Apps and Tools / Canvas / Tips · April 13, 2021

eyeglasses upside down on a table

Using Rubrics on Quizzes in Canvas

This post focuses on how to manually add a rubric to a Quiz in Canvas. The difficulty in writing a post like this is giving clear directions of how to do this in Classic Quizzes versus New Quizzes. We’ve tried to do that here, but if you run into issues or need more help, leave a comment and we’ll be happy to clarify and update.


Ever wondered about all the different tools with the quizzes option in Canvas? See the different videos below to help you review what those tools and options are as well as other tips and tricks with the quizzes in Canvas.

There are 2 options for giving a quiz in Canvas. You have standard (Classic) Quizzes and New Quizzes. Both options are discussed and demonstrated below:

Classic Quizzes

Classic quizzes option: This video will review the standard quizzes option available in Canvas as well as how to see quiz statistics and the question bank.

New Quizzes

New quizzes option: This video will review the new quizzes options available in Canvas. This video will also talk about the item banks in new quizzes and how to take a standard quiz and turn it into a new quiz.

Quizzes also has a few other functions we wanted to inform you about.  You are able to add rubrics to quizzes, and can align outcomes to questions and question banks check out how below: 

Add a Rubric to a Classic Quiz

Yep, you can also use a rubric in a quiz.  In this video, you will learn how to use a rubric within a quiz.

Open a quiz and use the three-dot menu at the top right to click on Show Rubric. Then, click on Add Rubric. If you already have a rubric you want to use, you can open it by clicking on Find a Rubric in the editor.Find a Rubric

For more help on creating and using Rubrics, you can take a look at the Canvas help documents or at our PD session on using Canvas for feedback.

Adding Outcomes to New Quizzes

Here is a quick video clip to demonstrate how to add outcomes to New Quizzes. To start, click on the Outcomes button in the New Quiz editor. When you click on the box to align outcomes, you’ll get this menu:

Select Outcome

The Attached Outcomes page displays course-level outcomes. You can also view account-level outcomes if they have been added to the course.

To attach an outcome to your quiz question, browse outcomes using the Outcome Picker [1]. You can also search outcomes by typing in the Search Outcomes field [2].

Click the checkbox next to the outcome you want to attach [3]. While you can click more than one outcome, remember it is best practice to align one question with one outcome so you can directly measure student understanding. By selecting multiple outcomes, you cannot identify single misconceptions for reteaching.

At the top, you’ll see a list of all selected outcomes [4]. To remove a selected outcome, click the Remove icon [5] or deselect the outcome checkbox.

To apply your selected outcomes, click the Align Selected button [6]. The outcome will now be measured based on student quiz results. Try to have several questions over the same outcome to improve the reliability of the report you’ll receive from Canvas.

Looking Over Outcome Details

Each Outcome has several pieces of information. You can review this before you link it to a quiz question to make sure you’re linking your question to the correct Outcome.

View Outcome Details

The details of an outcome include outcome ratings [1] and mastery level [2]. To return to the assessment, click the OK button [3].

Note that Outcomes scored in New Quizzes do not update in the Learning Mastery Gradebook. You can see a summary of results in the Reports tab of the New Quiz editor.

More Resources

As we mentioned at the top of the post, we already have several blog posts and videos on using Quizzes in Canvas. Here are some you may also find helpful:


Eyeglasses flickr photo by subsetsum shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license