Take an online trivia quiz

Take an online trivia quiz on a subject you already know and it is a pleasant way to confirm you know it. Taking one on a subject you know nothing about is a genuinely efficient way to learn, provided you read the explanations for what you got wrong. The second use is where the value is and almost nobody does it.

Why take an online trivia quiz is worth an hour

Being tested on material produces better retention than rereading it, which is one of the more robust findings in learning research. Getting an answer wrong and then seeing the correct one appears to work particularly well, because the failed attempt primes you to absorb the correction. That makes an unfamiliar-subject quiz a surprisingly effective first exposure.

How to take an online trivia quiz step by step

1. 1

   Choose an unfamiliar subject

   Something you know nothing about. Quizzing on familiar material is entertainment rather than learning.

2. 2

   Guess rather than skipping

   A wrong guess followed by the correct answer is better for retention than not attempting it.

3. 3

   Read every explanation

   Including the ones you got right. Quizzes without explanations are worth considerably less.

4. 4

   Note three things you got wrong

   Written down somewhere you will see them again. The wrong answers are the actual content of the whole exercise.

5. 5

   Retake it a few days later

   Spacing is what converts a single exposure into something actually retained. The second attempt takes about five minutes.

Tips to get more out of it

• Prefer quizzes that explain their answers properly. Score-only quizzes are entertainment and very little more than that.
• Be alert to inaccurate questions on user-generated quiz sites. Check anything surprising against another source.
• Quizzing alongside someone else adds discussion, which improves retention further at no extra cost in time.

Ways to mix it up

If you want it as a social activity, a pub quiz or an online multiplayer round adds the competitive element that makes it stick differently. If you are studying something specific, making your own quiz questions is more effective still than answering somebody else's.

Take an online trivia quiz: frequently asked questions