Make quiz grading algorithm adjustable

[bnackley]

The default Canvas quiz grading algorithm is kinda harsh.  Students lose as much points for incorrectly choosing an answer that was incorrect as they receive for choosing an answer that was correct.  So they get one right and one wrong and they net a zero.  Can you make this algorithm flexible so instructors can tweak it?  For example, I would want to change that so students get only half wrong for wrong answers vs. right for right answers.

[KristinL]

Hi @bnackley  --

With New Quizzes, it may be possible to do this. 

For example, with Multiple Choice questions, you can Vary Points by Answer. With this option, you could decide to award full points for the correct answer and half-points for the others. 

If you'd prefer to see this as a blanket setting for the Quiz (ie: award x%-credit for incorrect answers) that could be a new Idea. Let the Community Team know what you'd prefer.

[James]

From the description, it sounds like @bnackley is talking about the multiple answers question type. It supports the same scheme that classic quizzes uses plus an all or nothing (now called exact match).

[KristinL]

Hi @bnackley - I wanted to check in! Could you clarify your needs a little more so we can possibly match your request with a resource or existing idea? If we don't hear from you by May 17, we will Archive this thread so the Community Team can focus on newer requests. Thanks!

[bnackley]

So, James' suggestion is correct: I use Multiple Answers questions from Classic Quizzes all the time. But it's a bit harsh on how it grades: If my students correctly select 2 answers that are correct, and incorrectly select 2 more answers that they thought were correct (but they were wrong), Canvas nets them a zero score for the question. I would so much like to tweak this algorithm, to just be nicer to my students. Like they get double the points for a correctly-selected correct answer than they get dinged for an incorrectly-selected answer. Or even that they gain no points for incorrectly-selected choices, but they don't get points actually taken away. That's really harsh.

[Gregory_Putman]

I agree. 

It should definitely be an option to deduct points for incorrect answers in multiple answer questions in new quizzes.  It would be great to be able to set the number of points that specific answer choices are worth, would look similar to assigning partial credit to multiple choice answer options but maybe force the total to equal 100%. 

I can see the usefulness of having negative scores on incorrect answer choices in some circumstances, but in others it is a little too much.  I should have the option to do that or not as I see fit when designing my student interactions.  I'm considering doing away with multiple answer questions due to the current grading situation but would definitely continue using them if I was able to at least disable the penalty.

[ProductPanda]

Comments from Instructure

As part of the new Ideas & Themes process, all ideas in Idea Conversations were reviewed by the Product Team. Any Idea that was associated with an identified theme was moved to the new Idea & Themes space. Any Idea that was not part of the move is being marked as Archived. This will preserve the history of the conversations while also letting Community members know that Instructure will not explore the request at this time.