Blackboard Support

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Blackboard Support

Creating Tests

Making the test available

In the mean time you created a pool of questions and a test, but the students in your Blackboard course are not yet able to make this test. In fact, you created a generic test that has not been adressed to a specific course. To achieve this, you will have to place the test into a Content Area and make it available.

Important: Once a test has been published, you should not change it. You can correct a typo, but any other changes are not allowed. In this way you ensure that all students take exactly the same test.

In order to make a test available, you need to take the following steps:

  • If you have not already placed the test directly in the right Content Area via the Course Menu, open the Content Area in which you want to place the test.
    Click on the Create Assessment button and then on Test.
  • Select the relevant test and click on Submit.

You will see a confirmation message that the test has been added and a screen with Test Options.

In the Test Options screen, you can add a description of the test. The most important settings, however, are further down the screen, under Availability, Feedback and Presentation.

  • Fill in the Test Information:
    • Enter the text for test description and test instructions if desired.
    • Indicate wether the test description and test instructions have to be shown to the student before starting the test.
      Toets_BeschikbaarMaken
      .
  • Check out Test Availability:
Important: If you turn on Force Completion, students must complete the test when they launch it. Students may only access the test ONE TIME. The Save function is available for students to save the questions as they work through them, but they may not exit and re-enter the test. In the instructions, Force Completion is noted and explained to students. If you don’t turn on Force Completion, students may save their progress, navigate away, and return to complete the test.

If students accidentally close their browsers, leave the test page, or lose power or their internet connections, they can’t continue. They must contact the teacher and ask for a new attempt.

You may want to reserve the Force Completion option. Instead, you can require students to take a test on campus, connected to an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi, and with a proctor. If issues occur, the proctor can reset the test.

navigate away, and return to complete the test.

    • Under Make the Link Available, you will see that the test is not yet available. Select Yes.
      Toets_Availability
      .
    • If you want Blackboard to place an automatic announcement for the test, select Yes for the second option.
    • The next three options determine whether students are allowed several attempts or only one attempt, and whether the test has to be completed within a certain timeframe. Set these options according to your preferences.
    • Set the timer options.
    • If you want to make the test available only to students who have received a password, tick the Set password option and fill in a password.
  • Enter the Due Date if desired, submissions after this date are marked ‘Late’.
  • If needed, you may setup the Self Assessment Options.
  •  Check out Show test results and feedback to students:
    Toets_ShowTestresults
    .
    Here, you can specify the information shown to the students after they have completed the test. For example, for practice tests, it can be very useful to select the feedback option. For summative assessments feedback is much less relevant (but Blackboard is not really the most suitable system for summative assessments in any case).* when (optie 1):

    With this option there can be specified when results of the test will be shown.* When (optie 2):

    This options gives you an extra condition for specifying when results of the test will be shown to students after completing the assessment.
  • Check out Test Presentation:
    Toets_TestPresentation
    .
    Here, you can specify whether students will be able to see the questions one at a time or all at once. If you select one at a time, you can also prohibit backtracking. If desired, the questions can be presented in a random order.

When all settings are according to your preferences, click on Submit and the test will be published immediately. Students can find the test in the relevant Content Area and open it from there.