Turning quizzes on and off for individual/groups of students

[marchermon]

So we are transitioning from Moodle to Canvas this fall which means we have to think differently about a lot of things. In Moodle, I could "turn on and off" a quiz for individuals or groups at any time. I'm not sure how this functions in Canvas. I assumed it was the assign groups section but then I read that if I removed "Everyone" after students had taken it then their scores would be erased! Basically, when my 2nd period physics class is in session I want to open the test for them but not my 3rd period class and then when 3rd period class shows up turn on for them and not for my other sections. Normally, it will be turned off for everyone but if a student comes in and would like to take it or retake it, I would just like to go in and turn it on for that student. I'm using New Quizzes and have been looking at the Moderate section but not sure if there's an easier way to do what I'm trying to do. I would prefer not to have to deal with dates and just turn on and off but not sure this is possible. 

[KelleyMeeusen · Accepted solution]

Hi @marchermon 

Having lived in higher education for a lifetime or two, I sometimes still forget how differently organized K-12 courses can sometimes be. I would not use the same course for each period; but rather, an individual course for each period.

Anyways, It can still be done with a tad bit of hinking.....

• Divide your classroom into sections, one for each period. How do I add a section to a course?
• Move your students into their appropriate sections. How do I edit sections for enrollment in a Canvas Course?
• Edit the assignment settings for a New Quiz, and set the assignment just for the first period. Rinse and repeat by re-editing the New Quiz assignment by adding to appropriate group to the Assign To box. How do I assign an assignment to an individual section in a course?
• Do not, I repeat DO NOT delete the previously added sections when you add a new section, because then you will delete the previous section's attempts.

I hope this helps,

Kelley

[KelleyMeeusen · Accepted solution]

Hi @marchermon 

Having lived in higher education for a lifetime or two, I sometimes still forget how differently organized K-12 courses can sometimes be. I would not use the same course for each period; but rather, an individual course for each period.

Anyways, It can still be done with a tad bit of hinking.....

• Divide your classroom into sections, one for each period. How do I add a section to a course?
• Move your students into their appropriate sections. How do I edit sections for enrollment in a Canvas Course?
• Edit the assignment settings for a New Quiz, and set the assignment just for the first period. Rinse and repeat by re-editing the New Quiz assignment by adding to appropriate group to the Assign To box. How do I assign an assignment to an individual section in a course?
• Do not, I repeat DO NOT delete the previously added sections when you add a new section, because then you will delete the previous section's attempts.

I hope this helps,

Kelley

[marchermon]

Our SIS (Powerschool) auto-generates our sections and enrolled students. So if I have unlimited attempts on a quiz and then I assign Period 3 to the test after Period 2 has left the room. Period 2 could still retake the test from somewhere else, so I probably need to also add a time frame along with the Period? If a student in the future wants to retake it I would just assign them to the test as well even though they already took it when their section was originally open? Perhaps I should just set it on 1 attempt and have the dates always open and then use moderate to just add an attempt for each student that wants to retake? But basically you're saying to NEVER delete an "assigned to" after the test has been taken because it will delete the submission? I hope there is a BIG RED WARNING label when my teachers try to do this because they will. In Moodle it just meant who had access to the test at any given moment. If you took them off it just meant the test was unavailable again to them but their scores weren't deleted. This is a HUGE paradigm shift for our brains.

[KelleyMeeusen · Accepted solution]

Hi again, @marchermon 

Yes, there will be a learning curve for your teachers, but they will get it.

Best route is as you said, set the quiz for one attempt, Leave it open, and manage the exceptions. Much less work! We all like less work.

Good luck,

Kelley

[gnoack]

I would set both due dates and available dates for each section, setting the available date to close at the end of your class periods for each section.

The problem with leaving the quiz open is that a student who is absent or perhaps has an extension would be able to take the quiz anytime.  So, for example, and absent student could take the test at home after talking/texting with friends who took it.  You would see the time stamp, but still it would cause an issue you don't want to deal with. 

To deal with second attempts and absent students, you can also assign students individually with specific due dates, just like you would a section.  So if a student is absent and they are going to take the quiz at a later date, you would just need to set that due date an available date. For retakes, give them the extra attempts and then same thing, 

It actually works very simply once you get the hang of it. 

See: How do I assign an assignment to an individual stu... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

And make sure you understand the difference between due dates and available dates. What is the difference between assignment due date... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

[marchermon]

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So my policy is that students must take the most recent score on a retake whether it's better or worse. I just read that this means I have to set that in the quiz settings. If I set it to 1 attempt and then use the quiz moderate method to give extra attempts it will only take the highest which I can't live with. 🙂 

So I have also set 12 hours between attempts and will have to use availability dates. I'm starting to understand it a little better. Humor me with hopefully a final question.

Let's say I assigned the quiz to my 6th period from 1:00-2:00 on a Monday and Luke Skywalker is in that section. The next day Luke wants to retake, so I then assign Luke to that test from 1:00-2:00 on Tuesday. Now let's say Luke wants to retake again on Wednesday. What do I do?

Do I reassign him again or do I readjust the availability until date on his previous day's "assignment to quiz" or does either method work?

[gnoack]

Good question.

I think you will only be allowed to change the availability date. I think that the system won't allow you to assign it to Luke again, his name won't appear in the drop down of student names to choose if he is already assigned it individually. So your only option would be to adjust his due and availability dates. This would prevent you from assigning multiple due dates to the same student.  (same for sections)