Instructor FAQ

Instructor FAQ

Answers to common questions from instructors using the CBTF. For PrairieLearn-specific help, visit the PrairieLearn Documentation or post in the PrairieLearn Slack (#pl-help). For anything not covered here, email cbt-help@berkeley.edu.

Semester Setup

How do I add course staff in PrairieTest?
Navigate to your course in PrairieTest, open the Staff tab, and click Add Staff. Courses are set up with the person who requested them as the Owner. Additional staff can be added as Editors or Proctors depending on the level of access needed. See the Getting Started page for a breakdown of role permissions.

How do I enroll students in PrairieTest?
Navigate to your course, open the Students tab, and use the Actions dropdown to add students. Copy email addresses from bCourses or CalCentral and paste them in bulk. Enroll students as early as possible — students registered later will have fewer available time slots as earlier-enrolled students from other courses will have already taken up capacity.

How should I name my exams in PrairieTest?
Exams are pre-created in PrairieTest at the start of the semester. It is recommended to use the same name in PrairieTest as in PrairieLearn for clarity.
Example: [Course Name] Quiz 1 / Midterm 2 / Diagnostic Exam

How do I link my PrairieLearn assessment to PrairieTest?
Before each exam, you must link the exam UUID from PrairieTest into your PrairieLearn assessment's access rules. If an exam is not linked when a student arrives at the CBTF, they will not have access and will need to reschedule.

  1. Open the infoAssessment.json file for the relevant assessment in PrairieLearn
  2. In PrairieTest, navigate to the exam's Exam Settings tab and copy the PrairieLearn access code block, which looks like this:

    { "examUuid": "41330c3e-8ffa-4ce2-bd8e-73b3029a717b", "credit": 100 }

  3. Paste this block into the allowAccess array inside infoAssessment.json
  4. Click Save and Sync in PrairieLearn
  5. Reload the Exam Settings page in PrairieTest to confirm the PrairieLearn assessment link is visible

See Setting Up Your Exam for a full walkthrough.

Reservations & Scheduling

Why can't my students make a reservation?
There are several common reasons:

  • The student has not been added to the PrairieTest course roster
  • The student already has an existing reservation for that exam — it must be deleted before they can rebook
  • The testing window has closed — an override may be needed
  • No open slots are available — the student should check other days or request an override from course staff

Can students reschedule their own reservation?
Yes. Students can reschedule to any available slot up to 30 minutes before their reservation begins. After that, they must contact CBTF staff or course staff to have the reservation deleted.

Can I delete a student's reservation myself?
Yes. In PrairieTest, navigate to your exam, open the Reservations tab, locate the student, and click the pencil icon in the Session column to select Delete Reservation. CBTF staff and proctors will also delete reservations without question, but there is no guarantee that an open seat will be available for the student to rebook into. If no slots remain, course staff will need to grant an override or treat it as a missed exam. See Missed & Conflict Exams for full details.

How do I check available seat capacity?
In PrairieTest, click into any of your exams and select the blue View seat availability in CBTF link. This shows the number of available seats and total capacity for each session in the testing window.

Overrides

What is an override and when should I use one?
An override gives a student permission to self-schedule for an exam outside of the standard testing window. For example, if a student had one of the last available slots and missed it due to an unforeseen emergency with no remaining slots that fit their schedule, an override would allow them to test at a later time. Students who know well in advance they will be away during the entire exam window (e.g., traveling student athletes) can also receive an override for an earlier time.

Overrides should be rare and are not guaranteed. They are intended for unforeseen or unforeseeable extenuating circumstances only — not for students who forgot their reservation or attempted a last-minute reschedule. Each course receives a set number of overrides per exam based on roster size. Use them carefully, as granting overrides freely reduces your course's ability to accommodate students with genuine need later in the semester.

What are the steps to grant a student an override?

  1. Log into PrairieTest and navigate to your course
  2. Click into the exam you want to create an override for
  3. Navigate to the Overrides tab and click Add Override
  4. Enter the student's Berkeley email address, the testing center, and the date range for when the exam should be taken
  5. Inform the student to make a new reservation within the override window

Note that the student's previous reservation must be deleted before they can rebook. See Missed & Conflict Exams for the full override policy.

