Creating a Microsoft Forms Quiz in Canvas and Embedding it in PowerPoint 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, embedding the quiz in a PowerPoint presentation for live classroom engagement, and syncing grades back to Canvas. 

Important: 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. 

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

Environment

Canvas 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. Embed the quiz into a PowerPoint presentation
4. Deliver the quiz during lecture
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)"
3. Select Collect Responses.
4. 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. 
5. Copy the link to the quiz. This option appears on the top right of the menu window.  

Embed the Quiz in PowerPoint

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation, using a new or existing presentation.
2. Add a new slide where the quiz should appear. 
3. Select Insert and then Forms (or Add-ins in the browser version) .
   1. To access Add-ins, navigate to the Home menu in PowerPoint. 
   2. At the far right of the menu bar, select Add-ins. 
   3. Search for Forms for PowerPoint. When displayed. select Add.
4. Paste the previously copied link .
5. Select Present for Interactive Meetings.
6. Adjust the placement of the form on the slide as needed. 

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.  

Deliver the Quiz During a Lecture

1. Start your PowerPoint presentation.
2. Navigate to the slide containing the quiz. 
3. Students can join the quiz by scanning the QR code or selecting the link displayed on the slide. Students must be signed in with their institutional account. 
4. As students submit responses, presentation mode will display the number of responses received. 
5. You may choose to show or hide correct answers during the presentation. 

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. 

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.