Printing quizzes

[KarenWood]

Hi, is there a way to print out a quiz please, for, for example, proof reading? Not environmentally friendly but I need to check the details against a second database and a printed version would make this much easier. Thanks

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi @KarenWood ...

Depending on which version of quizzes you are using (current Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes), there are different ways to do this:

• Classic Quizzes -- Print Canvas Quizzes UserScript - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)
• New Quizzes -- How do I print a quiz in New Quizzes?

Hope this helps a bit!

[jbruschke]

NOT a solution.  I exported, uploaded to respondus, copied to new format, and all failed.   Campus tech support has no clue.  This is NOT useful as something you can print and give to a student and NOT useful as something you can print and proofread.  Even if you manage through some act of superheroism to get a copy to a .pdf the formatting is all weird and the questions won't have lettered answers.  Totally useless.  It's easier to retype the entire thing.  

[chriscas]

Hi @jbruschke,

Do you know if you're currently using Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes in Canvas?  I ask because as @Chris_Hofer noted in the reply a few years ago, New Quizzes do have native print options build in to Canvas ( How do I print a quiz in New Quizzes? - Instructure Community - 478615 ).  I haven't really seen any issues with the formatting of the printed New Quizzes on any of the sample quizzes I've tried, though your observation about no a, b, c, d designation for multiple choice/answer questions is correct (Canvas doesn't use those answer choice designations anywhere, including the printed copy, probably for consistency).

Could you possibly provide a screenshot of a print version that has weird formatting so we could see what you're experiencing?

Look forward to hearing back from you!

-Chris

[jbruschke]

It's a much deeper foxhole than that.  Yes, I can try the QTI export into either new quizzes or respondus but the export itself doesn't include the questions.  I have spent an hour on the chat line only to get disconnected without a solution.  But beyond that, should I have to covert an exam twice just to get a hard copy?  And what use is a hard copy exam if the answers aren't lettered or numbered in some way?  With the advent of ChatGPT it has become VITAL to have a hard copy of the questions so they can't be cut-and-pasted (nobody thinks the lockdown browser does much).  

Attached is what it looks like -- no questions.

But more than anything else, the entire quiz interface is PAINFUL and printing a hard copy is so basic a function I really can't invest my time in a system this difficult to use for something so easy.  I will definitely be switching my assessments to a 3rd part provider, which I basically have to do anyway with respondus.  

[chriscas]

Hi @jbruschke,

I'm a bit confused because you're mentioning exporting to QTI and Respondus, which are not needed at all to print a copy of a quiz from New Quizzes, the functionality is built right in to Canvas as a menu option and will take you to a print screen where you can directly print to a printer or save a PDF copy via your web browser..  If you're using Classic Quizzes in Canvas though, there is no native print functionality there, and would need other methods to print.

The output of the print functionality in New Quizzes should look something like this, showing all of your questions, images, answer options, etc:

The copy you provided looks completely different, so it seems like perhaps you used a different method to generate it than what Canvas had built-in?

-Chris

 

[jbruschke]

I want to print a classic quiz.  To do that, I have to convert it to a new quiz, correct?  But none of the exports work, so I'm stuck.  But even if I can get past that, my current workflow is: Write the quiz in a text editor, upload to respondus or maybe canvas, export to new quizzes, print, then edit printed output.  That's an awful lot more work than "write the exam in Word" used to be.  It's much clunkier than every alternative (Qualtrics, google form, etc.).

There's a reason that classic v. new quizzes is still a choice, and it's not on the user end.