When preparing questions and answers, knowing the material yourself is the best thing to start with. The better you know it, the better you'll be able to teach your learners!
As for how to write them, we've put together plenty of tips for you to keep in mind. Select the topic to reveal its contents!
How to Write Effective Questions and Answers:
Rotate your question style
Rotate your question style
Try and switch up the style of your questions! Including various questions will keep your learners engaged, so we recommend using as many different types as possible.
For example, if you have lots of “fill in the blank”-style questions, you could rephrase some of the questions like so:
A fill-in-the-blank question such as:
“By completing a step, _____ are earned.”
Could instead be written as:
“What is earned by completing a step?”
You might also consider using these types of questions:
Which of these…?
What is the best way to…?
Which departments at the bank use…?
Avoid corporate jargon and acronyms
Avoid corporate jargon and acronyms
Make sure you are using terminology that ALL of your learners will understand.
Acronyms and corporate jargon can confuse new employees and distract them from their questions, ultimately detracting from their learning experience.
- Preferred practice -
"Do non-profit organizations address many kinds of issues?"
Learner will focus on whether or not this question is true
- Poor practice -
"Do NPOs address many kinds of issues?"
Learner will instead focus on what NPO stands for
If they don't know what they're reading, they can't answer honestly
Unnecessary confusion can frustrate and dissuade learners from playing
- Some Exceptions -
Exceptions can occur if an acronym is presented and will be a central term of a Course.
If your course is titled “All About Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs)” and introduces the acronym from the get-go, using the abbreviation NPO in future Steps is acceptable.
Should you wish to teach learners what an acronym stands for within the Steps themselves, that is welcome! (LemonadeLXP is all about learning, after all!)
"What does 'NPO' stand for?" (great for MultiChoice-style Steps!)
"'NPO' stands for 'No Probable Outcome.'" (True or False Step)
Ensure your learners know what you're talking about before including an acronym!
Avoid “over/under,” “up to/less than,” and “approximately”
Avoid “over/under,” “up to/less than,” and “approximately”
Be specific in your answers. Avoid using terms that make the answer vague or approximate, as they will make it either incredibly obvious or end up with more than one valid answer.
- Poor practice -
"There are over/up to ____ Step training games in LemonadeLXP."
Multiple correct answers = 2, 6, 10, 14
The obvious answer is the lowest one = 10, 14, 18, 22
"There are approximately ____ Step training games in LemonadeLXP."
All solutions are technically valid as it's an estimate
- Preferred practice -
"There are exactly ____ Step training games in LemonadeLXP."
There's only one correct answer: they either know it or don't!
“On average, people live up to a maximum of ____ years.”
By adding “a maximum of” to the question, “people live up to ____ years,” not just any answer will do anymore!
Use "all of the above" smartly
Use "all of the above" smartly
Learners tend to click “all of the above” without reading the options as it's usually the correct answer (and a dead giveaway)!
We have a step type ideally suited for this type of QA: MultiChoice! MultiChoice rounds will have your learners select each correct answer individually rather than simply have them choose the one “all of the above” option, making it more interactive and, therefore, more likely for them to remember what they’re learning!
Ensure you never include “all of the above” in a MultiChoice round. Since MC rounds have the learner select several correct answers at once, expecting them to pick only “all of the above” when other selectable answers are correct will be confusing and frustrating - it’s best not to include it as an option altogether!
When you have several questions needing an “all of the above” answer, and you’d instead use a step type other than MultiChoice:
Rephrase "all of the above" to "all of these" as answer positions change with each playthrough — there might not be any answers above it when a learner encounters it, which could be confusing!
Include "all of these" as the correct and incorrect answer in a few questions to remove that certainty (and ensure they're reading all the materials!)
Keep answer options as brief as possible
Keep answer options as brief as possible
The goal is to create microlearning rounds! Excessive text in answer options makes the content hard to consume, and learners may lose focus.
