This article provides general suggestions for online exams and guides students on what to expect when taking quizzes on the UofA's new Learning Management System Canvas.

General Guidelines for Avoiding Common Online Exam Problems

These guidelines should be reviewed in advance of exams.

• Perform any practice quizzes your instructor has enabled for you to troubleshoot issues in advance.

• Use a wired internet connection whenever possible. If internet connectivity drops during a quiz, Canvas will save any answers entered prior to the interruption.

• When completing in-class or on-campus exams on personal devices, students should always ensure they are using the regular campus UWS wifi network or the EduRoam network and NOT the Guest@UofA free wireless connection. The Guest@UofA network is known to drop connectivity and cause interruptions during internet sessions and exams.
   
• If a student encounters problems accessing UWS, switching to the EduRoam network is the recommended solution.
   
• If using Respondus Lockdown Browser, some issues have been reported when students have BOTH UWS and EduRoam networks saved on their devices. If that is the case, students should 'forget' the UWS network on their device (instructions for mac, instructions for PC, step 3.)

• Students should troubleshoot any connectivity issues, and if the internet can be restored, resume their attempts. If connection problems occur, be sure to contact your instructor and advise them that you have encountered difficulties. 

• Students who encounter internet access or wifi issues during practice exams and/or do not have a compatible device may use a Windows machine in the Cameron or Rutherford Library computer labs to complete exams. These machines should not be used if an exam requires SEM or Respondus monitoring because external webcams may not function properly on Windows computers. Students are able to book a Cameron Library study room to complete exams as long as they provide their own webcam.

• Do not use third-party browser tools (e.g., Grammarly), as these can interfere with quiz application performance.

• Switch browsers and restart if you encounter any issues. A fresh browser will reveal if the problem is widespread or if it is something specific to a particular web-browsing session. 

• Important note: Do not launch multiple browser sessions to access the same quiz simultaneously. If you are completing an open-book exam and have a second browser window open to review course notes or static quiz information, ensure you close that additional browser windows and tabs before submitting the quiz and ensure that you do not allow the quiz to auto-submit at the deadline with additional windows or tabs open, as it may not submit your work correctly.
  
  
• The Canvas mobile app should not be used to submit high-stakes summative exams (ie. midterms and finals.) 

Quizzes in Canvas

While Canvas has two types of quizzes, New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes, the U of A is predominantly using New Quizzes, so if students see Canvas community or vendor support resources that appear different from what they are seeing, that may be the cause. This guide focuses on New Quizzes, but there is some material on Classic quizzes below.

Compared to quizzes in eClass, one great advantage in Canvas is that test takers do not have to worry about answers being saved only when they change pages or deliberately click a button to save them. Answers are saved automatically in Canvas quizzes as they are entered.

Typically, you will find a link to your quizzes under Canvas Modules, but this will vary from course to course:

Click on the quiz name to get started, e.g., New Quiz KB.

If you are required to write a quiz using Respondus Lockdown Browser, that should be indicated in the title of the quiz and the software should install and launch the first time you launch a quiz. Additional information is available in Using Lockdown Browser and Monitor (for Students).

If your exam is being proctored using Smart Exam Monitor, you must load the monitoring session first in a new Google Chrome browser window as instructed:

Once your monitoring is set up, the quiz link and password will be released to you. Additional instructions for using Smart Exam Monitor are available at Using Smart Exam Monitor (SEM) - Students.

Taking a Quiz

As mentioned above, a New quiz is usually accessed under Modules. When first accessing a quiz, if your instructor has set an 'Available from' time on a quiz before which the quiz is not accessible, students will see the quiz time range and when it is locked until:

After the launch time has passed, students will see their time limit (if one exists), the quiz due date (if one exists), and the box to enter an access code or quiz password (if one exists):

If your access code is entered correctly, you may Begin the quiz:

If your instructor has not added access code, simply click Begin.

Unless your instructor has restricted your ability to navigate freely in the quiz, you can navigate between questions with the Next and Previous buttons:

or by clicking a question number from the left side navigation menu:

The left-side menu can expanded to display the first few words of the question. You can access questions by clicking on the question name. You can also 'pin' a question you are unsure about to make it easier to return to later. Click the 'pin' icon to fill in the icon:

Your instructor may also allow using a built-in standard or scientific calculator in your quiz. The icon to open the calculator is located at the top of the quiz page to the right of the timer countdown:

Text and essay answers

For any question type requiring text entry, you will have access to the Canvas Rich Content Editor with its variety of editing and formatting tools. If your instructor has set word limits, you will see the word count and word limit displayed at the bottom right of the editor window:

Note that if your instructor has set word limits, you will be allowed to exceed them - your answer will be flagged as exceeding the limit but you will not lose any part of your answer and your instructor will decide what penalty to apply.

Important Quiz Notes

Quiz Close Timing: If there is a specific closing time set on your quiz, such as if it is an exam being taken in a specific time window (eg. 9:00 - 11:AM, this will NOT be visible on the quiz launch page so you should be aware of any limits in advance. Within the quiz itself, the countdown timer WILL show the ACTUAL time you have remaining, ending at the cut off time. This means that if you launch a 1-hour time limited quiz LESS than an hour before the close time, the close time will be applied and you will not have the full hour to complete the exam.

Accessing Quizzes from the gradebook: clicking a link to a quiz from the gradebook in a course tries to show students the 'results view' of a quiz (where they would normally review an attempt.) This can be confusing as there are messages saying that 'No preview is available' and that 'Grades are unavailable because the instructor is working on them.' To launch the quiz from the quiz results page, click the quiz name in the top bread crumbs:

French Numerical Answer Entry: If you are using French or another language that uses a comma as the decimal separator as the default language on your computer, then when you enter in a decimal with trailing zeros (i.e. 99.00) as the answer for a Numerical question, it will erase the trailing zeros (i.e. "99" instead of "99.00"). To avoid this, you can use a comma as your decimal separator instead of a period (i.e. 99,00).

Taking a Classic quiz

When you start a Classic quiz, you will see the following information about the quiz:

• When it is due
• How many points the quiz is worth
• How many questions are included
• When the quiz becomes available
• How much time you have to complete the quiz

Note: The number of points will not necessarily be the weight included in the final grade your instructor has assigned to the quiz.

When you are ready to start, click Take the quiz:

If your instructor has set an access code or password for the quiz, submit it here. Otherwise, this page will be skipped:

Once you have started, you will be presented with any instructions your instructor has included for the quiz overall, and you will see your first question:

Unless your instructor has restricted your ability to navigate freely in the quiz, you can navigate between questions with the Next and Previous buttons

You can also skip to questions by clicking on the question name at the top right of the quiz page:

If your instructor has not restricted your ability to navigate freely, you can also flag a question you are unsure about to make it easier to come back to later:

Once you are ready, you can click to Submit quiz:

You will receive a warning that once submitted, you cannot change your answers.