This article outlines how instructors can enable STACK mathematical quizzing in their Canvas courses. This integration has been developed by the LMS Transition Project to provide options for complex mathematical assessment that were previously available through eClass. The system requires a reasonable amount of set up to use since it is an externally-hosted system that is then integrated into Canvas using LTI external tools. 

Restrictions for Usage

The STACK Canvas integration is intended for instructors who have been using these quizzes and questions previously in eClass. New STACK users are welcome but due to the complexity of question creation, there is limited support available.

Additionally, the service has these other usage details:

• There is no direct access to the STACK service - all account creation, authentication, and usage must occur through Canvas. The direct STACK login page does not function.
• Quizzes using STACK delivered through Canvas should only be used for formative assessments -- like homework assignments or flexible launch low stakes quizzes. The limit for synchronous exams is 250 students.
• Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor do not function with STACK quizzes.

Getting Started

To begin using STACK, instructors must get their account created, transfer any existing eClass quizzes to the new service, and request any new STACK courses or enrollments required. To do this, instructors should complete the following google form:

Canvas STACK Request Form

Once that work is completed by the eClass team, instructors will receive an email confirming their course and account creation and they can proceed to the tasks below.

This set up step must be completed first!

Accessing and Configuring STACK Quizzes

1. Access STACK

All access to the STACK server must occur through Canvas. For instructor's first time accessing (until courses or quizzes are published), this will need to occur through the STACK Admin Tools course where you created your account.

Once users pass across to the STACK server they can navigate to My courses and whichever course they have requested and are working on/in to build quizzes.

After the first access, it is recommended that instructors create a course-level linkage in every course where they will be embedding quizzes as this provides a convenient point of access and is used to pre-create student's accounts (which limits student access issues.) Instructions for publishing and creating the course-level Canvas linkage are below.

2. Build Quizzes

The quiz building process is the same as it was in eClass and a range of options: re-working example questions, constructing manually, and/or re-using migrated questions. In most cases, the existing quizzes from your source eClass course(s) should be ready to be published.

Note: if quizzes are being delivered with multiple attempts, those settings need to be configured on the STACK quiz itself, not in Canvas.

3. Publish a Course-level LTI tool

'Publishing as an LTI tool' is a new process that will be required to configure courses and quizzes to allow them to be delivered in Canvas.

For student accounts to be automatically created and ease any issues getting access to quizzes, instructors need to first create a course-level LTI tool and publish it.

a. Under the More dropdown in the course header, select Published as LTI tools:

b. On the LTI Advantage tab, click the Add button to publish a tool:

c. Select 'Course' in the Tool to be published dropdown:

d. The only default settings that should be changed is Student first launch provisioning mode which should be changed to 'Existing and new accounts (prompt)' - all others should be left the same for most scenarios as this provides the most flexible access pathway for students. It is also not recommended to set any start or end date on the quiz on the STACK side as these are better controlled when the quiz is brought into Canvas:

e. Click Add method to complete the process.

4. Publish Quiz-level LTI tools

Once your quizzes are built, you need to follow a similar workflow which needs to be completed for every quiz that you wish to embed in Canvas.

a. Follow steps a & b from publishing the course-level tool above

b. Then select the course the desired quiz in your course in the Tool to be published dropdown:

c. Then follow steps d and e from above.

Note that quiz-level Published tools NEVER create user accounts; this is only accomplished by adding a course-level published tool and linking that into Canvas (below.)

Embedding STACK in Canvas

1. Create the Canvas Course

STACK can be added to any credit course in the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. These courses need to be created through the standard request process.

2. Add STACK External tool(s)

a. STACK course linkages and quizzes are added into modules by clicking the Plus icon, selecting External tool, and then choosing the STACK LTI tool:

b. When you click the tool link, the Link Resource selection modal opens where you can select from any content you have published (courses and quizzes) on the STACK server. When choosing a course-level linkage or a purely practice quiz, ensure the Add to gradebook box is unchecked; make sure the box is checked for graded quizzes. Once you have selected the resource, click Add content to set up the linkage:

3. Configure STACK Course-level linkages

Once added to a module, instructors should ensure that STACK course level linkages are unpublished so they are hidden from student access:

Course-level linkages are convenient access points directly to their STACK server courses but more importantly, these are required to have student user accounts created automatically.

4. Configure STACK Service Quizzes as Canvas Assignments

When you select a quiz to link from the STACK server (as in the screenshot above), it will automatically be created as an Assignment in Canvas with points matching those specified in the quiz activity. Instructors need to configure the settings carefully both in the STACK quiz itself and and in Canvas under Edit Assignment Settings at the top right:

Assignment/Quiz Timing: 

• • The 'Available from' date/time should be set in the Canvas settings. Matching this date in the STACK quiz has no harmful; effects but is not required. It is not recommended to set the Canvas assignment open date BEFORE the STACK quiz as students can access the full STACK course (and be confused.)
  • The Canvas assignment Due date should be used to control the end time for the assignment but late submissions will still be accepted.
  • To stop further attempts on a flexible-block, multiple- attempt assignment, the 'Close the quiz' date should be set on the STACK quiz. This also allows the setting 'When time expires - Open attempts are submitted automatically' to complete any attempts that students have in progress.
  • Assignment close times should be set on the STACK quiz since setting an 'Available Until' time in the Canvas assignment will prevent students from reviewing their submissions and previous attempts.
  • Timed assignments MUST be set on the STACK quiz.

Assignments with multiple attempts:

• • These must be configured on BOTH the STACK server quiz ('Attempts allowed' = Unlimited) and in the Canvas assignment settings ('Submission attempts' - Allowed Attempts = Unlimited) otherwise the only score reported in Canvas will be the first attempt. If using a specific number of attempts, these should match as well.
  • If instructors are using any of the advanced multiple attempt quizzing features like adaptive mode, immediate feedback, and interactive with multiple tries, this must be configured on the SATCK quiz itself.

Accommodations:

• • If students require alternative delivery times or conditions, these must be set in the Overrides section of the STACK quiz. If those fall outside any timing settings set on the Canvas assignment, an additional 'Assign To' block must be added for these students. 

Additional Notes:

• • Any STACK quiz attempts that do not change the grade in Canvas are not recorded in the assignment (including 1st attempts that score zero.) This can result in differences between the number of attempts listed on the student's submission page.

Getting Help

For process or technical help with the configuration of STACK courses, published tools, user accounts or for help creating assignments in Canvas, contact the eClass Support team at eclass@ualberta.ca.

Since STACK question authoring is beyond the scope of eClass Support, if you need help with modifying an existing STACK question or creating a new one, please contact an instructor who has experience teaching your course. If you are not sure whom to contact, please send an email to the Associate Chair of your department.