Introduction
MS Forms is an app available with the university's O365 license. You can create surveys, gradable quizzes, and polls, and easily see results as they come in. Polls can be set as anonymous or to record user information (name and date of completion) within the results. This article will review how to setup a form or quiz, how to share links to collaborate and/or collect responses, and how to adjust basic settings for respondents completing the form.
For help with the advanced settings and formatting features with MS Forms, see the article "MS Forms - Advanced Settings."
Please note: forms are saved as you create them automatically. If you delete a question, it will be permanently deleted along with any response data that's been collected for it.There is no undo option on MS Forms at this time.
Table of Contents:
Creating a New Form (Survey or Poll)
- Open MS Forms from your O365 account.
- Click the chevron next to the "New Quiz" button to select the "New Form" option from the drop-down that will appear to create an ungraded survey or poll.
- Enter the name of the form in the "Untitled form" textbook. This is the name that will appear in the list on the app's homepage when you need to return to it.
- Optional: enter a description or set of instructions for users completing the form.
- Please note: form titles can have up to 90 characters and descriptions can have up to 1,000 characters.
- Click the "+ Add new" button to add new questions to the form. Current question types include:
- Choice: multiple choice questions with an "Other" option that can be added to allow a short-answer response.
- Optional: click "Add option" to insert an additional Choice or "Add other" to add a short answer textbox at the end of Choice questions for fill-in responses.
- Optional: select the "Multiple answers" slider to allow users to submit multiple responses in a single attempt.
- Text: fill-in-the-blank responses can be entered in a short answer or long answer textbook that appears below the question.
- Note: the short answer option is set by default. Click the "Long answer" slider to allow a bigger textbox/longer submission space.
- Rating: rate the question on a scale of 1-10 numerically or using a star graphic that can be adjusted with drop-down lists.
- Date: opens a calendar picker.
- Ranking: allows users to reorder/prioritize a list of set responses.
- Likert: allows users to gauge attitudes and opinions about a range of topics.
- Optional: Click "Add statement" to add more topics.
- File upload: creates a file picker to upload responses (only available for quizzes and forms with the "Who can fill out this form" setting is "Only people in my organization can respond" or "Specific people in my organization can respond;" not available when the "Anyone can respond"is selected).
- Please note: can be set to upload a maximum of 10 files or 1 GB of memory that will save to your OneDrive.
- Net Promoter Score: a rating option of 1-10 with textboxes under the scores to indicate a scale or range. "Not all likely" and "Extremely likely" appear by default under the one and ten options respectively, and the textboxes can be edited.
- Section: break up how many questions appear on each page of the form. Each new section allows for a new sub-header and description for the next set of questions.
- Add your question, answers for any Choice, Ranking, and Likert options, or any of the following features:
- Select the "Required" slider to disable the "Submit" button at the end until all questions with this feature enabled have a response entered.
- Select the "More options" icon (looks like an ellipsis) to add a "Subtitle" to the question.
- Hover your mouse over an answer to display a "Trash" icon to delete an answer.
- Repeat steps 4-5 until all questions have been added.
- Optional: Use the "Copy" icon at the top of a question to create and edit a duplicate of the question and answers/settings to appear.
- Use the up and down arrows to re-order the questions.
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Creating a New Quiz
Please Note: auto-grading can be enabled for Choice and short answer Text questions on a quiz. All other question types must be manually graded.
- Open MS Forms from your O365 account.
- Select the "New Quiz" button to create a gradable quiz.
- Click the "+ Add new" button to add new questions to the form. Current question types include:
- Choice: multiple choice questions with an "Other" option that can be added to allow a short-answer response.
- Optional: click "Add option" to insert an additional Choice or "Add other" to add a short answer textbox at the end of Choice questions for fill-in responses.
- Optional: select the "Multiple answers" slider to allow users to submit multiple responses in a single attempt.
- Text: fill-in-the-blank responses can be entered in a short answer or long answer textbook that appears below the question.
- Note: the short answer option is set by default. Click the "Long answer" slider to allow a bigger textbox/longer submission space.
- Rating: rate the question on a scale of 1-10 numerically or using a star graphic that can be adjusted with drop-down lists.
- Date: opens a calendar picker.
- Ranking: allows users to reorder/prioritize a list of set responses.
- Likert: allows users to gauge attitudes and opinions about a range of topics.
- Optional: Click "Add statement" to add more topics.
- File upload: creates a file picker to upload responses (only available for quizzes and forms with the "Who can fill out this form" setting is "Only people in my organization can respond" or "Specific people in my organization can respond;" not available when the "Anyone can respond"is selected).
- Please note: can be set to upload a maximum of 10 files or 1 GB of memory that will save to your OneDrive.
