[ARCHIVED] Answer keys?

[cyoung12]

Are there answer keys so I can grade more quickly?

[barbmurck · Accepted solution]

Yes, please - I have seen this discussed on the Canvas Community for years and there doesn't seem to be an answer that is workable.

We have a large bank of Short-Answer questions, from which we draw randomly for our quizzes. They are marked by TAs. Each student of course gets a different set of questions. I need to find a way to have the answers appear to the TAs in Speed Grader, but not to the students.

It is extremely cumbersome to use a separate answer key because each quiz will have a different set of questions, so it's big time-waster for the TAs to have to search through the long answer key to find the right answers for each quiz.

I have tried putting the answer in "General Comments" but there is no way to hide the comments from the students, so that doesn't work.

Thanks for any input.

[cyoung12 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your reply. I understand.

On Fri, May 15, 2020 at 10:12 AM barbmurck@gmail.com <instructure@jiveon.com>

[BryanSarauer · Accepted solution]

How is it possible that they have not built answer keys into quizzes? I assumed that I was simply not understanding something but based on these questions this obvious feature doesn't exist? I come from a background of using D2L where it's a basic feature of quizzes. Every question has a key. 

[barbmurck · Accepted solution]

No, evidently they are not reading these posts. I just got an e-mail saying that my post - in which I said "Yes, PLEASE give us a way to have answer keys" - has been accepted as a solution.

Umm... OK?

[barbmurck · Accepted solution]

Yes, please - I have seen this discussed on the Canvas Community for years and there doesn't seem to be an answer that is workable.

We have a large bank of Short-Answer questions, from which we draw randomly for our quizzes. They are marked by TAs. Each student of course gets a different set of questions. I need to find a way to have the answers appear to the TAs in Speed Grader, but not to the students.

It is extremely cumbersome to use a separate answer key because each quiz will have a different set of questions, so it's big time-waster for the TAs to have to search through the long answer key to find the right answers for each quiz.

I have tried putting the answer in "General Comments" but there is no way to hide the comments from the students, so that doesn't work.

Thanks for any input.

[cyoung12 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your reply. I understand.

On Fri, May 15, 2020 at 10:12 AM barbmurck@gmail.com <instructure@jiveon.com>

[Ron_Bowman]

@barbmurck 

I am not sure what you mean about students being able to see the answers in the general comments.  If you restrict the quiz such that they cannot see the answers - until you release them - then the general comments are not visible to the students.  I put the answers in general comments (in red so that I don't mistakenly take my answer as the students).  I restrict students from viewing the answers until I want them to see them.  That works in classic quizzes.  I do not know if it functions differently in New Quizzes.

[lenz]

Are any CANVAS people actually watching/reading these posts?  If so, please explain how @barbmurck 's addition to @cyoung12  's question is a solution??!  It's clearly an additional cry in the CANVAS support forest for information about ANSWER KEYS.  Information that I would like to have as well. 

ANSWER KEYS.  We want'em.  We need'em.  Where are they and how can we make them work for us?  PLEASE.  Throw us some scraps.  Links to appropriate help files would ...well... help.  I have searched - repeatedly - but come up with nothing for the topic ANSWER KEYS.  

Or should we come to the astonishing conclusion that there is   n o t h i n g  in the vast CANVAS help storehouse on this topic?

Please.  Help.

[barbmurck]

Thanks @lenz. Very frustrating,  indeed. 

[barbmurck · Accepted solution]

No, evidently they are not reading these posts. I just got an e-mail saying that my post - in which I said "Yes, PLEASE give us a way to have answer keys" - has been accepted as a solution.

Umm... OK?

[lenz · Accepted solution]

@barbmurck 

I saw that too, just before my head exploded.  😵  I honestly don't know what else to do to get their attention.  If I had time, I would start a whole new thread using thesaurus synonyms for answer key just to see if we could get a human's attention.

I did fall into the rabbit hole for a minute and start looking at something called "Tracker" or "Mastery Tracker" or something like that.  Do you know what that is?  I have no idea, but I don't think it's part of the CANVAS that we use here at the UW.  I skimmed it too fast but wondered if it might somehow magically apply to your situation

Have a great weekend and congratulations on your "solution!"

Cherie (@lenz)

[barbmurck]

Cherish @lenz - By the way if Canvas isn't reading our posts, at least the two of us are! 😄

So I wanted to respond that I've never used those mastery things either. Not sure if they're available to us at UofT but my impression is that they have to do with setting learning goals and tracking student progress. I don't think that is our solution for the missing Answer Key functionality.

The frustration continues...

[BryanSarauer · Accepted solution]

How is it possible that they have not built answer keys into quizzes? I assumed that I was simply not understanding something but based on these questions this obvious feature doesn't exist? I come from a background of using D2L where it's a basic feature of quizzes. Every question has a key. 

[lenz]

@BryanSarauer                                                                                                                                            @barbmurck  (just in case you need a giggle)

The reason Canvas doesn't have an answer key function because they aren't listening to us.  It's the same reason CANVAS messages and assignment comments, scores, etc don't save in the background.  These two apparently unsolvable oversights mean that you can't easily create the content you want, nor can you easily protect the content you have created.  This painful truth was made apparent to me once again today as I lost an hour of comments, grades, etc. I had written for final papers I was reading.  (More about those below.)   As a side note:  these papers were a large part of the students 'final course grades, which were due yesterday.  The being-due-yesterday part is probably not the result of CANVAS lacking functionality teachers have been asking for for years, but it sure didn't help.

So, why have I waited until now to respond?  (not in order of importance)

1.  I have 18 10-15 page freshman final papers to read and have finally run out of, ...well..., everything.  (Candy, alcohol, laundry I HAVE TO do RIGHT NOW, YouTube Karen videos, etc.)  Sending responses to 2-month-old messages about years-old problems that haven't been attended to sounded about right.

2. I fully anticipate losing more feedback and grades as the night goes on.  This, despite the fact that I actually copy and past my CANVAS feedback and grades into WORD every few minutes.  I STILL lose work, even with this workaround.

3.  Your message of 3-1-2021 contains a very important phrase that I have been wanting to thank you for.

Every question has a key.

I suspect that you may have meant it much more pragmatically than I'm taking it, but still I thank you for the inspiration.  I've decided I'm going to get a tat of that on my face/hand/arm (or maybe all three) over the summer and wanted to thank you for the quote*.   I've started saying it to my students in a very mysterious voice when I can't figure out an answer to their questions.  Sometimes I even change it up to "A key every question has."  just to keep them guessing. 

Thanks so much for the inspiration and for adding to the "closed" conversation on answer keys,

Cherie

*Please excuse me for not citing my source. on my tat.   Each letter adds to the cost.  Plus, it hurts.

@barbmurck YOU have a great summer, my friend.  I'm sure all of our CANVAS problems will be solved when we return in the fall.  Yes, I am.

[barbmurck]

It's really mysterious why this hasn't been done yet. I don't understand it.

[zamiya]

i need some answer for my student