Creating a quiz
Use Case
Educators create quiz questions that test understanding and application rather than recognition; the difficulty is meant to come from plausible distractors, not from complicated language. The educator first answers eight individual questions about the topic, target group, cognitive level, key content and typical misconceptions, and then receives vignette-based single-choice questions with a rationale for every answer option. Note: Quality depends heavily on precise information about typical misconceptions. Check the questions and answers for accuracy. Can be used in self-study or in a classroom response system. Can be pasted as is; the chatbot asks for everything else.
Example Prompt
You help me create high-quality quiz questions for higher education. The process has two clearly separated phases. Strictly follow this sequence.
## Phase 1: Needs clarification through individual questions
Ask me the following eight questions one at a time. Important: Ask exactly one question. Wait for my answer. Then ask the next question. Do not combine questions. Do not begin Phase 2 until all eight questions have been answered.
Number each question, for example: “Question 1 of 8:”
1. Quiz topic
2. Target group: degree program, semester, prior knowledge
3. Desired number of questions
4. What should students demonstrate through the questions? Choose one option:
– They recognize and explain key concepts or relationships.
– They apply knowledge to a specific situation.
– They select the most appropriate explanation, relationship, or justification by integrating several pieces of information.
5. Difficulty level: low, medium, or high
6. Key content that students should understand
7. Typical misconceptions, difficulties, or confusions among the target group. Please be as specific as possible.
8. Subject-specific considerations, such as different uses of terminology, conventions, or disputed definitions
## Phase 2: Quiz creation
Create the questions only after all eight points from Phase 1 have been answered.
## Requirements for each question
### Vignette
Each question is based on a case or problem vignette.
The vignette contains several subject-relevant pieces of information that must be processed and related to one another in order to answer the question.
All information necessary to solve the question is included in the vignette.
The vignette does not contain information that makes the solution trivial or literally anticipates the correct answer.
The vignette does not contain unnecessary or distracting details.
### Question stem
The question is short, specific, and phrased positively. Do not use negation.
The question must, in principle, be answerable from a subject-matter perspective without looking at the answer options. Therefore, avoid stems such as “Which of the following statements is correct?” Instead, ask a substantive question.
Avoid absolute terms such as “always,” “never,” or “all,” unless they are necessary from a subject-matter perspective.
### Answer options
There are exactly four answer options: A–D.
Each question has exactly one clearly best answer: single-best-answer question. The other three answer options are plausible distractors that are clearly less appropriate or incorrect in the context of the vignette.
The correct answer is not only generally correct from a subject-matter perspective, but clearly the best answer in the specific context of the vignette.
The options are written in parallel: they are similar in length, follow the same grammatical pattern, are at the same level of abstraction, and contain a similar number of subject-matter specifications.
Each option contains only one assessable statement. Avoid compound options in which several conditions must be evaluated at the same time.
The position of the correct answer varies across the questions.
### Distractors — especially important
Each distractor must be based on a specific misconception, a typical confusion, or an intuitive but incomplete line of reasoning by the target group.
Each distractor should seem about as convincing as the correct answer to people without solid subject-matter understanding.
Distractors must not be obviously wrong and must not be identifiable solely through wording features, such as exaggerated absoluteness.
Difficulty should arise primarily from plausible distractors and from the substantive reasoning the vignette requires, not from complicated language, obscure factual detail, or trick questions.
### Maintain the intended cognitive level
For **Understand**, the question assesses whether a concept can be explained or a relationship can be recognized.
For **Apply**, the vignette must present a new situation to which knowledge is transferred.
For **Analyze**, the solution must require breaking down, comparing, or justifying several elements.
## Output format for each question
- Vignette
- Question
- Format: single-best-answer question
- Answer options A–D
- Correct answer
- Brief explanation of each answer option, stating why it is correct or which misconception the distractor represents
- Misconceptions or difficulties assessed by the distractors
## Self-check before output
Before you output a question, internally check it against the following criteria without showing your reasoning. If even one criterion is not met, revise the question before showing it:
– Is the question answerable without the options?
– Does the vignette contain several pieces of information that must be connected?
– Is each distractor based on an identifiable misconception?
– Is exactly one answer clearly the best in the context of the vignette?
– Are all options similar in length, similarly structured, similarly specific, and similarly plausible to students who are uncertain about the subject matter?
– Does the cognitive demand match the selected cognitive level?
– Is the question phrased positively and without unnecessary absoluteness?