This article outlines best practices and suggestions for delivering fully remote exams using Canvas. The IST eClass support team also provides support for a number of additional tools to assist instructors with online assessment as well as specific guidelines for the different exam delivery scenarios available.

Instructors are encouraged to contact eclass@ualberta.ca with any questions when deciding on a delivery format and to take advantage of our exam checking service to review the details, setup, and configuration of their exam in advance. Registering an exams to allow the eClass team to review the configurations in advance, complete usage and system performance testing if applicable, and plan support resources.

Register Your Online Exam(s) HERE

exam checks, exam check, exam registration

Pedagogical Support for Remote Exams:

The remote delivery of exams has its own challenges with regards to academic integrity or from a student-user experience. Instructors can book a consultation with the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) regarding the restructuring of assessments while adhering to learning outcome objectives.

CTL has also created the following videos regarding the topic:

1) Discussing alternatives to closed-book final exams 
2) Guide to creating Open Book Exams (OBEs)

CTL has also created resources for instructors considering how AI will impact their assessments: AI and academic integrity and AI and assessment.

Physical Locations for Online Exams:

With the mix of online and in-person delivery methods now available, one challenge facing students with mixed schedules is finding a location where they can write online midterms. In some cases, students face challenges with travel time between home and campus for online or in-person classes, meaning that they will require an appropriate place on campus to write their exams.

Instructors can ease student struggles by booking a classroom for a specific day and time and day for an online exam. Doing so will ensure that their entire class has access to a space for exam taking. Rooms can be booked using the RO’s Classroom Booking page.

Guidelines for Constructing Quizzes

• Preview all quiz questions  

  There are many different questions types available to be used in new quizzes with a varying degree of complexity. Instructors should always preview questions after creating them. This is especially important if instructors are delivering quizzes that have been migrated from eClasds using K16 and there are some known issues that should be reviewed.

• Quiz Layout

  Unlike eClass where it was recommended that quizzes all be delivered with 1 question per page, data entered into Canvas quizzes is saved as soon as it is entered. Instructors can choose to deliver either all questions on one page or one question at a time (available in quiz settings.) If several questions refer to the same material (for example a diagram, case study, or written problem), these can be set apart in a Canvas quiz using a text block quiz question (basically freeform text like in eClass) or a Stimulus question (a new Canvas question type that links material with a few questions.)

• Use built-in security features  

  There are a wide range of available security features in Canvas quizzes including question and answer order randomization, password protection, and more. Note that Canvas quizzes do not provide the option to require students to complete an honesty check statement so these should be added at the course level or included as a zero point TF question. 

Practical Considerations

• Flexible timings

  Ensure that the quiz time limit and open/close dates and times provide a buffer to account for technical challenges. Specifying a longer exam time window provides students flexibility for their specific start time, spreads outperformance and support load, and generally reduces anxiety. For example, if a quiz time limit is 120 minutes and scheduled for 2PM - 4PM, open the quiz at 1:30PM and close it at 4:30PM. Longer windows, for example providing students with 3 days to complete their exam are also recommended.

• Communicate early with students

  Instructors should communicate the exam details such as format and timing, how and when students will access the exam link, and any other special requirements students need to be aware of as soon as they can to head off any potential issues. For example, if the link to a quiz will appear in eClass only at the assigned start time, students may panic if they do not know that in advance. It is also imperative to set the expectations for student behaviour during exams and to outline the consequences for not meeting the requirements. Instructors are encouraged to emphasize to their students that the correct, complete monitoring record of an exam is considered a required component of successful exam submission and it is the student's onus to provide this. Instructors should also ensure that students review the guide Taking Canvas Quizzes (for Students).

  If instructors are delivering exams remotely or in-person on campus on student's own devices, it is also important to provide a reminder that students should always access online exams using the campus UWS wifi network (as opposed to using the Guest@UofA free wireless connection.)

  It is also recommended to provide detailed test taking suggestions in the instructions fields of quizzes or SEM sessions. A possible example to copy and paste would be:

  Prior to writing this exam ensure the following:

  • Your operating system and apps are up to date.
  • You have recently rebooted your device.
  • You have minimized the number of open apps and browser tabs to prevent resource drain.
  • You have a full healthy battery or are connected to a power source. --- Note: Many devices have a "lower power mode" that will intermittently cut WiFi or stop scanning for WiFi connection to save power.
  • If using wifi on campus, ensure you are connected to UWS and not to Guest@UofA network.

  If your device dies during the exam you will NOT be permitted to switch to the paper copy. You will have to either accept your mark as is or have the weight transferred to the final.

  Instructors are also encouraged also post the link to the IST Support, student-facing usage guides for the specific tools they are using: Using Respondus Lockdown Browser (for Students), Using Smart Exam Monitor (for Students) into their Canvas courses.

• Run a practice quiz

  Running a practice quiz with students accessing from wherever they will complete their final exam is essential. Whether students are already familiar with taking quizzes on Canvas or not, attempting a quiz from the actual exam-taking locations where bandwidth or firewall issues may occur can prevent these from occurring during the actual exam. Whenever possible, running a practice with 'for marks' quizzes (eg. existing formative assessments in your course) will ensure a higher rate of student participation.

