Turn passive lessons into active learning with Questions

Ask while the idea is still fresh

Say you’ve just explained how to write a clearer customer email. Show two replies and ask which one you would send. The learner has to use the idea they’ve just read, and you can explain what makes one reply more helpful.

You don’t need a question after every paragraph. Look for a point where someone could easily misunderstand an explanation, or where trying it once would make the next part easier.

Choose the kind of answer you need

Questions supports four formats. Choose one that suits what you want someone to think about:

For the customer-email example, Single Choice works when you want one best reply. Multiple Choice suits “Which details must this reply include?” and needs more than one correct option. Use True/False for one specific claim, and Free Form when the learner should draft an answer in their own words. Different formats ask for different kinds of thinking.

• Single choice: pick one answer from a short list.
• Multiple choice: pick more than one answer.
• True or false: check a specific statement.
• Free-form: write a response in their own words.

The feedback matters as much as the question

For Single Choice and True/False, use Answer Outcome beneath an option to explain that choice. Multiple Choice uses Correct Answers Outcome and Incorrect Answers Outcome for the combined selection. “Correct” confirms a selection. “This reply confirms the deadline and gives the customer a next action” shows what made it useful. For a weaker choice, name the missing detail and explain how to improve it.

For a Free Form question, offer a review prompt rather than pretending the software has personally marked the writing. Ask the learner to check whether their reply names the problem, offers an action and avoids a promise they cannot keep. Be clear about what feedback the block actually provides.

Write one question you could use tomorrow

Here is a fictional practice prompt: “A client asks for a complete redesign by Friday, but you have only agreed a small revision. Which reply would you send first?” A useful option acknowledges the request and asks which outcome matters most before promising extra work. A weaker option promises the whole redesign immediately. Another refuses without asking about the underlying need.

Make each option plausible enough to reveal a misunderstanding. If one answer is sensible and the others are jokes, selecting it says little about the learner’s judgement. Keep the choices similar in length so the most detailed answer does not give itself away.

Before saving, check that your correct-answer choices match the prompt. “What would you do first?” can have a different best answer from “Which actions could help?” Read it aloud and look for a second defensible interpretation.

Decide whether a correct answer should be required

Require Correct Answers is in the block’s Toolbar. It requires correct answers to graded questions before moving on. A Free Form question needs a submitted response, not a correct-answer mark. That can suit a prerequisite they need for the next lesson. It is less suitable for an open reflection where several responses could be reasonable.

In Preview, try an incorrect selection and read the outcome. Then try a correct one and check the next action. Save Questions updates the draft. Republish the course when you want the new wording or continuation rule to reach learners.

Read the answers before rewriting the lesson

In Analytics, open Courses and choose a course. Questions Insights shows the response counts, graded correct rates and answer distributions. To read one person’s responses, open Learners, choose the person and find Question Answers. If the same choice trips up several people, check both the question and the explanation before it. An ambiguous answer can be as much of a problem as an unclear lesson.

Try adding one question to a lesson you already have. Make it about something the learner will actually need to do, and write the feedback as carefully as the question itself.