A good quiz is more than twenty multiple-choice questions in a row. By switching cleverly between question types, you keep everyone sharp and get answers you'd never see with plain multiple choice. Sparqel has thirteen, plus slides. Which one do you choose when?
You want to know what someone knows
These are the knowledge questions: there's a right answer, and whoever gives it quickly scores points.
- Quiz: two to six answers, one or more of them correct. The basis of every quiz. Choose multiple correct answers if you want players to really think, because one wrong answer then means zero points.
- True or false: quick and simple. Ideal as a warm-up or in between, and good for statements that catch people out.
- Type answer: no answers to choose from. Players type it themselves, so guessing doesn't help. Add a few variants that count as correct, and accept a small spelling mistake afterwards.
- Puzzle: put three or four things in the right order. Perfect for dates, steps in a process or the size of the planets.
- Slider: choose a number on a scale. The go-to question for estimates: how many people live in Barcelona? Whoever gets close scores, and you decide how wide the margin is.
- Pin answer: drop a pin in the right place on an image. For geography, but also for a part of a photo or a spot on a floor plan.
You want to know what someone thinks
Opinion questions have no right or wrong and give no points. They show at a glance how the group feels about something.
- Poll: choose one or more options. For a quick decision or a vote: which round do you want next?
- Word cloud: players send in a short answer, and words that come up more often get bigger. Great as an opener: "What comes to mind when you think of…?"
- Open question: a free answer of up to 250 characters, on a wall on the screen. For reflection, audience questions or feedback.
- Scale: a value on a scale, for example from disagree to agree. You see the spread and the average.
- NPS scale: how likely are you to recommend this, from 0 to 10? The familiar question after a training session, event or lesson.
- Drop pin: everyone places a pin on an image. Where do you live? Which spot in the playground feels least safe? You see all the pins together.
You want to come up with something together
A Brainstorm collects ideas from the whole group. Players send in one to five, you group them on the screen, and then everyone votes. You can't vote for your own idea. The three best ideas earn points for whoever came up with them. Ideal for a team outing, a project kick-off or a class looking for a topic for a project.
You want to explain something
A Slide has no answers. Use it for an explanation in between, the title of a new round or a break. Slides don't count towards the score.
Quick pick
Don't feel like reading it all? Here's the short version:
- Warming up: True or false, or a Word cloud.
- Testing knowledge: Quiz, Type answer or Puzzle.
- Estimating: Slider.
- Maps and pictures: Pin answer, or Drop pin if there's no right answer.
- The group's opinion: Poll, Scale or NPS scale.
- Collecting ideas: Brainstorm.
- A pause or an explanation: a Slide.
On the Question types page you can see an example of what players see on their phone for each type.