learners apply what they’ve learned in your course in realistic situations?
  2. Be careful with keywords.
    Questions that simply ask a learner to recall a keyword (e.g., ‘What does the S in SMART goal stand for?’) won’t help them to apply what they’ve learned in real life. 
    Another common mistake is to use a keyword that gives away the answer within the question text (e.g., “What are the steps in setting a SMART goal?”).
  3. Avoid using ‘all/none of the above’. 
    Quite simply: this makes it very easy to guess the answer!
  4. Vary your question types to suit the content. 
    Think about which question type will best suit the knowledge you want to assess. Consider using multiple question types throughout the quiz to keep it interesting.