Create and Edit Classic Quizzes

Last updated on July 16, 2024

Classic Quizzes are Canvas’ current default template for exams, tests, quizzes, etc. Classic Quizzes will be phased out and replaced with New Quizzes in future versions of Canvas; however, Classic Quizzes are still available for use. Currently, you may choose to use either Classic or New Quizzes in your course.

Question Banks used in Classic Quizzes can be easily migrated to New Quizzes, so if you want to use your existing question banks, you may choose to continue using Classic Quizzes for simplicity’s sake. You may also choose to continue using Classic Quizzes until they are phased out if you are more familiar with and prefer their user interface.

Directions

Part 1 – Create a Classic Quiz

1. Go to MSU Denver’s Faculty and Staff Hub.
2. Click Canvas in the Teaching & Learning section.
3. Log in to your Canvas Account.
4. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
5. Click Quizzes in the left-hand navigation menu.
6. Click + Quiz in the top right-hand corner of the page.
7. Select Classic Quizzes in the pop-up menu.
8. Click Submit in the bottom right-hand corner.
   • Note: You can check the Remember My Choice for This Course checkbox if you’d like Canvas to immediately choose your preferred type of quiz.
9. Enter a title for the quiz in the Quiz Title field.
10. Enter any instructions for the quiz in the Quiz Instructions field.
11. Choose the desired Quiz Type.
    • A Practice Quiz will not factor into the student’s grade and should be used for optional opportunities to prepare for a quiz.
    • A Graded Quiz is the standard option available and should be used in most scenarios.
    • A Graded Survey should be used when you want to make participation in the survey required and factored into the student’s grade.
    • An Ungraded Survey should be used when you want to make participation in the survey voluntary and not factored into the student’s grade.
12. Choose the Assignment Group you would like to put the quiz into.
    • Note: If you are not using Assignments Groups for grade weighting purposes, this is purely for organization.
13. Select any Options that you would like to enable for the quiz.
    • Shuffle Answers will randomize the order of answers for multiple-choice questions.
    • Time Limit will give students a set amount of time to complete the quiz within. Note that the student can still start the quiz at any point during the availability window (discussed below); a time limit will simply start a countdown when the student starts the quiz.
    • Allow Multiple Attempts will give the student either an unlimited or set number of tries for the quiz. You can select the Highest, Latest, or Average scores to be recorded as the student’s grade.
    • Let Students See Their Quiz Responses will let students see which questions they answered incorrectly. You may choose to disable this to prevent students from sharing possible answers to the quiz with those who have not taken it.
    • Show One Question at a Time will change the quiz to display questions separately and can be used to prevent students from returning to previous sections of the quiz.
14. Select any Quiz Restrictions that you would like to put in place for the quiz.
    • In most cases, these restrictions are not necessary.
    • Require an Access Code will ask the student for a password that you must provide them.
    • Filter IP Addresses will allow only computers with the selected IP Addresses to access the quiz.
15. Assign the quiz to your students in the Assign menu.
    • By default, the quiz will be assigned to all students in the course.
    • The Due Date will mark when the quiz is due for purposes of marking late submissions. If you don’t want to allow late submissions, you can ignore this date and simply use the Available Until date as the “due date.”
    • The Available From and Until will create an availability window during which the quiz can be completed. Note that this should be at least as long as the Time Limit, if any exists, including any extended time limits provided in the Moderate page. The student will be kicked out of the quiz when the availability window ends, even if they have time left on their time limit. The student’s completed work will be submitted if this happens.
    • If you’d like to set a unique availability window for one or several students, be sure to leave the selections for Everyone alone.
    • Click the + Add button at the bottom of the Availability menu to set new rules for specific students.
16. Proceed to Part 3 to add questions to the quiz or Click Save (or Save and Publish) in the bottom right-hand corner of the page and add questions later.

Part 2 – Edit a Classic Quiz

1. Click on Quizzes in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Locate the Classic Quiz that you would like to edit.
   • Note: Classic Quizzes can be differentiated from New Quizzes by the icons directly to the left of their names. Classic Quizzes have the outline of a rocket ship while New Quizzes have a solid-colored version of that image.
3. Click on the Name of the quiz that you would like to edit.
4. Click on Edit in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
5. Modify the Details or Questions of the quiz.
6. Scroll to the Bottom of the page.
7. Click Save in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

Part 3 – Add Questions to the Quiz

1. Start from the Edit screen of the quiz, either while initially making the quiz (Part 1) or while editing it (Part 2).
2. Click on the Questions tab at the top of the page.
3. Click + New Question at the bottom of the page to add a single question to the quiz.
   • Give the question a Name to quickly reference the question later.
   • Choose the Question Type by clicking on the drop-down menu next to the name (by default this will read “Multiple Choice”).
   • Enter a Point Value for the question.
   • Enter the Text of the question or prompt in the Rich Content Editor.
   • Enter the Text for each possible answer to the question. Some question types will not require you to provide predefined responses.
   • Mark a certain answer(s) as correct by hovering your mouse over the question and clicking the green arrow that appears in the top left-hand corner.
   • Add more answers by clicking + Add Another Answer in the bottom right-hand corner.
   • Add Comments that will appear for each answer or for correct or incorrect responses by clicking the Ellipses (…) icons in the boxes below the answers.
   • Click Update Question in the bottom left-hand corner.
4. Edit or remove a question by hovering your cursor over the question and clicking either the Pencil or X icon that appears in the top right-hand corner of the question.
5. Click + New Question Group at the bottom of the page to add a question group to the quiz.
   • Question Groups are linked to Question Banks and pull questions from banks into the quiz.
   • Enter a Title, a Number of Questions to pull randomly from the bank, and a Point Value that each of those questions will be worth.
   • This will pull questions from a Question Bank randomly for each student. If you’d like to define a specific set of questions, follow the next step instead.
6. Click Find Questions at the bottom of the page to add specific questions from a Question Bank.
   • Select a Question Bank from the left-hand column of the pop-up window to pull questions from.
   • Choose one or more Questions in the right-hand column of the pop-up window by clicking the check box next to each question that you would like to add to the quiz.
   • Scroll to the Bottom of the right-hand column of the pop-up window.
   • Select an option from the drop-down menu with the default [No Group] if you would like to add these questions to a question group.
   • Click Add Selected Questions at the bottom of the right-hand column of the pop-up window.
7. Click Save or Save and Publish when you are finished adding or modifying questions in the quiz.