- Net Promoter Score: a rating option of 1-10 with textboxes under the scores to indicate a scale or range. "Not all likely" and "Extremely likely" appear by default under the one and ten options respectively, and the textboxes can be edited.
- Section: break up how many questions appear on each page of the form. Each new section allows for a new sub-header and description for the next set of questions.
- Add your question, answers for any Choice, Ranking, and Likert options, point values, or any of the following features:
- Select the "Required" slider to disable the "Submit" button at the end until all questions with this feature enabled have a response entered.
- Select the "More options" icon (looks like an ellipsis) to add a "Subtitle" to the question.
- Hover your mouse over an answer to display a "Trash" icon to delete an answer.
- Optional: Hover your mouse over the correct answer of Choice questions to display and check the "Correct answer" icon, or click "Add answer" to short answer Text questions to add responses that should be auto-graded as correct.
- Repeat steps 4-5 until all questions have been added.
- Optional: Use the "Copy" icon at the top of a question to create and edit a duplicate of the question and answers/settings to appear.
- Use the up and down arrows to re-order the questions.
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Preview Your Form
- Select the "Preview" button to see how your form will look on a computer device.
- Click the "Mobile" button to view the form's layout for mobile users and/or answer the questions in Preview mode to test your form.
- Select the "Submit" button when all required questions are answered.
- Select the "Back" to resume editing your form.
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Adjust the Basic Settings of a Form
- Click the "More form settings" button (looks like an ellipsis) to open a drop-down menu of options and select the "Settings" option to open a window with a set of options:
- Select "Who can fill out this form:"
- Anyone can respond (not selected by default): users with the "Send and Collect Responses" link will not be prompted to login to O365 and can immediately start entering their responses. Their name will not be recorded; select this option for fully anonymous submissions.
- Please note: users can submit multiple entries to this form.
- Only people in my organization can respond (selected by default): anyone with the "Send and Collect Responses" share link can submit responses; users must enter their Empire State University username and password before they can enter their responses.
- Additional checkbox options for this setting:
- Record name (checked by default): when selected will display the user's name in the "Responses" section of the form. Uncheck this box to require users to login to verify their identity, but their name will not be recorded in the "Responses" section.
- One response per person (unchecked by default): when selected will limit users to one entry for the survey or quiz.
- Specific people in my organization can respond (not selected by default): only specific users or members of a distribution listed noted under the "Send and Collect Responses" link can submit responses; users must enter their SUNY Empire username and password before they can enter their responses.
- Additional checkbox options for this setting:
- Record name (checked by default): when selected will display the user's name in the "Responses" section of the form. Uncheck this box to require users to login to verify their identity, but their name will not be recorded in the "Responses" section.
- One response per person (unchecked by default): when selected will limit users to one entry for the survey or quiz.
- Check (activate) or uncheck (deactivate) the following:
- Options for responses:
- Accept responses (checked by default): allow users to submit. An error message will auto-display when this option is unchecked letting users know the form or quiz is no longer available.
- Start date (unchecked by default): schedule the form or quiz to open for responses on a set date and time.
- End date (unchecked by default): close the quiz or form on a specified date and time.
- Please note: any attempts in progress cannot be submitted after the end date/time. Users must have clicked the "Submit" button before this end date/time for the response to display.
- Shuffle questions (unchecked by default):questions within each section will be randomized.
- Show progress bar (unchecked by default): displays the progress of in-progress users for graded quizzes or surveys with multiple sections.
- Customize thank you message (unchecked by default): add a personalized message that will display after users select the "Submit" button in a textbox that will appear when checked.
- Response receipts:
- Accept responses (checked by default):
- Start date (unchecked by default):
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Share a Form to Collect Responses
- Open the form you want to share.
- Click the "Share" button to open a window of options.
- Open the drop down list under "Send and collect responses" to choose whom you want to collect responses from:
- Anyone can respond: anyone inside or outside of the university can submit responses.
- Only people in my organization can respond (setting by default): only people with a SUNY Empire login (faculty, staff, or student), signed in with their university account, can submit responses.
- Specific people in my organization can respond - only users or members of a distribution list within the university that you specify can respond to your form. A textbox to enter their emails and/or distribution list information will appear below the drop-down once this option is selected.
- Please note: a maximum of 100 individuals and/or distribution lists can be selected for each form.
- Select how invitations should be sent to users completing the form or quiz:
- Select the "Link" icon to displays a unique link to the form or quiz in a textbox, and then click or tap the "Copy" button next to the textbox. Paste the link wherever your intended audience can see and click it to access your form or quiz (e.g. an email, an announcement, a page in your course, etc...).
