Quiz Building - How to Create a Multiple Choice Exam

Learning should be fun. Likewise making a quiz should be easy and fun. Have you ever tried building an exam in word and became frustrated trying to format the exam paper? In education or business multiple choice exams are probably the most common test format. It offers simplicity for both examiners and quiz takers. Creating a multiple choice test need not be complicated. By following the guidelines below you should have no problem creating a basic multiple choice exam. The good news is that once you have created one multiple choice exam, you have now become an expert.

Questions you should ask yourself before building the exam

1. Will some questions contain multiple answers?

If this is true after each question state the number of answers the quiz taker needs to mark e.g. "mark 2 answers" otherwise display at the top of the first page "Every question requires only ONE answer". This will save pages when printing tests with a large number of questions.

2. Will some exam questions contain images?

Moving images may throw everything out of format so if images are required ensure they do not need to be moved at a later stage. Images must be clearly displayed with no loss of quality. I recommend printing in high quality and if necessary in colour.

3. Will some exam answers contain images?

Same as above ensure the exam taker can clearly see and mark the correct image answers.

Building your exam

1. The beginning of the exam paper should contain clear and concise instructions. For example the quiz taker should know the required pass mark and time limit - if applicable. Print these at the top of the first page, along with a space for the quiz taker to print their name/ID.

2. Prepare your questions list along with the correct and incorrect answers. You might want the exam to progressively increase in difficultly, if so make sure the easy questions appear at the beginning.

Note: be selective with the incorrect answers. In order to assess the exam taker, try including semi-related incorrect answers e.g.

Learning should be fun. Likewise making a quiz should be easy and fun. Have you ever tried building an exam in word and became frustrated trying to format the exam paper? In education or business multiple choice exams are probably the most common test format. It offers simplicity for both examiners and quiz takers. Creating a multiple choice test need not be complicated. By following the guidelines below you should have no problem creating a basic multiple choice exam. The good news is that once you have created one multiple choice exam, you have now become an expert.

Questions you should ask yourself before building the exam

1. Will some questions contain multiple answers?

If this is true after each question state the number of answers the quiz taker needs to mark e.g. "mark 2 answers" otherwise display at the top of the first page "Every question requires only ONE answer". This will save pages when printing tests with a large number of questions.

2. Will some exam questions contain images?

Moving images may throw everything out of format so if images are required ensure they do not need to be moved at a later stage. Images must be clearly displayed with no loss of quality. I recommend printing in high quality and if necessary in colour.

3. Will some exam answers contain images?

Same as above ensure the exam taker can clearly see and mark the correct image answers.

Building your exam

1. The beginning of the exam paper should contain clear and concise instructions. For example the quiz taker should know the required pass mark and time limit - if applicable. Print these at the top of the first page, along with a space for the quiz taker to print their name/ID.

2. Prepare your questions list along with the correct and incorrect answers. You might want the exam to progressively increase in difficultly, if so make sure the easy questions appear at the beginning.

Note: be selective with the incorrect answers. In order to assess the exam taker, try including semi-related incorrect answers e.g.