Printable / PDF-exportable quizzes

[seth]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

The Quiz Build page provides quiz printing options. For more information, please read through the  Canvas Release Notes (2021-08-21).

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As an instructor, I want to be able to export a Canvas quiz as a PDF. This would enable me to easily print quizzes for the purpose of accommodation, for allowing a given student to take a quiz outside the timeframe established for the quiz for all other students, etc.

transferred from the old Community

Originally posted by: Pacific Union College admins

Special thanks for contributions from: Betsy Walker, John Louviere

Community Team Note: This idea remains open for voting. A virtually identical idea was moved forward for consideration in March: https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/7285-exporting-quizzes-into-word-or-pdf-documents  Contrary to our customary practice, we are allowing both ideas to continue to move forward. Votes and feedback from both ideas will be evaluated.

[elisabeth_green]

Our faculty frequently ask for this as well, mostly for their own uses but sometimes for accommodations.

[anthonem]

I'll echo pmceachern​ in his request for the ability to also print out the answer key for a quiz.

[allison]

Hello Canvas Community!

Clearly, this is a much-wanted feature and though we can't commit to prioritizing this project during the next six months, it is something I want to explore deeply, with your help. I have two questions and an open invitation to get things started.

1. THE WHY

As you might expect, the first thing I need to understand is WHY Canvas users need to print quizzes. After reading comments from this thread as well as the old community, I came up with a starter list that looks like this:

As an instructor, I want a printed copy of a Canvas quiz so that:

1. I can have a hard copy to accommodate students with different needs (i.e. blind students, students with special needs).
2. I can have a low-tech alternative when the internet at my school goes down, my students forget their devices, or their computer malfunctions.
3. I can answer student questions during class without having to navigate to the quiz online.
4. I can have a paper backup in personal file just in case I lose access to Canvas in the future.
5. I can easily check quiz questions and answers against the sources I used to author the quiz.

As an instructor, I want to print a student quiz submission so that:

1. I can share student work samples with my administration when required (i.e. accreditation, end-of-term documentation, individual education plans, IEPs).
2. I can review the quiz results with my student on paper.

What I'd like to do next is publish a short survey along these lines so I can get a handle on which of these use cases are most common. Before I do though, I could really use your help refining these two lists, either by restating suggested scenarios, suggesting I delete unimportant scenarios, or adding new ones I haven't captured here. Please leave your suggestions on this thread or feel free to email me: allison@instructure.com I plan to publish a public survey on this thread by the end of May.

UPDATE: Based on user feedback, I have created a survey to gauge the frequency of three different use cases among our active community participants.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE "WHY" SURVEY

2. THE HOW

My second question relates to the degree to which the printed quiz needs to be editable or "outputable" in different formats. Some of your comments seem to suggest that there is a need to edit and format quiz questions, print quizzes with (or without) correct answers, print standalone answer keys, and even print entire question banks. Help me understand what your needs are by answering the following 3-question survey:

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE "HOW" SURVEY

3. NEXT STEPS

With the help of our awesome Community Team, I've just launched a Canvas Focus Group dedicated to discovering more about the Quiz Printing problem. Our goal is to learn more so that we can address your most important needs simply and cleanly-- you know, the Canvas way!

So let's get this Canvas Quiz Printing Party started! I look forward to your responses and to collaborating with those of you who decide to participate in the focus group. USUAL DISCLAIMER: there is no guarantee that we will build this feature, but 200+ votes is a very compelling reason to explore our options.

Have a great weekend all.

[litao_wang]

The printable feature is highly preferred!

[powellj]

Thanks for the survey, Allison!

I did complete the survey, but wanted to also share here one of our reasons for needing this option. In several of our Divisions, the faculty are required to have a copy of their final exam on file at the Division Office. If the test is pulled from a Question Bank, all possible questions must be included, and the correct answers must be indicated.

Although we do also have a need at times for a printed copy for student accommodations, it only comes up once in a while, whereas the Division office requirement happens to all faculty each semester (or whenever their final exam changes).

[curtain]

We have this same need in several areas.  It seems like such a simple thing to need as well and so our users are rather flummoxed when they can't figure out how to do it

[scottdennis]

Hey Scott,

It seems simple on the surface but I can assure you that it gets complicated very quickly as you start thinking about how to make all the different question types and answers render in a printable format.  I'm not an engineer, not even close but this much has rubbed off on me.

[curtain]

Sorry  @srsanborn   I was trying to be clear with my language but obviously didn't hit my mark.    I agree, the formatting issues and the styling issues to make for usable prints are far from trivial.  That is one of the things that I actually do for a living with my work team besides admin-ing the LMS so I am very aware of the nuance and difficulty of this.

My point was it seems like such a simple thing to need.   I was trying to indicate that most of our users come to a Quiz expecting to be able to easily find a print button and just click it and be done and are surprised when they are not able to.  I then tell them, same as you, that it is less easy to implement than it is to conceive of a 'simple print of my exam'

[scottdennis]

Oh, I get your point now, Scott.  Thanks for the clarification.

[pmceachern]

I'll echo that. I totally understand that it is not a quick implementation. The biggest issue is that faculty ask "How can I export my quiz to a PDF/how do I print my quiz in a nice format?" They don't ask if it's possible. To most, this seems like an obvious feature and many are surprised (and unhappy) that it is not a feature.