Eliciting Original Work from Students

Just like with Assignments and Quizzes, you can deploy multiple versions of your exam to your students. For example, you could create three exams then deploy each exam to a separate set of students (such as those with last names A-G, H-P, and R-Z). The exams can be run simultaneously through Canvas; students will only see the version of the exam that they have been assigned to. Use the Assign To setting in the Quiz Details to assign each quiz to selected students.

ⓘ More information:
➤ How do I assign a quiz to an individual student?

If there are multiple-choice questions on your exam, Canvas can:

• Randomly scramble the answer choices so each student gets the same questions but with differently ordered choices. Be careful with questions where one of the choices is “all of the above” or “none of the above” as those will not generally be the last choice in the list.
• Randomly select multiple-choice questions from a question bank or question group. For example, if you have a bank of 40 multiple-choice questions, Canvas can randomly pick 10 for each student by using question groups.

Some textbooks come with question banks where the questions have parameters (like the mass of an object) that are different for each student. The question assesses the same concept but each student has a different answer. Consult the website for your textbook for more information.

ⓘ More information:
➤ What options can I set in a quiz?
➤ How do I create a quiz with a question group to randomize quiz questions?
➤ How do I create a quiz with a question group linked to a question bank?

Each student has unique experience and opinions. Consider asking questions that require students to provide their own personal interpretation or relate concepts to their own experiences so that each student will have a different response. This may make marking more challenging, of course.

• Give an example of an object in your house or apartment with characteristic X.
• What part of concept X is closest to your own experience?
• Have you ever visited a city where concept X exists?
• Make up an exam question (and give the answer) that tests concept X. (Yes, the assessment question is, make up an assessment question.)
• Which principle – X, Y, or Z – do you think is most important for someone studying to be a (nurse, social worker, engineer, physiotherapist, psychologist, chemist, writer,…)

Each student also has a unique student ID. Are there clever ways you can “seed” the exam question with the students ID?

• The input temperature of the turbine is the first 3 digits of your student ID. Find…
• The mass of a wooden block is the last 2 digits of your student ID. Find…
• Take the first 2 digits of your student ID, xy and consider the year 18xy. For example, if your student ID begins 89… then consider the year 1889. What event occurred in that decade that…
• Let N be the first 4 digits of your student ID. Find…

• Be careful certain values do not turn a question from possible to impossible.

In order to utilize these types of questions in a Canvas quiz, you will need to collect the answers within an Essay question.

ⓘ More information:
➤ How do I create an Essay quiz question?