Canvas

New Quiz Question Types

At this time, the CTL recommends that you select Classic Quizzes. Although New Quizzes offers some new features, it also lacks features of Classic Quizzes upon which many instructors depend. Please see Canvas: New Quizzes vs. Classic Quizzes to learn more.

There are numerous types of quiz questions you can create within your New Quiz. If you need instructions on how to create a Canvas quiz and begin adding questions to it, see Canvas: Creating a Quiz with New Quizzes.

Once you have created your quiz, go to the Build tab and select the blue + icon to begin adding a quiz question. Click on an option below to see detailed instructions on how to create the question type in your quiz.

Categorization

Categorization

Categorization questions ask students to sort a list of options into categories. When auto-graded by Canvas, students must categorize all options correctly to receive points; there is no option to award partial marks unless manually overridden.

To create a categorization question, click + Categorization, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
Under each category heading, type a category description (e.g. Fruit).
To add another category, click + Category.
To delete a category, click the trash icon next to its heading.
Under each category description, enter the answers that are to be sorted into that category (e.g. apple).
To add another answer, click + Answer.
To delete an answer, click the trash icon next to it.
To add additional distractors (items that are not to be sorted into any category) click + Distractor.

If you want your students to have an on-screen calculator provided for this question, check the box next to Show on-screen calculator.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Categorization Student View:

Students are required to drag each of the answers created into the proper category.

Essay

Essay

Essay questions give students a box where they can enter text, images, formulae, and media. To create a essay question, click + Essay, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
In the Options menu, select your desired settings:
- Show on-screen calculator: if selected, students will have access to an on-screen calculator for this question.
- Rich Content Editor: if selected, students will have access to text formatting tools (recommended).
- Spell-check: if selected, students' work will be spell-checked as they type it.
- Show Word Count: if selected, students will be able to see how many words they have typed. This is useful if there is a word count requirement for the essay question.
- Set Word Limit: if selected, you can set a maximum word count for the essay question. Students will no longer be able to type if they reach this limit.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

File Upload

File Upload

File Upload questions ask students to upload a file containing their work. File type and number can be restricted.

Warning: unlike files uploaded to a Canvas assignment, file upload quiz questions do not allow you to view the file directly in Canvas and must instead be downloaded before viewing. In addition, with the New Quizzes engine, file submissions cannot be downloaded in bulk for all students, and must instead be done for each individual student and file upload question.

To create a file upload question, click + File Upload, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
In the Options menu, select your desired settings:
- Show on-screen calculator: if selected, students will have access to an on-screen calculator for this question.
- Limit File number: if selected, you can set the maximum number of files that each student can upload.
- Restrict File Types: if selected, students will only be able to upload files of the types that you specify. Type in the desired file types with or without a period, separated by a comma (e.g. "pdf, docx").
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

File Upload Student View:

Students can drag and drop or browse their computer for the file(s) they want to upload. The file type restrictions are noted, and students will get an error message if they uploaded an incorrect file type. Upon uploading, students can click their file to redownload it and ensure they uploaded the right file.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the Blank questions have a few different types. Students can be asked to type an answer into a blank or select an answer for the blank from a dropdown menu or word bank.

To create a fill in the blank question, click + Fill in the Blank, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type general question text or instructions into the Question Stem field (optional).
In the Type a statement field, type your question text including the correct answers for anywhere that a blank is supposed to appear.
Once your question text is finished, drag your mouse over the word that is to be replaced with a blank to highlight it, then hit enter on your keyboard. This will create a blank in place of the highlighted word. Repeat this for however many blanks you need.
For each blank, you must choose an Answer Type from the dropdown menu:

If you want your students to have an on-screen calculator provided for this question, check the box next to Show on-screen calculator.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Fill in the Blank Student View:

Students are required to type in an answer for Open Entry blanks, and select an option for Dropdown and Word Bank blanks (word bank not shown below).

Formula

Formula

Formula questions are set up using a formula so that each student has different values for defined variables and a therefore a different correct answer. Students type their unique numeric answer into a text box.

To create a formula question, click + Formula, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field. For any variable that you want to be a different value for each student, surround a variable of your choice with back ticks (e.g. "what is 2 + `x`?"; back ticks are located in the top left corner of most keyboards).
Once you have defined a variable, the Answers section will appear, where you can set a minimum value, maximum value, and number of decimal places for each variable.
In the Formula Definition section, type the formula that is used to calculate the final answer, using your pre-defined variable(s). The Formula Definition supports the following operators: + (add), - (subtract), * (multiply), / (divide), and ^ (power).
In the Generate Possible Solutions section, choose the number of random variable-solution combinations that you want your question to generate.
Choose the decimal place for the correct answer to be rounded to.
Choose whether you want an absolute or percent margin of error, then enter the margin of error within which the answer will be marked as correct.
Click Generate, then view the list of possible variable-solution combinations to make sure it is accurate.

If you want your students to have an on-screen calculator provided for this question, check the box next to Show on-screen calculator.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Hot Spot

Hot Spot

Hot Spot questions require the instructor to upload an image, on which students must click a spot to answer the question. Note: this question type is not accessible to users requiring keyboard-only access or screen readers.

