Different Points for Quiz and Associated Grade Item?

Since the Properties tab of a quiz is where you set up its association with a grade item, but the points on the quiz are determined on the Layout/Questions tab, it is easy to see how there can be a discrepancy between the points possible on the quiz and the maximum points for the associated grade item.

One way to change this to change the maximum points for the grade item. Desire2Learn can then recalculate the points for the grade item based on the quiz score:

• After you change the maximum points for the grade item, click on the Grade icon for the quiz
• Clear the graded check box for each attempt so it is marked as ungraded
• Click the Update button
• Click in the box to mark each attempt as graded
• Click the Update button

If you want to go the other direction (i.e., change the points possible on the quiz to match the maximum points for the associated grade item), the steps are a bit different:

• After you change the points possible for the quiz, click on the Grade icon for the quiz
• Click on each attempt to open it and then click the Auto-Grade button
• 
  You can use the arrow buttons directly above the Save button to navigate to the next attempt (you do not have to click the Save button)

Quiz Time Restrictions and Auto-Submit Quiz Attempt

When auto-submit attempt is selected as an option for late submissions on a test that has an enforced time limit, students still must click the Submit button to submit the test for grading. No changes to the test page (changing answers to questions, saving unsaved answers) are allowed once the time limit has been exceeded. So even though you see that the student has exceeded the time limit, you know that none of the answers you can see were provided after the time allowed. If a student did not submit the quiz, you can do so on a student's behalf.

Quiz Statistics and Ungraded Attempts

The quizzes page shows the number of attempts and graded attempts for each quiz, separated by a slash. If the numbers are not equal (i.e., if there are one or more ungraded attempts) clicking on the statistics icon may show an error. You can mark a quiz attempt as graded by clicking on the grade icon for that quiz. Then click on any ungraded attempts to view them, click the Auto-Grade button, click the check box to indicate the quiz is Graded, and then click the Save button. The quiz statistics should be visible.

Even if the statistics icon returns an error, you can likely view the statistics for each question on the quiz and the overall statistics in the grade area (if the quiz is associated with a grade item).

Thanks to Eddie Fagin for asking the question that led to this answer.

Pagers and Quizzes (In Progress)

If the quiz option is chosen to prevent use of the pager tool, that tool will be unavailable for students to use as long as that quiz attempt is in progress. This block perpetuates indefinitely, so it is possible for a student to be prevented from using the pager months after the semester ends in which the student did not complete the quiz attempt. When students in this situation try to use the pager, the system tells them the class that has the quiz attempt in progress. If the class was from a prior semester, it will require the instructor's help to remove the block.

Instructors can remove the block without making the entire class active by submitting the quiz on behalf of the student. This is explained in another blog entry.

Respondus LockDown Browser and the Macintosh

Apple's Snow Leopard operating system breaks the Respondus LockDown Browser in two ways:

1. The keyboard shortcut for screen capture works while the browser is on (Apple/Command + Shift + 4)
2. The screen-recording function built in to QuickTime X works while the browser on (it must be turned on before the browser is started)

This is for the Snow Leopard operating system only (not Leopard). I have reported this bug to Respondus and expect them to fix it soon.