U of G CourseLink Quizzes for Final Exams: The Dos and Don'ts

Please review the following tips to ensure that your final exam is set up correctly in the Quiz tool in CourseLink.

Instructions for deferred exam setup is provided at the bottom of this page.

Please contact CourseLink Support if you have any questions.

Dos

Do Check the Exam Availability Settings

The availability window of your exam should be the start date and time provided by the Office of Registrarial Services, plus one hour; for example, if your exam is on December 15 at 7:00 p.m., the Start Date should be December 15 at 7:00 p.m. and the End Date should be December 15 at 8 p.m. Students will be able to access the exam during that window and will have two hours to complete the exam from when they enter the exam environment. Students will be unable to start the exam after the window is closed and will be required to contact CourseLink Support. CourseLink staff can let students back into an exam, provided they have only left the exam for a short period of time, typically within five minutes of leaving the exam.

Do Check the Timing of Your Exam

The time should be “Enforced”, and all exams should be 120 minutes in length. You may add a 5-minute grace period if you wish. Under Exceeded Time Limit Behaviour, select prevent students from making further changes, after the grace period has ended.

instructional screen capture

Accessibility Accommodations

Students requiring additional time for the final exam should be set up under the Special Access section of the exam using the Automated Quiz Extension Tool, unless you would prefer to enter them manually. If you would prefer to manually add the accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services. Additionally, if manually extending the time limit, under the Type of Access, ensure that you enter the students under Allow selected users special access to this quiz. Video instructions for how to grant Special Access to a user for a quiz are also available.

Please note that the list from SAS will not include any Open Learning program students. Open learners must be managed on an individual basis, and you will receive notification of any students who require accommodation from the academic assistant to the executive director, Open Learning and Educational Support.

International Students or Students in Alternate Time Zones

Instructors have the discretion to approve revised dates and times for students who are in alternate time zones. You can add students to the Special Access section of the exam with the revised exam date and time. 

If you do not approve a date/time change, students should be directed to contact their program counsellor.

If Using Respondus for Your Exam

  • Please ensure that you have this enabled on your exam. It is important to insert a practice test in the Quizzes tool in CourseLink. This will allow students to test the functionality of the exam software in advance of the final exam date. The practice test should be set to unlimited attempts with access extended to the end of the deferred exam period. More information about Respondus setup can be found on the Remote Teaching & Learning website, and step-by-step Respondus instructions are also available to assist with setup.
  • Select Allow students to take this exam with an iPad as an option under the LockDown Browser Advanced settings. 
  • The University of Guelph continues to work with Respondus on reported bugs in the Chromebook version. In alignment with the recommendation that students use Windows or Mac versions until Respondus releases a fix, the use of Chromebooks in Respondus has been disabled.
  • OpenEd has a limited number of laptops available through the CTS Loaner Laptop Service. Please direct students to contact CourseLink Support (courselink@uoguelph.ca) if they require support. 

Do Post a Course Announcement

Post an announcement message on your CourseLink site. This message will explain the exam window to the students and will remind them to write down the CourseLink Support phone number prior to starting the exam. The LockDown Browser will prevent them from accessing other websites and having this information will expedite support in the event of technical difficulties. We have provided downloadable CourseLink Announcement messages below. These Word documents can be copied and pasted into a new CourseLink Announcement on your course site:

Don'ts

Do Not Select 'Hide from Users' or make 'Hidden'.

Students will not be able to see the link to start the exam if this is selected. Depending on your quiz layout settings, you will see either of the images below indicating this has been selected.

Do Not Select 'Has Due Date' Under the Quiz Restrictions

This is an unnecessary setting that could be confusing for students. Please set the Start Date and End Date values instead.

instructional screen capture

Do Not Put a Password on Your Exam

The exam is already secure within CourseLink, and this is an unnecessary step that will complicate the process for students.

instructional screen capture 

OpenEd is available to provide assistance seven days a week for instructors who have specific questions or require additional support. CourseLink Support will be available during the scheduled exam time for students. While an exam is in progress, students and instructors should call (not email) CourseLink Support for immediate assistance.

Deferred Exam Setup Tips

Please note that students who have been granted deferred exams do not need to notify course instructors of their intent to write the final exam.

Ensure that deferred access to the course has been enabled as soon as possible to ensure that access for the students is not delayed. If you do not have the Deferred Access option enabled on your course, please contact CourseLink Support to submit a request for extended access to the course site as soon as possible.

Review the Exam Setup Dos and Don’ts above. Please note that some of this information is specific to final exams that are scheduled during the regular exam period, so not all information will apply.

Exam dates and times are posted on the Deferred Exam Schedule. Please note that the exam availability window should be set up to allow students to start writing between 18:00 to 19:00 Eastern Time.

Please note that for student accessibility accommodations, the Automated Quiz Extension Tool will not run for previous semester courses. Students with accessibility accommodations will need to be manually entered into Special Access of the exam. Please review the instructions for how to grant Special Access to students for the exam. Contact the SAS Exam Centre if you have any questions related to student accommodations. Contact the academic assistant to the executive director of Open Learning and Educational Support with questions related to Open Learning program student accommodations.

Check to ensure the student does not have a previous attempt or in-progress attempt on the final exam.

Contact CourseLink Support

Phone: 519-824-4120 ext. 56939
Toll Free: 1-866-275-1478 (Canada and USA)
Email: courselink@uoguelph.ca

Visit the Remote Teaching & Learning website for more information.