With Canvas LMS announcing the transition from Classic Quizzes and deprecating its functionality, we’re seeing a lot of universities and colleges considering alternative solutions for the features that possibly won’t be a part of the replaceable New Quizzes.

In this article we’re looking at graded and ungraded surveys used by instructors in courses. We’ll offer a solution that works through two platforms which are likely already purchased and in-use at your institution. We’ll describe the option through our partner Qualtrics and our own Qualtrics LTI for Canvas, allowing instructors to embed surveys as Canvas assignments.

New Quizzes in Canvas

Although Canvas New Quizzes will be an improvement to Canvas users that are heavily relying on quizzing in Canvas, at this moment the surveys possibility is not implemented in New Quizzes. Survey possibility in Classic Quizzes will eventually be phased out. This means that instructors could lose the possibility to create surveys within Canvas and award points for participating in this survey. A missed opportunity! Because lots can be gained through surveys.

A good alternative would be to use the survey tool Qualtrics. While many universities and colleges already have Qualtrics (and Canvas) in place, we often see that there are some missed opportunities due to the lack of integration with Canvas. Possible other alternatives are to look into survey tooling or forms and paste links to these surveys in your Canvas course. Taking away the option to grade the surveys and in most of the cases asking your students to leave Canvas to complete the survey, which is bad for response rates. So ideally, students take surveys within their own Canvas environment which will have a positive impact on the survey response rates.

Qualtrics & Qualtrics LTI

Our goal with Qualtrics LTI is to make the surveys part of the learning experience in Canvas because it has several advantages. To name a few:

  • Qualtrics LTI for Canvas allows admins and instructors to embed Qualtrics surveys as Canvas assignments. These embedded surveys leverage Canvas assignment functionality and will allow instructors to grade surveys and review individual submissions using the Canvas Speedgrader. As a way to boost response rates, the Qualtrics LTI app can notify or remind students to take the surveys by sending preset Canvas announcements. All is done within the Canvas environment – the students will take the Qualtrics surveys within Canvas as part of their learning journey.
  • Allow staff to collect enriched data from Canvas. Custom data fields in Qualtrics surveys can be used to embed data that already exists in Canvas (information on students, courses, instructors, etc..). If it’s available in the Canvas API, it can be used in your Qualtrics survey. This means you can collect data without having to add it yourself or ask students to select this or fill it in.
  • Make use of the structure of your course by placing the surveys embedded as assignments in your modules and leverage Canvas functionality (e.g. working with prerequisites before a student progresses through the course).

For more tips on how to get the most out of Qualtrics surveys, check out the article; ‘7 ways to get the most out of your Qualtrics and Canvas’.

Want to get more out of your Canvas and Qualtrics?

In the past two year we’ve helped many educational institutions implement and adopt Qualtrics LTI for their student facing surveys. From Ivy league universities such as Wharton and Yale to colleges and RTO’s. Beyond the usage by instructors in courses, the Qualtrics LTI app can also be used for centralized survey distribution in Canvas (e.g. course/faculty evaluations).

If this has sparked your attention and when you’re curious to learn how other institutions are working with Qualtrics surveys in Canvas, reach out to our team here for a demo of the LTI app.