Teaching, Evaluating, Entertaining

What do you hope to accomplish with your online quiz? The answer to this will affect the format and distribution of your quiz.

Is the quiz designed to teach?

Quizzing does not just test – with carefully selected questions and appropriate feedback; quizzes can be a fantastic teaching or training tool. For example, you might want to make a great quiz to train employees on the features of a new product, or to enable students to visualise and recall a complex system, like the circulation system.

Is the quiz designed to evaluate?

This is the classic use of quizzes as a testing or assessment tool – sometimes you just want to know if your people know what they need to know – whether they are potential job candidates you want to pre-screen, or students you need to be sure are prepared for a big exam. If your primary purpose is assessment you can limit the number of attempts allowed, set a duration for the quiz, or limit time allowed for individual questions.

Is the quiz designed to entertain?

While quizzes designed primarily for teaching or assessment should ideally be engaging for the quiz taker, sometimes quizzes are designed purely for fun! If the goal to make a great quiz is to engage an audience, you should make it as attractive and interactive as possible, using images and a variety of question types to hold the quiz takers’ attention through to the end of the quiz.