Creating Tests

 Creating Tests in Blackboard

There are four overall components to creating a test including; 

  • Add the test.
  • Specify the Question Settings.
  • Add the questions.
  • Test Settings and Deploying Test.

See the steps below outlining each component:

Step 1. In Edit Mode, access a Content Area in the menu. (assessments) 

Step 2. On the Action Bar, point to Assessments to access the drop-down list

Step 3. Select Test

course menu with assessments, assignments and test outlined in red

Step 4. Under Add Test, select Create a New Test.

Step 5. On the Test Information page, type a name for the test and add instructions if desired.

Step 6. Click Submit.

Test information editor with name, description and submit highlighted in red

After adding the test information, the Test Canvas appears, displaying the test name, description, and instructions.

 Question Settings control the options available when creating test questions.

Step 1. On the Test Canvas, click Questions Settings on the Action Bar. In the questions settings you can select the default point value for each question as the default is 10. You can then change individual questions accordingly once all of the questions are created. 

question settings with the points value outlined in red

Step 2. click Submit 

The next step in the test creation process is to create questions.

Test canvas with create questions outlined in red

Step 1. On the Test Canvas, click Create Question on the Action Bar. You will have the option for numerous question types. You are not required to create a question title only the Question Text. If you are randomizing questions then it is best to leave the question title blank. 

Question type options under create question

For details regarding the options, please click on the question type below. 

Calculated Formula

Calculated Numeric 

Either/Or

Essay

File Response

Fill in Multiple Blanks

Fill in the Blank

Hot Spot

Jumbled Sentence

Matching 

Multiple Answer

Multiple Choice 

Opinion Scale/Likert

Ordering 

Quiz Bowl 

Short Answer

True False 

Step 2. Submit and create another (which will continue with the same question type) or Submit if you want to change the question type. 

Step 3. Once you have created all of the questions then you will select OK in the bottom left of the test canvas.

OK option in the bottom right corner of the text canvas

Step 4.  Select the name of the test that you just created, which will be in the add an existing test box. 

Test settings with the new test outlined in red

Step 5. Click Submit.

Once you have created the test you will see the various test settings options. The following are the suggested settings for the test:Test options window

Step 1. Open test in a new window. Yes

Step 2. Make the link available. Yes

Step 3. Add a new announcement. This is only suggested if the test is going to be available immediately. 

Step 4. Determine if the test will allow multiple attempts. If only one attempt is permitted then leave the settings blank.

Step 5. Force completion is not recommended. If there are any issues with the network it will cause the test to submit and then students will not have the option to continue. 

Step 6Set timer, and determine the amount of time that students will have to complete the test. Auto-submit should be set on.  This is recommenced instead of force completion. If students get kicked out due to internet or network issues, they will be able to log back in and continue where they left off as long as time remains. 

Step 7. Set date restriction options. Students will have access to the test as long as the settings permit. Once they complete the maximum number of attempts they will not be permitted to re-write the test. 

Step 8. Set a password if preferred. Students will not be permitted to complete the test without the correct password. 

Step 9. Test Availability Exceptions. If you have any students that require extra test time or access before or after the restricted dates you can add them here. 

Step 10Due date

NOTE: The custom feedback provided to students is based on their correct and incorrect answers. Decide on a question-by-question basis whether to include feedback for each possible answer.

You can type a default point value if all questions will be worth the same amount. You can edit the value for each individual question during question creation.

Before you can use partial credit for answers, you must enable it in Question Settings. Partial credit is available for the following automatically graded question types:

  • Multiple Answer
  • Multiple Choice
  • Ordering
  • Matching
  • Jumbled Sentence
  • Fill in Multiple Blanks
  • Opinion Scale/Likert

You will find instructions for configuring partial credit for each question type when create the relevant question. 

Step 11. Test Presentation. It is recommended that you present questions one at a time but do not prohibit backtracking. You can also randomize questions if it makes sense to do so. This will ensure that students sitting side by side in the computer lab will not be viewing the same questions at the same time.  

Note: you can always go back and edit any of these options by selecting edit test options in the test drop down menu. 

For some additional options that may help to ensure test integrity please click on the following link. Online Test Integrity

Note: If you are creating a test with more than 25 questions that include question types such as multiple choice/ multiple answer, true/false, essay, fill in the blank, matching, and ordering, you may want to look at using Respondus 4.0 that takes a specifically formatted MS Word document test and imports it into Blackboard. To view information about using Respondus 4.0 and downloading the software, click the following link. Respondus 4.0 Resources

 

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