Use Forms to assess learning

  • 5 minutes

In addition to using Microsoft Forms to collect information, educators use Microsoft Forms to assess learning by employing the Forms Quiz tool.

At Google Forms, all form creation starts the same; there's a switch to toggle quiz status on or off. In Microsoft Forms, educators decide up front whether to create a quiz or a poll. Quizzes have an answer key and a score or grade. Polls and surveys don't have an answer key or grades.

To create a Forms Quiz as an assignment, educators start with the Assignments section of a Class Team then choose the Create button before selecting Quiz. They choose any quiz that was created for any other Team, or they choose to create a new quiz.

Creating a new quiz redirects to Microsoft Forms on the back end but opens inside Teams, which is a great timesaver for busy educators. Educators begin building the quiz by completing the title and adding a description, if desired.

Next to the title is a link educators select to insert an image. Options on how to insert an image include:

  • Searching on Bing.
  • Selecting an image saved in OneDrive.
  • Selecting an image from a device.

Educators continue building the quiz by choosing the Add new button to add a new question. Forms question types include:

  • Choice
  • Text response
  • Rating
  • Enter a date
  • Ranking
  • Likert
  • File upload
  • Net Promoter score

Choice questions have a single correct answer or multiple correct answers. Every question includes the option to add an image or video as media. Every answer choice provides an optional feedback message for respondents to see when they select that answer choice.

To ensure choice questions look good on mobile devices, format answers in a drop-down menu. If the question involves math notations, choose math from more options. The math symbols tool opens and allows equation writing in both question and answer fields.

Text questions have a toggle for long answers, allowing a larger textbox to appear to respondents. Educators add restrictions to text responses when necessary, such as:

  • Any number
  • A number greater than another number
  • A number less than another number
  • A number equal to or between certain other numbers

File upload responses are saved in a new folder in OneDrive. File upload questions allow between 1 and 10 files, and the size limit for each of these files is 10 megabytes, 100 megabytes, or 1 gigabyte. File types may be limited to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, image, video, or audio. 

While Google Forms offers a few more question types, Microsoft Forms offers enhanced question branching and excellent accessibility features.

Question branching, or branch logic, is difficult to do in Google Forms because the process involves creating sections. If sections aren't created at the start, educators find editing difficult.

In Microsoft Forms, educators simply select any answer from any question and choose where the respondent goes when an answer is chosen.

Branching allows for the automatic re-teaching of concepts within a Forms Quiz. If a learner chooses the wrong answer, in addition to having targeted feedback in a response, they're sent to another section that includes an image, text, or video explaining why their answer choice is wrong. The learner then returns to the same question to try again or to another similar question.

Microsoft Forms, like all Microsoft products, excels at accessibility. Throughout all Microsoft products, users find Immersive Reader. Immersive Reader is an entire suite of reading accessibility tools that is universal design for learning (UDL) friendly. UDL means all learners have access to these tools, not just students with disabilities. Also, individuals can choose which tools to toggle on or off at any time.

Inside of Microsoft Forms, learners choose whether to:

  • Hear any text read aloud
  • See parts of speech color coded
  • Change font size and background color
  • Increase spacing of text
  • Access a picture dictionary
  • Translate text into over 100 different languages and dialects

Immersive Reader isn't a third-party app or extension; it's built into Forms. Immersive Reader always works, is always free, and is a consistent tool. It's available in all Microsoft's offerings, including Teams and Minecraft Education, and is also found in many non-Microsoft apps including Wakelet and Nearpod.