The Question-Writing Challenge
Designing high-quality assessment questions is one of the most demanding and time-consuming aspects of teaching. For many educators, crafting clinically relevant, psychometrically sound questions that align with learning outcomes can be daunting, especially when scaling up assessments or building large item banks.
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a new way forward. Used thoughtfully, AI can enhance creativity, efficiency, and consistency in question development. AI can help educators focus on what truly matters: educational integrity and meaningful assessment.
From Workshop to Practice: AI in Action
Lecturio recently hosted the AI Question Generator Workshop: Boost Efficiency and Student Engagement, where educators explored how AI can accelerate question creation while maintaining quality.
The session showcased Lecturio’s AI-powered tool, which can generate questions in over 15 languages, tailor them to different learning levels, and adapt formats for diverse assessment needs. Participants learned how AI can serve as a creative collaborator to produce question stems, plausible distractors, and even feedback explanations, all under the educator’s expert supervision.
How AI Supports Medical Question Writing
AI tools are designed to amplify, not replace, the educator’s expertise. Here’s how:
- Idea generation: Draft question stems, vignettes, and distractors from specific learning objectives.
- Scaling and variety: Quickly create multiple versions of a question for different difficulty levels or formats.
- Language and accessibility: Support multilingual cohorts and improve question clarity.
- Refinement: Improve readability, grammar, and alignment with Bloom’s taxonomy in seconds.
When guided by clear learning outcomes, AI acts as a powerful co-author, helping educators move from inspiration to implementation faster.
Best Practices for Educators Using AI in Assessment Design. This is also more keyword focused
To ensure quality and integrity, educators should approach AI-assisted question writing strategically:
- Define precise inputs: Include learning outcomes, target audience, and clinical or contextual details.
- Check cognitive alignment: Ensure questions test the intended depth of understanding.
- Verify accuracy: Cross-check all clinical facts and ensure currency with guidelines.
- Review distractors: Keep them plausible and pedagogically purposeful.
- Maintain ownership: Educators remain accountable for final question validity and fairness.
- Protect data integrity: Avoid uploading sensitive or identifiable materials.
From Prompt to Polished Question
Prompt:
“Generate a single best answer (SBA) question for medical students assessing the initial management of diabetic ketoacidosis.”
AI Output:
A 25-year-old man with type 1 diabetes presents with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. His blood glucose is 32 mmol/L, pH is 7.1, and ketones are positive. What is the most appropriate initial management step?
A. Administer intravenous insulin bolus
B. Begin fluid resuscitation with normal saline
C. Give subcutaneous insulin
D. Administer intravenous bicarbonate
Correct answer: B
Educator refinement:
An educator would verify the answer aligns with current DKA protocols, adjust phrasing for clarity, and confirm each distractor’s plausibility. In minutes, the AI provides a strong draft, saving time without sacrificing rigor.
Ethical and Operational Considerations
While AI enhances efficiency, human judgment remains essential. Risks include:
- Factual inaccuracies or outdated content.
- Bias in question phrasing or examples.
- Data security concerns if sensitive materials are used.
Institutions should establish clear policies for AI-generated questions, including peer review, data handling, and authorship transparency.
Integrating AI Into Your Workflow
- Start small: pilot AI for one module or formative quiz.
- Review performance metrics and learner feedback.
- Train faculty to use prompts effectively.
- Build AI-informed item banks progressively.
- Share results within your institution to inform best practices.
Workshops like Lecturio’s demonstrate that collaboration between technology and pedagogy can significantly improve assessment design workflows.
Conclusion: A Partnership for the Future
AI is reshaping how educators design assessments, but it doesn’t replace human expertise. Instead, it amplifies creativity, reduces workload, and expands access to diverse, high-quality items.The most successful educators will be those who embrace AI as a partner, not a shortcut: balancing innovation with integrity to create fair, engaging, and evidence-based assessments for the next generation of learners.
Ready to see how? Book a demo of Lecturio’s AI Question Generator to start building better assessments today.
