Teaching and Learning Resource Center

Getting Started with New Quizzes

New Quizzes was unlocked for all Ohio State users on October 13, 2022. Instructors and TAs can now activate New Quizzes in their course settings, which gives them the option to select either Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes for their assessments.

Even though New Quizzes is part of Canvas, it behaves a little differently than other core Canvas tools because it's an external LTI tool. Below are some key pointers to help you get started; more detailed guides can be found on the Instructure’s website.

  • Enable New Quizzes in your course: New Quizzes is currently a course-level feature option, so it will need to be enabled in each course you want to use the tool in.

Please use a forum course when starting out with New Quizzes. Use of the tool in a current academic course is not recommended while the vendor is still finalizing the feature set.

  • Start in Canvas Quizzes: The Canvas Quizzes tool now houses both Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. When you create a quiz, you'll be asked which type of quiz you want to work with. On the quiz listing page, icon styles differentiate classic from new quizzes. Classic quizzes have an outlined icon of a rocket ship White Rocket Ship Icon , whereas the icon for new quizzes is a solid (filled in) rocket ship Green Rocket Ship Icon .
  • Converting Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes: Currently there is no way to convert classic quizzes in bulk, but they can be migrated on an individual basis. Be aware that until the Rich Content Editor (RCE) is updated in New Quizzes, migrating will remove all embedded links and media files from the quiz.
  • Quiz settings: The settings for assessments built in New Quizzes are stored in two different places. When you create a new quiz, you'll be prompted to fill in the title, points, assignment group, and availability/due date. These settings will be saved automatically by clicking the Build button and entering the New Quizzes interface. Once the interface has loaded, click Settings to set the delivery settings for the quiz.
  • New question types: There are several new question types available in New Quizzes, but the Hot Spot type should not be used. Hot Spot questions are not accessible for users who require keyboard-only access or screen readers.
  • Item Banks: Question Banks are now called Item Banks in New Quizzes. Currently, Question Banks cannot be converted to Item Banks directly.
  • Grading a New Quiz: For assessments built in New Quizzes, SpeedGrader is accessed via the Gradebook. Hover over the assignment column header for the quiz you want to grade and click the three-dot menu. Then click the SpeedGrader link.
  • Return to your course: When you are working in a quiz, the navigation menu for your course will be hidden. To leave the quiz and return to your course at any time, click Return in the upper right.

Current Issues with New Quizzes

Instructure is in the process of updating the RCE in New Quizzes to the version that appears in other Canvas pages. Until then, it is recommended that you not adopt New Quizzes for major or programmatic assessments.

Once updated, the following issues should be resolved.

  • Cannot pull in Files, images, or media from your course. You will need to upload each to the quiz
  • Unable to use a non-Media file 
  • Cannot record directly in the quiz
  • Cannot upload directly from Mediasite, OneDrive or other third-party vendors
  • Media files have a download option and can be downloaded by students

There are more functions currently missing in New Quizzes or significantly changed from the way it works in Classic Quizzes. Canvas has a New Quizzes Feature Comparison chart to track missing functionality and plans for addressing those items, but the below list covers some of the most important issues.

  • No surveys. Survey functionality will no longer be supported in New Quizzes.
  • No practice quizzes.  A quiz can be made zero points or set to ‘do not count in final grade’, but it will still appear in the gradebook. Classic practice quizzes will be converted to graded quiz during migration. There are no plans to support a practice quiz type in New Quizzes.
  • Designer role can’t build New Quizzes (but can edit the assignment settings).
  • No ability to create stand-alone text blocks. The stimulus function can be used, but a question (or questions) must be attached for it to display.

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