- Select the "QR code" icon, and then click or tap the "Download" button, which will download your QR code as a .png file. Insert the .png wherever your intended audience can scan it with a QR code scanner to access your form or quiz (eg. a mobile device's camera).
- Select the "Embed" button to open a textbox with the code unique to this form or quiz, and then click or tap the "Copy" button. Paste the code in a location that your intended audience can click it to open (eg. a web page, document, or announcement).
- Please note: the embed code needs to be entered into an HTML editor.
- Select the "Email" icon to open your default email application with a brief note and unique link to the form or quiz auto-populated in the body (you can customize the message). Add email addresses of the users and/or distributions lists that you intended the form for and send it to them.
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Share a Form to Collaborators Who Need to Edit/View Responses
Share a form with a collaborator to allow them editing privileges and the ability to view the responses independent of you. You will still be the owner when you share it with collaborators, and it remains on your MS Forms homepage. Collaborators cannot change levels of permission within a form, only you as the owner can do that.
Please note: any changes made by a collaborator are saved automatically to the form, and cannot be undone or reversed.
- Open the form you want to add a collaborator to.
- Click the "Share" button to open a window of options.
- Go to the "Share to collaborate" header and select one of the following collaboration permission options from a drop-down list under the header:
- Users with an Office 365 work or school account can view and edit (selected by default): anyone with an Office 365 work or school account, internal or external of SUNY Empire, is assigned co-authoring permissions and can view and edit your form.
- People in my organization can view and edit: anyone with SUNY Empire account can be assigned co-authoring permissions and can view and edit your form.
- Specific people in my organization can view and edit: only people or groups in your organization that you specify are assigned co-authoring permissions and can view and edit your form. A textbox to enter names of individuals or distribution lists will appear when this option is selected.
- Click the "+ Get a link to view and edit" button . A unique link to the form or quiz will appear in a textbox.
- Click or tap the "Copy" button next to the textbox.
- Paste and send the link in an email, chat message, or space that only the intended collaborator(s) can access.
- When collaborators click the link, they will be added as a co-author and they will be able to access the form from the "Shared with me" section of their MS Forms homepage.
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Review, Print, or Delete a Summary of Responses
When you open a form, the "Questions" tab to add and edit questions is shown by default. To review the response submissions, click the "Responses" tab.
The header of this section is a summary of how many responses have been submitted, the average time it took respondents to complete the form, and the status of the form (Active or Inactive).
Select the "More options" icon (looks like an ellipsis) below the overall summary to delete all responses, print a summary of responses, or create a summary link to share with others (this allows users to see updates to the form's responses in real-time, yet doesn't allow them access to edit the questions themselves).
Scroll down to view a summary of results for each question. If the question resulted in statistical data, a graphic breakdown will appear. Users can hover their mouse over each section for more detail about the data.
Click the "Insights" button to display an analytical summary data and/or trends in responses (eg. explaining statistical trends or a word cloud showing frequently used terms).
Click the "More Details" button underneath each question to display all responses for that question.
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Review, Print, or Delete an Individual Respondent's Answers
When you open a form, the "Questions" tab to add and edit questions is shown by default. To review the response submissions, click the "Responses" tab.
Click the "View results" button to see the answers broken down based on who the respondent is. If an "Anonymous" form was created, each respondent will be designated a number to help you keep track that is consistent between this view online and the exported Excel spreadsheet that's available to download.
Use the left and right arrow toggles to move between respondents, or the drop-down list to move quickly to a specific respondent.
Select the "More options" icon (looks like an ellipsis) to delete or print a specific respondent's answers.
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Manually Grade a Quiz
- Open the quiz that needs to be graded.
- Select the "Responses" tab.
- Click the "Review answers" button to open each individual respondent's quiz for grading. Use the right and left arrows to move between respondents or use the drop-down list to move to a specific respondent in the list.
- Enter the score awarded in the "Points" textbox next to each question.
- Please note: ungraded questions will have a "Needs review" notification below this textbox, which will disappear once the points score entry has saved to the server.
- Optional: add feedback for an individual response by click the "Give feedback" icon that appears next to the "Points" textbox to open a "Feedback" textbox, or give overall feedback by clicking the "Give feedback" icon that appears next to the cumulative score that appears at the top of the screen.
- Click the "Review next" button to move to the next respondent to continue grading.
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Post Scores to Respondents of a Quiz
To make scores and feedback visible to respondents on a quiz:
- Open the quiz and select the "Responses" tab.
- Click the "Post scores" button, a list of all respondents will appear with their individual scores, and the status of grading (Graded, Ungraded, Posted) listed.
- Check the "Select to post grade" checkbox next to the respondent(s) that you want to post scores to.
- Click the "Post scores" button to confirm your selection.
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