Writing questions
Fair, clear questions that check what matters, and the mistakes to avoid.
Quiz, Matching and Ordering cards are scored, and in Grizlet:
- only the first answer counts, with no second try,
- learners see right away whether they were right,
- the score decides whether they pass the lesson, and with gamification right answers earn points.
That's why one rule matters more than any other:
The golden rule
A learner who knows the topic and still gets a question "wrong" doesn't learn anything. They feel cheated. A few unfair questions are enough to turn a lesson into a guessing game.
Ask about the goal, not the text
Good questions check whether people can do the goal of the lesson. Weak questions check whether they remember a detail from card 4.
| Checks memory of the text | Checks the goal |
|---|---|
| How many hours do we have to answer a complaint? | A customer complained on Friday at 4 pm. By when do you have to reply? |
| What does "phishing" mean? | Which of these three emails is most likely phishing? |
| Who approves a business trip? | You need to fly to Berlin next week. What's your first step? |
Scenario questions ("What do you do?", "Which is the best reply?") are almost always better than definitions. They are closer to work, harder to guess and more interesting.
Avoid trivia (years, exact percentages, names of committees) unless people really need it at work.
The question itself
- Clear on its own. Learners should know what is being asked before reading the options. "Complaints:" followed by four statements isn't a question.
- One question at a time. "What do you check and who do you call?" is two questions. Split it.
- Give all the information needed. If the right answer depends on a detail ("…if the customer has a contract"), put that detail in the question.
- No negatives. "Which of these is not allowed?" gets misread on a phone, and people pick the first allowed option they recognise. Double negatives ("Which isn't unnecessary?") are never fair. If you need a negative, write it in bold capitals and think again.
- No tricks. A question that hinges on one small word, an unusual exception or a misleading phrase tests attention to wording, not knowledge.
- Avoid "it depends" topics. If the honest answer is "it depends", either add the missing context or use a poll or form instead.
The options
The right answer
- Clearly right. Not "the most right" of several partly right options, unless the question explicitly asks for "the best" and the difference is something the lesson taught.
- Matches what the lesson said. Use the same terms and rules as the content cards. A question that needs knowledge from outside the lesson is unfair.
Wrong options (distractors)
Wrong options do half the teaching. They should be tempting but clearly wrong:
- Use real mistakes: what people actually do wrong, the common myth, the shortcut that looks reasonable. These are the most valuable options, because the explanation corrects exactly that mistake.
- Not obviously absurd. "Delete the company database" isn't a distractor, it's a joke. It turns a four-option question into a two-option one.
- Clearly wrong for someone who knows. Not "also possible, but less ideal".
- 3–4 options are usually enough. A fifth, weak option adds nothing.
Don't give the answer away
People who don't know the answer quickly learn to read the hints. Avoid:
- The longest option is right. Keep options about the same length and level of detail.
- Only one option is precise ("within 24 hours on working days") while the rest are vague.
- Grammar clues: only one option fits the end of the question sentence.
- Absolute words ("always", "never", "all") only in wrong options. People learn they're always wrong.
- Repeated words: the right option repeats a word from the question, the others don't.
- The odd one out: three options are similar and one differs.
All of the above, none of the above
- "All of the above" can be answered by spotting two right options, without reading the rest. And if just one option is debatable, the whole question becomes unfair.
- "None of the above" only says what's wrong, not what's right, and gives no chance to correct a misconception.
Avoid both. If you really need one, turn on Keep option order so it stays last when options are randomized.
Choosing the question format
Single answer
The default. One clear right answer, 3–4 options.
Multiple correct answers
Learners must select all correct options to get the point. There are no partial points: one missed or one extra option means zero. That makes these questions much harder and more prone to "but this one is also partly true".
Use them only when every option is clearly right or clearly wrong, for example "Which of these must be in every invoice?" Tell people in the question how many to pick ("Choose two"). If an option is debatable, use single answer questions instead.
Yes / No
Quick and clear, but a guess is right half the time, so one Yes / No question tells you little. Use it for clear facts or the "Myth or fact?" format in Bust myths, and combine several in a lesson.
Matching
Learners match each item on the left with one on the right. The score is the share of pairs right on the first try.
- Each pair must be unambiguous, one-to-one. If item A could also match item C, someone who knows the topic loses points.
- Items on each side of the same kind: all tools on the left, all purposes on the right.
- Add 1–3 extra items on the right so the last pair isn't free.
- 3–5 pairs is the sweet spot on a phone. Keep texts short.
Ordering
Learners put steps in the right order. The score comes from the first check.
- Only for procedures where the order really matters and is the only correct one. If two steps can happen in either order, people who know the procedure lose points. Merge them into one step or leave one out.
- Steps should be clearly distinct and about the same length.
- 4–6 steps works well. Seven is the maximum, and it's hard on a phone.
When there's no right answer
Opinions, experience, confidence and reflection belong in Poll, Form and Rate cards. They aren't scored, so nobody loses points. A poll before the explanation ("How do you handle this today?") is a great way to open a topic.
Questions where a wrong guess is part of the design
In Explore first, people guess before the explanation, and most will guess wrong. If you use a scored quiz for that, keep it friendly: the explanation should say that most people get this wrong, and why. If you don't want the guess to affect the score, use a poll instead.
Explain every answer
The comment after the answer is where much of the learning happens, especially for people who got it wrong.
- Always write a comment. "Correct!" or "Wrong" alone teaches nothing.
- Say why the right answer is right, in one or two sentences, with the rule or principle.
- Say why the tempting wrong answer is wrong. Turn on Comment per option for scenarios: each comment tells what would happen after that choice.
- Write consequences, not verdicts: "The customer stops replying and buys from a competitor" teaches more than "Incorrect".
- Be kind. Wrong answers in a lesson are a safe place to learn.
How many questions, and the pass mark
The lesson score is the average of all scored cards, each card counting equally. The default pass mark is 80 %. Small numbers of questions make that number behave in surprising ways:
| Scored cards | One mistake gives | Passes at 80 %? |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 67 % | No: all must be right |
| 4 | 75 % | No: all must be right |
| 5 | 80 % | Yes |
| 6 | 83 % | Yes |
| 10 | 90 % | Yes, even with two mistakes |
So:
- Aim for 4–6 scored cards in a regular lesson, and 6–10 in a Review & recall lesson.
- With 4 questions, set the pass mark to 75 % if one mistake should still pass. With 3, to 66 %.
- For high-stakes topics (safety, compliance) a strict pass mark is fine, but then every question must be beyond doubt.
- A lesson without scored cards (reflection, habits) always counts as passed.
Question checklist
Before you publish, go through every scored question:
- It checks the goal of the lesson, not a detail of the text.
- An expert would agree that exactly one answer is right, with no "it depends".
- The question gives all the information needed to answer.
- No negatives, no double negatives, no tricks.
- Wrong options are real mistakes, tempting but clearly wrong.
- Options are similar in length and style; no hint gives the answer away.
- No "All of the above" or "None of the above".
- For multiple answers: each option is clearly right or wrong, and the question says how many to pick.
- For matching and ordering: only one correct solution.
- The comment explains why, and for scenarios what happens after each choice.
- The number of questions works with the pass mark.
After the lesson goes out, Analysis shows which questions learners get wrong. A question most people fail is usually a question problem, not a learner problem. See Testing and improving.