Faculty Question of the Week
Each week we'll use this space to share a question (or more!) that we've received about Quercus and other Academic Toolbox tools.
This week's question is: "Why didn't my student's Quiz answers submit properly?"
This Week's Faculty Question
Q: I recently gave my class a graded online Quiz in Quercus with a combination of multiple-choice and short-answer ("essay") questions. Most students had no issues with submitting their answers and I can easily see their responses in the SpeedGrader. However, I am not seeing the answers for one of my students in SpeedGrader, even though they insist they answered all the questions before they submitted the quiz. I've also checked the Quiz Log for the student and the answers don't appear there either. What could have happened to the answers?
A: The problem you described may be the result of the student having the Quiz open in more than one browser tab or window at the same time. This can result in answers not being saved or displayed properly. Specifically, when the Quiz is submitted, Quercus will only record the answers from one tab or window as the official submission. That means that only the answers from that tab or window will be properly displayed in SpeedGrader. Answers in other tabs/windows may not be recorded in the submission. So, if a student answers some questions in one tab and some in another, Quercus will only display those from the tab chosen for submission. Answers from the other tab will appear as blank/unanswered.
The tab that is chosen for submission may differ according to whether the quiz was auto-submitted or manually submitted:
- If the Quiz is auto-submitted (i.e., when the quiz timer runs out or the quiz availability window closes), the tab that Quercus chooses for submission will be randomly selected.
- If the student manually submits the quiz using the Submit button, Quercus will choose the tab the student was working on when they submitted.
What can you do?
You can make students aware of the above prior to their taking a quiz. You can also share the following student-facing ETO guide with them, with additional tips and strategies for taking an online assessment:
Have a Quercus (or EdTech) question? Please contact FASE's EdTech Office.
