Documentation:VSE Canvas Quizzes Guide
This guide provides a crowd-sourced guide to Canvas Quizzes, with instructions and details on the different features. This is based on the many helpful resources available online, and the authors' own personal experiences. Feel free to edit and improve it!
What are Canvas Quizzes?
Canvas Quizzes are online tests or assignments, which you can build using different types of questions (such as essay, multiple choice, etc.). These can be integrated with a number of anti-cheating systems, such as a Lockdown Browser or online proctoring such as Proctorio. They're relatively easy to use, and have a wide variety of question types. They can also automatically grade certain types of questions, and allow TAs or Instructors to grade other types.
How do I Create a Canvas Quiz?
The steps to creating a new Quiz on Canvas are relatively straightforward:
- Create a new Quiz shell in the Canvas course you want to administer the quiz in
- Configure the Details of the Quiz
- Add Questions to your Quiz
- Test your Quiz
- Publish and administer to your students!
You can create a new Quiz shell on Canvas by clicking on "Quizzes" in the Canvas sidebar, then hitting the blue "+Quiz" button on the top-right of your screen (See Figure 1). This will bring up a dialog box with two options. Canvas currently has two types of Quiz: Classic and New. For the time being (as of March 19, 2020), New is still in development, so Classic is the best choice. I will focus on Classic quizzes, for the time being.
If you are planning on using 3rd party online tools, like Proctorio, you must use Classic. Quizzes cannot be converted between types, so choose carefully.
Once you have selected Classic, a draft Quiz will be created. There are two tabs for a Quiz: (1) Details, and (2) Questions. The Details tab is where you configure the Quiz, and add descriptions and other information. Most of this is hidden from students, but affects how they interact with the Quiz. We will discuss Details first, then Questions in detail later.
How do I Configure a Canvas Quiz?
You configure and set up the behaviour of a Quiz through the details tab, which has many options, but can be divided into a few parts:
- The description/instructions area
- The options
- The deadlines and publications
At the top, in the description area, you can write Rich Text describing the quiz, which students will see before they begin, and at the top during the quiz. You can think of this as the "Cover Page" for your exam; it will be visible to the students before they begin, so it's a good place to put instructions, information about Academic integrity, etc.
Description Area
At the bottom of the description area is the Quiz Type and Assignment Group; see Figure 2. Quiz Type is very important, since it controls how the exam is scored. There are four options:
- Graded Quiz - a standard quiz, where student earn points and the total is entered into the gradebook. This is likely the option you want to use for an online exam.
- Practice Quiz - a quiz, but which is scored but not integrated into the gradebook, suitable for (no kidding) practice quizzes.
- Graded Survey and Ungraded Survey - two options which don't keep track of scores, like an in-class survey. The graded survey version assigns a grade when completed.
Assignment Group refers to how it connects to your Canvas gradebook; for example, if you have a category of Assignments on Canvas called Exams, you can select "Exams" using the dropdown.
Options
There are a number of options (See Figure 3) which you can select while administering Quizzes, which are generally straightforward:
- "Shuffle Answers" randomizes the order of possible responses in question types like multiple choice, so not all students see the same ordering.
- This is a useful option if students are writing in person, to minimize cheating, but not very helpful online.
- "Time Limit" gives students a fixed amount of time from they hit "begin" - after the time limit, the quiz automatically locks.
- Time limits are one of the best options to limit cheating on quizzes, since it forces students to focus - especially if the deadline is strict.
- "Allow Multiple Attempts," when checked, gives you the option to allow the students to write a Quiz several times, with a variety of scoring options.
- "Let Students See Their Quiz Responses", when checked, brings up a number of options for when to show students their responses. When checked, this will mark which questions students got wrong in their quiz response, which they can see. Be careful with this option! You can allow this to persist after their submission ("Only Once After Each Attempt") and whether you also reveal the correct answers (and not just which questions they got wrong) ("Let Students See the Correct Answers")
- Tip: in my experience this is the most problematic option, which can inadvertently leak information about the Quiz if students end or write at different times. I recommend leaving this disabled, or only enabling it long after all students have finished writing.
- "Show One Question at a Time" only display a single question, which must be answered before advancing to the next question.
- This can help minimize cheating, but it comes at a cost to student achievement, since they can't jump around the exam. It can also pose accessibility issues for some students.
My suggestions are to use the Shuffle Answers and Time Limits options, and leave the rest disabled. Show One Question at a Time is also a good choice for some exams.
Quiz Restrictions limit who can take the quiz; you can require a Password to start writing ("Require Access Code") or an IP Address ("Filter IP Access") on a specified list. This can be quite challenging to set up properly, and is usually only valuable for in-person exams completed online.
Deadlines and Publishing
At the bottom of the details tab (See Figure 4), there's an section where you can control availability, and deadlines, just like an Assignment on Canvas.
- The deadline is when the quiz must be handed in by, or it will be marked late.
- Available from/until "locks" and "unlocks" the quiz outside of these dates, and it probably the most useful for an online exam.
You can also configure which sections of your course the Quiz is assigned to, but not student Groups - so unless your Canvas course has students divided into different sections, this can't be used. You can assign it to student by Name, however - which might be useful to give different versions of a quiz to different students.
