Online quizzes: best practices
D2L quiz tools enables instructors to create a wide selection of points–based question types ranging from multiple choice questions, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and written responses. Here you will find a list of best practices, tips and tricks, and extra information to help you create a powerful Quiz.
The “Prevent Moving Backward” Feature in D2L
Students often struggle with the restriction to only move forward in a linear fashion in quizzes since it limits their ability to work on sections of the quiz in the order they choose, view previous answers, and change responses as they wish. Due to experience in face-to-face courses, they are accustomed to moving between questions of an exam. This movement allows them to check and change responses as needed, and to manage their time appropriately. For example, some have been advised to write quizzes in this manner as a best practice, so that they can do easier questions first and go back to more difficult ones later. The shift to a new platform (online) and new process of test-taking (more restrictive) has resulted in increased test-related stress and anxiety for some students. Although it is not clear if preventing moving backwards promotes academic integrity, it seems to contribute to increased stress, anxiety, and compromised learning experiences for students.
Question variation
Create a quiz that has a variety of quiz question types and mixture of lower and higher-level questions that elicit application, integration, and evaluation.
Overview of question types
| Quiz Question Types | Quiz Question |
|---|---|
| Multiple choice question | Which element would you select to show…? |
| Short answer question | Which approach would you use to…? |
| Fill-in-the-blank question | Can you list three…? |
| Written response question | Suppose you could___what would you do? |
| Matching question | What facts can you compile using the following…? |
| True/False | Online learning offers students flexibility. |
View a complete list of D2L quiz question types here.
Using the D2L question library
Create and store quiz questions into the D2L Question Library and retrieve them when you are ready to import the questions into a D2L quiz. View the links below for more details.
- Benefits of D2L question library
- Import questions into question library
Setting up a Quiz
Create a quiz using the instructions from How to set up a simple quiz or view how to Create a New Quiz using the Quiz Builder video below. After creating a quiz, think about how you would like to add quiz questions by viewing some of the tutorials below. Don’t forget to preview your quiz as a learner so you can see what the students see!
- Create a New Quiz using the Quiz Builder
- Create a New Quiz with New Questions
- Create a New Quiz with Imported Questions
- Create a New Quiz with a Randomized Set of Questions
- Create Bonus Quiz Questions
- Preview your quiz as a learner
Associating Grades and Feedback
- Associate a Quiz with a Grade Item
- Manually Grade a Quiz
- Transfer Quiz Grades to Your Grade Book
- Quiz Settings for Individual Question Feedback
Student Accessibility
- Grant Special Access to Users for a Quiz
- Reset Quiz Attempts for Learners
- Customize Submission Views
Academic Integrity
- Shuffle Quiz Questions
- Customize Question Delivery using Quiz Builder
- Attach a Release Condition to a Quiz
To view the entire Quizzes Tool Playlist on YouTube, visit Quizzes Tool for Instructors