  Practice exams should be run prior to every high-stakes exam as updates to student's device, operating system, or browser version can often cause problems.

• Prepare for problems

  - Establish a communication process for the different kinds of issues that may arise during an exam - eg. for subject matter questions, contact the TAs; for internet outages phone your internet provider (or immediately switch to cellular internet service or personal data hotspot); for technical issues with your computer contact the IST helpdesk (780-492-8000); for eClass issues contact eClass support (780-492-9372). These tips are also suggested for students here. Please note, eClass support is open Monday to Friday, 8:00AM-9:00PM so if exams are scheduled outside this time range prepare an alternative mechanism for support.

  - Some available communication options include phone, email, Google Meet, a 'live' shared google doc, or the Canvas inbox. Instructors may also want to create an online meeting, for example a Zoom session with the waiting room enabled for 1-to-1 interactions that students can log into during an exam to pose questions.

  - Be familiar with using quiz/assignment overrides to give students having issues a time extension if warranted.

  - Plan a backup solution - for example offering an alternative variation of the exam to be emailed to a student, completed, and returned or shifting students to a deferred exam.

• Create a backup quiz

  - Duplicating a quiz in advance of the exam but leaving any exam security tools off can be a quick way to allow any students who have problems with their device and/or monitoring setup on the day of the exam. These can be configured in canvas with access assigned only to the 'Default' section of a course (so it would not be visible to any actual students sections) and then individual students who require access can be added as additional Assign to entries.

Employing Exam Security and Remote Monitoring

As mentioned above, remotely delivered exams pose a range of challenges to be overcome. Some of the technical/practical challenges can be addressed by communicating early with students, clearly outlining expectations, and running practice exams to identify issues before exams. From an academic honesty perspective there four main challenges:

• Ensuring the exam taker is the correctly enrolled student (identity validation).
• Monitoring the student and the physical space where they complete the exam to ensure no disallowed materials are used (physical integrity validation).
• Monitoring the students' online activities to ensure they are not accessing any disallowed electronic resources (online integrity validation).
• Making sure that exams and questions aren't copied by exam takers (question security)

The available options for exam delivery are listed below in order of increasing ability to meet these challenges but also in increasing order of potential for technical challenges. No academic honesty measures are going to be 100% effective. It is up to instructors to decide which challenges to address are most important to them and which of the options below they feel comfortable with having their students use. There is also the cost of the service to consider. 

Option 1: No remote monitoring - Alternative assessment or open-book Canvas exam staged over a flexible time block

- Method: CTL has provided suggestions for this type of assessment and they are available for consultations on how to convert existing assessments.

- Support: Assessments of this type create the fewest barriers to student access and have the fewest technological limitations and are - often carried out in eClass which is fully supported.

- Cost: Charges may apply depending on the delivery method chosen by the instructor, but use of eClass is free.

- Monitoring: This style of exam does not provide any of the four types of monitoring noted above. Instructors should be aware that exam questions may be copied.

Option 2: NEW for 2025! Canvas exam using Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor - Respondus LockDown Browser (RLDB) and Monitor have been selected as the new exam security and remote proctoring tools for Canvas.  

- Method: Instructors use Canvas to deliver secured and/or monitored exams.

- Support: LockDown Browser and Monitor are both vendor-supported. Basic setup help and documentation is provided by the eClass team.

- Cost: Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor are free to use.

- Monitoring: A full range of monitoring options are supported are supplied, and an audit report is produced by the vendor. All session videos are available for instructors to review.

Option 3: Canvas exam using Smart Exam Monitor (SEM) - A Chrome-only web application that records student webcam video, audio, and screen activity

- Method: Instructors use Canvas, or another exam delivery method and use SEM to monitor the exam session. SEM features an option to deliver Canvas quizzes in a forced-full screen mode. Any students navigating away from the exam-taking window are automatically flagged. 

- Support: Canvas exams and SEM are supported by the eClass team; instructors can engage the team and sign up to have their exam validated. Other exam delivery methods are up to the instructor to support; SEM may be able to be used in these scenarios.

- Cost: Canvas and SEM are free.

- Monitoring: Provides identity validation, monitoring/recording of the student’s physical environment, and lightweight monitoring/recording of the student's onscreen activity. Does not provide question security or full monitoring of the student’s computer activity.

Option 4: Canvas exam or another exam delivery platform delivered at the LAC - Physical location with live, proctored Canvas or alternative exams in a secure lab

- Method: There are two options, full-service and self-service. Instructors can either build their own Canvas quizzes and contract the LAC to deliver the exam (self-service). Or the LAC can assist with digitizing the exams in Canvas for the instructor (full-service). There is an additional fee for full-service..

- Support: LAC provides full service support. 

- Cost: LAC charges for usage. Contact edlac@ualberta.ca for more information.

- Monitoring: All four types of monitoring are supplied, and an audit report can be produced by the LAC.