Building Quizzes
Create quizzes with 6 question types, auto-grading, and attempt limits
Quizzes in OptiLearn are auto-graded and integrated into the course flow. When a student passes a quiz, the lesson is marked complete automatically.
Quiz Structure
A quiz is a lesson of type QUIZ. It contains:
- Settings (passing score, time limit, attempts)
- A list of questions
Creating a Quiz
- In the curriculum builder, click Add a lesson to this module
- Enter a title (e.g. "Module 1 Review")
- Pick Quiz as the type
- Click Add Lesson
- Click the lesson's edit icon to open the quiz builder
Quiz Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Quiz Title | Displayed to students |
| Instructions | Shown on the start screen |
| Passing Score | Percentage needed to pass (e.g. 70%) |
| Time Limit | Optional countdown in seconds (0 = no limit) |
| Max Attempts | How many times a student can retry |
| Shuffle Questions | Randomize question order per attempt |
| Shuffle Options | Randomize answer options within each question |
| Show Answers | When to reveal correct answers (after attempt / after passing / never) |
Question Types
OptiLearn supports 6 auto-graded question types:
Multiple Choice (MCQ)
One correct answer. Click the circle next to the correct option to mark it.
What's the capital of France?
( ) London
(•) Paris ← correct
( ) Berlin
( ) Madrid
True / False
Exactly two options. Select which one is correct.
Multi-Select
Multiple correct answers. Click multiple options to mark them all.
Which are programming languages? (select all)
[•] Python ← correct
[ ] HTML
[•] JavaScript ← correct
[ ] CSS
For multi-select, the student must select ALL correct options (and no incorrect ones) to get full credit.
Short Answer
Student types a text answer. OptiLearn does a case-insensitive, trimmed comparison against the expected answer.
Question: What's the SI unit of force?
Expected: newton
Acceptable answers: "newton", "Newton", " NEWTON " (whitespace trimmed)
Fill in the Blank
Same as short answer, but typically shown inline:
Water boils at ______ degrees Celsius.
Expected: 100
Essay
Free-form text response. Not auto-graded — instructor reviews manually.
Adding Questions
For each question:
- Click + Add Question
- Enter the question text
- Pick the question type
- Set point value (default: 1)
- For MCQ/TRUE_FALSE/MULTI_SELECT: add options and mark correct ones
- For SHORT_ANSWER/FILL_BLANK: enter the expected answer
- Optional: Add an explanation (shown after answering)
Student Experience
When a student opens a quiz lesson, they see:
- Start screen — Quiz title, instructions, time limit, attempts remaining
- Question view — One question at a time with Next/Previous navigation
- Progress dots — Visual indicator of answered questions
- Timer — If time limit is set, counts down in the header
- Results screen — Score, pass/fail, per-question breakdown
Quiz Scoring
Scores are calculated as:
percentage = (sum of correct points / total points) * 100
passed = percentage >= passing_score
If passed == true, the lesson is automatically marked complete and the student earns points for it.
Retry Logic
- Students can retry up to
maxAttemptstimes - Each attempt is saved independently
- Best score is used for the gradebook
- If the student has already passed, retries don't lower the score
Best Practices
- Mix question types. Don't just use MCQ — short answers test recall better.
- Keep quizzes short. 5-10 questions per quiz. Longer quizzes → higher dropout.
- Write good explanations. Use the explanation field to teach, not just confirm.
- Set reasonable passing scores. 70% is standard. Higher for safety-critical topics.
- Allow multiple attempts. Learning is iterative. 3 attempts is a good default.