Option to Add Scrolling Textbox on Quizzes

[lane_worrall]

Our teachers love how easy it is to use the quizzes feature in Canvas.  One question/request we've had from many teachers is what the most effective way is to add a reading passage alongside comprehension questions.  Although there are some work arounds (e.g. adding a "text" question that doesn't count towards point total), there doesn't appear to be any way to add a scrolling text box that could appear beside the comprehension questions.  This feature would allow students to easily refer to the reading passage while answering questions without having to scroll up through previous questions to access the passage.  This is also a common layout for the reading comprehension sections of many standardized tests which our students are taking online.  Having access to the scrolling textbox on Canvas would give students another opportunity to become comfortable with this format.

Here is an image of what this might look like:

Does anyone currently have a workaround to achieve something similar in Quizzes?

 @ckelson ​  @james_grogan ​

[mpoole]

Hi!

Although this isn't what you were looking for, here's what I thought of.

I used  @G_Petruzella ​'s columns without tables code and added a portion of the text into teach question so that as they scroll down the page, students see the text on the left and the questions on the right.  But they are separated by the questions. 

Here's what it looks like:

Here's what my code looks like (using the regular answer spaces for the choices):

<div style="float: left; width: 50%;">

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...</p>

</div>

<div style="float: right; width: 40%;">This is the text of the question</div>

[mpoole]

I just got this message from  @G_Petruzella ​ , which may be helpful too.

Hi Melissa -

I love your solution to Lane's question! Since I'm not a member of the K12 group, I can't post there;

but I think you can add one more piece to the code you shared to capture the "scroll" functionality it sounds like Lane's looking for.

Add one more bit to your <div>:

style="overflow-y: scroll; height: 175px;"

This, combined with your initial code, gets awfully close to the original idea (though you're right, it still separates by question. I know no way to get around that.. 😛 )

Best,

--

Gerol

[darmstrong]

Hi, how did you get the answer choices on the right side? I am having trouble with that.

[mpoole]

They appeared there by themselves without any intervention on my part.  I am assuming it has to do with the length of the text?  But I am not a code expert (or even a code apprentice--I am a code knows-how-to-copy-and-paste-and-isn't-afraid-to-try-things).

[darmstrong]

Ok, I am in the same boat as you! Thanks

[darmstrong]

Melissa, where exactly did you enter that second piece of code that allows for scrolling?

[mpoole]

<div style="overflow-y: scroll; height: 175px; float: left; width: 50%;">

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...</p>

</div>

<div style="float: right; width: 40%;">This is the text of the question</div>

[darmstrong]

Thank you so much!!

[jordan]

 @lane_worrall ​ I think this would be a great feature idea request if you have not already created one! You can add this as a feature idea, here: Canvas Feature Ideas

I've tinkered with the suggestion from  @mpoole ​ with  @G_Petruzella ​ suggestion. While that may be a good solution if you only want to have one question appear to the right of the passage of text, I cannot see this working when you have several questions that refer to the passage of text.

I think, in the meantime, that your observation about having a passage of text and some follow up questions below is the best workaround for now.

• Create a question type of "Text (no question)" and add your passage that you want students to read.
• Then add your questions below as separate questions.
• You could use some kind of text/visual indicator to show the students which of the following questions are associated with the passage.
• For organization and randomization you might want to put all questions associated with the passage in a question group. Then Canvas will randomize all of these associated questions.
• Click the image to the right to see a full size view of this approach.