Mistakes to Avoid When Creating an Elearning Quiz

It is a job easier said than done when it comes to making an interesting eLearning quiz. You have probably encountered quizzes with unclear questions and illogical answers, too. 

The quiz serves as a means of providing feedback to the student by highlighting any knowledge or ability gaps. When properly constructed, the quiz is also a useful tool for the trainer to assess and determine which topics require additional focus. It takes careful consideration when crafting short questions and appropriate answer choices for an interesting eLearning quiz.

While software like Easy Generator provides you with the feature to add quizzes to your eLearning course, it is your skill and understanding that will make the quiz good enough to measure what it sets out to measure. But do not worry because we have a list of common mistakes that you can avoid when creating quizzes for your online course.

1. Wordy, complex sentences

This is a regular problem with courses on regulations or policy training. Just one statement should answer the query. Make an effort to make your answers short and basic. Do not use paragraphs or excessive fillers. To begin the question, use a normal question starter like who, what, when, where, and how.

Try not to flaunt your sophisticated vocabulary. The course’s participants have varying levels of knowledge and proficiency. Understand that not all of the students will be familiar with complicated terms until you explicitly teach them in the course. When feasible, try to use straightforward or typical terms.

2. Asking questions that are out of your content

The purpose of the quiz is not to test you, but to see how well the learners have taken information from your content. Only put forward questions that cover content from your course material. It is better to keep simple and straightforward questions that assess the topic at hand. Look for where you want to put the questions. Make sure to only use relevant and important information. Based on the feedback from learners, you will understand whether you want to move the place of the question or add more information to it. 

3. Using obvious distractors

When the questions ask us about fruits, your answer options should not have cats and dogs in them. They would obvious distractors and irrelevant to the course. Get real-life scenarios to make your learners think when giving an assessment. Take the help of subject matter experts to frame your answers as realistically as possible, and as close as possible, but detailed enough to make sure your learners know the difference between the wrong and the right answers. Keep them unambiguous and understandable. Also, avoid using long sentences for your quiz answers.  

4. Trick questions

Trick questions can easily make learners defensive. They can take away the confidence and trust of your learners. Nobody likes to feel deceived or that they are being set up to fail. Always keep in mind that a quiz’s purpose should be to evaluate a learner’s understanding of the material being studied. By pointing out where mistakes were made and suggesting ways that they can be avoided in the future, well-worded questions, answers, and comments assist learners in overcoming errors. When framing your questions, keep your learning objective in mind and do not slip away into new information that has not been covered. 

5. Leave learners with an ambiguous idea of what is to be done

Although the quiz’s user interface may seem simple to you, it might not be for everyone. What we are trying to say is that when quiz instructions or navigation cues aren’t completely clear, people can become easily frustrated—and this is especially true if their performance will affect their grade. Because quizzes can be stressful, take care to give them clear directions and easy-to-follow navigations so they will know exactly what to do to respond to the questions. For example, include a little navigation prompt to aid indicate when objects on the screen should be dragged or sorted into a particular order.

6. Too many options

It is a ridiculous idea to use too many answer options when evaluating your learners through quizzes. Try to stick to a maximum of four options, and if absolutely necessary, only then go beyond it. You do not need to confuse your learners with options that are not needed. In fact, you will be able to change questions to a simple yes/no or true/false format. 

Quizzes are fun and engaging, and at the same time, ensure that your trainees are learning and retaining the information they have learned throughout the course. Frequent quizzes can be very effective in online courses but be sure to avoid these mistakes to ensure a burden-free learning experience for your learners.