Hot Tip - Format your questions so that answers can be a few words or a short sentence. It’s better to have more text in the question than individual answers!
- Poor practice -
“Answer options should:”
A1 - “Have lots of text to make sure that readers understand all of the ins and outs of the options”
A2 - “Be written short and sweet so that the reader doesn’t lose focus or interest while completing courses”
- Preferred practice -
“To keep learners engaged, answer options should be:”
A1 - “Short and sweet”
A2 - “Long and lengthy”
Keep answers the same length
Keep answers the same length
When faced with several answers, learners often choose the longest one without even reading it, believing that the more detail = the more likely it's right.
To make the correct answer less obvious:
Resist the urge to over-explain
Don't use more words than necessary
Have all answers approximately the same length
When keeping answers equal in length is tricky:
Have one incorrect answer about the same length as the correct answer, and the remaining two short! Or vice versa!
Hot Tip: This is especially helpful in a MultiChoice round if one correct answer is long and the correct answer is short - have the incorrect answers mirror those lengths!
- Poor practice -
A1 - "This is the correct answer, and it's undeniable due to its excessive length!"
A2 - "Wrong answer."
A3 - "Wrong again."
A4 - "Still wrong."
- Preferred practice -
A1 - "This is the correct answer, and it's undeniable due to its excessive length!"
A2 - "This is not the correct answer, but as its length mirrors the correct one, it's hard to tell!"
A3 - "Wrong answer."
A4 - "Wrong again."
Switch up numbered answers!
Switch up numbered answers!
When it comes to questions involving numbers, avoid always making the highest (or lowest, or second-highest, etc.) number the correct answer.
Switch it up so learners pay attention
Highlight differences/similarities by "reusing" answer options within a step
Highlight differences/similarities by "reusing" answer options within a step
Reusing answer options is a great way to highlight differences (or similarities) between concepts, terms, items, etc. - this is especially great for both MultiChoice and Streak rounds!
Here's an example of how two (or more!) questions could "reuse" the same answers in a MultiChoice round:
Q1 - “What are good clothing options for a Canadian Winter?”
Turtleneck
Warm jacket
Jean shorts
Clean underwear
Q2 - “What are good clothing options for Summer’s day?”
Turtleneck
Warm jacket
Jean shorts
Clean underwear
Note that if you are reusing options too often, you should instead consider putting your content in a Sorting Step!
Keep incorrect feedback simple (and correct feedback detailed)
Keep incorrect feedback simple (and correct feedback detailed)
In many step types, feedback will be given to a learner when they answer a question correctly or incorrectly.
Correct feedback is an excellent opportunity to reinforce the correct answer because it's safe to assume all learners will eventually get it right - that's the goal!
Incorrect feedback should typically state the correct answer without expanding on it because it's not guaranteed that all learners will see it - some may answer correctly on the first try! Since the goal is for learners to learn as they play, always give them the correct answer to understand what it is for next time and leave it at that.
To ensure learners see what they should, such as introducing new information on the question's topic, include that information in correct feedback (and keep incorrect feedback simple)!
For example:
Q (with A): "A [banana] is a type of fruit."
- Poor practice -
Correct feedback - "Bananas are fruits!"
Incorrect feedback (too much information) - "A banana is a type of fruit that is green when underripe, yellow when fully ripe, and brown when it's overripe. It's a popular breakfast fruit for many families due to its flavor and low price!"
Incorrect feedback (not enough information/no indication of the correct answer) - "Nope, try again!"
- Preferred practice -
Correct feedback - "A banana is a type of fruit that is green when underripe, yellow when fully ripe, and brown when overripe. It's a popular breakfast fruit for many families due to its flavor and low price!"
Incorrect feedback - "Bananas are fruits!"
Want to see another part of our Writing Guide?
Check out part 2 here: Guide to Maximizing Each Step Type's Teaching Potential
Check out part 3 here: Guide to Training Game-Specific Variations