The Social Poll tool allows you to embed polls or surveys in Canvas pages. Immediately after students respond, they can see how other students in the course responded. Here we show you how to set up a poll and choose advanced options.
A poll can be embedded anywhere Canvas supports the Rich Content Editor. While editing content:
Select Apps in the Rich Content Editor (the plug icon).
If the Social Poll is one of your most frequently used tools in Canvas, it will appear in the shortcut menu in the Apps list. If not, select ‘View All’, type ‘Social Poll’ in the search bar and select ‘Social Poll’ from the results.
Enter a question prompt.
Enter response options for the poll (remove options by select the X next to the option, or add new options by selecting + ADD OPTION).
Select the Save button.
A poll will be embedded in the content area.
Choose a Question Type
There are three kinds of Question Types that you can choose for your embedded Social Poll in Canvas. To change the Question Type, choose Show Advanced Options under your poll question.
Single Response is the default Question Type. People taking this poll can only choose one option.
When to use it
Single Response is used for a question with one definitive answer such as ‘What is the capital of Thailand?’, or ‘What is the result of the equation 2×2+3?’.
Tips
Try not to include multiple possible correct responses.
Clearly phrase a question to show that only one answer is possible, such as ‘Where is your favourite holiday destination?’ rather than simply ‘Where do you like to go on holiday?’.
Single Response is useful for quick ice breakers.
Example
Single Response
Single Response is the default Question Type. People taking this poll can only choose one option.
When to use it
Single Response is used for a question with one definitive answer such as ‘What is the capital of Thailand?’, or ‘What is the result of the equation 2×2+3?’.
Tips
Try not to include multiple possible correct responses.
Clearly phrase a question to show that only one answer is possible, such as ‘Where is your favourite holiday destination?’ rather than simply ‘Where do you like to go on holiday?’.
Single Response is useful for quick ice breakers.
Example
The Multiple Response Question Type lets users select more than one answer.
When to use it
Multiple Response is used for a poll question with many possible answers such as “Which of these electronic devices do you own?”; or “Which of these is not a heavy metal?”.
Tips
The Multiple Response Question Type has the additional option of “Number of Allowed Responses”.
Select how many answers users can choose.
Example
Multiple Response
The Multiple Response Question Type lets users select more than one answer.
When to use it
Multiple Response is used for a poll question with many possible answers such as “Which of these electronic devices do you own?”; or “Which of these is not a heavy metal?”.
Tips
The Multiple Response Question Type has the additional option of “Number of Allowed Responses”.
Select how many answers users can choose.
Example
Ranked Choice presents the questions with a draggable left-hand grid of blue dots. On the right hand side of each option, text shows ‘Your Ranking’ with ‘1st’, ‘2nd’, ‘3rd’ etc.
When to use it
Ranked Choice is used to get students to place a list of shuffled items into an order. For example ‘Rank these chemical elements from heaviest to lightest.’; or ‘Rank these movies from your favourite to least favourite.’.
Tips
You can make it explicit to students that they can drag the questions into an order by using words such as ‘Drag these options into order of…’.
Example
Ranked Choice
Ranked Choice presents the questions with a draggable left-hand grid of blue dots. On the right hand side of each option, text shows ‘Your Ranking’ with ‘1st’, ‘2nd’, ‘3rd’ etc.
When to use it
Ranked Choice is used to get students to place a list of shuffled items into an order. For example ‘Rank these chemical elements from heaviest to lightest.’; or ‘Rank these movies from your favourite to least favourite.’.
Tips
You can make it explicit to students that they can drag the questions into an order by using words such as ‘Drag these options into order of…’.
Example
Configure the question settings
In addition to choosing a Question Type, you can also configure more settings by selecting Show Advanced Settings. Not all of these options will be used, depending on the Question Type.
General feedback
General feedback after the student submits their response regardless of which option they choose. General feedback is displayed between the question prompt and the response options.
To author general feedback, check the General feedback checkbox and type a message in the General Feedback text box underneath the question prompt.
Option feedback
Option feedback is feedback specific to each answer they give. The feedback is displayed to the student after they submit their response. It is displayed below the option that they chose.
To author option feedback, check the Option feedback checkbox and type messages in the Feedback text boxes below each option.
Require reasoning
Require reasoning is an option that requires students to respond to a prompt written by the course author. The Require reasoning text editor appears after a student selects an option.
To author Require reasoning, check the Require reasoning checkbox and type a prompt into the Require reasoning text editor that appears.
Shuffle options
Shuffle options shuffles the options in a poll displayed to a student.
To enable Shuffle options, check the Shuffle options checkbox.
For results, display:
For results, display option give the course author a choice of percent, number or both. This refers to the results of the poll. The results are shown after the student submits their answer.
Theme colors
Theme color options refers to the color of the results and feedback of the poll.
Edit, view and take a poll
Edit a poll by clicking on the pencil at the top right of the poll. From there you can also select the advanced settings.
Students can view and respond to a poll by navigating to the page where the poll has been inserted. There they can click on their response and write a justification, if the poll requires it. They will be able to see the results in real-time.
The eye icon lets you preview a question. If you have published the page and the module that your poll sits in, you can also select ‘Student View’ in Canvas to preview your poll.
