Cardinal Quiz Converter Documentation

Important: The following tool has not been launched yet and is currently in development. Documentation and notes on functionality are subject to change.

The Cardinal Quiz Converter is a simple tool that converts quizzes written in Markdown-based plain text into QTI format. This format can be imported directly into Canvas Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes, though some features behave differently between the two.

Supported Question Types

Multiple Choice
True/False
Multiple Answer
Numerical
Short-Answer (Fill in the Blank)
Essay
File Upload

Quiz Title and Description

Formatting

Quiz title: Addition Quiz
Quiz description: A quiz to test basic addition.

Considerations for Titles and Descriptions

Titles and descriptions are optional. If omitted, the quiz is imported as "Quiz" with an empty instructions box.
Titles and descriptions must include a colon immediately after (Ex. "Quiz title:" and "Quiz description:")
Duplicate imports without a title will not be numbered (e.g., multiple imports result in quizzes named "Quiz").
Question numbering does not matter. A question formatted as 2. or 5. still imports correctly.

Creating a Question

A question is created by a line that starts with a number followed by a period and one or more spaces or tabs ("1. "). Possible choices are created by lines that start with a letter followed by a closing parenthesis and one or more spaces or tabs ("a) "). Numbers and letters do not have to be ordered or unique. The correct choice is designated with an asterisk ("*c) ").

Example:

1. What's 1+1?
*a) 2
b) 8
c) 4
d) 6

Title: Q2 Multiple Answer
Points 1
2. Which of the following are fish?
[ ] Seal
[*] Shark
[*] Marlin
[ ] Orca

Considerations when creating a question

While optional, if a title is provided, a colon must be included immediately after the word Title (Ex. "Title:")

Feedback Format

General Feedback

To add feedback that applies to the whole question, use ... followed by the feedback text.

1. What is 2 + 3?  
... General feedback: Remember to double-check your addition!

Correct and Incorrect Feedback

To add feedback that only shows for correct and incorrect answers, use + or - followed by the feedback text.

+ Correct! Great job adding these numbers.  
- Oops, that’s not right. Try again!

Answer-Specific Feedback

To add feedback that applies to individual answers within a question, use ... followed by the feedback text in between choices.

a) 6  
... Feedback: This is close, but not quite correct.  
*b) 5  
... Yes, that’s the correct answer!

Considerations for Feedback

Only Multiple Choice supports per-answer feedback in both Classic and New Quizzes.
Multiple Answer, True/False, Essay, and File Upload questions allow feedback per question in Classic Quizzes but NOT in New Quizzes.
Numerical and Short Answer feedback causes a QTI conversion error.
New Quizzes does not import exact numerical answers correctly when using Margin of Error.

Multiple Choice Question

Format

What is the capital of Japan?  
*A) Tokyo
B) Beijing
C) Seoul
D) Bangkok

Considerations for Multiple Choice Questions

Only one correct answer is allowed.
Supports per-answer feedback in both Classic and New Quizzes.
No duplicate choices are allowed.

Multiple Answer Question

Format

Which of the following are prime numbers?  
[ * ] 2
[ * ] 3
[ ] 4
[ * ] 5
[ ] 6

Considerations for Multiple Answer Questions

Multiple Answer feedback only works in Classic Quizzes. New Quizzes ignores it.
Each question must have at least one correct answer.

Numerical Question

Format

What is π rounded to four decimal places?
= 3.1416

What is a value between 10.5 and 12.0?
= [10.5, 12.0]

What is the square root of 2?
= 1.4142 +- 0.0001

Considerations for Numerical Questions

New Quizzes does not import exact numerical answers properly when using Margin of Error.
Feedback for Numerical questions causes a QTI conversion error.
Canvas Classic Quizzes supports "Answer in Range" and "Answer with Precision."

Short-Answer (Fill-in-the-Blank) Question

Format

What is the capital of France?  
*Paris

Considerations for Short-Answer Questions

Short Answer imports as "Open Entry" in New Quizzes.
Dropdown and Word Bank options in New Quizzes require manual configuration.
Feedback causes a QTI conversion error in both Classic and New Quizzes.

Essay Question

Format

Describe the significance of the Renaissance in European history.  
___

Considerations for essay questions

New Quizzes supports correct and incorrect answer feedback, but QTI only allows general feedback.
Only general feedback is supported.
Feedback per response type will cause a "Conversion failed" error.

File Upload Question

Format

Submit your lab report as a PDF file.
^^^

Considerations for file upload questions

New Quizzes supports correct/incorrect feedback for File Upload, but QTI does not.
Only general feedback is supported.
Multiple uploads per question are not allowed.

Advanced Features

Question Groups

A question group contains multiple questions, and only a specified number of these are randomly selected and used each time a quiz is taken.

Format:

GROUP  
pick: 2  
points per question: 1  

1. Question 1  
*a) True  
b) False  

2. Question 2  
*a) True  
b) False  

END_GROUP

Considerations

The number of questions from the group that are used is specified with "pick:". If this is omitted, it defaults to 1.
The points assigned per question are specified with "points per question:". If this is omitted, it defaults to 1.
All questions within a group must be worth the same number of points.
Canvas supports question groups, but they must be manually reviewed after import.

Customizing Quiz Behavior

Available Options

Additional quiz options can be set immediately after the title and description. These all take the values true or false. For example, "shuffle Answers: true" could be on the line right after the quiz description.

shuffle answers: Randomizes answer choices.
show correct answers: Displays correct answers after submission.
one question at a time: Displays one question per page.
can't go back: Prevents students from returning to previous questions.

Format:

Quiz title: Addition Quiz  
Quiz description: A quiz to test basic addition.
shuffle answers: true

Considerations

New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes handle settings differently.
Always review imported quizzes to confirm that settings are applied correctly.

Preview and Testing Notice

Always preview your quiz in Canvas after importing to ensure proper formatting. If issues arise:

Check for unsupported feedback types.
Verify numerical question formats.
Ensure question groups and code-generated questions are imported correctly.