Canvas: Add a PDF or Calculator to an Exam for the Pollock Testing Center

 Article Intended For

This article is intended for Penn State faculty and staff who teach or manage courses in Canvas.

Introduction

You can add a PDF file or calculator to an exam (Quiz in Canvas) for use during testing at the Pollock Testing Center. Students will be able to access these resources during the entire exam, without opening additional web-browser windows.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Add a PDF file to a Canvas Exam Given in the Testing Center

To add a linked PDF file to an exam:

1. Open the Canvas course in which the exam exists, and upload the PDF to the course files.
2. Open the desired exam.
3. Add the PDF as a link under the Quiz Instructions area (Rich Content Editor).

To upload a PDF file to an exam:

1. Open the Canvas course in which the exam exists.
2. Open the desired exam.
3. Upload the PDF document under the Quiz Instructions area (Rich Content Editor).
4. Select Preview Inline when you come to the display options choices. This selection must be made for Testing Center quizzes.

NOTE: To avoid excessive scrolling on exams with more than a few questions, set the exam to display one question at a time. The exam instructions (which will contain the link to the PDF per step 2 above) will always be visible directly above the current question.

Recommended Wording for the Instructions Area of the Exam

The instructions area for the entire exam is located under the Details tab in the Canvas quiz. Add the following text to the instructions area:

The following questions may include a suggested PDF from the list below. Use this PDF to help answer those questions.

NOTE: You will not be able to download the PDF, so make sure to click on the preview file icon to the right of the PDF file name to preview the document. Click the minimize file preview link to reduce the display area of the PDF.

Link to PDF Title

Link to PDF Title

Etc.

Recommended Wording for each Question in the Exam

Add the following text to each question that requires the student to access a PDF:

To answer the following question, refer to [PDF title] from the list above.

Add a Calculator to a Canvas Exam

To embed a calculator into an exam:

1. Open the Canvas course in which the exam exists; then open the desired exam.
2. In the Quiz Instructions area (Rich Content Editor), click the Embed icon (see Figure 1).
   
   
   Figure 1: The Embed icon in the Rich Content Editor
   
   
3. In the Embed window, copy & paste the following embed code into the Embed Code field for the calcuator you wish your students to use:
   
   <p><iframe src="https://lat-apps.tlt.psu.edu/etesting/CanvasCalculator/v2/" width="420" height="500"></iframe></p>
   
   
4. Click the Submit button to confirm and close the Embed window.
   
   
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button.
   
   NOTE: To avoid excessive scrolling on exams with more than a few questions, set the exam to display one question at a time. The exam instructions (which will contain the link to the PDF per step 2 above) will always be visible directly above the current question.
   
   

Recommended Wording for the Instructions Area

The instructions area for the entire exam is located under the Details tab in the Canvas quiz. Add the following text to the instructions area:

The following questions may require the use of a calculator. You are only permitted to use the calculator in this area on this exam.

Recommended Wording for each Question

Add the following text to each question that requires the student to use the calculator:

To answer the following question, use the calculator in the instructions area above.

Links

Learn more about how to prepare an exam for the Pollock Testing Center.