Creating a Microsoft Forms Quiz in Canvas and Using It for Live Engagement

Description

The Microsoft Education integration enables instructors to create Microsoft Forms quizzes directly within Canvas assignments and sync grades to the Canvas gradebook. 

This article provides instructions for creating a Forms quiz within the Microsoft Education integration in Canvas, deploying that form via multiple options, and syncing grades back to Canvas. 

Important Notes: 

  • To use gradebook synchronization in Canvas, quizzes must be created through the Microsoft Education integration within Canvas. Quizzes created directly in Microsoft Forms (outside of Canvas) will not support grade syncing. 
  • If you opt to use the Forms Add-In tool in PowerPoint, use your own device whenever possible. Classroom computers may not support all required Microsoft Forms and PowerPoint integration features due to differences in licensing and software configuration.

Use Cases: May be appropriate for opinion polling, attendance, beginning or end of class knowledge checks.

Environment

Canvas and Microsoft Forms in your web browser 

Microsoft PowerPoint (desktop application or web version) 

Solution

  1. Create and publish a Forms quiz in Canvas using Microsoft Education
  2. Access the quiz in Microsoft Forms
  3. Deploy the Quiz based on Instructional Use
  4. Display Results of the Quiz (if desired)
  5. Sync grades to the Canvas gradebook
  6. Limitations

Requirements

  1. Microsoft Sync must be enabled in your Canvas course prior to creating assignments
  2. The Microsoft Education integration must be enabled in your Canvas course. 
  3. Quizzes must be created within Microsoft Education in Canvas to enable grade sync. 

 

Create a Forms Quiz Using Microsoft Education

  1. In your Canvas course, select Assignments from the course navigation menu.
  2. Using the kebab (three dots) menu to the right of the +Assignment button, select Microsoft Education.
  3. Select Forms Quiz in the Assignments section.
  4. Select +Add quiz.
  5. Enter a title. If Copilot appears on screen first, you can close it to manually add in a title and description. 
  6. Select Quick start with to open question types. 
  7. After selecting question type and populating the question content, be sure to add associated points. 
  8. Adjust quiz settings as needed using the cog icon in the bar menu. You may choose to automatically display results after submission or to hide results until they are reviewed manually. 
    1. Note: If you plan to review questions or discuss answers during a live lecture, consider hiding results until you are ready to display correct answers in PowerPoint. 
  9. Select Done.
  10. Select Save.

Publish the Assignment

  1. Select Publish to make the new assignment available to students. You can publish by selecting the Prohibited icon (circle with a slash through it) to the right of the assignment name.

Access the Quiz in Microsoft Forms

  1. Navigate to https://forms.microsoft.com.
  2. Open the quiz created in Canvas
    1. You will see two quizzes with the same name, the one created for your course will have the course name in parentheses. Example: "Week 5 Quiz (BIOS 1010)"

Deploy the Quiz based on Instructional Use

Students can access your Quiz through Canvas, but there are a variety of other ways to share your quiz. Most options will be found by selecting Collect Responses while viewing your Quiz on https://forms.microsoft.com. Some of these options can be used to support live polling, or knowledge checks during a lecture, or presentation. 

  1. After selecting Collect Responses, review sharing settings to ensure your students will be able to participate. We recommend preserving 'Only people in Ohio University can respond' for classroom activities to ensure single-sign-on is used to secure responses. 
  2. From here you can choose from the following options: 
    1. Copy the link to the quiz to distribute 
    2. Invite students to respond through an Outlook or Teams invitation 
    3. Download a QR code to share as part of a presentation 
    4. Embed the Quiz into a Canvas page using an iframe 
    5. Use the Present feature to display a QR code and live responses via browser 
      1. This will display student responses in a bar chart and update live as they are entered. This may be more appropriate when this feature is being used for polling, as opposed to a knowledge check. 

Display Results of the Quiz (if desired)

There are two options to display the results of your Quiz

Use the Forms Online "Present" Feature

  1. From your form, select Present (in the upper right corner). 
  2. This will display a QR code, and a bar chart of responses that updates in real time. It will not display the correct answer unless you select Show Correct Answer. 

Insert a form or quiz into PowerPoint

Directions for how to Insert an Existing Form or Quiz into PowerPoint are available from Microsoft. Be sure to use your existing Quiz so it will sync to the Canvas gradebook. 

Note: Question responses display in real time. If you do not want students to see peer responses use the enlarge QR code option until question can be displayed.  

Sync Grades to the Canvas Gradebook

  1. After the lecture, navigate to the assignment in your Canvas course.
  2. Identify students with the status of Turned In. 
  3. Select the student submissions by checking the box next to the student's name. 
  4. Select the Return and Sync button at the top of the screen to send grades to the Canvas gradebook. 
    1. Note: Students who have completed the quiz through Microsoft forms will appear with a status of Turned In. 
  5. Students who have not completed the quiz will have a status of Not Turned In. These students will not receive a score until the assignment is updated. 
  6. To assign a grade for non-participation, enter a score (such as 0) for students who did not complete the quiz.
  7. Select Return and Sync to update the Canvas gradebook for those students. 

Note: To use the grade sync feature, the course's roster must be synced. 

Limitations

Students can access the Forms quiz directly through the assignments area in Canvas, even if they are not present during the live lecture. Because the assignment is available within the course, students may complete the quiz outside of the intended class session. 

Making the assignment available for a limited time can help reduce participation from students who are not present. 

Interactive Forms embedded in PowerPoint require presentation mode to function fully and may not behave as expected if slides are shared outside of a live presentation. 

Classroom computers may not support all required Microsoft Forms and PowerPoint integration features due to differences in licensing and software configuration. Using your own device is recommended if you are using the Add-in tool to add a Quiz to PowerPoint. 

Pro Tip

To use this workflow for attendance, create a one-question quiz that requires a text entry code and share it only during class. 

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