Forms

Overview

Google Sheets is an online program that allows users to create quick surveys or quizzes which are integrated with the Google Drive app as the central storage system. Like all Google applications, the easiest way to open the App is through the Google home page (www.google.com). In the top right hand corner, there will be an icon that I refer to as the Google waffle because it has three rows of three cubes resembling a waffle. This is a quick way to access any native Google app. It does not work for apps that are not created by Google.

Opening Google Forms

Clicking on the Google waffle, opens up a list of Google Apps that are available on your user account. If the app that you are looking for does not show up, it is possible that it is on a secondary page. Click on More at the bottom of the selection. Additional apps will display.

It is possible to rearrange the order of the Apps in a fashion that is more convenient for your usage. Simply drag the icon (click and hold on it with your mouse/trackpad) and move it to the desired spot. It is possible to move apps from the lower section to the upper section.

Open Google Forms by clicking on the icon. Another way to navigate to Google Forms is by typing the website in directly (forms.google.com). It is also possible to bookmark the Forms homepage as a shortcut.

Google Forms Start Screen

The Forms start screen will resemble the photo above (Google has modified the Forms home screen slightly recently). On the left hand corner, there are three horizontal bars. Clicking this will allow you to quickly navigate to other Google Apps such as sheets, slides and forms. Next to that is the Forms search bar which allows you to quickly find a previously created document simply by typing in the name or a keyword that might be contained in the document. On the right hand side of the screen is the Google Waffle similar to the Google home page. Two icons over from that is your Google Account avatar identifying the account that is being used. Below that are a variety of templates that can be used to create forms for various purposes. Clicking on the up and down arrows next to Template Gallery opens up additional templates. To create a blank document from scratch, click on the Blank document that has the '+' symbol on it. Below this section are a list of recent documents that have been opened (not shown). This list can be further filtered by owner or by action last performed and files can be portrayed in a list or a grid view.

Start by opening a blank form.

Forms Overview

The Google Forms page has a simple interface devoid of long toolbars and menus unlike most of the other Google Apps.

Start by creating a title for your form at the top part of the newly created form (highlighted in blue). This then becomes the default file name (top left hand corner) although a different name can be assigned manually. As with all google tools, changes are saved automatically after every change. Frequently used forms can be Starred making them easier to find.

On the top right hand corner is the very basic Forms Toolbar that applies changes universally to the entire form. The three tools available are:

1. Theme Options

2. Preview Form

3. User Settings

To the immediate right of the toolbar is the Send button used to distribute the completed form/quiz to participants.

To the right of every question is a toolbar that will customize that specific question. The current form is in the Question view. Clicking on the Responses tab will open up any responses that have been received for the form.

Forms Toolbar - Theme Options

Forms can be distinguished from one another through colour. If using Forms for quizzes, this may be an easy way to differentiate quizzes between subject areas. There are a variety of "stock" colour choices as well as the option to customize a colour using the palette tool. There is also the ability to distinguish between background colours or to upload a picture for the header as well as adjust the font style.

Forms Toolbar - Preview

The Preview button opens the form in a separate tab to show what the live form would look like. The previewed form is fully functional and users can test out the answers by clicking on them. Submitting the form will create a response.

Forms Toolbar - Settings

There are three separate tabs in the Settings box: General, Presentation and Quizzes:

The General Settings tab relates to user interaction with the distributed form/quiz. In this section, the owner has the option of collecting email addresses or making the quiz anonymous. If checked, there is the option of sending a receipt to the person completing the form notifying them of their submission. Note that there is no verification process to ensure that emails entered are actually legitimate or not.

The next option limits submitters to one response and therefore requires them to sign in using an email address. However, once again there is no validation process and it is possible to use an illegitimate email.

The last two options provide options after submission of the form: the first allows the submitter to edit their work afterwards and the last provides submitters to see the results.

