Creating Tests

When employing a test in Blackboard you will have three basic tasks:

1. You will create the test
2. You will need to create the questions (if you do not have a question set)
3. You will need to set up or deploy the test

Tests are assessments, so selecting the assessment tab will give the option to create a test of a survey.  In Blackboard, surveys are anonymous tests.  For this reason, we will focus here on tests as assessments and not on surveys.

When you select 'Test' you will asked name the test. Once you do this and select submit, you have accomplished task #1.

Moving to task #2, you will need to fill the test with questions either by selecting existing questions or creating new questions.

• You can search for existing questions from other tests or from test pools.
• You can select from many different styles of questions to create.

When you select or create a question, it is displayed on a question canvas that shows all the questions in a test. You can assign points to each questions, as well as edit their placement, edit their content or delete the question. You should also offer comments for correct and incorrect answers to the questions to assist the student's learning.

Once you complete task #2, you now can move on to the task #3 where you will deploy the test.

You will have to make the test link visible to students. NOTE: Blackboard's default is to hide test from students.  You will need to select the feature to make the test visible.

We recommend making the test visible to students as well as having the instructions visible as well.

You can now choose several options about the test.

• Please do not select Forced Completion. This tends to end test because of internet interference and IT cannot help the students.  A timed test that marks and submits the test when it is over works fine.
• You can choose the timed feature and accommodate ADA needs with the Exemptions options.
• You can encourage students to assess their own knowledge by offering multiple attempts with a timed test.

Once you select "submit" the test is deployed and it is added to the Grade Center.

Now that you can create a test, you may want to take advantage of several powerful features of Blackboard.

Question Pools

Question Pools allow the instructors to use questions in multiple assessments. They group questions so that they can be both imported and exported.
To build a pool, you will need to:

1. Go to the Control Panel and select the "Test, Surveys and Pools" option. 
2. Select "Pools"
3. Select "Build Pool" and complete the needed information page. Then hit “select”. 
4. You now have the option to create, find (from within the course) or upload questions to the pool.
5. Either create the questions or find the questions you want, and then submit.

Random Blocks

A random block is a number of questions selected from one or more question pools to be included in a test.

To create a Random Block you will need to select the element desired, such as an existing test.  You will then select "edit" to edit the test.

From the edit section, go to the Reuse Tab and select "Create Random Block":

1. Select questions - these must be from Pools (and not other tests) 
2. Search by criterion and select the questions desired. Then hit submit.
3. Then assign the number of questions to be displayed to students. (This should be less than the total number of questions)
4. Select OK

Final Note

Remember, best practices in test taking is to:

• Treat an online exam as an 'open book' exam and offer students a more authentic learning experience.  By being challenged even when they have the resources at hand, the test is more similar to real world challenges.
• Have multiple attempts and include error replies that identify student weaknesses and offer advice to how they can improve takes the exam past a measure of learning to becoming a vehicle that serves as part of the learning process.  This will allow students to reflect and improve
• Ask questions that require application of the knowledge the assessment is measuring. Design assessments to demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge the ranks higher on Blooms Taxonomy of Learning.  An added bonus of these assessment types is that they are great at reducing cheating (academic dishonesty). 

 Keep these in mind and your assessments can be an effective pedagogical tool.