Multiple Attempts and Resuming a Test

Normally, every time a test taker opens a test link, AutoProctor creates a new test attempt. If a test has Maximum Number of Submissions greater than 1, you can attempt it once, submit it, attempt it again, and so on. Each attempt will have its own answers, time taken, trust score, etc.

Now, imagine a test has a duration of 30 minutes. What if a test taker starts the test, closes the tab after 20 minutes and reopens it? Or they lose internet connectivity and so reload the page. Should we resume the previous test attempt or start a new one?

This is an important question because if the previous attempt is resumed, we must ensure that:
the responses that the user had entered are loaded back
only 10 minutes are allowed for the resumed test

If the previous attempt is not resumed, but a new attempt is created, we must ensure that:
all the responses that the user entered are erased
30 minutes are allowed for the new attempt

Test Types

Whether a test attempt is resumed, or a new attempt is created, depends on the test type. The table below describes AutoProctor's resume behavior depending on the test type.

Test Type	Behavior
Socratease Quiz	Always Resumes
Microsoft Form	Never Resumes
Google Form	Configurable
IFrame Test	Configurable

Socratease Quizzes loads a user's responses when they open the test again. So, AutoProctor always resumes the test attempt. On AutoProctor, a test taker must always finish an existing test attempt before starting a new one
Microsoft Forms doesn't load a user's response. So, on AutoProctor, we can't enable the resume feature and so every time a user opens a Microsoft Forms test on AutoProctor, it will be a new test attempt
For Google Forms and IFrame tests, you can configure how you want AutoProctor to handle a test

Configuring the resume feature

On Google Forms and IFrame tests, you should see an option that says "Enable Auto Resume". Enabling it would mean that the test attempt is resumed. Disabling it would mean that a new test attempt is created every time



For Google Forms, if you want to enable the Resume feature, you must enable the Save Draft setting on Google Forms. More about this is explained here.

Resuming with Timer Options

Imagine you have enabled the Resume feature, but you have also configured a few Timer settings. How does Resumption work in this case?

There are 4 main timer options:

- Test Duration
- Cannot Start Before Date & Time
- Cannot Start After Date & Time
- Must Submit By Date & Time

Let's see how each of the options affects a test resumption, if they are enabled:

Test Duration

Say a test has a Duration of 60 minutes. Test takers starts the test at 10 AM. They are disconnected at 10.30 AM

If they come back at 10.50 AM, they will have 10 minutes left for the test
If they come back at 11.05 AM, they can't resume the test

Cannot Start Before, Cannot Start After

Say Cannot Start After is 11 AM. Test taker starts at 10 AM. They get disconnected and reload the page at 10.45 AM. They can resume the test.

Even if they resume at 11.05 AM, they can resume the test. Because they originally started this test attempt at 10 AM. So, that is the time we consider. The same behaviour holds for Cannot Start After too.

Must Submit By

Say Must Submit By is 11 AM. Test taker starts at 10 AM. They get disconnected and reload the page at 10.45 AM. They can resume the test but they must submit it by 11 AM.

Instead of 10.45 AM, if they try resuming the it at 11.05 AM, the test will not load. This is because they must have submitted the test by 11 AM.

Updated on: 10/14/2023