Matching quizzes with images

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
23
42025

Thanks to Neal Johnson for developing this quiz question creation process.

Many teachers like to create quiz questions in which their students are asked to match images with identifying text. The multiple dropdown quiz question type will easily accommodate this type of question.

Here's how it's done:

(1) Although you can always add your images "on the fly," you'll probably find it easier to create the quiz question if you first upload the images you plan to use in the quiz question to your files area (either individually or as a bulk upload).

(2) Navigate to the Quizzes tab. You can create your new question in an existing quiz or in a question bank.

(3) After selecting Add Question, select the multiple dropdown type for your new question.

(4) Insert a table with two columns and however many rows you will need to accommodate the number of matching pairs you plan to have in your question.

(5) Add your pictures in the left column, resizing them as necessary; in the right column of the table, add the dropdown variables. To more closely simulate matching you can have all of the possible answers in the dropdown menus the same.

The draft view of your question will look something like this:

Matching-question-image-match.png

(6) Once you've inserted the images and the dropdown variables, you can select the correct matching choice for each image.

Matching-question-dropdown-for-answer-choices.png

(7) When you've finished designating the correct matching choices for all of the pairs, click the Save button to save the question.

This is how the question will look to a student taking the quiz:

Matching-quiz-multiple-dropdown-with-images-student-view.png

Alt tags: Before you publish the quiz, consider switching views to the HTML view to remove or change the "alt" text so students won't discover identifying information for the images by hovering their mouse cursors over them. (Need help with HTML? Read snugent​'s awesome blog, Rich Content Editor HTML Cheatsheet)

Extra credit: You can even create matching questions using video or audio in the left panel. For example, a music teacher might want students to identify a specific musical style by listening to a snippet from an audio file. You can insert those files or links to video in the left panel by using the Rich Content Editor to upload audio or video or by switching views to embed a video.

23 Comments
ewander
Community Contributor

Thanks, stefaniesanders! This is so helpful!

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Author

You're welcome,  @ewander ​; I'm glad to hear it! (BTW, how did you truncate the @ text without losing the link? I feel awfully clunky calling everyone by their full names.)

ewander
Community Contributor

I haven't tried it yet, but as soon as I do I will let you know. Smiley Wink

Chris_Hofer
Community Coach
Community Coach

stefaniesanders​, I just placed my cursor after your first name and started deleting your last name from the @ tag.

jward
Community Member

I came here for the amazing info in matching question types and using images and found a cool way to tag people in the posts here in the community. Nice work and thanks stefaniesanders​​,  @ewander ​, and  @Chris_Hofer ​. Loving this new community!

snugent
Community Champion

Awesome resource stefaniesanders​! Thanks for the mention of the HTML cheatsheet. I glad everybody finds it useful. Smiley Happy

eric_kuha
Community Novice

This is a terrible solution to this problem. It means that if I have 10 images that I want to match with their names, that I have to type all 10 options 10 times each! That's the purest absurdity. Just make it so that I can add images on a matching question! Are you kidding me with this?

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Author

 @eric_kuha ‌, it's been a while since I employed this solution myself, and it is unquestionably a workaround. It's one that was contributed by a Community member that I was inspired to share because I had already been using it successfully in my humanities courses for a few years. Since I wrote this resource, Canvas engineers have been hard at work on Priority: Quizzes.Next‌, which will be released any time now--and specifically, refer to the conversation around https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/2231-rich-content-editor-rce-for-matching-question-types , which is in Product 
Radar status. That project, when released, will bring with it many new quiz question types and a streamlined quiz authoring interface. I suggest you follow the priority page to stay informed of updates on the development process.

ellenbcutler
Community Contributor

I still am having trouble and this work around for those of us who need to match text to images is just HIDEOUSLY clunky. I can get the pictures into the table but that is ALL I can do and I need decent directions for the best. 

#1: In the right/text box: do you mean write "image 1" etc or put in the whole list of distractors/possibilities? Can you explain why?

#2: How do you connect the images to the distractors and the correct answer? I cannot put anything in the "enter answer variables above" box. It just keeps dropping to the same thing highlighted blue. Can't snip it but this is the box. Anyway, nothing on what I am seeing on my screen matches what your words say or your screen grab shows.

250537_pastedImage_1.png 

#3: Is there some way to make the images and distractors shuffle each time?

I don't find Canvas intuitive or in any way easy to use. I am old, stupid and technophobic and I need literal step by step directions written in very plain English with no jargon at all and all unavoidable technical vocabulary explained.

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Author

ellenbcutler, I completely agree that this is not a simple or intuitive solution to the matching question with images issue. It's not meant to be. It is a workaround one of our Community members devised that hacks the "multiple dropdown" quiz question type to simulate a matching question, and its primary audience is instructional designers (as you'll see, that's the only group to which I posted it).

The launch of Canvas's innovative new quiz engine is right around the corner, so I'd encourage you to have a look at what's underway at Priority: Quizzes.Next. I am convinced that you're going to find the new quiz tool quite a bit easier to use.

