Using quizzes

The Canvas Quiz tool can administer both surveys and assessments for grades, including a variety of question types.  See the links below for information on creating Quizzes.  Uses have included:

  • Practice for exams
    • Students might earn extra credit while trying questions from previous years.  
    • Quizzes can replicate certain aspects of high stakes external tests, like professional certification exams, including time pressure or administration of one question at a time.
  • Formative assessment, to determine student knowledge at the start of the semester and offer a comparison with test results from the end.  
  • Receive feedback on the course, and gather this input during the semester while changes can still be made.

The quiz feature includes a number of options to enhance learning and offer convenience, such as:

  • The opportunity to provide feedback on a question, and on each response, so students can use quizzes or surveys for self-testing.
  • Question Banks, which allow instructors to create different Quizzes every semester without having to rewrite questions.
  • Statistical information, which allows instructors to identify problematic questions and general areas of strength and weakness.

Concerns to note:

  • In general, Quizzes serve low stakes purposes best because there are no sure safeguards for academic integrity.  Instructors can make use of certain features such as question sets to make collusion counter-productive, but there is no way to monitor quizzes taken outside class.
  • Once students have taken a quiz, instructors cannot make changes to a quiz without adversely affecting grades.  Canvas does not present any warnings before making these changes, so instructors may be unaware of the consequences until they come into effect.

For further information on how to do this, see these guides from Instructure:

Additional information on quizzes can be found in the "Quizzes Chapter" of Instructure's guides.

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