How do I add a Qualtrics survey as a Canvas assignment?

Before you can add a Qualtrics survey as a Canvas assignment, it must be added to the Qualtrics LTI in UVACanvas. Details and steps can be found in How do I add a Qualtrics survey to UVACanvas? (opens new window).

Go to Assignments.

From within the course site:

  1. Select Assignments from the Course Navigation Menu (opens new window).
  2. Select +Assignment along the right-hand side of the screen.

Enter Assignment Name and optional description.

Since Qualtrics survey assignments can be graded or ungraded, the Assignment Name can be used to identify the intention for the assignment. For example, if you want to ask students for feedback in an ungraded survey, using the term "feedback" in the assignment name can indicate it is an ungraded assignment.

A clear assignment name will also help you quickly locate surveys when reviewing assignments in the Grades tool.

The description text is optional but can be used to provide context for the survey. For example, sharing with students that the survey is ungraded and all responses will be used for course improvements and adjustments moving forward may be helpful information when they consider their responses.

Note: Qualtrics LTI documentation recommends leaving the description box blank. This is for aesthetic reasons only and does not impact the survey experience in any way.

Set Points, Assignment Group, and Display Grade As settings.

The following Assignment settings can be adjusted:

  1. Points - The assignment must have a minimum score of one (1) point even if you will not be counting the score in the final grade.
  2. Assignment Group - It is recommended to create an assignment group for surveys, especially if you will be using ungraded surveys for course feedback.
  3. Display Grade as - The two recommended selection options are "Points" or "Complete/Incomplete." If you are included a grade with the survey completion, use the "Points" option. If you are not including a grade with the survey completion, use the "Complete/Incomplete" option.
  4. Do not count this assignment towards the final grade.  - Select this box if you do not want the points associated with the survey to count toward the students' final grades.

Select Submission Type.

For the Submission Type, select:

  1. External Tool and then
  2. Find to open the Configure External Tool selection window.

Select Qualtrics LTI.

Within the Configure External Tool window, scroll or search to find and select Qualtrics LTI from the list and then the Select button.

The Link Resource from External Tool window will show surveys you have added to UVACanvas through the Qualtrics LTI tool under the My surveys heading [1]. Details for adding a survey can be found at How do I add a Qualtrics survey to UVACanvas? opens new window).

You can use the Search surveys text box [2] to quickly locate a survey from the list.

Once you've located the desired survey, you must hover over and select the survey name [3]. Note: Selecting anywhere else in the cell will not allow you to proceed to the next step.

Confirm the survey.

The next window will display the selected survey name at the top [1]. If you need to select a different survey, select Replace survey [2]. Once you have confirmed the survey, select Next [3].

Select survey announcement/reminder notification options.

Note: The next steps vary depending on the status (disabled/enabled) of the survey announcements and reminders notification options. The default option is for both to be disabled. Both of these are optional settings and will not impact the assignment or the survey.

The above image shows the default setting for both survey announcements and reminders notifications to be in the disabled status [1]. To continue without enabling either option, select the Save button in the lower right-hand side [2].  Skip the step below and continue to Confirm Configure External Tool.

Enable survey announcement/reminder notifications. (optional)

You can enable one or both notification options [1].

  • Set an announcement for this survey - This will allow you to schedule a post in the Announcements tool within the UVACanvas course site. Only one announcement can be scheduled through this feature.
  • Set a reminder for this survey - This will allow you to schedule up to five (5) reminders to be sent via the Inbox tool within the UVACanvas course site. Note: A reminder will only be sent to those who have not completed the survey.

Once you have enabled on or both notification options, select the Next button [2].

Set Announcement notification configuration. (if enabled)

If you have enabled an announcement notification, complete the following steps:

  1. Select Set Announcement.
  2. Set the date and time to Post announcement to all participants in a course.
  3. Enter the Announcement title.
  4. Compose the Announcement message that will be sent to participants. Note: The Insert survey link button can be used to place the direct link to the survey Assignment within the message text. When selecting the button, the link will be placed at the location of the cursor.
  5. If you are only setting an announcement and not a reminder, select Save and proceed to Confirm Configure External Tool. If you are also setting a reminder, continue below BEFORE selecting Save.

