The Classic Quiz environment uses a specific interface that offers four distinct quiz types. Understanding the difference between a Quiz and a Survey is key: a Survey is primarily for information gathering and does not support automatic right/wrong answers.
| Quiz Type | Purpose and Grading | Key Feature |
| Marked Quiz | Used for formal assessment. Canvas automatically creates a column in the Gradebook. Supports auto-grading for objective question types. | Results are viewable in the Gradebook and SpeedGrader. |
| Practice Quiz | Used for formative assessment or review. Students see points earned, but no grade is recorded in the Gradebook. | Ideal for encouraging student practice without performance anxiety. |
| Marked Survey | Used to gather opinions or information. Students receive points for completion only. There are no right or wrong answers. | Has the option to be anonymous. Results are viewable in SpeedGrader. |
| Unmarked Survey | Used to gather opinions or information. Students receive no grade or points for completion. | Has the option to be anonymous. |
Breakdown: Classic Quiz Structure and Features
Classic Quizzes rely on two key features to manage question randomisation and reuse: Question Groups and Question Banks.
1. Question Groups (Randomisation)
- Purpose: Allows you to randomize questions within a quiz.
- Function: You can place multiple questions into a group, then select the number of questions that should be answered from that group and how many points to assign each question.
2. Question Banks (Storage and Reuse)
- Purpose: Serves as a library to store and manage quiz questions for your course.
- Function: When you create a question in Classic Quizzes, it is automatically added to the course’s Question Bank. You can organize banks using folders and import questions from other courses’ banks.
Classic Question Types
Classic Quizzes contain a strong variety of basic question types, which are still powerful for assessing knowledge.
| Question Type | Description | Key Consideration |
| Multiple Choice | One question, student selects one answer. | Auto-graded. |
| True/False | One question, student selects True or False. | Auto-graded. |
| Fill-in-the-Blank | Students enter a single word or phrase. | Requires precise spelling and case matching to be auto-graded. |
| Fill-in-Multiple-Blanks | Allows multiple blanks anywhere in the question. | Auto-graded. |
| Multiple Answers | One question, the student can select multiple correct answers. | Auto-graded. |
| Multiple Drop-down | Similar to Fill-in-the-Blank, but uses drop-down menus instead of textboxes. | Auto-graded. |
| Matching | Students pair items from two lists, including distractors. | Auto-graded. |
| Numerical Answer | Used for mathematical questions. | Allows settings for precision, margin of error, or range. |
| Essay | Students answer in a text box. | Requires manual marking. |
| File Upload | Students upload a file (PDF, image, etc.) in response to the question. | Requires manual marking. |
Hints and Tips
- Migrate When Ready: Canvas is phasing out Classic Quizzes. Plan to transition all new assessments to New Quizzes.
- Check Spelling: If using Fill-in-the-Blank questions, you must define all possible correct answers to account for spelling, capitalisation, and common variations (e.g., US vs. UK spelling).
- Explain Text Boxes: If you use the basic Fill-in-the-Blank (which places the answer box at the end of the sentence regardless of where the blank is placed), ensure your quiz instructions explain this behaviour to students.