A Canvas Quiz is any question-and-answer-based assessment in Canvas, which can range from brief comprehension checks all the way to major course exams. Canvas can automatically grade certain question types to save time and store questions in banks for future use.

To create a quiz, click Quizzes, then the +Quiz button. You will then have the option to choose your quiz type.

Canvas currently has two quiz platforms available, Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. This page covers Classic Quizzes, the original quiz platform. New Quizzes is eventually slated to replace Classic, but does not yet have full feature parity. Visit our New Quizzes page for more details.

Some schools and departments have fully transitioned to New Quizzes. Please contact your Local Support Provider for information on your school’s practices.

Creating a Classic Quiz

After creating a new Classic Quiz, you’ll configure the quiz settings. Select the survey or quiz type:

  • Practice Quiz: has correct/incorrect answers; ungraded
  • Graded Quiz: has correct/incorrect answers; graded
  • Graded Survey: no correct/incorrect answers; full credit for completion
  • Ungraded Survey: no correct/incorrect answers; ungraded

Accommodations

If a student discloses that they require a testing accommodation, please direct them to contact the Weingarten Center for assistance. If you have received a notification from the Weingarten Center that indicates a student’s eligibility for testing accommodations, you can configure some of these directly within a Classic Quiz. The Weingarten Center and your Local Support Provider can assist you in ensuring that the student receives full support in the course.

It is highly recommended that you set up any accommodations in Canvas at least three days before the exam to account for availability dates and extra time.

Availability & due dates

When you include availability and/or due dates on a quiz, you may set an alternate availability and/or due date that applies only to a certain student(s).

Create an extra field in the Assign to box for the accommodated student(s). Modify the due date and availability dates/times as needed. The default settings will appear in a box as assigned to Everyone Else.

Extra time & attempts

If your quiz has a time limit, some students may need the accommodation of extra time. Before students begin the quiz, grant extra time to specific students using the quiz moderation settings. You can also use these settings to grant one or more students an extra attempt at a quiz with a limited number of attempts.

Adding Quiz Questions

When you are ready to add questions, click the Questions tab at the top of the page.

If you plan to create complex questions or items containing images, videos, etc. that will be re-used for future courses, we recommend creating questions in a question bank to give yourself the most flexibility in the future.

You have several options:

Question types

Over a dozen question types are available in Classic Quizzes. Read more about each type below:

After you have finished developing your quiz, publish it to make it visible to students.

After students have taken the quiz, it becomes difficult to adjust quiz questions retroactively. Regrading can also be complicated. Proofread your questions and answer choices very carefully before publishing!

Moderating a Quiz

Canvas allows you to moderate the quiz for each student in the course. The moderation settings enable you to grant students extra attempts and extra time for timed quizzes.

Additionally, you can view quiz statistics and quiz logs on this page. Survey results are viewable via the quiz summary page.

Additional Resources

Getting Help

Please contact your Local Support Provider or submit a request to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.