Allow double-spacing for essay responses in new quizzes

[SACollins21]

The text boxes that students write essay responses in are not reader-friendly.  It is difficult for an English teacher who has to read hundreds and hundreds of essays!  Students should be able to have access to tools, like double-spacing, to increase readability for all.

[Gabriel33 · Accepted solution]

That seems like something that would be better fixed on the grader's end.

While with printed submissions there was no alternative to have the student make the text double-spaced, why should you depend on the student remembering to apply an extra setting for electronic submissions?

Unfortunately, browsers don't have a way to do that unless you use "reading mode". Both Google and Firefox allow you to change line spacing within reading mode, I imagine other browsers do too (click the earlier browser links for instructions).

A userscript may be a better choice, to run on your end, like the one below (change the match to apply only to your institution's Canvas). Please note that it is likely inefficient, and might slow down your browser, and you might want to double check any code from a stranger before running it on your computer.

Spoiler

// ==UserScript==
// @Name         Double Space Text in Div
// @namespace    http://tampermonkey.net/
// @version      1.0
// @description  Set double line spacing in a specific div
// @author       -
// @match        https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/*/quizzes/*
// @grant        none
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
    'use strict';

    function applyDoubleSpacing() {
        const elements = document.querySelectorAll('.user_content.quiz_response_text.enhanced');
        elements.forEach(el => {
            if (!el.dataset.doubleSpaced) {
                el.style.lineHeight = '2';
                el.dataset.doubleSpaced = 'true';
            }
        });
    }

    window.addEventListener('load', () => {
        applyDoubleSpacing();

        const observer = new MutationObserver(applyDoubleSpacing);
        observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
    });
})();

[NoahBoswell]

Hey there @SACollins21 ,

Thank you for posting on the Instructure Community!

I recommend checking out the different options that the RCE (rich-content editor) has to see if anything there would be useful for you to help your students make their submissions more organized.

However, if there is a feature there that doesn't exist that you would like to submit a feature idea for, I recommend submitting a feature idea by clicking here! This will allow your idea to be considered for future development and implementation inside of Canvas.

Best,
Noah

[Gabriel33 · Accepted solution]

That seems like something that would be better fixed on the grader's end.

While with printed submissions there was no alternative to have the student make the text double-spaced, why should you depend on the student remembering to apply an extra setting for electronic submissions?

Unfortunately, browsers don't have a way to do that unless you use "reading mode". Both Google and Firefox allow you to change line spacing within reading mode, I imagine other browsers do too (click the earlier browser links for instructions).

A userscript may be a better choice, to run on your end, like the one below (change the match to apply only to your institution's Canvas). Please note that it is likely inefficient, and might slow down your browser, and you might want to double check any code from a stranger before running it on your computer.

Spoiler

// ==UserScript==
// @Name         Double Space Text in Div
// @namespace    http://tampermonkey.net/
// @version      1.0
// @description  Set double line spacing in a specific div
// @author       -
// @match        https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/*/quizzes/*
// @grant        none
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
    'use strict';

    function applyDoubleSpacing() {
        const elements = document.querySelectorAll('.user_content.quiz_response_text.enhanced');
        elements.forEach(el => {
            if (!el.dataset.doubleSpaced) {
                el.style.lineHeight = '2';
                el.dataset.doubleSpaced = 'true';
            }
        });
    }

    window.addEventListener('load', () => {
        applyDoubleSpacing();

        const observer = new MutationObserver(applyDoubleSpacing);
        observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
    });
})();

[StevenLankford]

Is there any way to manually set double spacing in the answer to an essay in New Quizzes? It is very inconvenient to check tightly typed text without indentation.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@StevenLankford ...

Unfortunately, I do not know of a way to set double spacing in New Quizzes.  Double spacing isn't the same on the web as it is within programs such as Microsoft Word.  Here are a couple postings I've found here in the Community which might help:

• Solved: Re: How to do double-spacing in text entry - Instructure Community - 592705
• Re: How to Make Text Entry Responses Double-Spaced... - Instructure Community - 632547

Sorry I don't have better news for you, but I hope these links will help in some way.