Looking to create a fun and stress-free quiz for students while making them actually remember something?
Well, here we will look into why creating an online quiz for students is the answer and how to bring one to life in the classroom!
Table of Contents
Tips from AhaSlides
Why Host Online Quiz for Students
53% of students are disengaged from learning at school.
For a lot of teachers, the #1 problem at school is lack of student engagement. If students don't listen, they don't learn - it's really as simple as that.
The solution, however, isn't so simple. Turning disengagement into engagement in the classroom is no quick fix, but hosting regular live quizzes for students may be the incentive your learners need to start paying attention in your lessons.
So should we create quizzes for students? Of course, we should.
Here's why...
Interactivity = Learning
This straightforward concept has been proven since 1998, when Indiana University concluded that 'interactive engagement courses are, on average, more than 2x as effective in building basic concepts'.
Interactivity is gold dust in the classroom - there's no denying that. Students learn and remember better when actively engaged in a problem, rather than hearing it explained.
Interactivity can take many forms in the classroom, such as...
- A quiz for students
- A class debate
- A book club
- A practical experiment
- A game
- A whole bunch more...
Remember, you can (and should) make any subject interactive with students with the right kinds of activities. Student quizzes are fully participatory and encourage interactivity every second of the way.
Fun = Learning
Sadly, 'fun' is a construct that often falls by the wayside when it comes to education. There are still many teachers that consider fun as unproductive frivolity, something that takes time away from 'real learning'.
Well, our message to those teachers is to start cracking jokes. On a chemical level, a fun classroom activity, like a quiz for learners, boosts dopamine and endorphins; the kinds of transmitters that translate to a brain firing on all cylinders.
Not only that, but fun in the classroom makes students...
- more curious
- more motivated to learn
- more willing to try new things
- able to remember concepts for longer
And here's the kicker... fun makes you live longer. If you can contribute to extending the lifespan of your students with the occasional classroom quiz, you may just be the best teacher they'll ever have.
Competition = Learning
Ever wondered how Michael Jordan could dunk with such ruthless efficiency? Or why Roger Federer has never left the upper echelons of tennis for two full decades?
These guys are some of the most competitive out there. They've learned everything they've gained in sports through the intense power of motivation through competition.
The same principle, though maybe not to the same degree, happens in classrooms every day. Healthy competition is a powerful driving factor for many students in acquiring, retaining and ultimately relaying information when called upon to do so.
A classroom quiz is so effective in this sense because it...
- improves performance due to inherent motivation to be the best.
- fosters teamwork skills if playing as a team.
- increases the level of fun, of which we've already mentioned the benefits.
So let's get into how to create your student quiz. Who knows, you may be responsible for the next Michael Jordan...
How Does a Live Quiz Work?
Student quizzes in 2021 have evolved way beyond the groan-inducing pop quizzes of our day. Now, we have live interactive quiz software to do the job for us, with much more convenience and none of the cost.
This kind of software lets you create a quiz (or download a ready-made one) and host it live from your computer. Your players answer the questions with their phones and compete for the top spot on the leaderboard!
It's...
- Resource-friendly - 1 laptop for you and 1 phone per student - that's it!
- Remote-friendly - Play from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Teacher-friendly - No admin. Everything's automated and cheat-resistant!
Bring Joy to Your Classroom 😄
Get total engagement from your students with AhaSlides' interactive quiz software! Check out AhaSlides Public Template Library
🚀 Free Templates
💡 AhaSlides' free plan covers up to 50 players at one time. Check our pricing page for educational plans for just $2.95 per month!
How to Create a Live Quiz for Students
You're just 5 steps from creating an exhilarating classroom environment! Check the video below to see how to create a live quiz, or read through the step-by-step guide below.
💡 You can also get the full guide to setting up a quiz right here
Step 1: Create a Free Account with AhaSlides
Anyone who says the 'first step is always the hardest' has evidently never tried creating an online quiz for their students.
Getting started here is a breeze...
- Create a free account with AhaSlides by filling out your name, email address and password.