To create a hot spot question, click + Hot Spot, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
Drag the image that you would like to include in your question into the box that says Drag n' Drop here or Browse, or click on the box and browse your computer for the image file.
Once the image has uploaded, choose whether the correct answer area will be a rectangle, an oval, or a polygon.
On your image, click once in one corner of the area, then move your mouse and click again on the opposite corner to mark the area in which students will be marked as correct. The correct area will appear blue; repeat this step if needed in order to ensure that the entire correct area is highlighted.

If you want your students to have an on-screen calculator provided for this question, check the box next to Show on-screen calculator.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Matching

Matching

Matching questions show students a list of words or phrases on the left and ask them to choose their matching words/phrases from a series of dropdown menus on the right.

To create a matching question, click + Matching, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type general question text or instructions into the Question Stem field.
In the boxes on the left, type in the words or phrases that students will have to match too.
In the boxes on the right, next to each box on the left enter its corresponding correct match. Students will select between these words in a dropdown menu when answering the question.
To add another matching pair, click + Question/Answer Pair.
To delete a matching pair, click the trash icon next to it.
If you would like students to have additional options to choose from that do not have a corresponding match, click + Distractor and type in the extra word/phrase.

In the Options menu, select your desired settings:
- Show on-screen calculator: if selected, students will have access to an on-screen calculator for this question.
- Shuffle questions: if selected, matching pairs will appear in a random order.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Matching Student View:

Students will be required to use the dropdown menus on the right side to select the correct matches to the items on the left.

Multiple Answer

Multiple Answer

Multiple Answer questions are similar to multiple choice questions, except students can select more than one answer.

To create a multiple answer question, click + Multiple Answer, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
Into each Type an answer field, type a possible answer.
To add another possible answer, click + Answer.
To delete an answer, click the trash icon next to it.
To mark an answer as correct, click the check box next to it.
In the Options menu, select your desired settings:
- Show on-screen calculator: if selected, students will have access to an on-screen calculator for this question.
- Shuffle Choices: if selected, the possible answers will appear in a random order; otherwise they will appear in the order you entered them.
Choose your grading policy:
- Partial credit with penalty: students are awarded a fraction of the total question points for every correct answer they selected, and are deducted the same amount of points for every incorrect answer they selected.
- Exact Match: students will get marks if they select only the correct options. Any mistake will result in no marks being awarded.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice

To create a multiple choice question, click + Multiple Choice, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
Into each Type an answer field, type a possible answer.
To add another possible answer, click + Answer.
To delete an answer, click the trash icon next to it.
To mark the correct, click on the circle left of it.
If you would like, you can add specific answer feedback for each answer, which will appear after submitting the quiz depending on which answer the student selected.
In the Options menu, select your desired settings:
- Show on-screen calculator: if selected, students will have access to an on-screen calculator for this question.
- Vary points by answer: if selected, then you can customize how many points each answer will award the student (e.g. A gives 1 points, B gives 2 point, and C and D give 0 points). Once checked, boxes will appear to the right of each answer where you can set the point value for each.
- Shuffle Choices: if selected, the choices will appear in a random order; otherwise they will appear in the order you entered them.
Enter how many points the question is worth (this is done next to each answer if the Vary points by answer option was selected).
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Numeric

Numeric

Numeric questions require students to input a numerical response.

To create a numeric question, click + Numeric, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
In the dropdown menu under Requirement, choose a grading option (for more information on each, click the ? symbol):
- Exact response: student responses are marked as correct only if they perfectly match the correct answer.
- Margin of error: student responses are marked as correct if they fall within an absolute or percent margin of error set by the instructor.
- Within a range: student responses are marked as correct if they are between set maximum and minimum values.
- Precise response: student responses are marked as correct if they match the correct answer to a given number of significant digits.
Enter the correct answer (and the margin of error or range if enabled).
If you need to add additional correct answers, click + Possible Answer.

If you want your students to have an on-screen calculator provided for this question, check the box next to Show on-screen calculator.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Ordering

Ordering

Ordering questions require students order a list of items. When auto-graded by Canvas, students must order all options correctly to receive points; there is no option to award partial marks unless manually overridden.

To create an ordering question, click + Ordering, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type general question text or instructions into the Question Stem field.
Optional: enter a Top and Bottom Label to help students understand the question.
In the correct order, enter the items that you want students to put in order into the Type an answer fields.
To add another item to the ordered list, click + Answer.
To reorder your list, click on the 8 dots next to an item and drag it to a new position.
To delete a list item, click the trash icon next to it.
In the Options menu, select your desired settings:
- Show on-screen calculator: if selected, students will have access to an on-screen calculator for this question.
- Display Answers in a Paragraph: if selected, then students will order the list horizontally rather than vertically.
- Include Labels: if selected, you can add labels to the top and bottom of your ordered list.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

Ordering Student View:

Students are required to click and drag the list items into the proper order.

True or False

True or False

To create a true or false question, click + True or False, then:

Type a title for your question into the Question Title field. This title is not visible to students.
Type your question text into the Question Stem field.
Click on True or False to mark one of them as the correct answer.

If you want your students to have an on-screen calculator provided for this question, check the box next to Show on-screen calculator.
Enter how many points the question is worth.
To have comments pertaining to this question appear to the student after submission of their quiz, click on the speech bubble icon.
When you are done creating the question, click Done.

UBC Okanagan Centre for Teaching and Learning Canvas Directory

Updated December 2020