Combining the scores of two parts of an exam into one score

[rlennartz]

In one class, I give exams that are part multiple choice and part written, the written part being statistics problems.  I am trying to figure out how to do this in Canvas.  My first thought was to use the Quiz function for the multiple choice part and have the students upload phone scans (they have had practice with that on low-stake homework assignments) for the written part.  I would make the written part not count toward the grade, but add those points to the multiple choice scores (such as with the "fudge factor").

However, the quizzes are assigned points in Canvas based on the number of questions and points per question.  I am not sure what will happen if I enter more than the maximum number of points assigned to them.

If anybody has a suggestion, I would appreciate it.

[James · Accepted solution]

 @rlennartz  

If you enter more than the possible points, it will be considered extra credit.

One way to fix that is to put a file upload question on the exam where the students upload their answers. Then you go through and grade that problem separately and adjust the points for the file upload on the quiz.

That's not probably not as trivial as it sounds. The mobile apps do not support formula questions, multiple fill in the blank questions, or one question at a time. If you have any of those it will open inside the mobile device's browser to take the quiz. That's not too bad -- I just tested it on an iPad with Safari and it turns out the instructions I was providing for my students are operating system instructions, not Canvas Student instructions.

The problem comes when you go to grade a student file upload in SpeedGrader. Your options are to download the submission or to download the submission. One at a time. No preview available inside Canvas. Not a nice solution, but it may be what you need if you want the quiz to be timed timed or if you want the students to deliver a randomized version of the exam.

Another route might be to have separate assignments. One part is for the multiple choice and another part is for the written work. Then you can just use a file upload submission type and it's even easier than a file upload question in a quiz.

If you don't need to drop any grades, then just leave it as two separate assignments, each worth the part that they would be worth individually. You can use SpeedGrader and DocViewer to grade their assignment and it's super nice.

If you need to drop grades, then you could put the two individual assignments into an assignment group worth 0% of the grade and then create an assignment that counts that is manually (or using gradebook export/import with Excel) computed that holds their real grade. You'll need to explain what's going on to the students.

A third route is something I've used In the past. I've used essay questions where the students type their answers up. I did that for college algebra. It may or may not be possible in stats, depending on whether you want them to draw graphs or other things that can't be typed easily.

[rlennartz]

Thank you for describing these various options, James; this was very helpful.  I think that for my purposes (I do drop one exam), the best of those options for me is to put the separate parts of the exam into an assignment group worth 0% and then put the total into an assignment that counts as an exam. 

[klemons]

Hi James!   

I hadn't read this post until just now, but I've been playing with a similar idea.   However we have the added glitch of using Lockdown for our quiz.   

Here's what I have done.   I create an assignment (file upload) with a link to a quiz.    The quiz has some regular questions (MC, Short answer, essay, etc.) but then it has one question that has a preview of a file with a question (or more than one) where students have to show math/bio/chem/engineering etc. work.   They do that work for those questions on paper while they are still in Lockdown but then when the test is over, they go back to the assignment (no longer in Lockdown) and they can upload the PDF file to the assignment.      It actually works really well from the "Student View"

Here are the questions I have:

  We want to make the Quiz part of the assignment a "Practice Quiz" so that it doesn't show up in the assignments list and in the gradebook, BUT obviously we still want to see the students results so we can add those points to the points they receive on their uploaded resopnses.   So we want the official grade to be under the assignment not the quiz.  However, without having students take this quiz, I don't know what the results will look like.    If we make the quiz a "Practice quiz" will Canvas still automatically score the questions that can be graded by the computer (like MC, T/F) and will the instructors be able to go in and assign a grade to any essay questions?   And then will that total grade (for the quiz portion) be available for the instructor to see (but without counting in the students grade book)?  

I hope that made sense.   

THANKS to all of you who help out!  Especially in this crazy time for teachers!

[James]

 @klemons  

I don't use lockdown browser, so I won't be much help on that part.

Thank you for your question. I didn't fully realize how bad practice quizzes were until I read your comments. I actually tested some stuff to verify it was that bad (I logged in as a real student in our test instance and took a practice quiz). I had one quiz that I really, really, really want students to take (practice for the final) but many don't. It wasn't until I saw your comments that I realized it was because it wasn't showing up on the To Do list.

For practice quizzes, there is no grade in the gradebook, but you can still pull up Quiz Statistics and Quiz Moderation from the quiz page.

From the Quiz Statistics page, you can do the student analysis and that will give you the scores and answers for each student. It contains the name, ID, SIS_ID, section, and section_id as well as the score. This means that you can extract the data from the CSV in Excel and then combine it with another grade (or you could do it manually as well).

The Quiz Moderation page will show you the scores, but not the details. There is no export capability here, but if you are doing it manually, it's faster than doing the export / combination I mentioned with the Student Analysis. You can also click on a student's name to see their quiz submission and change the points.

Grading essay questions or changing the fudge points does get reflected in the Student Analysis as long as the student analysis is generated after you change the points.

The biggest drawback to your method is that you do not get SpeedGrader. That means that if there are essay questions, you'll need to go into each student's response individually from the quiz moderation page to grade it.

If you have a weighted gradebook and use assignment categories, I would create an assignment category worth 0% of the grade and then make the quiz worth however many points you want the quiz portion to be worth. I would make it a graded quiz. You want to keep it out of the gradebook, but my experience is that no matter how much you stress the importance of doing it, if it's not on the To Do list or the Calendar, then some students aren't going to find it. It adds a little extra to my gradebook, but it helps the students do it and it gives you the benefit of SpeedGrader, which makes grading it so much faster. You can then also export the grades using the gradebook export rather than having to mess with the Student Analysis.

If you don't have a weighted gradebook, then things are more challenging. You could make it a graded quiz and make all of the questions worth 0 points, but then you'll never know whether they got it right or not. You could make the problems worth tiny portions, say 0.01 for a correct response so that it was a positive, but negligible amount.

[scottdennis]

Hey James,

This was a great answer you gave!  Thanks for being so helpful to your fellow community members, especially in these difficult times.  Please check your direct messages for a small token of our appreciation.  

Thanks again for all that you do and keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Canvas Community Team