[New Quizzes] Ability to add random "groups of questions" to a quiz.

[mahola]

It would be nice if teachers could create groups of questions and then assign a set of these groups at random to students.  This is different from the current arrangement with question groups because those are for a random batch of questions (not a random batch of groups of questions).

We tried to use the Stimulus question type as described below, but it seems that Stimulus questions behave differently than other questions in item banks.  From the random question guide "Note: When you add stimulus content to an item bank, questions attached to the stimulus content are not automatically added and must be added to the item bank manually. Likewise, when you add stimulus content to a quiz from an item bank, attached questions are not automatically added."  So we weren't able to add random stimulus questions to a quiz.

Here is the workaround that wasn't succesful:

Create a New Quiz with the steps in this guide https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-create-a-quiz-using-New-Quizzes/ta-p/11...

Create 10 Stimulus Questions each having 5 questions attached to them. Stimulus typically are used to have a historic picture or some subject matter, then ask a group of questions related to the topic. However, you could create a Stimulus and if the subjects are not related just write in "Question Combo 1" or something similar. Here is the guide to stimulus questions https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-insert-stimulus-content-in-New-Quizzes/...

Add the 10 stimulus questions to an Item Bank with the steps in this guide https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-add-content-to-an-item-bank-in-New-Quiz...

Create the New Quiz that you want students to take.

Add 3 random stimulus questions from the item bank with the steps in this guide https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-add-all-items-or-a-random-set-from-an-i...

[titanprof]

In the New Quiz format, randomization seems to work only at the individual item level.  This is still the case even when items are attached to a stimulus.

It would be very helpful to be able to randomize groups/sets of questions (e.g., you have 3 sets of 5 related questions that go together --> you can have Canvas randomly pick one of those 3 sets, so students have the option of seeing set A, set B, and set C -- each containing 5 items that go together within set) rather than randomize only at the item level.

[slh73]

I completely agree! I just had a faculty member give me 3 versions of a quiz - each set up the way you indicate -- a stimulus and 10 questions. What he wants is to randomly assign a "question set" to students. While the stimulus is great if everyone is getting the same version of the quiz - it is useless for faculty that want to randomize exams. Looks like this has been a request for 2 years. 😞