Note that Canvas calls all assessments (quizzes, tests, exams, knowledge checks, etc.) "Quizzes." Anywhere you see "Quizzes," you can use interchangeably with the assessment type of your choice.
Remember that "quiz" is the term used in Canvas for all assessments of this type, whether it is a test, quiz, exam, knowledge check, or something similar.
The easiest way to add questions to a quiz bank will depend on the size of the quiz and the types of questions you have. If the publisher of the textbook for your course offers a quiz bank, you can import those directly to Canvas (Lakeland University).
You can also use Respondus to import banks that you have as Word Docs (Eastern Washington University).
You can even transfer banks that you have from Blackboard and other sources! (College of Saint Rose)
Depending on your teaching and learning goals, assessment options include:
online exams and quizzes
student collaboration or group projects
discussion boards
written assignments, including papers
presentations, including video or animation
and more
As a reminder, CLT offers a variety of live and self-paced workshops on Canvas Assignments and Assessments. Consider attending a workshop to best use these tools (CLT Calendar) or contact CLT directly to request a consultation (CLT contact page).
When creating a Canvas quiz, you have options.
Under "Quiz Type," you can choose a traditional graded quiz, a practice quiz (ungraded, but students see how they would have scored), graded survey (graded as complete/incomplete, can be anonymous), or an ungraded survey (students do not receive feedback on their performance, can be anonymous).
You can choose to shuffle the answer choices for your quiz questions; note that Canvas does not have the option to add A, B, C, D or 1, 2, 3, 4 to the answer choices; instructors should take care when writing questions with this in mind.
You can also choose whether students are allowed multiple attempts, as well as which of the attempts will be kept, and when or if students will be able to see whether they got answers correct or incorrect, and whether you want them to see the correct answers.
You can also set time limits, and whether questions are shown all at once or one at a time.
Restrictions such as access codes can also be added; for instance, if you want students to take an assessment during a synchronous class period, you could give out the access code at the start of the class period with a time limit the duration of the period.
What quiz types can I create in a course? (Canvas Community)
What options can I set in a quiz? (Canvas Community)
Question Banks are a place to house questions that can be added to quizzes across courses or accounts. When you create a cumulative assessment (say, a mid-term or final exam that covers content from multiple tests), you can choose to pull a pre-set number of questions from specific banks.
For example, if there are 4 unit tests whose content is covered on your mid-term, you could have 5 questions from each of those banks pulled at random into your mid-term of 20 questions.
How do I create a question bank in a course? (Canvas Community)
How do I create a quiz with a question group linked to a question bank? (Canvas Community)
If you feel a closed-book, timed exam is important in your course, you can hold one in Zoom. All of your students will need to have access to a webcam (which could be their computer or even their phone). You can do this with a paper based test by having students upload clear photographs of their test papers to the Canvas quiz.
You can also use Respondus to turn a Word Doc version of your assessment into a Canvas Quiz.
Proctoring a Closed-Book Exam in Zoom (Harvard University)
Quizzes: Get your Paper Quizzes into Canvas (Salt Lake Community College)
You can copy individual Quizzes in one course directly into any active course in which you are enrolled. You can also send quizzes to other instructors at ODU. When you copy a quiz, any assets within the quiz, such as images or files, are included in the quiz copy.
Note: This does not work with quizzes using linked question banks; to do this, you must use the Course Import Tool.
How do I copy a quiz to another course? (Canvas Community)