Respondus (Exam Creator) Documentation

What is Respondus

Respondus is a software program available on your desktop computer. Instructors can use the software to create exams and publish the exams to Canvas. If you do not see the software on your desktop, please contact Information Systems & Services at 217-234-5261. Review the Respondus handouts and videos below for further instructions. in the tabbed menu below.

Important Notes

Respondus now works with both Classic and New Quizzes. Here is what is new and the limitations with New Quizzes.

Classic Quizzes

You can now download Canvas quizzes from the Retrieval tab in Respondus. This action will use the server information you setup for publishing to Canvas.

New Quizzes

You can now publish quizzes directly to New Quizzes. The Publish Wizard is very similar to the Classic Quizzes Wizard. The first time you publish to New Quizzes, you will need to authenticate twice and allow Respondus access to your Canvas account.

Respondus only has quiz question options that are supported by classic quizzes. The new question formats (Categorization, Hot Spot, Ordering, and Stimulus) that are available in New Quizzes are not supported by Respondus.

On the Settings tab in Respondus, you can apply quiz settings and question groups. In the quiz settings, only some quiz settings will apply to New Quizzes. The due date and availability dates will not come over when publishing the quiz. The question group options will work in New Quizzes.

Guides

Please review the following guides for instructions on how to use Respondus.

Respondus Canvas Guide - Updated and now includes instructions on how to publish to New Quizzes
Respondus Quick Start Guide (PDF) - via Respondus website
Respondus Video Tutorials - via the Respondus website, be sure to select the video for Canvas
Respondus Test Bank Network - via the Respondus website. If you have adopted a new textbook, the question banks may be available in Test Bank Network. Contact your publisher representative to see what is available.
Respondus 4.0 & Test Bank Network Help - via Respondus support site

Importing Questions

In some cases, the textbook publisher may only offer Word documents for quizzes, or instructors may want to review the questions before importing them into Canvas. In this case, it may be best to use Respondus to import questions into Canvas. Quizzes stored in Word documents can be imported into Respondus and then published to Canvas. This is one slight caveat to using Respondus. The questions must be properly formatted for Respondus to import them correctly and identify the correct answer. Please watch this video for details.

Creating and Formatting Questions

This video shows you how to create and edit questions properly so they will import without issues directly in Respondus.

Setting Up a Publish Connection

Video Overview

The video shows the process of publishing to New Quizzes. The process is very similar for Classic Quizzes.

How to Create a Server Connection

Note: This process will be the same for New and Classic Quizzes.

Follow the steps below to create a server connection to Canvas. Once you set up the connection, you won't have to do it again when you want to import another test.

In Canvas, copy the URL of the course you are currently in.
With a quiz open in Respondus, go to Preview & Publish > Publish > Publish Wizard.
On the first screen, select New or Classic Quizzes to publish the quiz to Canvas. Click Next.
On the second screen of the Publish Wizard, select the type of publish (classic only) and next to Canvas Server, select Add New Server.
Another dialog box will display. Select No, I want to enter the server settings manually. Click Next.
The Canvas Server dialog box will appear. In step 2, paste the URL you copied previously from your course home.
Next to step 3, click Extract.
Next to step 4, enter a name for the server connection. You can call it Canvas.
Next to step 5, enter your Laker Hub ID and password. You can also check the box to remember the password. Click OK when done. Continue on with Publish Wizard

Using the Publish Wizard to Publish to Classic Quizzes

Follow the steps below to publish a quiz.

In Respondus, click Preview & Publish > Publish> Publish Wizard.
The Publish Wizard will display. Select Classic Quizzes.
On the next screen, you may need to create a server connection if you have not already done so (See Steps Above). Once you have created a connection to Canvas, you are now ready to publish to Canvas. Click Next.
On the next screen, the graded quiz will be selected as the option, but if desired, you can choose one of the other options instead. If desired, you can change the name of the quiz before importing it. If you setup a question set or settings in Respondus, be sure to check the boxes under other options. Click Next.
On the next screen, select the desired course you wish to import the quiz into in Canvas.
On the last screen, wait patiently as the import process begins. Once you see the text "Publish Completed Successful" you can click finish.
In Canvas, go to the course and select quizzes in the course menu. The quiz will be listed, and you can edit the settings and publish the quiz.

Using the Publish Wizard to Publish to New Quizzes

Follow the steps below to publish a quiz.

In Respondus, click Preview & Publish > Publish> Publish Wizard.
The Publish Wizard will display. Select New Quizzes.
On the next screen, you may need to create a server connection if you have not already done so (See Steps Above). Once you have created a connection to Canvas, you are now ready to publish to Canvas. Click Next.
If this is your first time publishing to new quizzes, you will be asked to authenticate again and allow Respondus access to your Canvas account. On the next screen, choose the courses you wish to publish the quiz to in Canvas. You can edit the quiz title, choose how to publish if an existing assessment, and apply quiz settings and question groups. Please note that only some quiz settings will apply. Click Next.
On the last screen, wait patiently as the import process begins. Once you see the text "End New Quizzes Publish," you can click Finish.
In Canvas, go to the course and select quizzes in the course menu. The quiz will be listed, and you can edit the settings and publish the quiz.