[New Quizzes] Preview of generated variables in formula questions display proper number of trailing zeros

[peter_beyersdor]

In the formula questions, you can select the number of decimal points a number should have, but in the preview of the generated solutions it will display with fewer decimal points if there are trailing zeros.  For example a variable set to a range of 1-10 with 1 decimal point might display as 3 instead of 3.0. The actual quiz question seems to render the variables with the proper number of decimal points, but not the preview.   If you are being careful with significant digits, this can lead to concern that your intent might not be properly conveyed in the question.   I'd like it to force the number in the preview to have the specified number of digits, padding with zeros if necessary, as it does when rendering the actual question in the quiz.

[peter_beyersdor]

After some testing I now see that the canvas quiz does behave this way.  The preview of the generated solutions shown in the question editor, however, does not.

[Stef_retired]

@peter_beyersdor Would you like to edit the idea to change it to a request for zeros to display in the generated solutions in the question preview? (For context, the documentation for formula questions in New Quizzes is How do I create a Formula question in New Quizzes? - Canvas Community)

Thanks.

[professorhoke]

Good grief. The belief that Canvas does not display trailing zeros to students is a HUGE concern on discussion boards in the chemistry instructor community. I know that the zeros are missing in the list shown in the question editor, but I was certain that these zeros were missing when grading student quiz questions. Apparently I imagined this last fall? As did a large number of my peers? Or was there a real trailing zero bug at some point that was somehow fixed and no one knew?

End users are still implementing programming tricks in formula questions to circumvent this apparent issue (i.e, building numbers using integers and decimal place division). And apparently we don't need to do this? I would be happy if this wasn't just so completely ridiculous.

Yes, Canvas should display the requested number of decimal places, including trailing zeros, everywhere the number appears. It would also be a huge help if the Formula question documentation showed an illustrative example that had places past the decimal (it does not).

It is very difficult for instructors to figure out what is going on Canvas when Canvas won't be consistent, and the documentation lacks examples that show the use of settings.