TILLING THE SOIL

Quizzes in Canvas are assignments that can be used to challenge learner understanding and assess comprehension of course material. Instructors can use New Quizzes to create graded and ungraded assessments using a variety of questions. Thus, the Quiz tool is not limited in scope to traditional tests and quizzes.

Please Note: Canvas Quizzes is a MUCH more powerful assessment tool than Google Forms. Not only do you have more assessment question options, but you can set time limits, pull from Question Banks, and even set individual student accommodations. We strongly encourage users to begin converting assessments made in Google Forms to Canvas Quizzes.

PLANTING AND PRUNING

Please begin by watching the video below.

New Quizzes can be created from several places within your Canvas course. Regardless of how you choose to create a new Quiz, best practice is to to ensure all Quizzes are organized into your Modules to ensure they are easily accessible by students. When creating a new Quiz, you have three options:

Direct Add From Modules: You can use the + sign at the top of any Module to create a blank Quiz shell within your Module. In doing so, be sure to select New Quizzes as your Quiz Engine. New quizzes will always appear at the bottom of a Module, but can easily be moved to the proper place.
The Assignments Index: While normally we advise using the direct add from Modules, this is the one exception, as you are unable to duplicate New Quizzes from Modules, but you can do so from the Assignments Index. The copied version will have the word "Copy" added to the title. Once you have duplicate the New Quiz Template from the Assignments Index, you can then easily add this Quiz to the desired Module and location. The advantage of using the New Quiz template is that it helps create a consistent visual experience for your students as they complete quizzes and prompts you, as the teacher, to follow best practices in providing thorough information to your students.
- As a pro tip, while you are encouraged to keep the information and categories suggested in the New Quiz template, you can customize the look and feel of the template however you would like!
The Quizzes Index: As you can from the Assignments Index, you can also duplicate a New Quiz template from the Quizzes Index. The copied version will have the word "Copy" added to the title. Once you have duplicate the New Quiz Template from the Assignments Index, you can then easily add this Quiz to the desired Module and location. The advantage of using the New Quiz template is that it helps create a consistent visual experience for your students as they complete quizzes and prompts you, as the teacher, to follow best practices in providing thorough information to your students.

The first editing window you will encounter when creating a New Quiz or editing an existing New Quiz asks you to identify:

The Quiz Title: Be sure to follow best practices in naming conventions to clearly identify each Quiz.
Point Value: While you will be able to assign individual point values to each question in your Quiz, it is important that the total point value entered here matches the total point value of your Quiz questions, or there will be scoring errors.
Assignment Dates: As with all other course components, it is best practice to have a Due Date for all Quizzes. In the case of formal, summative assessments, many instructors also prefer to employ the Until Date for Quizzes. It is important to note that if an Until Date is entered, all students' quizzes, regardless of their completion status, will be automatically submitted when the Until Date passes. When this happens, individual quizzes cannot be reopened for students.
Rubric: As with any other assignment, you can choose to create or attach an existing rubric to a New Quiz. However, in the case of New Quizzes, the rubric cannot be used for grading, but can be used as a reference tool for students to indicate how they will be scored on open-ended questions. You can only add one rubric per quiz.

Clicking Save or Save and Publish will save the quiz details entered above and will return you to your Modules.

Clicking Build upon completion of the Quiz Details above will open the New Quiz Build page. From here, you can customize:

Quiz instructions: If you use the Template, the instructions will be partially completed.
- NEW 12/2022: New Quizzes now has the full Rich Content Editor that is available everywhere else throughout the Canvas interface.
Quiz questions: There are a variety of question types that can be added, which will be discussed in detail in an upcoming course Module.
Quiz settings: You can control a number of different options for each Quiz, including:
- Shuffle questions
- Shuffle answers
- One question at a time
- Require a student access code
- Time limit - It is important to note that if a time limit is entered, all students' quizzes, regardless of their completion status, will be automatically submitted when the time limit passes. When this happens, individual quizzes cannot be reopened for students.
- On-screen calculator
- Allow multiple attempts
- Restrict student result view
Quiz moderation: While the Quiz Settings dictate parameters regarding time constraints and allowed attempts for the entire Quiz, you can differentiate this for individual students in two ways:
- Accommodations column: This allows you to set time limit accommodations for an individual student. Doing so from the Accommodations column will propagate that particular accommodation to all Quiz attempts for that student in the course.
- Moderate button: The moderate button allows you to grant additional quiz attempts or one-time time extensions for an individual student. Accommodations done from the Moderate button will only impact the particular Quiz in question.

You can return to your main Canvas Course Navigation menu at any point while editing a New Quiz by using the Return button in the upper right corner.

DIGGING DEEPER

Need more information? Check out these Canvas Guides!

What Are New Quizzes?
How do I create an assessment using New Quizzes?
How do I duplicate a New Quizzes assessment?
How do I use the Rich Content Editor in New Quizzes?
How do I edit an assessment in New Quizzes?
How do I edit the assignment details of a New Quizzes assessment?
How do I add a rubric to a New Quiz?
How do I manage settings for an assessment in New Quizzes?
How do I restrict students from viewing assessment results in New Quizzes?
How do I use the Moderation page in New Quizzes?
How do I moderate a student's assessment attempt in New Quizzes?
How do I add assessment accommodations for a student in New Quizzes?
How do I delete a New Quizzes assessment?