The art of crafting online quiz questions
Written by Sash Kertes, Learning Designer
We all love writing quiz questions equally as much as we love completing quiz questions, right?
(a) Right!
(b) Nope!
(c) All of the above
If you answered (a), please read on. If you answered (b), please read on. If you answered (c), read the question again.
No matter what you answered, you should be reading this part, unless there鈥檚 been an incorrect assumption made by the author of this piece (that is, you stopped reading after the question). Well, instead of making assumptions, it might be safer 鈥 and potentially more professional 鈥 to keep a few key things in mind when constructing multiple-choice questions for online study.
Which of the following are 鈥渒ey things鈥 to keep in mind when constructing multiple-choice questions for online study? 听听听
(a)听Base each item on an educational or instructional objective of the course, not on trivial information.
(b)听Test a single idea in each item.
(c)听Incorporate common errors from learners in distractors (that is, the options in a list that are incorrect).
(d)听Randomly vary the position of the correct answer or answers.
(e)听Avoid using 鈥All of the above鈥 or 鈥None of the above鈥 as options because they imply what the correct answer might be or 鈥渢est鈥 what has not been taught and/or learnt; additionally, is the intention to teach someone that 鈥The role of the Project Manager is all of the above鈥?
(f)听Be consistent with option length to reduce likelihood of the longest response being the correct response because the response itself involves an element of teaching that was neglected or potentially not possible during the core learning (or something like that).
(g)听Avoid double negatives 鈥 in fact, avoid negatives such as 鈥Which of the following isn鈥檛鈥鈥 because your student is trying to learn what鈥檚 in the course not what鈥檚 not in the course (unless a learning objective is to teach him/her to remember what you haven鈥檛 taught).
(h)听Avoid excessively long lists.
(i)听Avoid grammatical inconsistency between the stem and the options.
(j)听Avoid speeling erors.
(k)听All of the above.
(l)听None of the above.
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Additional things to keep in mind
Don鈥檛 _________ gap-fill or sentence completion questions because IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC and primary schools around Australia use these question forms to gauge how well the English language has been understood by their respective students. Furthermore, it highlights the lack of clarity this question form provides when testing for comprehension of higher education concepts.
(a) use
(b) use
(c) use
(d) use
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Text input questions
When testing for correct input of text 鈥 including the names of people, places, concepts and anything in between 鈥 exercise leniency in accepting various spellings because someone鈥檚 鈥licence鈥 to drive may be someone else鈥檚 鈥license鈥 to derive from what has been learnt, and your 鈥prioritisation鈥 for testing the language might be another person鈥檚 鈥whatevz鈥.
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True or false?
A statement with a true or false response lacks rigour unless it鈥檚 phrased in a way that鈥檚 likely to bamboozle and/or confuse unless the statement is read front to back, back to front and several times with eyes both open and closed.
(a) True
(b) False
Who knows? Do you know?听If you know, and I know, how will I prove to you that I know if you don鈥檛 give me a fair chance? If I decide (a), and it鈥檚 wrong, will you explain to me why (a) is wrong; I mean, genuinely听explain听to me why it is not (a) (because I鈥檝e read the question front to back, back to front and several times with eyes both open and closed AND I鈥檝e recalled everything that I鈥檝e learnt so far)?
What about if I choose (b)?
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Number input questions
When testing for input of numbers, will there be a need to round up or round down? Will there be a need for commas when the numbers get really big, such as 1,000? And how many decimal places are required to be not only correct, but completely correct?
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Looking for some assistance in crafting online quiz questions?
Contact the Learning Enhancement and Innovation team:听learning@adelaide.edu.au听
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Some of the technical details of this content were influenced by听听Zimmaro, D. (2016).
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Sash Kertes
Sash Kertes is a Learning Designer who works with academic staff to create engaging learning experiences using the edX platform, sharing high-quality 成人大片 learning experiences with new global audiences.
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