The Presentation Settings tab allows users to configure what is viewed while the form is being filled out. The three options are:

choosing whether a progress bar is displayed while the form is filled
randomizing the order of the questions (to avoid memorizing answers)
providing a link to allow the respondent to complete another response

Finally, it is possible to configure the confirmation message that is shown once the form is submitted.

The Quizzes Settings tab allows the user to convert the form into a quiz by selecting the first button. This does two things:

It assigns points to correct answers.
It allows the quiz to be automatically corrected (based on an answer key)

Quizzes can be further configured so that the grade is either shown to respondents once they have submitted or at a later date (requires email registration). Finally, the quiz can be configured so that respondents can see questions that were missed, correct, and/or point values.

Further information on creating a quiz will be outlined further down in on this page.

Creating a Question

A form consists of a series of questions. Questions are relatively consistent in that they usually take the form of a question or a statement. However, question can be embellished by adding an image or a video to accompany it. The variety lies in the types of answers that can be selected. These include:

Short answer: requires the respondent to enter a few words or a sentence
Paragraph: requires the respondent to enter their answer in the form of a paragraph
Multiple choice: more than one answer is provided but respondents can only choose one
Checkboxes: multiple answers are provided and respondents check as many as they wish
Dropdown: somewhat like multiple choice except that answers appear in a dropdown list (respondents select one
File upload: Files will be uploaded to the form owner's Google Drive. Respondents will be required to sign in to Google when file upload questions are added to a form. Make sure to only share this form with people you trust.

*this answer style has additional options of only allowing specific file types (document, spreadsheet, PDF, video, presentation, drawing, image or audio), specifying how many files can be uploaded (1, 5 or 10), and the maximum file size (1mb, 10mb, 100mb, 1gb or 10gb). For this last option, the user may wish to change how much total storage can be uploaded to the form (total from all participants)

Linear scale: specify the range of the scale (e.g. 0 to 10) and as an option, label the limits of the scale. For example 0 represents pristine environment and 10 represents toxic environment.
Multiple Choice grid: rather than having a linear selection of answers, a multiple choice grid has rows and columns with labels for each row and column. Respondents select one answer on the grid.
Checkbox grid: much like above except that multiple answers are accepted
Date: the answer will be a specific date entered either in the month-day-year format or by selecting a date on a calendar (e.g. When did Canada gain independence?)
Time: As above except that the answer denotes a time entered in hour and minutes, AM or PM

Some questions have additional options attached to them. Specifically,

response validation: allows the user to generate a custom message if a specific criteria was met. The categories for response validation might be:
redirecting to a specific section based on the answer provided for a given question. For example, if the question asked for the age of the respondent, answering 0-15 might take respondents to section 2, ages 16-21 might take them to section 3, ages 22-30 might take them to section 4, and ages 31 and above might take them to section 5.
shuffling the order of answers to avoid memorizing or passing on of answers
limiting answer to one choice on the grid (multiple choice or checkbox grid)
including year and/or time (for date answers)
toggle between time or duration (for time answers)

At the bottom of each question there is the option of either duplicating the question or deleting it. There is also a toggle switch that makes the question either mandatory or optional to answer. On the top of the question is a movement symbol which allows reordering of questinos simply by dragging them to another spot. On the side of each question lies the question toolbar consisting of five actions:

Adding a new question (below the current question)
Adding a title/description to the question
Adding an image
Adding a video
Adding a section: a section can be used to separate groups of related questions. In a form, it could be used to direct respondents to more specific questions based on the answer provided for a given question.

Sending the Completed Form

When the form is completed, it can be sent to respondents in a variety of ways:

by Email address: specific individuals will receive the form
as a link: anyone who has the URL will be able to complete the form
embedded in a website as HTML code: anyone who goes to a webpage will see the form

Form Settings

Clicking the vertical ellipses in the top right hand corner of the Forms page will open up some universal options including:

Undo last action
Make a copy of the selected item
Move an object to the trash
Get pre-filled link of a completed form
Print form
Add collaborators: sharing option allowing others to add/edit the form
Script editor: advanced option of programming code to alter the form
Add-ons: third party enhancements
Preferences

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