How to Create your own Test from Scratch and Deploy it

Let's say that you want to take the daring task of creating a test yourself. This guide will take you step by step on creating questions and will also teach you how to "deploy" your test within your Blackboard course.

Create the Test Shell

• • Go to any section of your course, such as the Assessments area.

  • Click Assessments.

  • From the Drop down select Test.

• • On the next Page click Create.

  • Enter the name of the Test.

  • Click Submit.

How to Make a Multiple Choice Type Question

• • In your quiz, click the Create Question button and choose "Multiple Choice"

1. Question section

• • Add your Question Title (optional) and the Question Text (this is what is displayed to students).

2. Options section

• • Next decide whether you want ABC or abc or choose another option from the Answer numbering dropdown.

  • You can allow for partial credit if you wish.

  • For the "Show Answers in Random Order" checkbox, this is where it gets interesting.

  • If you decide to NOT Randomize the answers, which is the default setting, you will have control of the display. You will choose exactly the order that the left items and right items are displayed to students. This might be useful if you want to present the answers in alphabetical order, or some other logical order.

  • If you check that you DO  want them in Random Order, it will be easier for you to enter the questions. When you put in all the questions and then all the correct answers, everything will be "in order" but when students see it the right column will be scrambled.

3. Answer items section

• • By default you will have 4 answers but you can select the drop down here to change that number up to 20. If you want less then 4 you will have to click on the "Remove" button next to Answer # 1, 2, 3 or 4.

  • Enter the answers you have for the questions.

4. Feedback

• • If you have Feedback to give to the students you can enter it the following fields.

  • The information will display to student when they get the answer Correct, Incorrect, or Both depending on which box(es) you choose to enter the information in.

5. Submit

• • Click Submit when you are done.

How to Make a Matching Type Question

• • Making a matching question is slightly counter-intuitive the first time you do it, but once you've done it once, it's easy!

  • Matching questions have a set of "questions" on the left and a set of "answers" on the right. Students can match the questions to the answers by using a drop-down list.

  • There can be more questions than answers, or more answers than questions.

  • In your quiz, click the Create Question button and choose "Matching"

1. Question section

• • Add your Question Title (optional) and the Question Text (this is what is displayed to students).

2. Options section

• • Next decide whether you want ABC or abc or choose another option from the Answer numbering dropdown.

  • Decide on the credit for getting the matching question correct; partial credit is the default. (The total must equal to 100%. Be aware that if you choose a 3 answers for example. Your partial credit will split into 33.3, 33.3, and 33.4, giving the students a final grade in decimal points.)

  • For the "Show Answers in Random Order" checkbox, this is where it gets interesting.

  • If you decide to NOT Randomize the answers, which is the default setting, you will have control of the display. You will choose exactly the order that the left items and right items are displayed to students. This might be useful if you want to present the answers in alphabetical order, or some other logical order.

  • If you check that you DO  want them in Random Order, it will be easier for you to enter the questions. When you put in all the questions and then all the correct answers, everything will be "in order" but when students see it the right column will be scrambled.

3. Questions section

• • By default you will have 4 answers but you can select the drop down here to change that number up to 20. If you want less then 4 you will have to click on the "Remove" button next to Answer # 1, 2, 3 or 4.

  • Enter your questions, the items that will display on the left.

4. Answer items section

• • Enter your answers, the items that will display on the right. If you chose to Randomize, you can enter them "in order" of the way you entered the answers. If you choose NOT to Randomize, whatever order you put in is what will display to students.

Example:

5. Answer Order section

• • Here you will see an example of how the questions and answers you had just entered will display to the students. You can choose to manually arrange the display of the answers (By dragging the choices VIA the up-down arrow) or choose to do it randomly.

Example:

6. Adding Decoy or Duplicated Answer

• • If you want to add a fake answer that is incorrect, select "Add unmatched answer choices" towards the end of the Question/Answer listing."

• • If multiple questions have the same exact answer choice select "Reuse answer choice from" on the Question itself right before you see the Partial Credit Option.

7. Feedback

• • If you have Feedback to give to the students you can enter it the following fields.

  • The information will display to student when they get the answer Correct, Incorrect, or Both depending on which box(es) you choose to enter the information in.

8. Submit

• • Click Submit when you are done.

Deploy the Test

In order for your students to see and take the test, you need to create a link to the test and display this within a Content Area.

