From the Technolgy PATHFINDER for Teachers

Creating Quizzes and Tests. . . Fast

If you like to save time and hate to do things twice, use Microsoft Excel to create tests, quizzes, and study guides. Excel lets you create answer sheets and tests at the same time. Also, you can quickly rearrange test questions or copy them to another test without retyping, and you can create test workbooks with multiple sheets. Here's how:

• Open a new spreadsheet. Create the first column for answers, the second column for questions, and, if necessary, the third row for source references. (These are only suggestions: you may wish to use column A for questions, B for answers, etc.)
• Type the necessary information - questions, answers, etc. - into the first sheet. If you have a multiple choice question, use the Option-Command-Return or Alt-Return to list the answer choices within one cell. Make sure that the cells are formatted as General (Format-Cells-General), or the cell text may show up as a series of asterisks.
• When you're finished, copy the sheet into another sheet by clicking the tab at the bottom. Now you have two identical sheets.
• Go back to the first sheet and clear the answer column. Then double-click on the tab or go to the Format menu and select Sheet then Rename. Give the test a name.
• Go to the second sheet - the one with the answers included - and rename it as the answer sheet.

For study guides or tests with a large number of vocabulary terms, use five columns and leave the center one blank to allow a visual separation between sets of questions. This works well when you have a list of definitions or terms that need to be memorized. In your workbook, add an extra sheet before the answer sheet so you have a term sheet, a definition sheet, and a sheet that includes both. Then students can study by filling in either column 1 or column 2.

When printing tests directly from Excel, use the Border command (a button next to the fill bucket on the top tool bar) to format the baseline for the answer cell in the test sheet - a blank line on which to write the answer. In some cases, you may have a longer test or want more vertical space between sets of questions. When that happens, copy the test and paste it into Word. From the Format menu, select Paragraph and create space before the question (in effect, creating space between the questions). You can also choose where you want page breaks by clicking in front of the text and selecting Break from the Insert menu.

To keep track of all your tests, it's a good idea to create a comment that contains additional information about the test, such as the date it was updated, special information about processing or printing, and other reminders for the future. To do this, click on the Insert menu and choose Comment. Store your comment folders with any other digital class files you have created, such as PowerPoint presentations.

Back to I Didn't Know That!

Back to main page