DSP Accommodations

Can course staff add DSP accommodations directly in PrairieTest?
No. Accommodations added on the course side in PrairieTest are not applied to exams taken within the CBTF. Only the CBTF lead can enter accommodations for CBTF exams. Share your DSP list via Google Sheets to cbt-help@berkeley.edu and the CBTF lead will enter them.

How far in advance do I need to submit DSP accommodations?
Submit your DSP list at least 5 business days before student sign-ups open for each exam. Accommodations are not retroactive — if a student already has a reservation when accommodations are added, they will need to delete and rebook for the accommodation to apply.

What if the CBTF cannot meet a student's accommodation?
The CBTF lead will notify course staff of any students whose accommodations cannot be fulfilled in the CBTF. Course staff are then responsible for making alternative arrangements, typically via a remote proctored session. See DSP Accommodations for the full list of what is and is not supported.

Exam Policies & Materials

Will scratch paper be available?
Yes. The CBTF provides scratch paper for every session. It must remain in the room and be discarded after the session — students may not take it with them.

Can I allow students to use a cheat sheet or formula sheet?
No paper cheat sheets are permitted. However, you can make a generic reference sheet available to all students digitally by placing the file in the clientFilesAssessment or clientFilesCourse folder in PrairieLearn and referencing it in your infoAssessment.json. Custom per-student cheat sheets require additional setup — contact cbt-help@berkeley.edu for guidance.

Can students submit physical written work or use workbooks?
No. All work must be completed entirely on CBTF computers through PrairieLearn. No paper may enter or leave the testing center.

What software is available on CBTF computers?
CBTF computers are Windows-based and only have access to a web browser. All internet access is restricted to PrairieLearn and PrairieTest only. No additional software (MATLAB, Python, Excel, etc.) is installed. All tools and resources needed for an exam must be provided through PrairieLearn.

Can I use Jupyter Notebooks in my exam?
Yes. PrairieLearn supports Jupyter Notebooks in a secure, internet-isolated container that is safe for CBTF exams.

Advantages of PL-integrated notebooks

  • Secure, internet-isolated containers (safe for exams)
  • Identical environment for both homework and exams
  • Fully integrated with PrairieLearn and PrairieTest — no extra setup

Limitations compared to DataHub

  • Less compute power and RAM than Berkeley DataHub
  • No persistent student file storage
  • Not suitable for high-compute or collaborative tasks

Use DataHub instead when your exam requires high-compute tasks, persistent storage, or collaborative work via GitHub or nbgitpuller. Note that DataHub does not integrate directly with PrairieLearn for secure exam delivery.

How do I set up a remote PrairieTest session outside the CBTF?
Course staff can create their own PrairieTest sessions at any location for students who cannot test at the CBTF. See Missed & Conflict Exams for step-by-step instructions.

PrairieLearn Issues

What can students do when there is an issue with a question during their exam?
Students can click Report issue with this question on any question to flag a problem or note an assumption. Proctors cannot answer questions about exam content, so this is the only channel available to students during the exam.

Where do I see reported issues?
Navigate to the Assessments page in PrairieLearn to see the number of issues reported for each assessment. Click into an assessment to review individual reports.

Are all reported issues bugs?
Not necessarily. Many reflect student misunderstandings rather than actual question errors. However, a TA or staff member should monitor issues as soon as a quiz opens and resolve all open issues by the end of the course. Staff can email the student directly, override autograder scores, or close the issue as appropriate.

bCourses Integration

What does integrating bCourses with PrairieLearn do?
bCourses and PrairieLearn can be integrated via LTI, which enables grade passback from PrairieLearn directly to your bCourses gradebook. This allows students to see their PrairieLearn scores within bCourses without any manual exporting.

How do I set up the bCourses and PrairieLearn integration?
Email cbt-help@berkeley.edu with a link to your bCourses page and we will set up the integration. Note that all of your bCourses roles must be set to Teacher or Designer — if any role is set to something else, the connection will not work.

Still have questions?

Email cbt-help@berkeley.edu for CBTF and PrairieTest questions, or post in the PrairieLearn Slack (#pl-help) for PrairieLearn-specific help.