zyBooks Assessment Workshop August 19, 2025
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- Welcome and Resources – 00:02
- Recording and Chat – 00:47
- Assessments Overview – 02:33
- Poll Results Discussion – 06:41
- Content Importing – 08:59
- Question Pool Creation – 35:28
- Content Editing Features – 36:26
- Assessment Setup – 37:05
- Instructor Controls – 40:00
- Grading and Reporting – 51:32
- Future Enhancements
FAQs
What happens if students lose internet during an assessment?
The platform automatically saves a student’s answer when they move away from a question
How do you manage security when taking exams through zyBooks? Can you use lockdown browsers?
zyBooks Assessments work with common lockdown browsers, like Honorlock & Respondus. Safe Exam Browser and Lockdown Browser are free options available even if your institution isn’t officially affiliated with them. Refer to our Support help site for URLs to whitelist within the lockdown browser ahead of your assessment.
Is it possible to make it only available via LTI launching and not available directly in the zyBook?
Yes! Is it possible to make it only available via LTI launching and not available directly in the zyBook.
Can I re-grade an assessment if I made an error in a question or answer?
You can manually adjust scores for individual students on specific questions through the assessment results page. Currently, there’s no bulk re-grading option, so you’ll need to update each student’s score individually for any question with errors.
Can my TA take an assessment outside of the availability window I’ve set for students? Are TAs’ attempts unlimited?
Yes! TAs can now take assessments outside of student availability windows and bypass submission limits to make multiple attempts as needed. This allows TAs to test assessments in advance while maintaining the timing restrictions you’ve set for your students.
Can I print an assessment for students?
No, assessments are designed for online delivery with interactive content and auto-grading. For printed tests, use the Tests feature which allows you to export multiple choice test bank questions in a printable format.
Which score is used when students make multiple attempts?
The highest score from all attempts is automatically used for reporting and grade pass back. When viewing student results, the highest-scoring attempt is marked with a star icon to clearly indicate which attempt is being reported.
How do availability windows and durations work together?
They work as a hybrid system. If only an availability window is set, students have until the end of that window to complete the exam. If both availability window and duration are set, students can start the exam within the availability window and will have the full duration you set to complete it, even if it extends beyond the availability window.
Can I set different durations for students with accommodations?
Yes, it’s possible to set different durations by student or section to accommodate students who need extra time. Use the ‘Add another duration limit’ option to set different durations for the same assessment.
What happens if I change the exam duration while students are actively taking it?
Changing the duration will only affect future attempts on the exam, not attempts currently in progress. There is no option to extend time on an attempt that’s already in progress.
What happens if a student accidentally closes their browser or loses internet connection during an exam?
If a student loses connection or exits the exam during an attempt, the timer continues to tick down, but they can relaunch directly into their attempt using the ‘Resume assessment’ button as long as time remains on their exam.
Will these assessments work well on smartphones?
There’s no mobile version of the exams application. While students can open zyBooks within a web browser on their phone, it won’t be optimized for mobile use.
Will students receive a Google Captcha popup on programming questions during exams
It is possible for students to receive a Captcha popup on programming questions during an exam. The Google Captcha popup is a security measure that detects frequent web interactions from the same IP address. Captcha popups are more common in cases where students are working on computers set up to share the same external IP address, like in some computer labs.
What options are available for controlling access to tools like ChatGPT during exams?
Use of lockdown browsers and/or proctoring software helps prevent students from accessing applications, websites or devices that are not approved.
Do students have access to the entire zyBook while taking an assessment?
Currently, yes. Assessments launch from the book into a separate exams tab, so if you’re using a lockdown browser, you’d need two URLs whitelisted – one for the zyBook platform and another for the exam system. This means students can access the rest of the book during the assessment. We do have future plans for a “hide book” feature that will prevent students from accessing the zyBook material during an exam, but we don’t have an ETA for this feature yet.
Can you select exercise questions from the book in addition to challenge questions for assessments?
No. Exercises are a specific type of non-interactive content available in some books, usually at the end of a section or in a separate section at the end of a chapter. Exercises are not autograded and some don’t have solutions. zyBooks Exercises are not available to import in assessments, but test banks, Advanced zyLabs and most challenge activities are.
Can you combine different chapter test bank questions into one assessment?
Yes, you can mix questions from different chapters within a test bank or assessment.
Are instructors able to create their own challenge activities?
No, instructors cannot create their own challenge activities. Instructors can create multiple choice questions and programming questions.
Can multiple choice questions have more than one correct answer?
No, multiple choice questions can only have one correct answer.
Can students receive partial credit on a question? How is partial credit handled?
Yes, some of our challenge activities can result in partial credit. If a student earns a fractional score on a question that results in partial credit, their score will be recorded and reported as a decimal.
What are Test Cases in the context of zyLabs?
Test cases are used in programming assignments to automatically verify student code. You can create manual test cases in zyLabs and even set points to 0 for practice. There’s a section on manual grading in the zyLabs user guide.
