Randomizing an Exam with Different Point Totals for Questions

[mwillis2]

How can I randomize exam questions with different point values?  Every student will have the same set of questions. However, I want to randomize the entire test.

[James]

 @mwillis2  

With Classic Quizzes, you will need to use a Question Group to randomize questions.

Within a question group, all questions must have identical point values. This is a requirement so that point total for the quiz is consistent. If you have some questions wroth 3 points and some worth 5 points, then you need to create a question group to hold those worth 3 points and a different question group worth 5 points. This means that you will not be able to completely randomize the questions on the exam, but you can randomize within the 3 point questions and randomize within the 5 point questions.

To make sure all students get the same questions, just in a different order, then make sure that you make the number of questions to pick from each question group equal to the number of questions within that question group.

If you want to completely randomize the entire exam without any kind of grouping you will have to give up having different point values.

You can have exactly one of these two situations and will need to decide which is more important to you.

• randomized question groups with potentially different point values
• randomized questions from the entire quiz with the same point value

[CharlesHammond]

It is insane that Canvas does not let you just make X number of questions with their own point totals and then present them in random order to the students. This is an incredibly simple feature request.....

[cstrikwerda]

@CharlesHammond This is what question groups do. This is not a feature request perse' because Canvas Question Groups already do this. The previous response explains this well, however, the Question Group has an overall point total. When we place a question inside of a group it gets applied whatever point value that group is applying to all the questions.

New Quizzes already works to improve this as well. With new quizzes, we can select to Shuffle Questions, which will shuffle all questions and randomize them regardless of point total. So with New Quizzes, this alleviates the need to put the questions in question groups.

Hope this helps!