D2L Quizzes Guide

Faculty guide on creating and managing

quizzes in D2L.

Office of Online Learning

D2L Quizzes Guide 1 Office of Online Learning

Contents
The Quizzes Tool ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Add Questions to the Question Library .................................................................................................... 3
Bulk Import Questions to the Question Library ...................................................................................... 7
Create and import your own CSV file ................................................................................................... 7
Import a Publisher Test Bank ............................................................................................................... 8
Create a New Quiz and Add Questions .................................................................................................... 9
Add Questions to the Quiz .................................................................................................................10
Add Randomized Question Pools .......................................................................................................11
Availability Dates and Conditions .......................................................................................................12
Add Students to Quiz Special Access ..................................................................................................12
Timing and Display ............................................................................................................................15
Attempts Settings ..............................................................................................................................16
Evaluation and Feedback Settings ......................................................................................................16
Grading Quizzes.....................................................................................................................................17
Other Quiz Options................................................................................................................................20
Preview a Quiz ...................................................................................................................................20
Give All Students Credit for One Quiz Question..................................................................................20
Reset a Quiz Attempt.........................................................................................................................21
Submit Quizzes Stuck “In Progress”....................................................................................................22
Print Out a Paper Copy of a Quiz or an Answer Key ............................................................................22
Deactivate the Built-In Spell Checker in Written Response Questions ................................................23

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The Quizzes Tool
The Quizzes area is where both quizzes and exams can be created and administered inside
D2L. D2L is able to auto-grade most quiz questions for you, with the exception of those with
Written Response questions. You also have the option to enable LockDown Browser or
Respondus Monitor proctoring with D2L quizzes, to protect the academic integrity of exams.
You can find the Quizzes tool under Assessment in the default Navbar:

Add Questions to the Question Library

The easiest way to add questions to a quiz is to create them first in the Question Library.
1. Select the Question Library tab at the top of the main Quiz List page.

2. Questions in the Question Library are organized into folders and sub-folders called
“Sections.” Select the blue “New” button at the top of the screen, and then Section.

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3. Give your Section a Title (i.e. “Chapter 1 Quiz Questions”). Note that you can opt to have the
title of your section hidden from students by checking the box. Optionally, you may add
Section Text or check the “Shuffle questions in this section” box, if you want the questions
to appear in a unique, random order for students. Click Save when done.

Use this New > Section process to create a structure for your question library. You may decide
to have one section folder per chapter, per unit, per topic, etc. Once your structure is begun, you
can begin adding questions to the section folders, which will later be imported to specific
quizzes or assessments.

4. Once your section folder(s) exist, you may begin adding individual questions to them. To do
this, click the section in which you will be adding questions from the list in the Question
Library:

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5. Click the “New” button, then select the question type you wish to add from the dropdown
menu.

The most popular question type options are:

• True or False: Probably the easiest question type to create. Each question has two
options, of which one is correct. Auto-graded.
• Multiple Choice: Each question can have anywhere from 2-20 answer choices, with one
answer indicated as correct. Auto-graded.
• Multi-Select: Very similar to the Multiple Choice Question, but this type allows for the
question to have more than one correct answer. Auto-graded.
• Written Response: Students write a short answer in response to a prompt. Written
response questions can also be used for responses requiring a file upload. These
questions cannot be auto-graded.

6. The next step will depend on the question type you chose. Most question types allow you to:

• type a quiz question and possible answers,

• select right answers,
• set point values,
• add feedback that will appear when students select a certain answer,
• randomize answer order between different attempts on the quiz,
• and view a student preview of the question in the side pane.

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See the example of a Multiple Choice question below:

The major exception which lacks a lot of these options is, of course, Written
Response questions, which simply present students with a blank text box, with which to answer
an open-ended question.

Note: D2L cannot auto-grade Written Response questions. Any Written Response questions on
a quiz in D2L will be marked as “0” until the instructor manually grades it.

7. After you are done drafting the question, select Save or Save and New to create another
question of the same type.
8. After you Save the question, it will appear in the section folder in your Question Library. You
can now add questions stored in your Question Library to your quizzes.

