Quiz settings: passing score, time limit, attempts and question types

Settings and their defaults

Alva Courses starts every new quiz with these defaults. A lesson created with Add Quiz Step differs in one way: Required to complete lesson is already ticked.

Passing score

Passing Score (%) is the share of a quiz's total points that a student needs to pass: a whole number from 0 to 100, 70 by default. At 0, every graded attempt passes.

Every question adds its points to the total, so a 3-point question weighs three times as much as a 1-point one. An attempt passes when the points earned, as a percentage of that total, are equal to or above the passing score.

Time limit

Time Limit (minutes) puts a countdown on every attempt; leave it empty, or enter 0, for No limit. The clock starts when the student clicks Start Quiz and keeps running if they leave the page. Resume Quiz takes them back into the same attempt.

When time runs out, the course player shows Time's Up! and submits the attempt. If the quiz has only multiple-choice questions, or the student saved no answers, Alva Courses doesn't grade it, but it still counts toward Max Attempts. If the quiz has a written question and the student saved an answer, the attempt goes to your review instead.

Max attempts

Max Attempts caps how many times each student can take the quiz: Unlimited (the default), 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10. Every attempt a student starts counts, including one that ran out of time, and each attempt is scored on its own.

The start screen shows how many attempts are left, then No attempts left once they are used up. A student can't start a new attempt while their last one is waiting for your review.

Answer feedback and shuffling

Show correct answers after each question, on by default, gives instant feedback on multiple-choice questions. After Submit Answer, the student sees Correct! or Incorrect, the right options highlighted and the Explanation for each option they chose. That answer is then locked.

Turn it off and students get no feedback or explanations while they answer. Either way, the results screen shows the points each answer earned but never lists the correct options.

Shuffle question order puts the questions in a new random order each time the quiz loads, and Shuffle answer order does the same for multiple-choice options.

Lesson completion and review

Required to complete lesson means a student must pass the quiz before they can complete its lesson. Until they pass, completing the lesson shows You must pass all required quizzes to complete this lesson. Passing doesn't complete the lesson by itself; the student still marks it complete.

Switch on Require completion before next lesson for the lesson as well, and the next lesson stays locked until the quiz is passed; see Require completion before the next lesson. Add Quiz Step, under each section of your course outline, creates a quiz-only lesson with both already on.

Block lesson completion until freeform responses are reviewed applies to quizzes with written answers. Off, an attempt waiting for your review counts as passed for completion. On, it counts only once you have graded it and it reaches the passing score.

To make every quiz count toward finishing the course, tick Require all quizzes to be passed on the course's Settings tab, under Learning. It covers every quiz outside draft lessons and sections, required or not.

Question types and points

Every question has Question Text, a Question Type and Points: 1 by default, or any whole number from 0. Alva Courses has three question types.

A multiple-choice question earns its points only when the student picks exactly the options marked Correct; there is no partial credit. When more than one option, but not every one, is correct, the player shows Select all that apply. Tick Correct on every option to make an opinion question that any answer gets right. With none ticked, the editor shows Warning: No correct answer selected, and no student can get the question right.

Written questions take an optional Model Answer that only you see while reviewing, and you award each answer from 0 up to the question's points. After submitting a quiz with a written question, students see Under Review; the final score arrives once you have graded every written answer. See Grade short and long quiz answers with Review Responses.