Exam Support for Arts Instructors



Arts ISIT is here to support you during your exam period.

Arts ISIT exam support

  • We have extended our business hours during the final exam period.
  • We can provide live exam support to address any technical issues students may have.
  • We can provide exam support and our computer labs can be booked to conduct final exams that require Respondus LockDown Browser.
  • Additional important reminders for online exams.

Extended hours


Final exam support

To schedule on-site exam support for the start of your final exam, please contact us by November 29, 2024. This service will be based on staffing availability.

Review our frequently asked questions about Respondus LockDown Browser, Canvas, and Zoom to assist you in troubleshooting any potential issues that may arise.


Computer labs for final exams

Buchanan B computer labs offer a secure environment for students to write online exams in person. The computers have LockDown Browser loaded on them to help instructors and TAs conduct invigilation for in-person exams. We invite you to book these rooms and meet with an educational technologist to discuss how delivering assessments using Arts computers can promote academic integrity.


Best practices for online exams

Pre-exam setup

Set up Canvas exams on Classic Quizzes

We recommend that Canvas exams are set up on Classic Quizzes rather than New Quizzes since it has been more reliable and allows instructors to have easier access to Action Logs on the assessment.

Encourage practice quizzes

If you plan to use LockDown Browser with your Canvas Quiz, provide a practice quiz that has similar settings to your midterm exam. This will ensure students can troubleshoot potential issues beforehand especially since Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes need to be accessed differently on Lockdown Browser depending on the device that the student is using. We would also recommend referring our user guides from our LockDown Browser service page.

Encourage your students to enroll in the Arts ISIT Exam Practice Run. This practice environment allows students to install and run LockDown Browser on their computer. To access this course, students can self-enroll on Canvas. We would also recommend referring our user guides from our LockDown Browser service page.

Stagger start times for large courses

For courses that have more than 200 students, we recommend staggering start times by 5 minutes for each group of 70-100 students. This helps Canvas Quiz content load properly and improves the overall functionality. If you would like us to help stagger the assessment’s start times on your behalf, please contact us.

Note: If your exam is being written remotely with close to 300 students and you plan to use Zoom, email av.helpdesk@ubc.ca with a request to accommodate more participants.

Review of exam settings

Please contact us in advance to go over your exam settings and ensure everything is properly set up. We may catch avoidable issues that may come up during the exam.

Have a contingency plan

Have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong with the online exam:

  • Prepare a paper copy of the exam.
  • Advise students that if they encounter technical issues or need to book a laptop to write an assessment, they may contact the Student IT Helpdesk or the Chapman Learning Commons.
  • Clearly communicate to your students how best to reach you in case of technical issues.