Author: Madeleine Kinnair

Multiple Attempts is a feature which supports formative auto-marked Inspera digital exams. Module teams can now allow their students to take practice auto-marked Inspera exams repeatedly, either by having students submit as many times as they wish, or by setting a defined number of retakes. Please be aware there is no option to lock down an exam using Multiple Attempts. 

Multiple Attempts can help students to learn rapidly and understand topics by allowing them to practice until answers are correct. This can also allow for a dynamic and effective learning experience. 

Students can: 

• Improve their understanding of the topic by practicing multiple times 

• Increase their confidence by identifying and correcting mistakes 

• Prepare more effectively for exams by identifying improvement areas 

Multiple Attempts can currently only be used with Inspera digital exams which are using automatically marked questions. The feature can also be used with pre-defined feedback. Pre-defined feedback is recommended if using multiple attempts, as this allows students to improve their understanding of the exam content. 

Setting up Multiple Attempts 

1. Within the Deliver Tab on Inspera, you will need to edit the exam settings and click ‘Enable Multiple Attempts’. 

2. You will then be prompted to set a maximum number of attempts. If wishing students to have an unlimited number of attempts, click ‘Unlimited Attempts’. 

3. Under ‘Setting final result’, choose the most appropriate option for your exam which will be applicable as part of your student feedback. Options are: 

• Highest: The highest score achieved among all attempts will be the final result. 

• Average: The average score obtained across all attempts will be calculated and used as the final result. 

• Latest: The most recent score from the student’s attempts will be the final result. 

Student feedback when using Multiple Attempts 

When using Multiple Attempts, feedback should be set to be released to students immediately after each test attempt. Feedback which is immediate enables students to see full details of their attempt instantly and work on this for the next attempt. 

Full details about Multiple Attempts on Inspera can be found via: Content Creation Features in Inspera | Learning and Teaching @ Newcastle | Newcastle University 

What do snapshots do? 

If a student accidentally deletes text in an essay question, there is an option to restore it using Snapshots. This Snapshot functionality is available for students during their live Inspera exams. 

Snapshot is accessed via the test editor/option panel available to students on any essay question: 

The icon to retrieve Snapshots which are available is a backwards arrow around a clock face: . 

Once selected, students can retrieve previous versions of their work. A new snapshot is taken every 15 minutes and is saved in the browser memory. Snapshot use is available after 15 minutes of beginning work on an essay question. Navigating away from the question, and then returning to it would not disrupt the Snapshot. Snapshots are activated per question, so using this option could not revert any other question answers to an earlier instance.  

Important note: As browser-based memory is used for this feature, exiting the Inspera exam or refreshing the browser will disable Snapshots. (Note: refresh is only available in non-locked down exams). 

How does it work for students? 

When students click the Snapshot button, a message like the one below will appear. The student will be advised to select a snapshot and then click continue. This will enable them to retrieve prior instances of their work. Students can click the icon and select a different snapshot if their first selection is not what they were searching for. 

Next steps 

For academic year 2024-25, Instructions will be available to exam invigilators, these can be shared with students if needed in their exam.  

Instructions are also available for students to familiarise themselves with ahead of their exams via the ‘Instructions in Inspera’ tab on the Student Inspera ASK website 

For any questions, please contact the team via Digital.Exams@newcastle.ac.uk.  

Inspera Assessment, one of the University’s Digital Exam platforms, is in its third academic year of deployment. Following the launch of Inspera, the Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS) have asked for student feedback annually. Such feedback aids LTDS to ensure we are continually developing the service to improve student experience when taking an Inspera Digital Exam.  

• 142 students submitted their feedback in academic year 21-22  
• 104 students submitted their feedback in academic year 22-23 

Our comparison findings: 

Students are reporting that they are more satisfied with Inspera Digital Exams in academic year 22-23 compared with 21-22.  An increase is also seen in its ease of use: 

The use of demo or practice Inspera exams is also on the up. Students reporting using demos more so in 22-23 compared with 21-22; this is reflected in the increased figures on the self-enrol Student Inspera Demo Canvas course. Enrolment figures across the demo exams showed an 87% increase in usage for 22-23.  

Student engagement with Inspera demos is encouraging and LTDS would like to thank all colleagues who are promoting the use of demo exams to aid students’ familiarity with the Inspera platform. Try it out or share with your students: Student Inspera Demo Course. 

Next Steps 

LTDS will be requesting feedback from students for our current academic year after Semester 2’s assessment period. Where possible please encourage your students to complete the form as it helps to continue the improvement of the service.