Wiki Page, Minettes testkurs: Maximize Your Quiz Security

Wiki Page
2017-03-17T03:54:02-06:00

Question Groups

Create question groups to randomize quiz questions. The larger the number of questions in the question group (compared to the number randomly being picked for the quiz) the more secure the quiz. If there are a limited number of quiz questions and all of them are needed for the quiz then question groups can still be used to randomize the order of the questions. By using question groups it is unlikely that students will get the same questions or the same questions in the same order.

Quiz Settings

Shuffle Answers

This is a checkbox option under quiz settings and will randomize the order of the question's answer choices. By using “shuffle answers” students may get the same quiz question(s), but their answer options probably won't be in the same order. If your quiz question has an answer like “all of the above/below” or “answer A & C” do not use the “shuffle answer” setting.

Time limit

This is a checkbox option under quiz settings and limits the amount of time students have to take a quiz. When deciding on a time limit try to estimate the average time a student should need to answer each question, taking into account different types of quiz questions. If quizzes are given in a non-proctored environment the time limit can be used to cut down on the amount of time students have to look up question answers and/or share the questions with other students. Students can't "pause" a timed quiz. The time keeps going once a student starts the quiz and will auto-submit at the end of the time limit.

If a student needs extended test time this can be added per individual student under the Moderate Quiz settings.

Let Students See Their Quiz Responses

This is a checkbox option under quiz settings that allows students to see their answers after they have submitted a quiz. When this is checked, students can see the full question text, answer options, any question feedback, and which answers they got right and which they got wrong. The correct answer isn't specified for the questions they got wrong. For enhanced quiz security, especially for a summative assessment, leave this box unchecked.

Let Students see the Correct Answers

This is a checkbox option that comes up if the “Let Students See Their Quiz Responses” box is checked. This option allows students to see the correct answers to quiz questions during a designated time. If this box is checked students will have access to the quiz questions and their quiz responses indefinitely, and access to the correct answers for as long as designated. For enhanced security, such as during a summative assessment, leave this box unchecked and do not let students view the correct answers to the quiz. The next best option is to set a date for Hide Correct Answers.

Show One Question At a Time

This is a checkbox option under quiz settings and allows students to only see one quiz question at a time. You can use this feature in conjunction with the "Lock Questions after Answering" option. Used together, it requires the student to answer each individual question before moving on and prevents students from going back and changing their answer. Students do NOT like getting one question at a time and especially if they are prevented from going back and changing their answers, so make sure you really want to use this option before implementing.

Require an access code

This is a checkbox option under quiz settings and prevents students from taking the quiz without the correct code. This feature can be used to make sure students are taking the quiz at a specific time or in a certain location.

Assign To

In courses with multiple sections this feature allows instructors to designate the availability settings for each of their course sections or individual students. In general, unless you have students in different sections taking the quiz at different days/times, this would be left as “Everyone” (which is the default).

Due

This is the day and time that the quiz is due. This does not stop students from taking a quiz, but quizzes submitted after the Due date will be marked as late in Speedgrader and in the Gradebook. Recommended practices for quiz security are to not allow students to take a quiz after the Due date. This can be done by making the Due date and Until date the same. If students are allowed to take quizzes after the “Due” date, then leave the "Until" date blank or set to the furthest day/time late submissions are allowed.

Available From

In general to maximize quiz security it is best to have a quiz open the least amount of time as possible. Available From defines the day and time the quiz becomes available to students. Students will not be able to access the quiz before this day and time unless the quiz has been manually unlocked. Manually unlocked is available under the Moderate Quiz settings. In general if a student or students are taking the quiz early, the time will need to be set to when the first group of students is taking the quiz.

It is also when it's a good idea to use the "Require an Access Code" option to keep the rest of the students out of the quiz until they should have access to it.

If a quiz is not published (has a gray cloud instead of green) then students WILL NOT be able to access or even see the quiz, even after the "Available From" date.

Until

This is the day/time that the students will no longer be able to take the quiz. If the Until day/time is set beyond the "Due” date" students will still be able to take the quiz until the “Until” date, but it will show up as "late" in SpeedGrader and the gradebook.

Canvas will auto-submit the quiz at the "Until" date/time regardless of whether the student is in taking the quiz or not. If there is no "Until" date set then the quiz will not auto-submit until the end of the course.

For enhanced security instructors should set the “Until” date to be the same as the “Due” date because it prevents students from taking the quiz after it is due. Yet, this can also cut students off in the middle of taking the quiz because the "Until" date will automatically submit the quiz.

Avoid setting the Until date after the course concludes as this will give students read only access to the quiz when they are no longer participating in the course, which could compromise test security.

Availability and Results

Quiz availability dates/times have NOTHING to do with whether a student can view their quiz results. The ONLY way to stop students from viewing their quiz results is to have the “Let Students See their Quiz Responses” and “Show which answers were correct” boxes UNCHECKED. If you want students to initially see their quiz results, these boxes can be checked and set to close once you no longer want students to view the quiz results.