[ARCHIVED] How to do a math test with student work and a time limit?

[hkellogg]

I am trying to figure out how to

1) allow students to take a test at their own chosen time (within a window of time),

2) have students download a test document (PDF), and then upload or email their written responses (as PDF),

3) impose a time limit on the test.

I haven't found a good way in Canvas to implement a test that satisfies all 3 requirements. Thanks for any help you can offer.

[cyang]

Hi Harry,

I am currently teaching statistics during the summer and here is what I do:

(1) set an exam to open 12am on Saturday and close on 11:59pm the same Saturday of our scheduled exam day

(2) create a quiz/exam using the "File Upload Question" choice when creating questions, this would require students to upload a file.  Also, allows you to attach your file into area where the question would go.  I've told students to upload in pdf only and so far that seems to work.

(3) set the exam at a timed 2 hour limit.  This way students can take the exam any time on Saturday as long as it's submitted (by them or time runs out) by 11:59pm that night.

I also make my exams so that students can't only take it once, this way they can't try multiple attempts.

Hope this helps,

Cat

[hkellogg]

Thank you, Cat and James, for your suggestions.  Here’s what I have been trying out, which looks like it is basically what Cat described. After setting up what I describe below, I now appreciate James’ solution using both a Quiz and an Assignment (very clever way to enforce both a time limit and a file upload type); but that seemed more complex for the student.  

1. I create a Quiz in Canvas.  This way I can set a range of time for availability (e.g. 24 hr), as well as a time limit (e.g. 45 min).
2. The Quiz has a single "file upload" question; its instructions include
   1. a link for downloading the quiz/test.
   2. print the exam, or just view and use blank paper for work and answers
   3. scan the work with a phone app like GeniusScan or Notes (or a scanner if you have one) and save result as a single .pdf file
   4. upload the .pdf file [Yes, I liked that with an Assignment, I could enforce that upload was a PDF; here I rely on students to comply]
   5. press “Submit Quiz”

I then tested this out as a test student in the class. It seems to work, and to satisfy the main criteria I had:

• impose a time limit 
• provide a printed test paper to the students
• get back written test answers from each student that I can mark up

But I did encounter two issues.

1. When the student downloads the exam (at least on the MacBook where I tested this) he gets a “You’re about to navigate away from this page. Continue anyway?” message.  And then a “Connection to … Canvas was lost. …” message (I forget all the details).  Connection was actually not lost - student was able to return to the Canvas page and complete the quiz, including doing the upload; but the message is disconcerting.
2. It looks like the only way to access the student’s submission is to retrieve all submissions at once, using a link in the upper right of the quiz page. Is it a pain to separate the different student submissions?  I expect to have about 35 students. But I want to do this, because I want to mark up each submission with Adobe Acrobat and return it to the student; and I am not comfortable using SpeedGrader and Rubrics. 

[James]

Thanks. I had missed the "Download All Files" from the Quiz page because I grade it in SpeedGrader. I tested it and the filenames start off with the student's name. Since there's only one file upload question in your exam, it should be easy to separate them.

The ability to download all of the files doesn't fix my other issues though. When a student submits a PDF to an assignment, you can download all of the submissions, mark them up in Acrobat, and then re-upload them to Canvas marked up. I've done that in the past, but wasn't happy with how students had to find the results, so I stopped doing that. With a file upload question inside a quiz, there is not that ability to do the bulk re-upload of marked up assignments. That means that you need to do upload each one individually as a submission comment (I've done that in the past, too) and it works well.

The only ways to download the quiz questions individually are to go to the quiz itself (either through Quiz Moderation or through SpeedGrader) and then download the files individually from the quiz.

It is good to know that you found a workflow that works for you. There are often multiple ways to accomplish something.

[James · Accepted solution]

hkellogg,

I was originally going to do something like what  @cyang suggested and decided against it for a couple of reasons. My technique does not enforce the time limit, but it is easier for everyone to use. I rely on students to self-regulate their time, but it is good to have a policy in your syllabus about what will happen if they go over the limit -- I had on student taking a Calculus 3 final who "lost track of time" by an extra 1.5 hours.

Also, I did not require that students have a printer. Most did, but a few hand-wrote the answers on separate paper. They did have to have something to scan the work and convert it to a PDF. One used a scanner, most used their iPhones or Android devices.

1. Make sure the students know what is going on and do a trial run to make sure that they can scan a document and upload it. I use an honor statement before each exam.
2. Create a quiz that has one question. It is a text-only question that has a link to the PDF of the exam. I use a question group so that I can upload multiple versions and randomize the distribution, but that's optional. Encourage the students to leave the quiz up and running while they complete the exam so they have the timer, but also encourage them to say "Alexa, set a timer for 90 minutes."
3. Have a separate assignment that accepts file uploads for the submission of the quiz. I have them use Adobe Scan (+ Adobe Acrobat for iOS users) because I want their file as a PDF, not as a photo. The Adobe Acrobat added the ability to browse the files. 

For the student, having Adobe Scan/Acrobat Bundle allows you to share directly with Canvas -- if it is an assignment that supports file uploads. If it is a file upload question on quiz, this functionality does not exist and students will need to go to the quiz question, choose a file, and then browse to find the upload.

That's a little more hassle for the students, but doable. However, there some big downsides to using a file upload question for the instructor and this is why I went with a separate assignment.

• With a file upload question, you must download each student's submission separately. With a separate assignment you can download all of them at once. Edit (2020-07-23): Harry pointed out that you can "Download All Files" from the Quiz page. You cannot upload the files back like you can with an assignment.
• With a file upload question, you cannot enforce the type of file submission. With a separate assignment, you can specify the upload type and limit it to PDF (if that's what you want -- I do).
• With a file upload question, there is no preview inside SpeedGrader. With a separate assignment, you get to use DocViewer and leave comments directly within SpeedGrader.

The downside to the separate assignment is that it doesn't enforce the time limit. I was doing this with small classes so it wasn't hard for me to check. I would go into the Quiz and see when they started it. I did this with my finite, calculus 3, and differential equations classes after the COVID-19 shutdown and it worked fairly well. The largest class I had doing this had 8 students, so it would be harder to check for a large class. However, the downsides listed above would be magnified as well.