Set Reminder notification configuration. (if enabled)

If you have enabled reminder notifications, complete the following steps:

  1. Select Set Reminder.
  2. Set the date(s) and times(s) to Post reminder to students who have not submitted yet. You can add up to five (5) reminders to be sent. Note: Reminder messages are only sent to the Canvas Inbox of students who have not yet submitted.
  3. Enter the Reminder title. This will be the message title seen by students when received in their Canvas Inbox.
  4. Compose the Reminder message that will be sent to students who have not completed the survey. Note: The Insert survey link button can be used to place the direct link to the survey Assignment within the message text. When selecting the button, the link will be placed at the location of the cursor.
  5. Select Save.

Confirm Configure External Tool.  

You will once again see the Configure External Tool window. To confirm the configuration settings you've just completed, select the Select button in the lower right-hand side of the window.

Select Submission Attempts options.

Set the Submission Attempts options:

  1. Allowed Attempts - This can be set to Limited or Unlimited. These settings apply to the Assignment rather than the survey itself. For example, if the LImited option is set for the Assignment, the survey settings can be
  2. Number of Attempts - This selection box will only appear if the Allowed Attempts has been set to Limited. Setting the number of attempts

Note: For most surveys, it is recommended to use the following combination of settings:

Below are the potential setting combinations, along with the resulting student experience.

Qualtrics LTI Setting UVACanvas Assignment Setting Student experience
Limit to 1 submission Limit to 1 submission Students can only submit once. 
Limit to 1 submission Limit to 2 (or more) submissions Students can only submit once. 
Limit to 1 submission Unlimited submissions Students can only submit once. 
Multiple submissions Limit to 1 submission Students can submit multiple times, but only the first submission will be recorded in UVACanvas. Additional submissions will only be recorded within Qualtrics. 
Multiple submissions Limit to 2 (or more) submissions Students can submit multiple times, but only the submissions up to the Canvas assignment limit (for example, 2) will be recorded in UVACanvas. Additional submissions will only be recorded in Qualtrics. 
Multiple submissions Unlimited submissions Students can submit multiple times with all submissions in both UVACanvas and Qualtrics. 
Update submission Limit to 1 submission Students can submit once in UVACanvas, but the Qualtrics Update submission setting will allow them to change the response. If a student opens the assignment again, the original response will be shown. Any updates to the original submission will result in an Error 404: This response has been updated and is not longer available message being shown in SpeedGrader. The latest response will be viewable in Qualtrics only.  
Update submission Limit to 2 (or more) submissions Students can submit twice in UVACanvas, with the second attempt submission overwriting the first submission due to the Qualtrics Update submission setting.  If a student makes a second submission, only that response will be viewable. If an attempt is made to view the original submission it will result in an Error 404: This response has been updated and is not longer available message being shown. If additional updates are made by the student, the Error 404 message will be shown when attempting to view the response in UVACanvas. The latest response will be viewable in Qualtrics only.  
Update submission Unlimited submissions Students can submit an unlimited number of times, but each new attempt will be considered an update in Qualtrics. This means all submissions will be recorded in UVACanvas, but only the latest update will be viewable. All other submissions will display the Error 404 message. The latest response will also be viewable in Qualtrics.

Set Assign options.

Confirm the dates and overrides from Qualtrics settings.

Save the assignment setup.

View the assignment details.

Once the assignment has been created, you will see the assignment overview page. The following are included on the page:

  1. Edit Assignment Settings - Selecting this will allow you to edit the main assignment settings.
  2. View Survey - Selecting this will open a preview of the survey
  3. Survey Details - To make any changes, open the Qualtrics LTI from the Account menu and select the survey. More information can be found at How do I view and edit Qualtrics LTI survey settings in UVACanvas? (opens new window).
  4. Survey Notifications - To make any changes to these options, you must first select Edit Assignment Settings