Exam Accommodations

This article describes how to use Canvas to grant students additional time and extended availability windows for exams, which, in Canvas, are called quizzes.

If a student in your course has an approved accommodation from Student Disabilities Services (SDS) or must take a quiz at a different time than the rest of the class (because of time zone or another reason), you should ensure that reasonable accommodations are made. You are responsible for setting up these accommodations in Canvas, or for asking the Courseware team to do so.

Please contact Courseware with accommodation requests at least 1 business day before the quiz is administered.

Availability Windows vs. Time Limits

The availability window is the total time period the quiz is open to students; e.g., from April 28 at 12pm to April 29 at 1pm.

The time limit is a specified amount of time given to students to complete the quiz (e.g., 60 minutes).

If your quiz uses both availability dates and a time limit, be sure to update both when making accommodations.

When students take a quiz that has a time limit, the timer starts as soon as they begin taking the quiz (by clicking Begin in New Quizzes or Take the quiz in Classic Quizzes). A countdown clock displays their remaining time and provides a warning message shortly before the time runs out. The timer does NOT pause if students leave the quiz or close their browser. Quizzes are automatically submitted at the end of the time limit or at the available until date, whichever comes first.

If you are giving a quiz during class time, the Courseware team suggests setting only an Available from for the start of the quiz and setting a time limit to correspond with the end of class. If you do decide to include an Until date, consider setting it for 10-15 minutes after the end of class or until the end of the day in case students started the quiz a few minutes late.

Note: The Courseware Team does not recommend using only an availability window as a substitute for a time limit because available from/until dates cannot be adjusted after students start taking the quiz. Students are bound by the Available Until date that was in place when they started the quiz. Availability dates must be set or updated at least 15 minutes before students begin taking the quiz.

The availability window is created by choosing an Available from and Available Until date and time on the assignment details page of an assignment or quiz.

Assign to field for Canvas assignments and quizzes

Students cannot view or take a quiz before the available from date/time and are locked out of the quiz or cannot start taking it at the Until date (eg, the quiz is available until April 28 at 6 pm). A student who attempts to access a quiz outside that window will see a message like:

This assignment is locked until April 28 at 12 pm.

Availability windows can be used to allow students to take a timed quiz within a larger window (eg, a timed 2-hour quiz that students must start and complete anytime within a 12-hour window). Using a larger availability window (e.g., 12 to 24 hours long) is strongly recommended, especially when you need to accommodate students learning fromdifferent time zones or enrolled across several course sections.

Student-specific Availability Windows

You can set different availability windows for students within the same quiz or assignment.

Open the quiz (in New Quizzes or Classic Quizzes) and scroll down to the Assign to field.
After setting the Due Date and Available from/Until dates, click the +Add button to create a second Assign to field.
Start typing the first few letters of the student's name and select their name from the student list that appears. You can assign a different availability window to multiple students or to different sections of students.
Enter the new due date and Available from/Until dates for these students.
Repeat steps 2-4 as needed, and click Save when you are finished.

Notes: Individual students can only be assigned one (1) Availability Window. Students will see only the due date and available from/Until dates assigned to them.

Extending the Time Limit

You can extend the time limit of a quiz for individual students without adjusting the time limit for the rest of the class. This is possible in both New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes, but should be done before students start taking the quiz.

In New Quizzes

In Classic Quizzes

Allowing Extra Time for In-Progress Quizzes

Note: It is not possible to give a student additional time while they are taking a New Quiz. You can allow them another attempt, but not additional time.

In Classic Quizzes

If a student has an emergency or technical issue while they are taking a quiz using Classic Quizzes, you can open Moderate This Quiz, then click the clock icon next to the student's remaining time.

2. Enter the amount of extra time to give the student and select to apply the extra minutes to the current end time of the quiz. Then click Extend Time. The extra time will be applied to the student's in-progress attempt and their countdown clock will be updated.

Classic Quizzes extend quiz time

Questions?

Email: courseware@wharton.upenn.edu

Availability Windows vs. Time Limits

Student-specific Availability Windows

Extending the Time Limit

In New Quizzes

In Classic Quizzes

Allowing Extra Time for In-Progress Quizzes

In Classic Quizzes

Questions?

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