Quizzes (technical manual)
SMEs may wish to incorporate quizzes into their courses to assess students’ knowledge of a particular concept or topic. Quizzes are typically considered “open book” since students are able to access learning materials while taking the quiz. As such, quizzes are viewed as more formative assessments with lower stakes point values and should not weigh more than 20%. Students are able to take the quiz up to three times and to use their highest score. This encourages students to use quizzes as a way to learn and reinforce the material. Quizzes are built in a specific format (formerly used for Respondus) which allows for bulk adding of quiz questions. This is more time efficient than building quizzes directly in Canvas. Unity College only accepts a 2:1 bank ratio, meaning that if a SME wants a 20-question quiz, they should create 40 questions*. Questions are housed in “pools” or “groups”. Each attempt by a student will pull questions from one group. The quizzes are randomized so each student will receive three different quizzes than another student. SMEs should write the quizzes in a separate document in the Course Build Folder using simple text.
*There are instances when a quiz will be used in a graduate level class as a tool to practice information. It has a relatively small weight compared to other assignments, has unlimited attempts, and its sole purpose is to have students review specific information. In this case, one bank of questions is acceptable.
Formatting for Quiz Questions Easy Upload
The SME should write quizzes in the correct format to make the process most efficient. An LXD can support and provide light editing to the quiz.
To format a multiple choice question, you should generally use a numbered question and a list of a/b/c/d responses but NOT in the google doc / Word auto format format. These lists are not compatible.
For other question types and a more detailed explanation, consult this Respondus formatting guide.
Then, put an asterisk in front of the correct answer. This can then be uploaded using the process below instead of manually copy/pasting element by element, which saves time and prevents ID error in the importing process.
There is a quiz template in the Course Development Folder in the “Guiding Resources” sub folder. SMEs can edit this to create their own quizzes.
Example question format:
Carbon and other nutrients in the deep ocean are continually replenished by:
a. Eutrophication of lakes and rivers
*b. Decomposition of organisms that sink
c. Nitrification of ammonia
d. Global circulation patterns
Uploading a Quiz to Canvas
Format the quiz questions using the example above
Download the quiz document (if creating multiple quizzes, create multiple separate documents for each quiz)
Upload the document to this site: Canvas Quiz Converter
Download the .zip file of quiz questions
Go to settings, then “import content” and from the dropdown menu, select “QTI .zip file”
To import the file, you will also need to name the imported questions, such as “Quiz 2 questions” or “Nutrition questions”
Next, create or edit the quiz
Click the “Questions” tab
Scroll to the bottom and click +New Question Group
You can name the group or leave it as “group”
Click “Link to a question bank” and select the question bank for this quiz, then you can say how many questions you want pulled from that total bank each time students take the quiz, and how much each question is worth
You can also add the questions to the quiz and create a new group, then drag the questions into the group
Note: We recommend using the “Classic Quizzes” format since new quizzes have some user interface issues.
Re-formatting old quizzes
Migrating an old quiz format to new quiz format (the “rocketship” icon is empty for old quizzes and filled for next quizzes)
Click on the “quiz” tab (you cannot find it via assignments or modules)
Click the three dots on the right for more options
Click “Migrate” to change the quiz from the old format to the new format
Adding Quizzes to Modules
Once a quiz is built in Respondus and sent to Canvas, the ID responsible for building the course must add the quiz to its corresponding module.
Go to the module.
Click the “+” sign next to the green publish circle in the top right corner of the module.
Add “Quiz” and select the quiz for that module from the list.
Indent 1 line.
Click on the quiz to edit it’s directions, question point values and settings.
In Settings, be sure to move the quizzes from “Imported Assignments” to “Quizzes”.
Delete the “Imported Assignments” group.
Canvas Classic Quizzes Question Banks
What are Question Banks?
