Facilitation Quick Tips: The Quiz Review

By Michael T. Everett, MHS | March 2, 2016
Project Director, ETR

This activity uses a participatory quiz to reinforce knowledge and learning. Teams develop quiz questions, then try to answer each others’ questions. Keep score. The team that knows the most wins!

Title: The Quiz Review

Setting: Appropriate for in-person events and adaptable for live virtual events

Time: 25 minutes

Purpose: To reinforce key concepts and strengthen learning through a participant-driven exercise

Best Used: At the end of a training (the end of a one-day, or the last day of a multiple-day event)

Materials Needed:

• Large pieces of chart paper (one for each group)
• Markers
• Participant handouts, workbooks and notes

Steps

1. Introduce the activity. Explain that participants are about to take a quiz on the key informational points of the training and that, working in teams, they will be developing the quiz items themselves.
2. Break into teams. This activity works well with three teams of 3-6 people each. It will also work with more teams if a group is larger. Use one of your favorite strategies to create the teams (get some inspiration here). Provide each team with a sheet of chart paper, some sticky notes and one marker.
3. Give instructions on creating the team quizzes. Tell participants that they will have about 10 minutes to do the following:

• Identify three questions related to information and key concepts from the training. The best questions will focus on key points (not minor facts), address something that was covered in the training, and have a clear and correct answer. Teams are free to use any training materials as references while they develop their questions.
• Write out each question legibly on the chart paper. Number the questions 1, 2 and 3, and leave space for another team to write in the answer.
• Write the answers to each question on a sticky note (one sticky note per question). Number the answers to correspond with the questions and give the sticky note answers to the facilitator.

4. Take the quiz. Once all teams have finished, or at the ten-minute mark, call time. Ask the teams to put away all training materials or notes, except for their chart paper and markers. Have each team pass their quiz on to a different team. The groups will have five minutes to respond to their assigned questions.
5. Score the quizzes. Once the five minutes are up, call time and have teams return their completed quizzes to the group of origin. Each team then scores the answers to the quiz they developed. Ask them to mark incorrect answers and score one point for a correct answer, no point if the answer is incorrect.
6. Post the quizzes, review and discuss. Put all of the completed, scored quizzes up on the wall and have everyone take a look. Ask:

• Are there any common themes or points of information in the quizzes? Did the teams identify similar or different key points?

Identify any items marked as “incorrect.” Ask the full group to discuss and clarify the correct answer. Offer guidance only if the group cannot provide an appropriate answer on its own.

7. Praise the group’s learning. Acknowledge the learning the group has pursued and affirm that by mastering this knowledge, they will be better prepared to put the principles of their training experience to work. Winning team(s) can be added to a decorated piece of chart paper you can call “The Wall of Fame.”

Variations

Alternate Step 6: As the items marked as “incorrect” are reviewed, ask if participants in an outside team (they neither generated nor answered the question) want to attempt an answer. If they are able to answer correctly, they get another point.

Using the Activity in Live Virtual Events

This activity can be used in virtual events with participants who have already met several times over an extended period—for example, a multi-part virtual training or an online course that meets regularly over a semester.

If your platform has breakout room capability: Use breakout rooms for the small group work creating the quiz questions. The small groups can use a whiteboard unique to their breakout room to create the quiz questions. Exchange these whiteboards among groups when the quiz questions have been completed. When the quizzes have been answered, bring each whiteboard in turn to the full group for review and discussion.

 

Michael T. Everett, MHS, is a Project Coordinator and HIV/Sexual Health Trainer working with ETR’s Community Impact Solutions Program. He is also CEO at Intimacy & Colour, LLC. He can be reached at michael.everett@etr.org or found on LinkedIn.