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Before examination – checklist for Canvas

Before an examination, you as a teacher need to prepare the examination room and the assignments or quizzes in Canvas. Use this checklist to make sure you remember all the steps. The checklist is available in web format with explanations and can be downloaded as a PDF without explanations.

Note! Much of this checklist assumes that you use the examination room in Canvas for your course. For examinations with registration, using the examination room is mandatory.

The checklist

The checklist is separated into two areas, one that handles the assignments or quizzes and one that handles the examination room itself. Both these areas are in the downloadable file as well.

The items in the checklist can be performed in any order, but we recommend that you publish the room last so the students only see the finished room.

You can also download an interactive version of the checklist:

Checklist before examination (pdf 86 kB)

For the assignments or quizzes

Clarification: by “time limits” we mean availability period and due date.  

I have

  • checked that the wording is correct in all assignments and quizzes
  • set time limits so that the students can write for the entire exam
  • set the time limit for the code of conduct to allow submission before and after the exam
  • checked that the right students get the correct Funka support
  • published assignments, quizzes, codes of conduct and possibly modules
  • if necessary, enabled anonymous assessment
  • if necessary, prepared for using Transfer to Ladok.

For the examination room

I have

  • edited or deleted the conditioned information page (only for the module-based examination room template)
  • if necessary, changed the home page (if you manually imported a template)
  • updated the home page with information and contact information
  • hidden unnecessary links in the course menu
  • checked that the structure of the examination is logical and easy to follow
  • checked the settings for late or missing submissions
  • selected manual or automatic grade posting
  • planned for reporting the final grade
  • reviewed the examination with the student view
  • published the examination room well in advance.

Explanation of the checklist for the assignments or quiz

Below, the items in the checklist are explained in more detail.

Checked that the wording is correct in all assignments and quizzes

Review all assignments and quizzes and check that the information in them is up to date and correct. Students can search for the title of the assignment or quiz even if they are unpublished. Therefore, make sure that titles only contain information that you want the students to have access to before the examination.  

Set time limits so students can write for the entire exam

In Canvas, you can set a time for when the assignment is due and a separate time for how long the assignment should be available. Set the assignment to be available for some time after the due time, we recommend 30 minutes. Then it is still possible to submit the assignment, which is helpful if any type of problem should arise for the student. You will be able to see who submitted the assignment late. For more information on how the time limits work, please read the page Availability period and due date .

Set the time limit for the code of conduct to allow submission before and after the exam

Submitting the code of conduct should not affect the time for the exam for students. They should be able to submit the code of conduct before and after the examination. We recommend that you set the time limit so that it is available to students 15 minutes before the examination starts and 30 minutes after the examination ends. For more information on how the time limits work, please read the page Availability period and due date .

Checked that the right students get the correct Funka support

Check that you have given the correct Funka support to the right people. The students with the right to Funka support should be in a separate section so you can easily give that section extended exam time, but other Funka support is handled on an individual level. Read more on the page Funka's recommendations regarding support during examination .

Published assignments, quizzes, the code of conduct and possibly modules

Make sure that the entire examination is published, otherwise the students will not see it. If you use modules, they must also be published for students to see the content of the modules. Students only see the name of the published assignments or quizzes until the examination begins.

If necessary, enabled anonymous assessment

If you are going to use anonymous assessment, you can activate it in two ways: in the settings of an assignment or in SpeedGrader. It is recommended to enable anonymous assessment in SpeedGrader. This anonymizes the submission without anonymizing the status of student submissions in the gradebook. Read more on the page Assess documents in Canvas .

If necessary, prepared to use Transfer to Ladok

If you are going to use the function "KTH Transfer to Ladok", the assignments need to use a "Letter grade" that matches the grading scale in the module in Ladok. You set this in the assignment settings. For more information, read the page How to transfer grades from Canvas to Ladok .

Explanation of the checklist for the examination room

Below, the items in the checklist are explained in more detail.

Edited or deleted the conditioned information page (only for the module-based examination room template)

The module-based examination room template has a conditioned information page, which means that students must read that page before proceeding to the examination. Edit the page and enter information and instructions that the students need before the examination. If you don't want to use the conditioned information page, delete it and type the relevant information on the home page instead.

If necessary, changed the home page (if you manually imported a template)

If you have imported the template from Canvas Commons, you need to change to the correct home page as this does not happen automatically. Read about how to do this on the page How do I set a Front Page in a course? (community.canvaslms.com) . You can unpublish or delete the old page.

Updated the home page with information and contact information

The home page is the first thing the students see in the examination room, so here it is fitting to add instructions and information that the students need before the examination. The home page has a suggested text that can be used if you do not want to write your own text. However, the home page needs to be supplemented with contact information for the examiner, such as e-mail and telephone number. To edit the page, go to it and click on the "Edit" button. Save when you are finished.

Hidden unnecessary links in the course menu

The course menu should only show relevant links to help students navigate. Make sure all visible links in the course menu are visible for good reason and hide the rest. You can find a guide to this on the page How do I manage Course Navigation links? (community.canvaslms.com) .

Checked that the structure of the examination is logical and easy to follow

Students will be stressed when they enter the examination room, so try to make the structure of the examination as easy to follow as possible. For example, you can clearly name all assignments, quizzes and modules.  

Checked the settings for late or missing submissions

Check how late or missing submissions are handled in the examination room and edit them if you want other settings. By default, there is no point deduction for late submissions and missing submissions receive a grade of 0%.

Selected manual or automatic grade posting

Grades can be published manually by the examiner or automatically for each student immediately after the grade has been entered in SpeedGrader. The recommendation and standard is manual grade posting. This is so that the examiner can edit grades during the assessment and then publish all final grades at the same time. However, if you use automatically assessed quizzes, you may want to put automatic grade posting on that one.  

The following guide will help you set up manual or automatic grade posting: How do I use posting policies in a course? (community.canvaslms.com) .

Planned for reporting the final grade

Check to what extent Canvas can support reporting of student results. Keep in mind that the result for a course module must be reported in Ladok 15 working days after the examination date. It is not enough to just report, for example, exam results in Canvas. For clarity towards the students, it is recommended that you use Canvas to weigh the assessments and calculate the final course grade. If you deviate from this, you should communicate to the students how the weighting works. Read about Canvas’ possibilities for reporting results and weighting on the page Manage results and partial score in Canvas .

Reviewed the examination with the student view

Before you let your students into the examination room, you should check that it looks as you intended for the students. The easiest way is to use the student view, which you activate with the button "Student view". You can find a guide to the feature on the page How do I use the student view? (community.canvaslms.com) .

Published the examination room well in advance

Publish the examination room in Canvas well in advance of the examination, preferably one week before. The students only see the room when it is published and it is preferable if the students have plenty of time to find the room. Then those who may not find the examination room have time to find out why and fix the problem. Students can also ask you questions if something is unclear in the examination room. You can publish your course from the home page, as explained in the guide How do I publish a course? (community.canvaslms.com) .