- Either select a template from the quiz section of the template library or choose to start your own from scratch.
Step 2: Create your questions
Time for some tantalising trivia...
- Choose the type of quiz question you want to ask...
- Pick Answer - Multiple choice question with text answers.
- Categorise - Categorise each item into its corresponding category.
- Type Answer - Open-ended question with no answers to choose from.
- Match Pairs - 'Find the matching pairs' with a set of prompts and a set of answers.
- Correct Order - Arrange items in the correct order.
- Write your question.
- Set up the answer or answers.
Step 3: Choose your Settings
Once you've got a couple of questions for your students' quiz, you can tailor the whole thing to fit your students' needs.
Got a potty-mouthed class? Turn on the profanity filter. Want to encourage teamwork? Turn on the 'team-play' setting.
There are a lot of settings to choose from, but let's take a brief look at the top 3 for teachers...
#1 - Profanity Filter
What is it? The profanity filter automatically blocks English-language swear words from being submitted by your audience. If you're teaching teenagers, we probably don't need to tell you how valuable that is.
How do I turn it on? Navigate to the 'Settings' menu, then 'Language' and turn on the profanity filter.
#2 - Team Play
What is it? Team play allows students to play your quiz in groups, rather than as individuals. You can chooose whether the system counts the total score, average score or fastest answer of everyone in the team.
How do I turn it on? Navigate to the 'settings' menu, then 'Quiz settings'. Check the box labelled 'Play as team' and press the button to 'set up'. Enter the team details and choose the scoring system for the team quiz.
#3 - Reactions
What are they? Reactions are fun emojis that students can send from their phones at any point in the presentation. Sending reactions and seeing them rising slowly on the teacher's screen keeps the attention firmly where it should be.
How do I turn it on? Emoji reactions are on by default.
How do I turn it off? To turn them off, navigate to the 'Settings' menu, then 'Other settings' and turn off each reaction.
Step 4: Invite your Students
Bring your student quiz to the classroom - the suspense is building!
- Press the 'Present' button and invite students to join the quiz with their phones via the URL code or the QR code.
- Students will choose their names and avatars for the quiz (as well as their team if team play is on).
- Once finished, those students will appear in the lobby.
Step 5: Let's Play!
Now's the time. Transform from teacher to quizmaster right in front of their eyes!
- Press 'Start the Quiz' to head to your first question.
- Your students race to answer the question correctly.
- On the leaderboard slide, they'll see their scores.
- The final leaderboard slide will announce the winner!
Example Quizzes for Students
Sign up free to AhaSlides for heaps of downloadable quizzes and lessons!
4 Tips for Your Student Quiz
Tip #1 - Make it a Mini-Quiz
As much as we may love a 5-round pub quiz, or a 30-minute trivia game show, sometimes in the classroom that's just not realistic.
You might find that trying to keep students focussed for more than 20 questions is not easy, especially for younger ones.
Instead, try making a quick 5 or 10-question quiz at the end of the topic you're teaching. This is a great way to check understanding in a succinct way, as well as to keep excitement high and engagement fresh throughout the lesson.
Tip #2 - Set it as Homework
A quiz for homework is always a great way to see how much information your students have retained after class.
With any quiz on AhaSlides, you can set it as homework by selecting the 'self-paced' option. This means players can join your quiz whenever they're free and compete to set the highest score on the leaderboard!
Tip #3 - Team Up
As a teacher, one of the best things you can do in the classroom is encourage teamwork. It's an essential, future-proof skill to be able to work in a team, and a team quiz for students can help learners develop that skill.
Try to mix up the teams so that there's a range of knowledge levels involved in each. This builds teamwork skills in unfamiliar settings and gives every team an equal shot at the podium, which is a huge motivating factor.
Tip #4 - Get Speedy
Nothing screams drama like a time-based quiz. Getting the answer correct is great and all, but getting it faster than anyone else is a huge kick for a student's motivation.
If you turn on the setting 'faster answers get more points', you can make each question a race against the clock, creating an electric classroom atmosphere.
