A multiple choice question can be used to teach almost all knowledge elements. Giving a desired behavior as one of the answer alternatives and using the unwanted behavior as distractions, you can teach to see if the participant knows the correct behavior. Also consider a question that chooses the right definition of a theoretical concept. Attention! Put the information to be learned in the answers, not in the question. Do you want to know why? Then read principle 5.

A multiple choice question can have 1 correct answer, or more than one correct answer. An example of applying multiple correct answers to a multiple choice question is when there are several examples of good behavior, or possibly when different authorities have to give approval for a certain action, for example.

When making a multiple choice question, you also need to write good distractors. You can read how to do this here.

A special form of a multiple choice question is the sequence question. Especially used to learn the order of certain steps that take place in a process. In addition, you can use the sequence question to put products from high to low, or, for example, in order of priority.

A question in which a short introduction is given, or a small case description, is more pleasant for the participant to answer. You can do this by adding the sentence: 'If you do the steps of CPR in the right order, the victim has a much better chance of survival' above the sentence 'Put the steps of CPR in the right order'.

In the feedback of an order question you can explain why this order is correct, or what is the result of the correct execution of this order. In the feedback of an incorrect answer it is wise to add the correct order, so the participant can see what the correct order actually is.

In the case of an open question, the participant has to fill in the answer themselves. An open question is very suitable to use when you want to prevent a participant choosing an answer on recognition. The use of an open question for a dictation or where one word/number is clearly the correct answer is very useful.

Drillster offers an option to recognize keywords, so longer answers can also be checked. But you always have to take nuances in answers into account and consider subtle differences such as not or none etc. These can change the meaning of an answer, while the desired keywords are in the sentence. That is why we advise to keep answers based on keywords as short and unambiguous as possible.

You can enter a number of options in the editor and adjust the arbiters in the settings so that the system pays attention to specific elements of the answer, or ignores them. Think of case sensitivity or ignoring punctuation. How to change these settings and which options are available can be read here.

A reflection question is a form of an open question in which the answer is always correctly calculated. This type of question can be used to make the user think about a topic, without the answer given being wrong. An example question could be: Do you have any experiences with discrimination? The participant cannot enter a right or wrong answer, but thinks about discrimination and relates it to their own situation. This can create more engagement from the participant.

One of the question styles Drillster supports is the fill in the blank question. We have two options for this:

• Fill in the blank for open questions
• Fill in the blank multiple choice

A fill in the blank is very suitable to learn what a specific answer in a sentence should be. Consider conjugations of verbs, which are adapted to the form of a sentence, or finishing a sentence about when a measure is suitable for a specific target group. Another example where the sentence needs to be finished with the correct text, is shown below.

Fill in the blank question in the editor

Fill in the blank multiple choice question in the player

Fill in the blank open question in the player

A nice question variant that you can use for a multiple choice question is the hotspot question. Participants have to click on the right things in an image, or click on the right image(s) in a collection of images. Would you like to use the hotspot but need some inspiration on how to use it? Read on and see examples of how to use the hotspot.

This feature is only available to users with a premium account or a business or education license.

A voice question is a multiple choice question or open question, with an added voice element. This form is very suitable to use for dictations, but also to sketch out situations for the participant via sound fragments. Participants would then receive a question about this situation.

Below is an example of the sequence question.

An example of an ‘outside the box’ option of the sequence question is to include videos in the answers. The participant has to put it in the right order.

The hotspot can be used in many different ways. Below are a number of examples, but with hotspots, this principle always applies: Be creative and think outside of the box.

• Tables

  The first example shows a table where the correct cost type has to be clicked. This is a good example of using a hotspot, because the parts and cost types can be asked in 1 question.
  

  

  A standard multiple choice variant of this question could be:

  Which of the following costs fall under constant costs?

  • Rental of the building
  • Depreciation costs
  • Packing costs
  • Interest on a loan
  • Cost of purchased raw materials

  The feedback could then explain which costs are constant costs and which costs are variable costs.

  Here you see that the same information is requested, but in a different and more visual form. This reinforces the learning effect with the participant, exactly the intention of drill!

• Concepts as hotspots

  Another variation in the use of a hotspot question is clicking on the appropriate term. A standard multiple choice question lists these terms, whereas in a hotspot question the correct terms (or phrases) have to be clicked, creating a dynamic visual.

  

• Making concepts visual

  You can also choose to replace the terms or sentences with images, making it even more visual and therefore more varied for the participant. Below is an example of this.

• Pointing out locations

  The example below shows how to use a hotspot question to point to a specific location in an airplane.

Enter the question and answer options and save the question. Then click on the cogwheel to adjust various question settings. The cog appears when you hover your mouse over the answer options.

Here you can set the following things:

1. Question style

   • Multiple choice questions only: Make sure that the question is only asked to the participant as a multiple choice question.

   • Open questions only: Make sure the question is only asked as an open question to the participant.

   • Learner decides: Make sure that the question can be asked both as an open question and as a multiple choice question.

2. Answer style

   • Single answer sought: Only 1 answer is considered correct when answering a multiple choice question.

   • Answer set sought: There are multiple correct answers, they all have to be selected or filled in to calculate the question correctly. The order in which the answers are given is not relevant.

     • Answer sequence sought: This sets the sequence question. All correct answers must be typed or selected in the correct order.

3. Number of multiple choice options

   For each question, set how many answers Drillster should show (2,3,4 - 8). Choose ´4´, to always show 4 answers.

   If you have entered fewer answer options for a question, Drillster will remove distractions from other questions. If you have entered more answer options, it will show you all the correct answers.

   If you set this number to 'max', it will show all entered answer options.

4. Time limit (seconds)

   Set a time limit in seconds for answering the question.

Enter the question and answer options and save the question. Then click the cogwheel to set the open-ended question type. The cogwheel appears when you hover your mouse over the answer options. 

Here you can set the following things:

1. Question style

   • Multiple choice questions only: Make sure that the question is only asked to the participant as a multiple choice question.

   • Open questions only: Make sure the question is only asked as an open question to the participant.

   • Learner decides: Make sure that the question can be asked both as an open question and as a multiple choice question.

2. Answer style

   • Single answer question: Only 1 answer is considered correct when answering an open question.

   • Answer set sought: There are multiple correct answers, they all have to be selected or filled in to calculate the question correctly. The order in which the answers are given is not relevant.

• This is where you set the arbiter. These are rules to indicate how Drillster should judge an open question. This makes it easier to judge the answer typed in by the participant. Do you want to know what the different arbiter mean? Click here.
• Set the arbiter 'Always correct' to create a reflective question.

Watch the following video and see how to add a placeholder to create a fill in the blank question:

To add a hotspot question, follow 3 steps. Watch the video per step to see how to add a hotspot question.

1. Adding a hotspot image
2. Defining the hotspots
3. Creating the hotspot question

Attention! When selecting the areas in the hotspot editor, press and hold the shift key to indicate the last corner of your hotspot.

The video shows how to add a hotspot question where 1 answer is correct. If you want to add multiple hotspots as correct answers in your question, follow these steps.

1. Add the hotspot, as shown in the video.
2. Move your mouse over the question column. A cogwheel will appear in the upper right corner.
3. Click on the cogwheel and under answer style choose the option: answer collection asked.

Watch the following video and see how to add a speech question:

You can choose different languages and a male or female voice when converting the speech question.

Watch the following video and see how to add a mathematical formula:

Do you want to know how to create a MathML formula? Then click here.