Adding a Choice Activity
Margarita Berezyanskaya
Last Update a month ago
The Choice activity is commonly used to conduct a simple opinion poll or to survey students about a single topic. It is simple to set up and administer. It is possible to include photos or other types of media in a Choice activity.
Using the Choice Activity to Enhance Blended Learning
Step-by-Step Instructions for Adding a Choice Activity
1. At the top of the Course Homepage, click on the Edit mode toggle button in the upper right corner of the screen to activate the editing tools.
Note: The toggle moves to the right, indicating that course editing is now on.
2. Hover your cursor over the dotted line between two activities. The Add an activity or resource button (plus icon) appears.
3. Click on this icon.
Note: The Add a new activity or resource pop-up appears.
4. Select Choice in the Activities tab.
Note: The New Choice page appears.
Note: Settings in the General section are used to provide the general information about the activity.
5. Type a descriptive name in the Choice name text box.
6. Type a prompt for the poll in the Description text box.
7. To display the prompt on the course home page, select Display description on course page. However, this is not recommended.
8. In the Display mode for the options drop-down, select either Display horizontally or Display vertically. This determines how the choices appear in the poll and can improve readability.
Note: The Options section is used to define the various choices students can make.
9. If students should be able to change their choice later, set Allow choice to be updated to Yes.
10. Type the choices offered to students in the Option 1, Option 2, etc., fields.
Note: The Limit the number of responses allowed setting is used to set a maximum number of responses, although it is not usually needed in a poll. One use is to allow students to select groups, as explained in the Choice: Allow Voting video.
Note: If more choice fields are required, Click the Add 3 field(s) to form button.
11. To control when students can access the poll, use the Availability setting.
Developer's note, this link will need to be updated when URLS are set.
Note: The Show/Hide function, discussed in the Showing and Hiding Course Content article, is another option to restrict student access to the activity.
Note: The Results section is used to set privacy and result-display options for the poll.
12. The Publish results setting can be used to control whether and when students can access the poll results.
13. To display the names of participants who have not completed the activity, set Show column for unanswered to Yes.
Deployment Tips
- Make sure the options are easy to read and do not overlap, especially if Display horizontally is selected.
- Use the Display vertically option for choices that are full sentences.
- Use the Display vertically option if all choices cannot fit on a single line.
- When polling students, the results may be more objective if students cannot see the results until after they have made their choice - or until all votes have been collected.
- Refer to the Managing a Choice Activity article for information about using a Choice activity with your students.
Video Resources
Resources