At the very bottom you can save, and publish the quiz - making it visible to students. Only publish it when you're ready for it to "go live" when it's all ready!
How Do I Add Questions to a Quiz?
Questions are added on the Questions tab; when clicked, it will bring up the Questions page, where you can add questions. There are three options: (1) New Question, (2) New Question Group, and (3) Find Questions. Options (2) and (3) use Question Banks, which we will discuss later; for most Quizzes, you don't need to use these.
All questions have a "Question Area", which is a Rich Text box where you can type in the text of the question. I discuss adding rich content (like images or equations) to this box later. Below, there will be a number of options depending on the type of Question selected. You can change the identifier of the question by editing the box and the top, and the type of the question by using the dropdown menu. The number of points a question is worth is at the top. There are many options, which we will discuss in turn; I have grouped up similar question types below:
- Multiple Choice / True False / Multiple Answers
- Fill in the Blank / Fill in Multiple Blanks *
- Multiple Dropdowns *
- Matching *
- Numerical Answer *
- Formula Question *
- Essay Question
- File Upload Question
- Text (No Question)
The final "Text (No Question)" option allows you to insert a question with just the Question Area box, useful for adding information in between questions. The question types marked with a * will be automatically graded by Canvas, if configured appropriately. Other types need to be graded by a TA or Instructor; note that you can always override the grades from the automatic grading if there is an error or another answer.
- Very Important! Make sure you save your Quiz frequently when adding questions. It only saves the questions you've created when you save; you can lose a lot of work if you create many questions, then your browser freezes or you lose internet connection.
Multiple Choice / TF / Multiple Answer Questions
These types of questions (Figure 5) allow you to set a multiple choice question, with different options. Below the question area, there are a series of possible answers, which you can fill in with text.
- You indicate the correct answer by clicking the arrow to the left of the answer.
- You can edit or delete answers by hovering over and clicking on the trash can (delete) or pencil (edit)
- Can can add more answers by hitting the "+ Add Another Answer" button on the bottom.
The only difference between the three types have to do with the answers:
- True/False automatically populates only True and False as a response
- Multiple answers allows you to choose more than one correct answer
- Canvas automatically assigns fractional points based on the number of correct answers selected - for example, if they choose 2/3 correct answers, they get 0.67 points if the question is set to be worth 1 point.
You can also add "explainers" to an answer - clicking on the [...] below or beside an answer will allow you to set a message to be displayed when the answers to the Quiz are shown. This is entirely optional (and a lot of work if you're not going to reuse it).
Fill in the Blank / Fill in Multiple Blanks Questions
These (Figure 6) prompt students to fill in a blank area in the Question Area text.
- In Fill in the Blank, it follows the question area text; for example, "The capital of Canada is: ____"
- In Fill in Multiple Blanks, you indicate the blanks using a key, which is enclosed in []; for example, "Canada's capital, [blank1], is in the province of [blank2]". The keys are [blank1] and [blank2] which will be prompted to be filled in.
Below the question, you will see a number of possible answers which you should fill in. If you have multiple blanks, you will see a dropdown to select which blank you are defining the answers for.
- Note: while Canvas will automatically grade this, the answers are case and whitespace sensitive. So, for example, if the answer you wanted was "Ottawa" only the text "Ottawa" will automatically be marked correct. Text like "ottawa" or "Ottawa " will be marked incorrect unless you add extra answers to capture these options. Annoying!
Multiple Dropdowns Questions
These (Figure 7) are similar to a multiple choice or fill in the blanks, but where you provide students with a menu of choices within the text. You define this using a key, which is enclosed in []. For example, "[blank1] is the capital of Canada" will give students a drop-down menu where [blank1] is located.
You define the answers to the blanks using the answer area below the question; if you have multiple dropdowns, you can toggle between them using the dropdown at the bottom.
Matching Questions
These (Figure 8) questions allow you to create matching questions, where students select different responses to match with one another. You create the matched pairs, which are randomly mixed up, below the Question Area. The pairs on the left will be fixed, while the pairs on the right are changeable. You can also add other Match possibilities (distractors) below, one per line.
Numerical Questions
This type of question (Figure 9) allows you to prompt for a specific number, then automatically grade whether or not students respond with that number; for example, in a math problem. You enter the goal number below - you can choose either an answer with an error margin, a range, or precision. I recommend the error margin, as it seems to be the easiest to use.
- Be aware that decimal places can be tricky and display differently on Canvas. Telling students the appropriate decimal places will help; it's also helpful to inform them they should ignore trailing zeroes.
Formula Questions
These are the most complicated type of question but also one of the most useful. Formula questions are numerical questions, but which randomly generate values, and have a (basic) calculator to compute the answer. This is great for generating many versions of a simple computation, or something similar - which can help prevent cheating.
- You enter the variables you want to randomly generate with []: for example, "What was [x] years after Confederation?"
- Below, you can set the range of values and the number of decimals
- Next, you enter the formula, where the variables are without brackets: for example, "x + 1867" then hit save. Canvas will show you an example.
