Skip to main content

Settings for examining quiz

Canvas Quizzes have several settings. Which settings to use depends on how the quiz is intended to be used. For example, for examination in a computer room, it is desirable to ensure that only students in the room can open the quiz. You can both lock the quiz so that a code is required to open it and restrict which IP addresses the quiz can be opened from. It is also possible to shuffle the answer alternatives and the order of the questions, as well as to control when and what the student should see for their results.

Most settings can be made in both New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes. However, it is recommended that you use New Quizzes, since Classic Quizzes are being phased out and will eventually be removed from Canvas. Read more about phasing out Classic Quiz in Canvas .

Important for manual assessment: hide student results

All feedback given to questions in a New Quiz is displayed immediately to the students, even if the quiz results are not published in the Gradebook or SpeedGrader. In manual assessment, it is therefore important to hide the student result until the assessment is complete.

How to hide student results is explained under the heading "Limit the display of student results" on this page.

Assignment settings for New Quizzes

You can make settings for a New Quiz in two places. In the quiz you can make settings under the settings tab and you can make the same setting options as for a Canvas Assignment.

Adjust the assignment settings for the quiz

The assignment settings for a quiz primarily handle the external framework for how the quiz is to be published and assessed. These are the same settings that are made for a Canvas Assignment. To learn about the settings that can be made for quizzes, read more about it on the page Settings for examining assignments . On the page about randomizing questions in a quiz , exact suggestions are also given for settings that may be suitable for an examining quiz.

Set points for quizzes in the assignment settings

Quizzes differ from assignments in how points are handled. In quizzes, it is possible to award points both in the questions and in the settings that are made in the same way as assignments. The maximum points that are set in the assignment settings are used in order to weight different assignments/quizzes against each other in the Gradebook. It can be set to any value, regardless of the total score of the questions.

The students' results in the questions are summed up in the quiz and transferred as a percentage of the points in the assignment settings. To be clear to students, it is recommended for quizzes that this assignment score is either set to zero or to the total sum of the scores from the questions. In this way, students will not wonder why the assessment overview states a different maximum value than what the questions' total score can give.

Build settings in New Quizzes

When a New Quiz is opened in the build mode, there are settings for the quiz in the Settings tab. Here you can activate that the order of the questions in the quiz is randomized and that the order of the alternatives is randomized for multiple-choice questions. It is possible to set up so that the quiz contains a simple calculator that the students can use. Read more about the built-in calculator in New Quizzes . Below are other setting options that may need more explanation.

One question at a time

It is possible to set that only one question at a time is displayed to the student, both with and without the student being able to return to a previous question. This approach can be suitable for some exams and can help students focus on one question at a time. The format can also make it more difficult for a student to get an overview of the entire quiz and plan their time for answers, so choose carefully.

Require an access code from the students

By activating that a code is required, the students will have to enter a code before they reach the questions in the quiz. It is useful, for example, when examining in a computer room as it makes it more difficult for people who are not attending the exam to have access to the exam questions. Activate the option "Require a student access code from the students" and enter a code of approximately 4-5 characters. The "Show access code” option allows you to see which code you have written, it does not affect the students' view.

Time limit

In the assignment settings of the quiz, it is possible to set when the quiz is published, when it must be submitted and when it can no longer be opened. The time limit in the build mode is more flexible as it is based on when the student opens the quiz and then limits how long from the opening the quiz is open. Note, however, that the quiz will be closed to everyone at the end time specified in the assignment settings.

If you want each student to have exactly one hour in the quiz, you should set the end time of the assignment settings with a margin for students who are late in opening the quiz. If you have an examination where flexible start and end time is not possible, then for example invigilators will finish the exam at a certain time, you are recommended to use the assignment settings. There, it is also possible to easily allocate different time for different sections, which is effective in examination rooms for handeling extra writing time.

Filter IP addresses

By limiting which IP addresses are allowed, you can, for example, in examinations in a computer room, restrict so that only students on site can access the quiz. Activate the "Filter IP addresses" option. You can now enter one or more ranges for allowed IP addresses. Press the "+ Allowed range" to add several intervals.

Contact it-support@kth.se  for help with which IP addresses are used for specific computer rooms at KTH, mark your messages: IP addresses for Canvas quiz in a computer room.

Allow multiple attempts

If a quiz is used to allow students to practice a part of the course, it may be a good idea to allow several attempts. In an examination, however, it is important to only allow one attempt. If random questions are used, the student will otherwise be able to open different exam wordings as the questions are randomized for each attempt. When manually assessing the quiz, each attempt will be displayed individually. Allowing one attempt means that assessment can take place in one file, while several will mean that the assessor needs to jump between the files for the same student.

Limit the display of student results

This option allows you to control what the student should see after the quiz. Depending on the quiz, it may be a good idea for students not to receive their results immediately after writing. For example, if you are going to manually assess the questions.

Note: This restriction is done in addition to hiding the grade in SpeedGrader. Both must be hidden while you assess the quiz so that the students do not see you working on the quiz.

If you activate the setting, students will only see the submission confirmation. Also, several check boxes will appear for you where you can specify what to show or hide.

You can choose to show:

  • points awarded (total and per question).
  • points possible (total and per question).
  • items and questions, that is, what the students saw when they took the quiz.
    • student response.
    • indicate the response as correct/incorrect. "Student response" must be selected first.
    • correct answer with incorrect response. "Indicate the response as correct/incorrect" must be selected first.
    • feedback for items. Shows comments you made per question in SpeedGrader and the feedback entered under "Give general feedback (regardless of answer)" per question. If "indicate the response as correct/incorrect" is selected, students will also see the feedback entered under "If the answer is correct" and "If the answer is incorrect".

Remember to turn off the setting when you have finished assessing the quiz. If you only publish the result in SpeedGrader or the gradebook, students will only see the total points and comments you wrote for the entire quiz, not those made per question.

Canvas Classic Quizzes

Classic Quiz will be phased out in the future

We recommend that you use the quiz engine "New Quizzes" as Canvas' old quiz engine "Classic Quiz" will begion to be taken out of use in a multi-stage process. There is no set date for when this will be done, but KTH is waiting for critical functions before we stop supporting Classic Quiz. Below you can find more information about the phase-out and how to migrate a Classic Quiz to New Quizzes.

Migration is explained at Classic Quizzes

Classic Quiz deadline postponed indefinitely

For Classic Quizzes, there are not as many setting options. The options available are in the external settings for the quiz. There, for example, you can activate: "Require an access code"and "Filter IP addresses". Enter a code of approximately 4-5 characters as a password and contact it-support@kth.se , (mark your message: IP addresses for Canvas quiz in a computer room) for information about which computer rooms have which IP addresses. Pressing the blue magnifying glass provides information on how to enter intervals.

More support for creating a quiz

Learn more about:

Did you find this page useful?
Thank you for helping us!
Page responsible:e-learning@kth.se
Belongs to: KTH Intranet
Last changed: Aug 10, 2023