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Brightspace Tip #326: Quizzes – Retake Incorrect Questions Only

try again directional sign

Instructors have the option to give learners multiple quiz attempts in order to improve their test scores. An option for Quizzes Attempt settings that allows learners to only retake their incorrectly answered questions from previous quiz attempts is a feature that was implemented in our November 2020 Continuous Delivery Update. Instructors can select this option in the Assessment tab of a quiz. When the Retake Incorrect Questions Only check box is selected for subsequent quiz attempts, each learner only sees the questions they had previously answered incorrectly in the same order as the initial attempt (including quizzes with random sections and random questions).

When grading a Retake Incorrect Questions Only quiz attempt, the instructor can only provide a score for the questions answered on this attempt. If you are using Automatic grading, Written Response questions will be marked as 0 and included in future attempts until they are graded manually.

A learner's score for a Retake Incorrect Questions Only attempt remains at minimum, the score they had on the previous attempt. Correctly answered questions on the Retake Incorrect Questions Only attempt add to the learner's attempts score. The Quiz Overall Grade is calculated using the overall grade calculation option the instructor selects (i.e., Highest Attempt, Lowest Attempt, First Attempt, Last Attempt, or the Average of all Attempts).

The Retake Incorrect Questions Only option can be selected when setting Attempts Allowed
The Retake Incorrect Questions Only option can be selected when setting Attempts Allowed

The "Average of all Attempts" can be used to give the student partial marks for questions that were not answered correctly on the first attempt. For example, you create a quiz worth 100 total points, allows 2 attempts, the Retake Incorrect Questions Only option is checked, and the “Average of all Attempts” is selected for the overall grade calculation. A learner takes the quiz and scores 75 out of 100 points on the first attempt. When the learner takes the second attempt, they will only be able to answer the questions that were answered incorrectly on the previous attempt. In this case, the learner will be able to answer the incorrect questions from the first attempt. Let’s assume the learner answered a few more questions correctly and earned a score of 85 out of 100 points on the second attempt. The overall grade for the quiz is 80%, which is the average of the two attempts (75 + 85 = 160 ÷ 200 = 80%). Assume the learner did not answer any of the first attempt's incorrectly answered questions correctly on the second attempt, their overall score would be 75%. When using the Retake Incorrect Questions Only attempt option the overall score will remain at a minimum, the score they had on the previous attempt.

The Users tab indicates the retaken attempts for the quiz
The Users tab indicates the retaken attempts for the quiz

A learner view of a Retake Incorrect Questions Only quiz attempt
A learner view of a Retake Incorrect Questions Only quiz attempt

If this post has piqued your interest, you may be interested in these articles that provide information on the pros and cons of allowing learners to retake tests:

Want more information?

Understanding Quizzes in Brightspace
Brightspace Tip #325: Quizzes - Question Types and When to Use Them
Brightspace Tip #324: Test/Quiz Question Generator
Brightspace Tip #264: Quiz Availability and Timing
Brightspace Tip #265: Quizzes – Set Accommodations by Learner for All Quizzes
Brightspace Tip #207: Quizzes – Special Access

Best Practices: The Quiz Tool
Quizzes Tool for Instructors (video tutorials)

Back to Basics: Tests and Quizzes (workshop recording)
Beyond the Basics: Complex Tests in Brightspace (workshop recording)

View all the Brightspace training recaps
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Continuous Delivery release notes
Brightspace Known Issues
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You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: "try again sign" by jflorent is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 and is a derivative of directory by geralt from Pixabay

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