Allow double-spacing for essay responses in new quizzes

The text boxes that students write essay responses in are not reader-friendly. It is difficult for an English teacher who has to read hundreds and hundreds of essays! Students should be able to have access to tools, like double-spacing, to increase readability for all.

Find more posts tagged with

All Users

Student

Instructor

Accepted answers

Gabriel33

That seems like something that would be better fixed on the grader's end.

While with printed submissions there was no alternative to have the student make the text double-spaced, why should you depend on the student remembering to apply an extra setting for electronic submissions?

Unfortunately, browsers don't have a way to do that unless you use "reading mode". Both Google and Firefox allow you to change line spacing within reading mode, I imagine other browsers do too (click the earlier browser links for instructions).

A userscript may be a better choice, to run on your end, like the one below (change the match to apply only to your institution's Canvas). Please note that it is likely inefficient, and might slow down your browser, and you might want to double check any code from a stranger before running it on your computer.

Spoiler

// ==UserScript==
// <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/1007896">@Name</a>         Double Space Text in Div
// @namespace    http://tampermonkey.net/
// @version      1.0
// @description  Set double line spacing in a specific div
// <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/96331">@author</a>       -
// @match        https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/*/quizzes/*
// <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/571312">@grant</a>        none
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
    'use strict';

    function applyDoubleSpacing() {
        const elements = document.querySelectorAll('.user_content.quiz_response_text.enhanced');
        elements.forEach(el => {
            if (!el.dataset.doubleSpaced) {
                el.style.lineHeight = '2';
                el.dataset.doubleSpaced = 'true';
            }
        });
    }

    window.addEventListener('load', () => {
        applyDoubleSpacing();

        const observer = new MutationObserver(applyDoubleSpacing);
        observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
    });
})();

// ==UserScript==
// Double Space Text in Div
// @namespace http://tampermonkey.net/
// @version 1.0
// @description Set double line spacing in a specific div
// -
// @match https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/*/quizzes/*
// none
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
'use strict';

function applyDoubleSpacing() {
const elements = document.querySelectorAll('.user_content.quiz_response_text.enhanced');
elements.forEach(el => {
if (!el.dataset.doubleSpaced) {
el.style.lineHeight = '2';
el.dataset.doubleSpaced = 'true';
}
});
}

window.addEventListener('load', () => {
applyDoubleSpacing();

const observer = new MutationObserver(applyDoubleSpacing);
observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
});
})();

All comments

NoahBoswell

Hey there @SACollins21 ,

Thank you for posting on the Instructure Community!

I recommend checking out the different options that the RCE (rich-content editor) has to see if anything there would be useful for you to help your students make their submissions more organized.

However, if there is a feature there that doesn't exist that you would like to submit a feature idea for, I recommend submitting a feature idea by clicking here! This will allow your idea to be considered for future development and implementation inside of Canvas.

Best,
Noah

Gabriel33

That seems like something that would be better fixed on the grader's end.

Spoiler

// ==UserScript==
// <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/1007896">@Name</a>         Double Space Text in Div
// @namespace    http://tampermonkey.net/
// @version      1.0
// @description  Set double line spacing in a specific div
// <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/96331">@author</a>       -
// @match        https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/*/quizzes/*
// <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/571312">@grant</a>        none
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
    'use strict';

    function applyDoubleSpacing() {
        const elements = document.querySelectorAll('.user_content.quiz_response_text.enhanced');
        elements.forEach(el => {
            if (!el.dataset.doubleSpaced) {
                el.style.lineHeight = '2';
                el.dataset.doubleSpaced = 'true';
            }
        });
    }

    window.addEventListener('load', () => {
        applyDoubleSpacing();

        const observer = new MutationObserver(applyDoubleSpacing);
        observer.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true });
    });
})();

StevenLankford

Is there any way to manually set double spacing in the answer to an essay in New Quizzes? It is very inconvenient to check tightly typed text without indentation.

Unanswered Questions

Dropped Scores
I have Canvas set to drop the lowest quiz score, however, my students can only barely tell that the grade text is slightly grey when dropped. Can it have a tag like the "missing" and "exempt" ones in the student gradebook?
Batch edit assignment due dates by section
My Canvas shell has three different sections that all meet at different times throughout the week. I need to be able to batch edit assignment due dates by section, but right now Canvas can't filter by section for batch edit. My only option is now to manually (tediously) edit due dates for each assignment individually.
Change Group Assignments to NOT save if no groups are selected
Morning! One of the more frustrating aspects of Canvas are groups and the issues that show up when copying courses that have them. But now we have yet another issue. Most recently we have had instances where people mark an assignment/discussion as a group assignment but then do not link the discussion or assignment to any…
Has anyone experienced the "Empty Course" page for Speedgrader, when there actually are students assigned and active on the assignment?
So, we have encountered a few assignments where the Speedgrader presents the teacher with the "Empty Course" page, even though the course is not empty. I have discovered two New Quizzes in the same course where this has occurred, despite multiple students being assigned (at Module level, which passes the permission down to…
Problems with grading since update
A teacher has expressed concerns with the recent update. Exact concern is as follows: "My Canvas has been acting glitchy since the last "update." For instance, when I grade essays the highlight and cursor tools do not always work. I have to try highlighting several times,or come back later to finish. It's told me I "ran…