From Instructure: “Account-level questions banks can be used to create institutional or departmental question repositories. For example, if the English department offers several courses to teach basic grammar rules to students, the department can create a sub-account level question bank. Instructors can then access the question banks to offer the same evaluation to students in different courses. Further reading: What are question banks? - Instructure Community
General Information
Question Banks in Canvas are listed alphabetically.
You can’t create subcategories within question banks.
Questions Banks are like a global repository. Once you’ve added a question to a quiz/question group within a quiz, editing the question within the question bank doesn’t affect the quiz you added the question to. Also, editing the question in the quiz does not change the question within the question bank.
Further reading: Canvas: Managing Question Banks for the Classic Quiz tool | IT@UMN | The people behind the technology
Using Question Banks in Classic Quizzes
Creating a Question Bank
Within course navigation, select quizzes. Click the three-dot “Options button” and select “Manage Question Banks.” Select “+Add Question Bank.” Name the Question Bank and then click on the newly named bank to open it. Within the question bank, you will have the options to:
Add a Question
Edit Question Bank Details
Move Multiple Questions
Delete Question Bank
Verify Question Bank Bookmark (by default new Question Banks are bookmarked automatically)
Align Outcomes
After creating questions, select the “Update Question” button to save the question. Once you’ve created a question bank, you can reference it in many quizzes.
Further reading: How do I create a question bank in a course? - Instructure Community
Move/Copy a Question to another Question Bank
Once inside the question bank, scroll to the question you want and select “move/copy question to another bank” link. You will be prompted to select the Question Bank you want to move it to. Select your desired question bank. If you want the question to stay in the current bank and add a copy to the new question bank, check the box next to “Keep a copy in this question bank as well.” Click the blue “Move/copy questions” button to save.
Further reading: How do I move/copy a question from one question bank to another?
Adding Questions from a Bank to a Quiz
From the “questions” tab within your quiz, at the bottom of the page, select the “Find Questions” button. Find your question bank and select it. You can select all the questions from the bank or use the check boxes to select just the questions you want. Once you’ve selected all the questions you want, select the “Add Questions” button. Click the save button on the bottom of the page.
Further reading: How do I create a quiz by finding questions in a question bank?
Using Question Banks to Populate Question Groups
From the “questions” tab within your quiz, at the bottom of the page, select “New Question Group.” Name the group, select how many questions you want to be picked, and how many points per question. (Note: Regardless of the question group name, students always see quiz questions in numerical order.) Between those input boxes and the buttons to either cancel or ‘create group’, there’s a blue link that says “Link to a Question Bank.” Once selecting that, find your desired question bank and click the “Select Bank” button. Save the quiz at the bottom of the page.
Further reading: How do I create a quiz with a question group linked to a question bank?
Exporting/Importing Question Banks
Once you’ve created a question bank, you can’t directly export that question bank. The workaround for this is to add the questions to an unpublished quiz, save that quiz and then export the quiz through the Export Course Content option on the settings page. When you import that question bank into a new course, it will be imported as both a quiz and a question bank.
Further reading: Solved: Exporting Question Banks - Instructure Community
Known Issues
If you have questions with images in a question bank and you add them to a quiz, the images may not load in some situations.The fix to this is to avoid adding images in Question Banks and instead adding them once you’ve added the question to the quiz.
Question Banks seems to max out at 50 questions. Creating a second question bank and naming them “(Insert Name) 1” and “(Insert Name) 2” seems to be the best solution if you need a question bank over 50 questions. Further reading: Question banks with 51 or more questions duplicate... - Instructure Community
QA-ing Quizzes in Canvas with a SME
When SMEs need to QA quizzes in Canvas with multiple attempts (ie more questions than display in the quiz “preview”), set the number of questions for the quiz to the number of questions created (not the number for when students take the quiz) so the SME can see all questions in the “preview” mode. Ie for a 15 question quiz with 30 drafted questions, set the quiz to 30 so the SME can see all 30 questions in preview and after the QA is completed, change the quiz settings to their intended design.