Canvas

When creating an assessment, you can create an Essay question in New Quizzes. In an Essay question, students are required to enter a text response. You can also add word count, word limit, spell-check, and Rich Content Editor options for students’ essay responses.

You can also add grading notes to an Essay question. Grading notes will display next to the question as a reference to help you grade student responses.

You can also duplicate Essay questions to create a new question.

Add Question

To create a question, click the Add button anywhere in the assessment.

Add Essay Question

Click the Add Essay button.

Add Question Title and Prompt

In the Question Title field [1], add a question title. Question titles are optional and are not visible to students.

In the Prompt field [2], add the prompt for the Essay question. You can use the Rich Content Editor to format and add content to your prompt.

Set Question Options

You can enable various tools for students to use when answering an Essay question. To allow students to use an on-screen calculator, click the Show on-screen calculator checkbox [1]. When you select this option, you can choose either a basic or scientific calculator [2]. The basic calculator displays numbers and basic math functions (add, subtract, multiply, divide). The scientific calculator displays more options for advanced calculations.

The Rich Content Editor is enabled for students by default. To disable the Rich Content Editor, click the Rich Content Editor checkbox [3].

To enable spell-check, click the Spell-check checkbox [4]. To enable word count tracking, click the Show Word Count checkbox [5].

To set a word limit for the Essay question, click the Set Word Limit checkbox [6]. You can set a minimum and maximum word limit for student answers [7].

Note: The on-screen calculator option is intended to be used while displaying one question at a time. If the assessment does not display one question at a time, students may be able to use the calculator for all questions.

Add Grading Notes

To add grading notes, click the Grading Notes tab [1] and enter your notes in the text field [2].

Align to Outcome

To align the question to an outcome, click anywhere in the Align to Outcomes section.

Add to Item Bank

To add the question to an item bank, click the Add to Bank link.

Note: After a question has been added to an item bank, it can only be edited in the item bank. You can still set unique point values and options in the assessment for an item bank question.

Add Point Value and Feedback

To customize the point value for the question, type the point value in the Points field [1] or use the arrows to increase or decrease the point value [2].

To leave feedback for students, click the Feedback icon [3].

Save Question

To save the question, click the Done button.