2026-09-02|6 min read
How to build a test blueprint
A test blueprint shows which topic an exam measures and at which level. How the rows, the columns and the cell counts get decided, with a worked example.
A guide to building exams
Some tasks come back every time an exam is written: spreading questions evenly, building distractors out of real student errors, filling in the blueprint before the paper is set. These articles walk through how each one is done.
2026-09-02|7 min read
How to write multiple choice distractors
A weak distractor hands the answer to a student who does not know the topic. How to build them from real student errors, and seven patterns that give it away.
2026-09-02|8 min read
Writing questions with Bloom taxonomy
What sets the cognitive level of a question is not the verb in the stem but the mental work it asks for. A worked ladder from one topic across six levels.
2026-09-02|9 min read
Item difficulty and discrimination index
After an exam, two numbers tell you which questions worked. How to compute difficulty and discrimination, how to read them, and a worked example.
2026-09-02|8 min read
How to write skill-based questions
Adding a long passage does not make a question skill-based. When context is needed, the decorative-context trap, and how to build a question from the skill up.