Randomize Quiz Questions (Classic Quizzes)

Overview

 

To randomize questions on a quiz, you cannot just add questions directly to the quiz itself. Instead, you need to place a Question Group inside your quiz and link it to an existing Question Bank. The group acts as a container that tells Canvas to randomly pull a specific number of questions from the bank for each student.

Note: This guide assumes you have already built a Question Bank in your course. If you haven't, you will need to create one and add your questions to it before proceeding.


Create a Question Group

 
  1. Navigate to your quiz in Canvas and click Edit.
  2. Click the Questions tab at the top of the editing area.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the + New Question Group button.
    New Question Group button in Canvas
  4. Give your group a name in the text box (e.g., "Chapter 1 Random Questions"). Students do not see this name; it is only for your organizational purposes.
    Question Group naming text box

Link to a Question Bank

 
  1. Inside the new question group box, click the Link to a Question Bank link.
  2. A pop-up window will appear listing all the question banks in your course. Click on the bank you want to pull questions from, then click the Select Bank button.
    Select Question Bank menu
  3. Back on the quiz page, set your parameters: enter the number of questions Canvas should randomly pick from the bank, and how many points each question should be worth.
    Set number of questions and point values
  4. Click the Create Group button.
  5. Click Save on the main quiz page.

Important: You must click the Create Group button (step 4) before clicking the main quiz Save button. If you just click Save on the quiz without creating the group first, Canvas will silently delete the group you just spent time setting up.