Start a Google Form
While it was once an option in Google Sheets, Forms is a separate tool now. You can access it inside Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The most popular way to use Forms is by creating a Google survey.
Google Form Response Format Options
You can customize the format of responses you receive in many ways. A blank form contains one question, and you can add more by clicking the plus symbol on the right. The default is multiple-choice, but there’s also short answer, paragraph, check boxes, drop-down lists, scales, grids, date or time, and file upload. These options make Google Forms versatile. In addition to quizzes, you can use it for applications, homework submission, contests, and more. Once you choose the answer type, you can further customize it, input multiple-choice or drop-down options, add other as an option, and enable or disable multiple answers. As you add more questions, you can duplicate your work if you plan to ask questions with similar choices. For example, “What is your favorite food?” followed by “What is your least favorite food?” For all questions, you can decide whether an answer is required or not.
Add Sections to a Google Form
For a contact form or short survey, one page is probably suitable. However, if you have a longer questionnaire, divide it into sections. That way, you won’t overwhelm the recipients. Select the button on the right under the YouTube symbol to add a section. Each section can have a separate title and a description or instructions. You can drag and drop questions between sections as needed as well as duplicate sections. Tap the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner, then select Duplicate Section. The menu includes options to move a section, delete a section, and merge with the section above.
Add Follow-Up Questions
There are times when you might want to ask questions based on previous responses. For example, if you ask a true or false question and want an explanation when the respondent enters false. To do this, add a section with a multiple-choice or drop-down response. Tap the three-dot menu in the lower-right corner and select Go to section based on answer. For each option, you can send the respondent to the next section or to any other section in the form, or skip to Submit form to end that respondent’s participation.
Store Responses in Spreadsheet
For all forms, you can store the answers in a Google spreadsheet so you can organize and manipulate the data. You can either create the form from Google Sheets, as described above, or link it to a spreadsheet in settings.
Share and Send the Form
You can share Google Forms with others if it’s a group effort. Select the three-dot-menu, choose Add Collaborators, then enter the email addresses or copy the sharing link. When the form is to your liking, check the settings before you send it. You can limit users to one response, allow them to edit their response after submitting it, link to the results if you’re doing a poll, and change the confirmation message after someone submits their responses. You can send and share a form with potential respondents in a variety of ways. Start by clicking Send at the top of the page.
Send in an email: Click the envelope icon and enter the recipients’ email addresses, a subject, and a message.Share the link: Click the link icon to copy the link to the form. You can also get a shortened form of the URL that starts with goo.gl/forms.Post it on social media: Click the Facebook or Twitter icon on the right.Embed it on a website: Click the greater than/less than symbols to copy the HTML code. You can also adjust the width and height of the form.
Build a Quiz With an Answer Key
Google Forms are a useful tool for quizzes since you can input the correct answers and assign point values. Your students can get instant feedback, and you don’t have to go through a stack of papers. Alternatively, you can delay sending out the results and reviewing any questions that don’t have a definitive answer, such as one with a short answer or paragraph response format. After you collect the responses, you can see the average and median grades. You can also view each question to see how many got it right vs. wrong.
