New Quizzes is Canvas’ latest quiz engine that offers instructors four new question types and several features and improvements that instructors have requested for years.

New question types and examples

• Categorization: Place the following organisms into five kingdoms based on their characteristics: Amoeba, Mushroom, Fern, E. coli, Dog
  • The instructor would provide the category names (in this example, the kingdoms), and students would drag and drop the organisms into the category in which the organisms belong.
  • There can be more than one possible answer per category, and you can provide distractors that do not belong in any of the categories.

• Ordering: Order the following rock and roll artists by the year they released their debut album, from earliest to latest: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Green Day.
  • Students drag and drop the answer choices into the correct order.

• Hot Spot: The following image is provided of a computer motherboard with various components. Identify the correct area where the Central Processing Unit is located on the motherboard.

• • Instructors determine the area that needs to be selected.
  • Students must click inside that area to be graded as correct.

• Stimulus and associated question(s):
  • Instructors provide a stimulus that can be used for one or more questions. The stimulus can be any media: image, video, text, a link to a website, etc.
  • Instructors can choose whether the associated questions are below or to the right of the stimulus.

Additional Canvas New Quizzes capabilities

• In a Multiple-Choice question, lock an answer choice, such as “All of the Above,” as the last answer choice while shuffling the rest of the answer choices.
• In a Multiple-Choice question, instructors can vary points by answer.
• Add Accommodations, such as 150% time, for a student and those accommodations can apply for all Quizzes given in the course.
• Item Banks now serve the purposes of both Question Banks and Question Groups and can be shared with other instructors.
• A rubric can be added to a New Quiz.

Why these changes support student learning

Canvas New Quizzes supports instructors’ use of Spaced Practice by allowing students not just multiple or unlimited attempts for a quiz, but also a forced waiting period and the ability to build on their last attempt. Forcing students to wait two hours or a day (you choose the length of time) between attempts can encourage them to study or seek clarification in office hours before attempting again. This can also help students learn time management skills to plan ahead and account for the waiting period while still trying to achieve their best results. The ability to build on their last attempt provides students with feedback on what concepts or skills they have learned and which need more attention. Instructors can use Item Banks to add questions from previous quizzes to support review of previous concepts.

To learn more about these and other features of Canvas New Quizzes, please register for one of three upcoming in-person trainings. Space is limited in these trainings, and if they fill up, don’t fret – more opportunities and resources will be coming!

• Monday, October 23, 9:30-11:00am in BH 308
• Tuesday, October 24, 4:30-6:00pm in ED 2015
• Friday, November 3, 2:00-3:30pm in HH 1049

The trainings are scheduled for 90 minutes each, but the plan is to provide instruction and demonstration for the first 45-60 minutes with the remaining time available as supported work time. Each room is a computer lab, but feel free to bring your laptop if you would prefer to use it.

As always, if you have questions about designing assessments or ways to support students’ learning, please check out the teaching resources on the CITL website or consider scheduling a consultation.