Collaborative Testing - Functionality in Canvas Quizzes

TanyaUponAvon
Community Participant
‎11-30-2023 04:09 PM

Hi Community, 

I'm an instructional designer, and I work with a team of faculty who use collaborative testing as the second stage of their two-stage (or, "two-step") exam process. In this scenario, students take the exam on their own in the first stage, then they retake the exam working as a group, for a percentage of the overall exam grade. When this process is applied in online courses, the collaborative exam occurs in a synchronous remote video meeting. Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor are used for the individual exam (Stage 1), but obviously not for the collaborative exam.

For context: collaborative and two-step testing are cutting-edge formative assessment strategies that have demonstrated great success with learning retention and student satisfaction. (Please see the short list of resources on the subject included at the bottom of this post.)

I have been trying to find ways to better support this exam process in Canvas. One difficulty is the following:

There doesn't seem to be any way for students to automatically receive a collective grade on a group exam, as is possible for group assignments. Currently, students are going through the questions one-by-one, and each marks their group answer individually in their quiz. The problem with this process is that invariably one or two students mark the wrong answer (i.e., they might accidentally select "C" when the group agreed the answer should be "B"). This hazard causes confusion, impacts their scores, and mucks up the grading.

So, here are my questions:

  • Is there any way to automatically assign a group grade for a quiz/exam, as wiith group assignments?
  • Is it possible for one student (a group leader) to mark an answer in a quiz that would auto-generate as the answer for all of the members of that group?
  • If (as I suspect) these functionalities do not currently exist, could they be added as an enhancement?
  • Are there other ways Canvas could be enhanced to better support collaborative testing?

Any advice or ideas you can share would be appreciated!


A Few Resources on Collaborative Testing/Two-Step Testing:

Goc, R. (2020, December 15). Q&A on collaborative or two-stage exams. Northwestern: The Canvas Post. https://canvaspost.northwestern.edu/2020/12/15/qa-on-collaborative-or-two-stage-exams

King's College London. (2023). Two-stage exams. https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/aflkings/rich-in-informal-feedback/two-stage-exams

Levy, D., & Klinger, M. (2018, September). Two-stage examinations: Can examinations be more formative experiences? Center for International Development at Harvard University, CID Faculty Working Paper No. 363.  https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid/publications/faculty-working-papers/two-stage-examinations#:....

 

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