New Quiz Tool Overview

Canvas Tutorials New Quiz Tool Overview

Instructor: Creating Content

What is the New Quiz Tool?

 Important Information

Quiz migrations are on hold for the time being. Canvas developers are working on an easier method of migration. As more information is shared, this page will be updated.  If you wish to use the new quiz tool now, please view quiz migration page for details. 

The new quiz tool is the new quiz engine that has been built to replace the current quiz tool. Currently the new quiz tool has been enabled for the Lake Land College instance and is available as a feature options in course settings. Please note all quiz content in the current quiz tool must be migrated to the new quiz tool. It is very important that you review the information on this page carefully! 

Timeline

The new quiz tool will eventually replace the current quiz tool. Training sessions will be available this semester.  See What's New in Canvas for details on current Canvas workshops. Most likely the current quiz tool will be retired sometime in 2020. 

Important Notes

The current quiz and new quiz tools can co-exist in course and instructors can choose to use both options in course. It is important to note that all quiz content in the current quiz tool must be migrated to new quiz tool. Please review the new quiz tool migration page for details on how to migrate content. 

The new quiz tool (formerly known as Quizzes.Next) is currently a feature option in the course settings and must turned on before it displays in a course. Once enabled, you can create quizzes in the new quiz tool from the assignment index page.  Note: Starting with the February 21, 2020 update Links to an external site. when new quizzes is enabled in the course settings under feature options, new quizzes can be created from the quiz index page.  Please note the following: 

  • If new quizzes has been enabled, when you create a quiz from the quiz index page, a dialog box will appear allow you  to choose which quiz tool to use to create the new quiz.  
  • Quizzes created from the assignment or module pages via the assignment group or module title bar plus icon will automatically be created in the current quiz tool. 
  • On the quiz, assignment, and module index pages, quizzes in the current quiz tool will display a outlined rocket icon to the left of the title and quizzes in the the new quiz tool will display a filled in rocket icon to the left of the title.
    How quizzes look from the quiz and assignment index pages

See the following guides for steps on how to enable new quizzes in a course and how to create a  quiz in the new quiz tool. 

The new quiz tool is nearing total feature parity with the current quiz tool.  Once it reaches feature parity, the current quiz tool will be retired. Please review the new quiz tool FAQ and feature comparison document linked below.  

Review the video and text guides for details on using the new quiz tool.  

Check the Canvas Release Notes page for the latest details on new quiz tool updates. 

Latest Release Notes

Below are some of the latest release notes related to the new quiz tool. 

  • February 21, 2020 Release Notes Links to an external site. - New quizzes will continue to be course level feature option. Once enabled in a course, instructors can create quizzes in the new quiz tool from the quiz index page. 
  • January 18, 2020 Release Notes Links to an external site.
  • December 21, 2019 Release Notes Links to an external site.
    • New Quizzes, Numeric Question Invalid Input Warning - In Numeric questions, the invalid input warning displays if a student responds to a numeric question with an invalid variable. This change reduces unintentional misgrading when students attempt to answer a numeric question and matches parity with numeric questions in existing quizzes.
    • (Delayed) New Quizzes, Quizzes Page New Quizzes Button - The New Quizzes button has been moved from the Assignments page to the Quizzes page. This change helps instructors logically identify new and old quizzes.
  • November 16, 2019 Release Notes Links to an external site.
    • New Quizzes, In-Process Quiz Manual Submission - Instructors can manually submit student in-process quiz attempts. This change allows instructors to submit outstanding quiz submissions on behalf of their students, specifically for situations where a quiz will never auto-submit because it is missing a timer and/or due date. 
  • September 21, 2019 Release Notes
    • New Quizzes, Multiple Choice Individual Level Feedback - Multiple Choice Questions support individual feedback for each answer. This change allows students to receive specific feedback relating to each individual answer choice.
  • August 17, 2019 Release Notes
    • New Quizzes (Quizzes.Next), Assessment Preview - The Build page supports previewing New Quizzes assessments in the student’s perspective. This change allows instructors to view and test assessment questions and settings by viewing an assessment the way students see it.
    • New Quizzes (Quizzes.Next), Item Bank Sharing - The Item Banks page supports sharing item banks with other users. This change allows a user to gain access to another user’s item bank and use those items in their assessments.
  • June 22, 2019 Release Notes Links to an external site.
    • New Quizzes (Quizzes.Next), Assessment-Level Accommodations - Instructors can provide accommodations to students in an individual assessment. This change allows instructors to give students extra time or attempts for a specific assessment without applying the accommodation to all assessments in a course.
    • New Quizzes (Quizzes.Next), Assessment Point Total - The Question Navigator displays the assessment point total. This change allows instructors to view the point total for an assessment from the Build page.
  • June 1, 2019 Release  Notes Links to an external site.
    • New Quizzes (Quizzes.Next), Assessment On-Screen Calculators - The Settings page includes an option for allowing calculators during the entire assessment and not just for individual questions. This change allows students to view a calculator throughout an assessment.
    • New Quizzes (Quizzes.Next), Numeric Question Scientific Notation Responses - Numeric questions accept scientific notation answers for the Exact Response and Within a Range requirement options. This change allows instructors to create questions that require responses in scientific notation.

