[ARCHIVED] Why is my final exam marked as "late"

[Malum]

I'm not sure why this happened but we were given two hours to complete an exam and I finished after twenty minutes yet my output was still marked as late. I took the exam at the designated day and at the start of the designated time. Any idea why this happened?

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

@Malum This may be a better question for your instructor as they would know what they put as the time settings. 

I can tell you that if did not have the exam submitted by the due date and time, regardless of it being a 2 hour test, it is marked late.  For example, I create an exam due 5/26 @ 3pm, and you have your 2 hours to take it.  You as the student would need to start the exam at 1pm to really get the full 2 hours without it being marked late.  It sounds like maybe you started the exam at the due date (the time you are referring to as the designated time). 

Your instructor may have done this on purpose or told you that is when you need to do it, but that is why Canvas saw it as late.

-Hope this helps!

Nick

[Malum]

Hi, thanks for responding. What I meant by the "designated time" is the designated time when we should start taking the exam. It started at 17:00 and ended at 19:00. I took the test at exactly 17:00. But anyway, thanks for your advice. I will definitely inform my instructor. You have helped, Nick. Much appreciated.

[James]

@Malum 

I started to write this response yesterday, but felt that it didn't significantly add to Nick's ( @nwilson7 ) so I never posted it.

When I taught face-to-face (before COVID), I would make the due date on my final the time the final was to start. If my final was to run from 14:00 to 16:00, I didn't want students showing up at 16:00 to start the final. My exams were on paper, so Canvas doesn't automatically assign late status to them, but if I had an electronic version, then every single student would have been marked late, despite showing up at the intended time to complete the exam.

Now that I've been online and giving Canvas quizzes, many of my students are late for their exams. I give them a four days to complete their final exam. The exam opens on Monday, is due on Tuesday, and closes on Thursday. They can take it anytime during the week, but I don't want them waiting until the very end and then something happening. I would prefer that they take it by Tuesday, but it is really up to them. I do warn them in the instructions that if they don't take it by Tuesday, that Canvas will consider the grade missing and automatically put a 0 in for the grade but that I will replace it with their real grade once the exam is completed.

A late status is an assignment that has been turned in (no longer missing) but was turned in after the due date. This is why my students who waited until the last minute to take their final all show "late." The late status imposes no penalty unless the instructor automatically deducts points for late work. If that is the case, then you should reach out to the instructor.