Most instructors had their first opportunity this summer to use New Quizzes since it became available campuswide June 1. Instructors also had the option to respond to a Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) survey on their experiences with the new quiz engine in Canvas.
About 80% of the 52 instructors who responded did not make the switch, while 15% did use it in a summer course. The remaining 5% did not use New Quizzes in a summer course but began testing it in a shell course – a sandbox -- available to all instructors.
Quiz training
CELT will host online trainings Aug. 31 (building a New Quiz) and Sept. 1 (settings and accommodations) about New Quizzes. Trainings will take place from 2-3 p.m. and 2-2:50, respectively. Canvas-led trainings will take place Sept. 6 (1-2 p.m.) and Sept. 7 (10 a.m.-noon). They are open to the first 55 people who register for each training. They will be recorded and made available."Based on the Canvas timeline, we have two years to transition to New Quizzes," said Angi Beau-Karthik, CELT instructional technology specialist. "What we would like to see is people exploring the new quiz engine in their sandbox courses."
Beau-Karthik said summer instructors recommended their colleagues allow enough time to become familiar with new features of New Quizzes to test question types in their sandbox courses.
New Quizzes offers a modern interface, mobile-friendly design, new question types (such as hot spot, stimulus, categorization and ordering questions), print-out capacity and options for student accommodations.
Multiyear transition
The transition between quiz engines is a multiyear process where instructors no longer will be able to create new Classic Quizzes in June 2023, but can continue to edit and administer existing Classic Quizzes until it sunsets on June 30, 2024. The content of existing Classic Quizzes can be migrated to New Quizzes after 2024.
The switch to a new quiz engine is required by Canvas, which dictates the pace of migration. Moving information from one quiz type to the other is not seamless at this point, at least for now. CELT staff recommend transitioning slowly and only with uncomplicated quizzes that do not contain question groups or question banks. If an instructor is designing new, uncomplicated quizzes it can be a timesaver to build in New Quizzes.
"It is our hope that by June 2023 the migration tool is streamlined to make for a seamless transition to New Quizzes," Beau-Karthik said.
Training
CELT is offering virtual trainings Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 and two Canvas-led trainings are Sept. 6-7. Instructors can choose which sessions they would like to attend.
Beau-Karthik will lead the Aug. 31 training from 2-3 p.m., focusing on building a New Quiz.
"I focus on building all the new question types, discuss and demo item banks, and how to use them for question randomization," she said.
Instructional design specialist Lori Mickle will discuss settings and accommodations on Sept. 1 from 2-2:50 p.m. She will demonstrate how to implement accommodations for students and the use of a LockDown Browser – to control the environment during testing or quizzes – in New Quizzes. While the test centers will offer proctoring for New Quizzes, Mickle suggests instructors reach out ahead of time to ensure students have a smooth quiz-taking experience.
The Canvas-led offerings will focus on an overview and advance features of New Quizzes. Both sessions are online and available to the first 55 people who sign up for each. The sessions will be recorded and available to everyone.
CELT has a New Quizzes webpage with links to other resources and information for instructors that is continually updated.