New Quizzes Documentation

The documentation is available in the Canvas Community. If you wish to receive updates on new quiz tool, please join and follow the new quiz group in the Canvas Community. Below are links to the documentation. 

Current Limitations for New Quiz Tool

 

The current limitations include the following items. Click an item to view or use the expand all option to see all items in the list. 

Rich Content Editor Differences

The rich content editor in the new quiz tool is slightly different than the current or new rich content editor. You will not be able to access page or file links from the editor. 

Respondus/Textbook Publisher Imports not Available

Currently, Respondus and textbook publisher imports do not work with the new quiz tool. If you need to import content, it must imported via the current quiz tool and then exported using one of the migration options.  The developers are working to include support for Respondus with the new quiz tool. Publishers imports will be supported in the new quiz tool once the publishers support the newer  QTI import standard.

Lockdown Browser Not Available

The Lockdown browser currently only works with the current quiz tool. This expected to change soon. 

Survey Options Not Available

The new quiz tool does not have any survey options at this time. See the following feature idea for details. 

Grade One Question at a Time (SpeedGrader)

In SpeedGrader the grade by question option for essay questions is not currently available. 

Module Back/Forward Buttons

When a quiz from the new quiz tool is added to a module, the module back and forward buttons are not available for students when they view the quiz in a module. See the following feature idea from the Canvas Community. 

Question/Item Bank and Quiz Relationship Notes

Note: In the current quiz tool the banks are called "Question Banks" and can be accessed from the quiz index page under the options menu (3 Dots). In the new quiz tool the banks are referred to as "Item Banks" and are accessed from quiz edit screen. Question banks and Item banks both function similarly; however, there are some significant differences. Click an item to view or use the expand all option to see all items in the list. 

Naming Schemes and Question/Item Banks

In the current quiz tool, when questions are created in a quiz, they are also automatically added to a question bank called "Unfiled Questions". When questions are imported from other sources (such as textbook publisher imports), question banks are created in addition to any quizzes created. The questions banks are connected to the course and can be accessed from the quiz index page. Question banks can also be created manually and questions in the "Unfiled Questions" bank can moved to new or existing question bank. On the question bank screen question, banks can be bookmarked to display in all courses. Imported question banks are typically named the same as the quiz; however, it varies from publisher to publisher. Once a question bank has more than 25 questions, you cannot preview the questions in the bank. Each question in a question bank will also have a title. A good naming scheme for question banks and questions  is helpful to identify your content quickly. 