• • Go to the content area where you want to display the test. For example, you might have an area in your course called "Assessments."

  • Click on Assessments and choose Test. (If you don't see the button, be sure that your Edit Mode is toggled to the "on" position.)

  • In the "Add an Existing Test*"* menu, select the test you want to deploy, and click Submit.

  • The next page will load. This is where you will be able to edit the Test Options. For example, the dates the test will be available, the maximum length of time, etc.

  • On this page, Underneath the "Test Availability" area select YES to "Make the Link Available."

  • Click Submit when you are done. 

Test Settings Explained

1. Test Information

• • The first box you see is the "Name" of your Test. You can Edit this any time you want.

  • The "Content Link Description" box is Optional but will display text underneath the name of the test, before the student clicks on it.

  • By the default the "Open Test in New Window" is set to NO but we suggest you always select YES so a new window can pop up as they begin their test.

2. Test Availability

• • When the test is completely ready, make sure the "Make the Link Available" option is set to YES. Otherwise the student won't be able to see it.

  • By default "Add a New Announcement for this Test" is set to No but if you want an extra reminder to be sent out to the students, you can select Yes.

  • If you don't select the "Multiple Attempts" box then the student will only have 1 try to take the test. Otherwise you can make it unlimited OR select a certain number of tries.

  • "Force Completion" will force the student to finish the test in one sitting without exiting the test. We recommend you do NOT select this option. If a student has a connection issue with the internet he will be unable to return to the test.

  • Select "Set Timer" if you would like your Test to have a time limit. Usually you want "Auto-Submit" to be ON. This way if the student goes OVER the allotted time, the test will automatically submit itself.

  • Select the Display After and Until dates if you would like the test to automatically appear and disappear between a specified date. This way you don't have to worry about making the test "unavailable" once the closing date arrives.

  • We never set passwords for tests but you have the option available to you.

3. Test Availability Exceptions

• • This area only needs to be used if you have a student or several students that need more time on a test, need more attempts on a test, or need to take the test during a different window of time.

  • Select Add User or Group to find the student(s) that need the exception. You can also find Groups created in your course to select from.

    • • Attempts: Select One Attempt, Multiple Attempts, or Unlimited Attempts for the student.

      • Timer: You can change the amount of time the student or group can take the test for. Select Auto Submit if you want the test to automatically submit itself once the time has run out.

      • Availability: You can change the time frame of when the student will be able to take the test. If you want the student to follow the same Open and Close times of all the other students, do not edit this option.

      • Force Completion: This will force the student to finish the test in one sitting without exiting the test. We recommend you do NOT select this option. If a student has a connection issue with the internet he will be unable to return to the test.

4. Due Date

• • This field is actually Optional. But It is a way to give the students a Due Date without completely closing the Exam inside of "Display Until."

  • If you have selected Due Date then you can also select the below option "Do not allow students to start the Test if the due date has passed" if you do not want students to be able to access the test after the Due Date.

5. Self-assessment Options

• • Leave this area as is by default.

6. Show Test Results and Feedback to Students

• • This area will show certain results once the student has finished his/her test.

    • • When: Select from the drop down menu to determine when the students will see their test results or feedback.

        • • After Submission (As soon as the user submits their test answers)

          • One-time View (Can only see their results once)

          • On Specific Date (Select which day they will be able to review their results and feedback)

          • After Due Date (Will release after the "Due Date" that you have provided within the test settings)

          • After Availability of End Date ("This feedback trigger will not come into effect unless a 'Display Until Date' is specified.")

          • After Attempts are Graded (Will release once the test is graded. Usually applies more for tests with Essays or Short Answer sections)

      • Score: Displays the students grade on the test once they have finished.

      • Answers: Displays what the student had selected for their answer choices.

        • • All Answers

          • Correct

          • Submitted

      • Feedback. Displays any Feedback you had wrote during the creation of the test.

      • Show Incorrect Questions: This will include all the other set of answers the students could have chosen from that were NOT the correct choices.

7. Test Presentation Mode

• • All at Once will present ALL the Questions on the screen at the same time. (This is usually the best option)

  • One at a Time will "present one question at a time" during the test.

  • Prohibit Tracking will "Prevent changing the answer to a question that has already been submitted."

  • Randomize Questions: I do not reccomend this option but you can select it to scramble your set of questions for each student.

8. Submit

• • Click Submit when you are Done.