Compare & Contrast

A traditional quiz with multiple choice and true/false questions can be an effective way to gauge a learner’s understanding of course content. But one of the limitations of quizzing is that it only provides your version of the best answer(s). What if your subject matter is more nuanced and you want learners to think, reflect, and then provide their own answers?

One way to do this is to use a compare and contrast exercise. It lets people put concepts into their own words and then compare them to your suggestions to see how they stack up. A compare and contrast approach can be a really engaging and refreshing way to:

  • Help learners reflect on their personal biases
  • Practice writing a response or explaining how they would solve a problem
  • Let learners explore two similar but still different concepts
  • Build buy-in with a resistant or skeptical training audience

Creating a compare and contrast exercise is really easy with the text variable in Articulate Storyline.

Here’s a short video showing you how I put my project together.

View this project in action

Resources

If you’re new to working with variables, or if you’re just looking for pointers on creating interactions here are some articles, discussions, and an eBook you should check out:

What’s your favorite way to help learners reflect? Share it with us in the comments section below.

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