Solutions & Considerations with Quizzes in Brightspace
💡 Use this as a quick reference for common quiz issues in Brightspace during midterms, exams, and quizzes. For urgent or unusual cases, contact Vanderbilt Brightspace Support.
- General guidance
- Key Considerations
- A student accidentally submitted the quiz before completing all questions. What can I do?
- A student lost access to a quiz and cannot reenter. Why?
- A student can’t access the quiz because of availability dates. What should I check?
- The quiz is published but not appearing for the student. What are the common causes?
- Will my quiz auto-save if I am logged out accidentally?
- Accommodation settings are not being applied correctly. What should I do?
- Respondus LockDown Browser quick fixes
General guidance
- If a quiz is timed, time continues even if a learner is disconnected.
- For access issues, check Availability dates, Hidden status, and Special Access first.
Key Considerations
A student accidentally submitted the quiz before completing all questions. What can I do?
- Either:
- Reopen the attempt (so the student can pick up where they left off)
- Or allow another attempt (if they need to start over)
A student lost access to a quiz and cannot reenter. Why?
- This is usually because the time limit ended before the student submitted.
- Solution: Contact Vanderbilt Brightspace Support so we can submit the attempt on the student’s behalf.
- This allows the instructor to grade what the student completed within the time limit.
A student can’t access the quiz because of availability dates. What should I check?
- This is almost always due to the Start and/or End date.
- Solution: The instructor will need to adjust those dates to allow student access.
The quiz is published but not appearing for the student. What are some common causes?
- Most commonly, either:
- The quiz is hidden.
- Special Access is incorrectly set up.
- If hidden:
- Instructors, TAs, and admins can still see it.
- There will be an eyeball icon next to the quiz name.
- Solution: Click the down arrow beside the quiz name and select Make Visible to Users.
- If there is no hidden icon and the student still cannot see it:
- Check Availability settings.
- Check Special Access settings.
Will my quiz auto-save if I am logged out accidentally?
- For questions where a student selects a predetermined answer (multiple choice, matching, true or false, etc.), Brightspace saves answers as soon as they are selected.
- For text-based questions (short answer, fill in the blank, written response, etc.), Brightspace saves when the student clicks out of the text box.
Accommodation settings are not being applied correctly. What should I do?
- Review our Accommodations tool setup guide.
Respondus LockDown Browser quick fixes
Below are fixes for common issues that arise when Quizzes use the Respondus LockDown Browser. If you have problems with the Lockdown Browser and these suggestions do not fix them, contact Vanderbilt Brightspace Support.
The LockDown Browser crashes mid-exam
- Restart LockDown Browser.
- If needed, restart the computer.
The student loses internet connection while using LockDown Browser
- Restart LockDown Browser.
- If needed, restart the computer.
- Note: If there is a time limit, it will still be in effect even if the student is not actively in the quiz.
The student cannot exit LockDown Browser after completing an exam
- Restart the computer.
Updates are required before quiz access
- The LockDown Browser should update automatically at launch, but if it does not, users can check for updates manually.
- If the LockDown Browser still does not work after updating:
- Restart LockDown Browser.
- If needed, restart the computer.