- Finally, at the bottom you generate up to 200 variants of the question.
You can find a giant list of all the functions and syntax for Formula questions here.
Essay and File Upload Questions
Essay Questions (Figure 11) are the simplest type of question; students are provided with a Rich Text input field below the Question Area, where they can write a freeform response. There's no word limit, so it would be sensible to provide a suggestion. Students can also embed links, math equations, and images - but see below for a guide.
- If you are having them include things other than text in these responses, it's a good idea to give them an opportunity to practice doing so.
File Upload Questions are the same as Essay questions, but instead of having a Rich Text input, there's a button to upload a file. Unfortunately, there's no way to restrict the size or file type of the uploaded files. This can be good for images, like pictures of math work, or other output (like a STATA log file).
How do I insert Rich Content into Questions?
Often, when you create questions you may want to include content other than just text. For example, you may want to embed a file, an equation, or an image. These are relatively straightforward, and are done using the Rich Text Editor.
- For an equation, click the equation button (square root of x) in the Rich Text editor, which will bring up a window where you can enter an equation. The Basic version has a number of buttons you can click to create expressions. If you know LaTeX, you can click "Switch View to Advanced" which will allow you to enter AMS-Math LaTeX equations and see them rendered below. Once you're done, hit "Insert Equation" and it will be added to your Rich Text editor.
- You can edit an existing equation by clicking on it, then hitting the equation button again.
- For a lot of equations, it's probably best to just upload a file instead.
- For a file, you can insert it using the Files sidebar, outside the Rich Text editor, located to the right of your Quiz in the main Canvas overlay. In the sidebar, select the Files tab, then either insert an existing file or upload a new one. This will create a link to your new file.
- For an image (see Figure 12), click on the image button (little mountain + sun) in the Rich Text editor. In the window which pops up, select the "Canvas" tab, then select the Course Files folder. Images you have already uploaded to your course will be here; select them, adjust the attributes if necessary, then hit update. If you have not already uploaded your images, select "Upload file" then upload your file. This will appear embedded in the Rich Text Editor.
How Can I Preview and Test My Quiz?
After you have saved your questions, you will be redirected to the "front page" of the quiz. If you scroll to the bottom, there will be a "preview" button. This allows you to view the quiz, as a student would - it will appear exactly as it would to a student; see Figure 13.
- After you have finished, it will also display the grading of the quiz - as Canvas would to you in the SpeedGrader. You can edit and tweak the quiz questions from this page.
Testing and previewing Quizzes is one of the most important things to do before a Quiz is held, since errors in online Quizzes can be very costly.
You also also check if a Quiz is working properly by viewing it as the Test Student, if you want a more expansive experience of the entire test, exactly as how a student would experience it.
How do I Publish my Quiz?
When you're happy with your quiz, and are ready to let students see it, hit the "Publish" button at the bottom of top page, after saving it. You can always unpublish it later, but be aware that once it's published, students can see it.
- You can control whether they can access the quiz (i.e. start writing) using the availability controls in the configuration; see above.
Overall
Canvas quizzes are a good way to handle many types of online assessments. They are relatively easy to use and can be integrated into many common 3rd party systems, like Proctorio or the LockDown Browser. While they have limitations, and a few "gotchas," most of them can be overcome with careful test design. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me (jonathan.graves@ubc.ca) know - I'm happy to walk you through or give you suggestions.
External Resources and Links
- Canvas a very large online community, so you can often find an answer by Googling for it.
- UBC Okanagan has curated a list of many of the most common questions and guides located here
- Here is a guide on Quiz security and anti-cheating.
- The LTHub has produced an online, self-guided Canvas course if you want more details on Canvas in general. You can enroll online here (via Canvas; very meta).
- Arts ISIT's Canvas Landing Pages and contact info
- UBC's main Canvas guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Coming soon!
Advanced Topics
In this section, I will discuss a few advanced topics and features most instructors will not use.
Question Groups and Question Banks
In Canvas Quizzes, Question Groups are sets of questions which you can have the Quiz automatically select a certain number from the set. For example, you can create 10 multiple choice questions, and instruct Canvas to randomly select 1 of them. This allows you to create randomly generated quizzes, if you create a large enough pool of questions.
- You can populate Groups manually, or from a Question Bank. To fill it manually, enter the group name and the number of questions (and their value) then hit create group. You can then add questions using the +-button on the top of the group, or by dragging questions into the group.
- You can edit a previously created group by clicking on the pencil button at the top of the group.
An alternative to creating a Question Group manually is by linking to a Question Bank. Question Banks are sets of questions you can create and manage across quizzes; other Quizzes in your course automatically have their questions population into an "Unfiled Questions" bank. You can edit and create a Question Bank by clicking "View Course Question Banks", then hitting the "Add Question Bank" button.
- After you enter the name of your Bank, hit "enter" then select your new Bank.
- This will bring up a page just like a Quiz, where you can add Questions. These Banks can now be added to Question Groups, or even shared across courses.
- For example, I often ask Likert-style questions in surveys on Canvas, so I created a Likert-style Question Bank, which I shared on Canvas Commons so I (and others) could access it across courses.