Determine what information you want to cover in the quiz. Make a short list of items you want to test for and determine how many questions you want the quiz to contain. Divide the number of testing items by the number of test questions to determine how many test questions will cover each item.
Draft your test questions and the answer that best fits each question. Davis suggests formulating questions as you teach so you have ready-made questions when you draft your quiz. Include several questions that require complex thinking or prediction. For example, "Eggs are $1.50 per dozen and Inez and Mary buy four dozen eggs. If Inez spends twice what Mary spends, how much money does Mary spend? A. $1.50, B. $1.75, C. $2.00 or D. $2.25."
Draft questions in complete sentences and make sure any information required to answer the question is included in the question. When defining a term, use the term in the question rather than in the answers. For example, "If you commiserate with a friend, what are you doing? A. expressing sympathy, B. attending a party or C. taking part in a commissioning ceremony."
Craft the distractor answers carefully. Include items that are plausible so students must demonstrate an understanding of the material. For example, "If you pour too much salt in a pan of water, how do you remove the excess salt? A. strain the water through a cloth or paper filter, B. boil away all of the water or C. spin the solution in a centrifuge. Avoid questions where answers are ambiguous or unclear. A quiz tells a student what areas they should study more. Students familiar with the material should easily and quickly select the appropriate answer.
Offer between three and five possible answers. Avoid signaling the correct answer by making it more detailed or very different from the other answer possibilities. All answers should appear similar in form and length. Randomize the correct answers so there is no obvious pattern in where the correct answer is located.
Read through the completed test with an eye as to what your students will see. Check for comprehension and clarity, and change the test as necessary.