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Bulk Import Questions to the Question Library
Create and import your own CSV file
It is also possible to bulk import quiz questions into the Question Library, either from a pre-
formatted CSV file, or a test bank supplied to you by a textbook publisher.
1. If you do not already have your questions formatted in a CSV file, create a Word document
formatted according to these instructions.
2. Copy and paste the text of your document into this generator tool to convert the text to CSV.
3. Select Import at the top of the Question Library page, then Upload a File to import a CSV file
that has been correctly formatted.

4. In the next window, choose the file you want to

upload from your computer using Browse. Only .csv
or .zip files will be accepted.

5. If the upload was successful, you will be given the

opportunity to review the questions before importing
them, using Import All.

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Import a Publisher Test Bank
1. If the above instructions do not work for importing the file, go to Edit Course in the Navbar.

2. Select Import/Export/Copy Components, under Site Resources.

3. Select Import Components and choose from a course package as the source. Select Start.

4. Choose the test bank files to upload and

select Import All Components.

If the upload was successful, the imported

question files will now appear in your Question
Library.

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Create a New Quiz and Add Questions
1. From the Quizzes area, select New Quiz at the top.

2. The next page that opens allows you to modify the settings for your new quiz. First, give the
quiz a descriptive Name.

3. Next, choose how you want the quiz to be graded

under Grade Out Of. Select the menu that says Not
in Grade Book then Edit or Link to Existing.

4. In the window that opens, select Create

and link to a new grade item, if one
does not already exist for this quiz in the
Grades area. This will add a grade item
with the same name as the quiz to the
grade book. Click Ok.

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5. Enter the points the quiz is worth into the box under Grade Out Of.

6. Next, set the Due Date for the quiz, or leave this blank if there is no due date.

Add Questions to the Quiz

1. Next, in the Questions area, select Add Existing and then Browse Question Library to add
questions from the question library. Or, to create a new question or section and add it to the
quiz, select Create New.

2. An expandable list of all sections and questions in the

Question Library will appear, with search and filter options.
Check the box next to the sections or individual questions
you want to include and select Import. You can also choose
to Import to Top of the Quiz, Import to Bottom of the Quiz,
or Import to a Section of the quiz.

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3. The questions you imported will now appear in the question list. You can add more
questions, drag and drop the questions into the order you want, or use More Actions to
move or delete questions from the list. You can also use More Actions to make some
questions worth bonus points or to Set Points for individual questions (the default point
value of each question is 1 point).

Add Randomized Question Pools

Using Question Pools is a way to randomize what questions each student will receive on a quiz,
and can help to prevent cheating. A question pool will take a certain number of random
questions out of a larger bank of possible questions for each student.

1. In the Questions area, select Create New then Question Pool.

2. Give the Question Pool a descriptive Title. Then,

select Browse Question Library to choose what
questions you want to go into the pool. A sidebar will
open showing all of your questions and sections in
the Question Library to choose from. Select Import.

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3. Next, enter in the Number of Questions to Select
out of the number you chose. Then, specify how
many Points per Question each is worth. A
preview in the right side bar will show how this
might appear to students.

4. Click Save when done. The Pool you created will

be added to the list of questions in the quiz.

Availability Dates and Conditions

Under the Availability Dates and Conditions menu on the
right, you can:
1. Choose a Start Date: This sets the date when the
quiz becomes visible to students.
2. Choose an End Date (NOT recommended): This
sets the date when the quiz is no longer visible to
students. Students will not be able to see their
scores or feedback after the End Date if you set
one. Note: This is NOT the same as the Due Date.
3. Set Release Conditions.
4. Manage Special Access for individual students
(see below).
5. Add a Password to the quiz students must enter
before starting.
6. Manage IP Restrictions (do not use)

Add Students to Quiz Special Access

Students with testing accommodations can be added to quiz
Special Access under Availability Dates and Conditions > Special Access. You can also use
Special Access to give certain students extended deadlines on quizzes and assignments, by
individually changing their due date for the assignment.
Note: you can set global Special Access for students with quiz accommodations from the
Classlist, rather than setting it for each individual quiz.

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 1. Open Manage Special Access.