And yes, if you still want to give this a try: In the right hand cells of the table, you will need to type the actual word [image1] (and [image2] [image3]...), as is displayed in the first screenshot. The presence of that code will then activate the [Enter Answer Variables above] dropdown.

ellenbcutler
Community Contributor

I spent another hour on the problem and finally figured out something no one mentioned: has to be typed with no spaces. I went back and forth between instructions for a conventional drop down question and the workaround, trying to come up with an approach I had not yet tried, and that was the one.

It seems to me it would have been so SIMPLE for someone to say when the variable is written in the bracket that it had to be typed with no spaces. For those of us who are not digital natives and struggle with stuff—and especially those of us who are adjuncts, part-timers and/or substitutes and have neither the lead-in time nor the financial support to grapple with this kind of problem—these simple and direct explanations are worth their weight in gold. The absence of good, sequential, simple directions, on the other hand, are a source of ruinous frustration.

Thank you for your answer and technically your answer didn’t tell me anything I had not already gathered from your post and the Canvas instructions. Now if your response had mentioned that had to exclude spaces, then that would have been something else.

But I do appreciate the response.

Ellen Cutler

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Author

You're welcome, ellenbcutler‌. The "no spaces" guidance is included in the interface for the multiple dropdown question type.

250977_multiple-dropdown.png

ellenbcutler
Community Contributor

We are still having to use this workaround. Is there a reason this matching question has not yet been fixed to allow images? I know we art historians would find it enormously helpful to be able to use images in the matching format. I imagine that language arts/ESL teachers would to (match the word to the image) would too. So might science teachers (ID the biological process illustrated in the images). I truly hope Canvas gets going on this because I find it a HUUUUUUGE failure in the software.

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Author

ellenbcutler‌, to keep informed of updates in the development process for enhancements to this quiz question type, please follow the idea that is currently in Product Radar status, https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/2231-rich-content-editor-rce-for-matching-question-types . If you haven't yet voted on it, you can add your feedback there.

ejackson
Community Champion

Thanks for pointing her to my idea! 🙂

I am still keeping *fingers crossed* that this will actually happen someday. That would be so nice!

ellenbcutler
Community Contributor

I poked around the area where this idea was pitched in 2015—and I see that there are people from countless different specialties who need this capability. I don’t see that there is any progress on it. And I am still shocked at the absence urgency in the development end of Canvas on this matter. I totally admire Elizabeth (Online Learning) Jackson’s cheery optimism but I am stuck in dismay and irritation.

ellenbcutler
Community Contributor

I did check and this issue does not seem to be resolved as yet, meaning I still can't do a matching question with images and have to resort to the time-consuming and problematic work-around. Just sayin' I'd really like this kind of question (matching with images) to become a higher priority. I think there are a lot of Canvas folk who would be much please to finally be able to do this.

michelle_fourne
Community Member

I was excited when I saw this post. The procedure is a little tedious, but for the small number of images I want to use, it seemed perfect.  So I set up one question with 6 images.  It appears perfectly, but when I preview and take the quiz, and it is graded, it thinks that I am only answering partially.  I can't for the life of me figure out what i'm doing wrong. If i share this to the Canvas Commons, can you take a look at it and tell me what I'm doing wrong?

ellenbcutler
Community Contributor

@MichelleFoumet, I am really interested in this--and as someone who struggles with all things digital, I couldn't figure out how to find what you put in Canvas Commons. (I admit, I have never prior to this tried to go there. Anyone who can offer guidance is welcome to do so.)

I use image-matching incessantly because I teach art history. The first thing that pops into mind is math. Does the number of matching items (six) mesh mathematically with your quiz? For instance, I tend to use ten questions or at least some number that goes evenly into 100. My most comment grade for such a question is 10 or 20 points out of 100 for the whole quiz.

The other thing is that when I preview the quiz I take the whole thing, every single question. That gives me a sense if my math is working out.

It honest sounds like an arithmetic problem but I just don't know. I would be happy to look at the question if I can figure out how to get into commons. Good luck!  Ellen 

pecchiog
Community Participant

This is super clever. Thank you!

reinoud_verhaeg
Community Member

I was using this method before, but now i am using the new quizes, this option is no longer valid...

Is there any way to match images to words atm?

MBStone
Community Participant

As a math teacher I need to have my students match vocabulary words with various key aspects of functions etc.  Using the work around is cumbersome and frustrating.  Having that many choices each time is overwhelming to students especially our IEP and 504 kiddos.  It's been 6 years of educators asking for this...what is the ETA?  

The_Viking
Community Participant

Seven years now!  My university chose to adopt Canvas over our previous Desire2Learn.  I had a matching question in D2L with images for the matches.  Canvas has no option and I think it is pretty absurd that 1) this was brought to the attention of Canvas 7 years ago (that's a long time!) and 2) clearly there are programmers/developers out there who can make matching questions with images since D2L has the technology.  Now I have a very large question for an exam this week that I'm going to somehow have to redesign because of lacking technology.