In the new quiz tool,  when questions are created in a quiz, the questions can be added to a new or existing item bank when editing the question. In new quiz tool the item banks are connected to the person that created them regardless of which course the item bank is associated with in new quiz tool.  This means ALL item banks  from all courses can be accessed when creating a quiz from any course. It is important to use a detailed naming scheme with items banks that identifies course and chapter or other identifiers that help you determine what is contained in each item bank. Question titles and type will display at the top of a question so it is easy to quickly see what type of questions each item bank has stored in them. Currently, only import packages from the current quiz tool are accepted in the new quiz tool.  Note: In the August 17, 2019 release Links to an external site. instructors can share item banks with other instructors. Item banks that are shared give all instructors the same read/write privileges so be careful about editing or deleting item banks that are shared with you. 

How Questions are Added to Question/Item Banks

In the current quiz tool when questions are created directly in a quiz, copies of the questions are automatically added to a question bank called "unfiled questions".  When an instructor goes to the question bank screen, questions in the "unfiled questions" question bank can be moved to a new bank or existing bank. Please note link between questions in quiz and question bank. If a question is updated in a quiz, it must also be updated in the question bank. 

In new quiz tool individual questions created in a quiz are not automatically added to an item bank but can be added to a new or existing item bank when they are created or edited. 

Link to Questions in Quiz to Questions in Question/Item Bank

In the current quiz tool, when questions are added to a quiz using the Find Questions option, copies of the questions in question banks are added to the quiz and there is NO direct link. In a quiz, questions can be edited regardless of where the question exists in the question banks. Once a question is edited in a quiz, the same question in  question bank is NOT updated until you go the question bank and update the question manually. 

In new quiz tool the opposite is true. In a quiz when a question is added from an item bank, this creates a link to the question in the item bank. The question content must be edited in the item bank. Some question settings can be edited in the quiz. Please note when you delete a linked item bank question that has student submissions, you will see warning that questions are being used in a quiz and deleting the  question in the item bank will affect quiz statistics. If quiz statistics are important to you, then is is very important that you do not delete questions and pull questions from the same item bank for all your courses so your statistical data is useful. 

Shuffling Answers

In the current quiz tool when editing a quiz on the settings screen there is an option to shuffle answers within each multiple choice question. This will affect ALL multiple choice questions in the quiz and may have undesirable results with some questions.

In new quiz tool when editing a quiz on the settings screen, questions can be shuffled (randomized) in the quiz. Additionally, in the quiz settings instructors can apply the option to shuffle all answers for multiple choice, multiple answer, and matching quiz questions types. Both these options will apply to all questions added to quiz. The option to shuffle answers is also available in the individual question options as well.

Question Randomization

In the current quiz tool when editing a quiz on questions screen, the only way questions can be randomized is by creating a question group in quiz. In the question group settings you can determine how many questions will display on the quiz and how much each question in the group is worth in points. If a quiz already has questions in it and you create a question group to randomized these questions, you must drag each question into the group one by one so the question group settings apply to the questions. This is tedious process. You can also create a question group during the process of adding questions when using the Find Question button. 

If you want to randomize a large pool of questions with only a small portion of the questions actually displaying in the quiz, the questions must exist in an item bank and be added to a quiz as randomized set.  If this type of question randomization is important to you, it is important to you migrate quiz content directly into the item banks. This option will save you the most time once your content is in the new quiz tool. 

Point Value of Quiz

In the current quiz tool the point value of the quiz is determined by the number of points associated with each question in the quiz. If questions are added to a question group, the point value can be set at the question group level for all questions in the group. 

In the new quiz tool the point value of the quiz is set in the assignment settings. Each question or question set in the quiz can have a set value as well. The students' scores are determined by the following formula:

Correct answer points /Total number of question points * Total point value of the quiz

The point value and assign to options for the quiz can be changed from the assignment settings. You can do this from the assignment page. 

Moderate Options

In the current quiz tool the moderate options are available in right sidebar of a quiz and are not included in the quiz settings. Time adjustments for individual students must be applied for every quiz in the course individually. 

In the new quiz tool the moderate options are part of the quiz settings. Time adjustments can be applied for an individual student for all quizzes in the course at once OR for just one quiz.