2. Select Add Users to Special Access.

3. Scroll down and select a student or students from the Users list.

4. Scroll back up to the top to edit what settings will apply to that student. You can customize
the Due Date, Start Date, or End Date for that student only.
5. You can also change the Timing of the quiz. To add time and a half or additional time to a
student’s quiz, select Enforced Time Limit. Then, enter 1.5 into the box Multiplier of original
quiz time (or any multiplier specified by the student’s accommodation). This will
automatically calculate the New Time Limit for the student.

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6. Alternatively, you can add Extra Time on top of the regular time limit, assign an alternative
grace period, or assign an alternative behavior for exceeding the time limit.

7. You may also Override attempts allowed to allow the student additional attempts on the
quiz.

8. Click Save when finished. Any students with Special Access activated for the quiz will be
listed, along with any changes to the quiz conditions, in the Special Access menu. Click the
pencil icon next to a name to edit that student’s Special Access conditions.

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Timing and Display
Under the Timing and Display menu, you can Manage
Timing for the quiz.

The options are No Time Limit, Recommended Time Limit, and Enforced Time Limit. If you
choose Enforced Time Limit, you can set a grace period of time before the quiz is flagged as
late. You can also choose what happens when students exceed their time: either they can
continue working, be prevented from making any further changes, or have their quiz
automatically scored as zero for exceeding the time limit.

The remaining settings in Timing and Display control how the quiz will appear to students.

1. Paging: controls whether questions will all be

displayed on one page, on separate pages, or if
each section will have its own page.
2. Shuffle Quiz: Shuffles questions in the quiz, so
that they appear in random order for each
student.
3. Allow hints: If you added hints to questions, this allows them to be viewed.
4. Disable Email, Instant Messages, and Alerts within Brightspace: If you turn on this
option, students cannot access the Brightspace Email, Instant Messages, or their
alerts if they have a quiz attempt in progress.
5. Manage Header and Footer: allows you to customize the header and footer of the
quiz.

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Attempts Settings
Under Attempts, you can Manage Attempts, or the number of times a
student is allowed to take the quiz. The options range between 1 and
Unlimited. You can also choose whether the score counted is the
highest, the lowest, or the average of all attempts. Or, you can choose
to only keep the score of the First or Last Attempt.

If you do allow multiple

attempts, you can also
choose to have students
retake incorrect
questions only. Or, you
can set Attempt
Conditions such that
students must meet
certain criteria to qualify
for another attempt.

Evaluation and Feedback Settings

Under Evaluation and Feedback, you can choose to:
1. Auto-publish attempt results immediately upon completion (recommended)
2. Synchronize to grade book on publish (recommended)
3. Show students their Attempt grade once
published. Note: this will only show students
their auto-graded score. Any Written Response
questions will be scored as 0 until the instructor
provides a score.
4. Show students select questions from the quiz.
The options are: No questions (default),
Incorrect questions with correct answers,
Incorrect questions without correct answers, All
questions with correct answers, or All questions without correct answers.
The Customize Quiz Results Displays option allow you to further customize what students
see once they complete a quiz. Click Edit View and then you will be able to edit the quiz
completion message, whether the grade is visible, and what questions will be shown to
students, using a live preview.

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Grading Quizzes
Note: Quizzes in D2L are auto graded unless the quiz contains any Written Response questions.
Written Response questions must be graded manually by the instructor. They will be marked as
“0” until they are graded.
If your entire quiz consists of auto-graded questions and you selected Synchronize to grade
book on publish during quiz setup, no further action is needed to grade student quizzes.

1. From the main, Manage Quizzes tab, click

the dropdown arrow next to the quiz you
would like to grade, then select “Grade.”

2. There are three tabs at the top of

the Grade Quiz screen, which will allow
you to grade by:
a. Users: submissions are organized by individual students
b. Attempts: submissions are organized in the order that students made attempts
c. Questions: allows the instructor to grade individual questions on a quiz for many
students at once. Grading by question is helpful because it allows instructors the option
to hide learners' names.

3. When grading by Users, select the

student’s submission under the
student’s name (i.e. “Attempt 1”).
A screen showing all quiz
questions and the user’s
responses will open.

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4. Verify that all auto-graded questions were graded appropriately. To change an auto-graded
score, to for instance award partial credit, simply type in a different number into the Score
field, under a question.

