Piazza

Discussions and Polls in Piazza

Piazza is a web application used for question-and-answer discussions on assignments or other course topics. It is an external application that can be integrated with Canvas.

Piazza data is stored on servers outside of Canada therefore it is not FIPPA compliant. To protect your identity, UBC obfuscates personal data when accessing Piazza. Students are asked to use an alternate email and pseudonym on the system to protect their privacy.

You can create three types of Posts in the Q&A section of Piazza: Question, Note or Poll. A Note is similar to a Canvas Announcement and will not be covered here. This guide covers the following topics:

Start a discussion
Start a poll

I. Start a Discussion
II. Start a Poll

Start a Discussion

At the top of the Piazza page, click Q & A.
The discussion tool page opens. In the left panel, click New Post.

A new posting form appears at right. Next to Post Type, click Question.
Beside Post to, you have the option of Entire Class, or Individual students/instructors. For a basic discussion, click Entire Class.
Beside Select Folder(s) are the folders corresponding to discussions that you previously set up in Manage Course. Click the folder for which this discussion belongs.
Note: If the folders are incorrect, click Manage and reorder folders which takes you to Manage Course.
At right of Summary, enter a title or one-line summary.
Beside Details you are offered three types of text editors. For standard discussion posts, leave Rich text editor selected.
In the text editor box, enter your post details and description.
(Optional) Beside Posting Options, selective if you want to send an email notification immediately (bypassing students’ preferences), or add the post to the student reading lists.
When finished, at bottom, click Post My Question.

Start a Poll

At the top of the Piazza web page, click Q & A.
The discussion tool page opens. In the left panel, click New Post.

A new posting form appears at right. Next to Post Type, click Poll/In-Class Response.
Beside Post to, you have the option of Entire Class, or Individual students/instructors.
Select Folder(s) that you would like to direct this post to. These folders are organized by the instructor of the course.
At right of Summary, enter a title or one-line summary.
Beside Details, leave Rich text editor selected.
In the text editor box, enter your post details and description.
In the box next to Poll Choices, enter each poll choice then click Add. Repeat to add all poll choices.
(Optional) Beside Poll Explanation, enter an explanation to display when the poll closes.
Beside Poll Selection Type, select if just one choice or multiple choices are allowed.
Beside Poll Close Date, enter the number of days after, or click Always open.
Beside Show Results to Students, select when you would like students to see the results.
Beside Revotes Allowed, click your choice of Yes or No.
Beside Poll Anonymity, to maintain anonymity, select Don’t show names to anyone.
Beside Visible to class, click your choice of Visible now to publish the poll immediately, or Make Visible later to publish the poll later.
(Optional) Beside Posting Options, select if you want to send an email notification immediately (bypassing students’ preferences), or add the post to the student reading lists.
When finished, at bottom click Post My Poll.

To learn more about Piazza, contact ctl.helpdesk@ubc.ca.

UBC Okanagan Centre for Teaching and Learning Piazza Directory

Updated July 2021