Why We Write Questions

This is the first in series of posts about how to write effective questions for your learning objects.

In this post, I look at why we ask questions, the types of question that can be set and why it's important to provide feedback. In future posts, I'll offer tips on how to write effective question types.

Why Do We Need to Ask Questions?

We ask questions because we want to know if the learner has understood the material presented to them. Questions and their associated feedback can be used to correct misconceptions and build the learner's confidence. So learners know their strengths and weaknesses and tutors can gauge the effectiveness of the learning object - did the learner learn anything? Did they retain anything?
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Questions though have other uses:

1) They change the pace. E-learning, particularly lengthy tutorial based e-learning, is one paced and this can lead to learners switching off. Injecting a quiz, test or game changes the role of the learner from a passive consumer into a doer. Just as a lecture or seminar benefits from a change in pace, so does e-learning.

2) They encourage practice and rehearsal in the learner. For deep learning to occur, learners need to do something with the information/skills they are acquiring and questions give them the opportunity to try 'what if?' scenarios for example.


Classification of Questions

There are three types of questions:

Diagnostic - assesses skill level of learner so that appropriate activities can be matched to their requirements.
Formative - checks what has just been taught.
Summative - given at the end of a course to test mastery of the overall concept

Feedback

Feedback tells the learner how they're doing - it reinforces learning. You should always try to feed back to learners because it can:

Instill confidence
Dispel misconceptions

When writing feedback, bear these tips in mind:

Provide the answer to the question in the feedback
Provide more than just correct/incorrect - add an explanation
Say why their answer was right/wrong

Tips for Writing Good Questions

Don't make them too easy
Don't ask trick questions
Don't make them too wordy
Provide clear instructions if it's a complex question.

Rob Alton