5. For any questions that were not auto graded, like Written Response questions, manually
input the grades for those questions. To give feedback on how you scored a question, open
the Expand Question Feedback underneath the Score field for the question.

6. At the top of the quiz, you can add Attempt Feedback for the quiz overall.

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7. The Final Score will auto-calculate at the top of the page,
after all auto-graded and manually graded questions
have been accounted for. You can also override this
score, though, by typing in a different value.

8. Select Update at the bottom when you are done scoring the quiz.
9. Use the arrows at the top of the page to quickly move between students while you are
grading.

10. Graded quizzes will show a score under Grade in the grid, on the quiz grading page. If this
score is visible to students, it will also say Published: followed by a time stamp. If you do
not see this, students cannot see their score yet.

11. To make all scores visible to students, select the

checkbox next to a student or select all students.
Then, select Publish Feedback. All scores should
now say “Published” next to them. To undo
publishing scores, select Retract Feedback.

12. When you are done grading and have published all
scores, select all student attempts. Then, select Export
to Grades. Quiz scores will now appear in Grades.

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Other Quiz Options
Preview a Quiz
1. Go to Quizzes.
2. Select the dropdown arrow next to the quiz and then Preview.

3. Keep the Bypass Restrictions box checked. This will override any attempts or time
restrictions, and bypass LockDown Browser, if enabled. Click Start Quiz.

4. You will then be able to view the quiz and answer questions from a student perspective.

Give All Students Credit for One Quiz Question

Use these instructions if there is a mistake in an auto-graded question and you need to give all
students credit.
1. From the main, Manage Quizzes tab, click the dropdown arrow next to the quiz, then select
“Grade.”
2. Click the “Questions” tab at the top, instead of Users.

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3. Select “Update all attempts” at the top, then select the question from the list.

4. Then, on the “Update All Attempts” page, put the number of points you want to award all
students for this particular question in the box that says “Give to all attempts __ points.”
Then click Save.

Reset a Quiz Attempt

Sometimes, students might experience technical glitches or issues, in which case you might
want to reset their attempts, to allow them to try again.
To reset a quiz,
1. From the main, Manage Quizzes tab, click the dropdown arrow next to the quiz, then
select “Grade.”
2. Under Users, check the box next to the
student’s attempt you would like to
reset.
3. Click the “Reset” button at the top of
the table. This will permanently delete
the student’s work on the quiz and
allow them to take it again.

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Submit Quizzes Stuck “In Progress”
Sometimes, a student will accidentally exit a quiz while it is still in progress without submitting
it. You won’t be able to grade it until it is submitted.
To fix this issue,
1. From the main, Manage Quizzes tab, click the dropdown arrow next to the quiz, then
select “Grade.”
2. Under Users, you will see the student’s
attempt says “in progress” in
parentheses, with an icon with two
people next to it. Click on the icon to
Enter Quiz as User.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the quiz and click Submit Quiz. The system will now show
the quiz as submitted and allow you to grade it.

Print Out a Paper Copy of a Quiz or an Answer Key

There is no direct way to do this in D2L, but there is a workaround.
1. From the main, Manage Quizzes tab, click the
dropdown arrow next to the quiz, then select
“Edit.”

2. Open the Evaluation and Feedback menu and select

All questions, without correct answers if you want to
print out a blank copy of the quiz. Select All
questions, with correct answers if you want to print
an answer key.

3. Click Save and close.

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4. Go back to Quizzes and select the drop-down
arrow next to the quiz, then select Preview.

5. Keep the box Bypass restrictions checked and click Start Quiz.

6. Don’t answer any questions. Scroll all the way down and click Submit quiz. Ignore any
warnings about unanswered questions.
7. Once you submit the quiz, you will be shown a Submission View page with all of the quiz
questions and (if you chose) the correct answers. Highlight all of the questions with your
mouse. Right click on the highlighted text and select Copy or use Ctrl/Command + C on your
keyboard.

8. Open a Word document and Paste (Ctrl/Command + V) the text into the document.
9. Format the text as desired and then print the text from Word.

Deactivate the Built-In Spell Checker in Written Response Questions

Please contact [email protected] to have this feature disabled for your course.

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