Tests and Quizzes

The Tests feature enables faculty to check the knowledge and skill level of users enrolled in the course. Faculty can assign point values to each question on a test, and when a student completes a test, it is automatically graded and the results are recorded in the Gradebook. Questions that require manual grading are marked in the Gradebook and can be graded later.

You can create tests, quizzes, and surveys in any content area or folder.

Once students have taken a test or quiz, faculty are able to run an item analysis, which provides statistics on overall test performance and individual test questions.  This data can help you recognize questions that might be poor discriminators of student performance. You can use this information to improve questions for future test administrations or to adjust credit on current attempts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add tests from my textbook publisher into my course?

The method for adding tests to a course differs based on how the publisher formatted the materials, and they unfortunately don't always use the correct terms. To start, you usually need to download the tests from the publisher. The tests should be packaged as .zip files. If they publisher asks for the version of your learning management system, the current version is always listed on the Teaching with Blackboard Home Page

If the publisher provided Tests:

  1. Download the test(s) from the publisher and save them on your computer
  2. Log into Blackboard and access the course you want to add the test to
  3. In the Control Panel, click Course Tools
  4. From the list of tools, click Tests, Surveys, and Pools
  5. On the next page, click Tests
  6. In the toolbar, click the Import Test button
  7. On the next page, click the Browse My Computer button
  8. In the pop-up window, find and select the .zip file for the test. Click the Open button
  9. Click the Submit button to complete the import

The test will now be added to your Test Manager in Blackboard. You can deploy the test to any content area of your course (For example, in Assessments).

If the import does not work or gives you an error, the publisher may have actually given you a Pool instead of a Test. A Pool contains test questions but does not have the additional details for a test, such as question order or points possible.

If the publisher provided Pools:

  1. Follow steps 1-4 above
  2. Instead of clicking Tests in step 5 above, click Pools
  3. Follow steps 6-9 above

Once the Pool is imported, you will need to create a Test and then Reuse Questions to add the questions from the Pool to the Test. Once the test has all of the necessary questions, you can deploy the test 

Will I loose data when access is removed?

If a test is removed after students have taken it, the data will be lost. Instead, once all students have taken the quiz, the Faculty Member can make the test unavailable; this way the data remains in the Grade Center but students do not have access to the test.

To make a test unavailable in Original Course View:

  1. Make sure that Edit Mode is On
  2. Navigate to the content area that the test is in (For example, Assessments)
  3. Click the Action Link next to the title of the test
  4. Click Edit Test Options from the Action Link Menu
  5. Click Modify test options
  6. Change the setting for Do you want to make the test visible? to No
  7. Click the Submit button
How do I add images to a test or quiz question in Original Course View?

Images, files and external links can be added to test questions within the question by using the Insert/Edit Images button in the third row of the text box editor. Adding images to test question answers or feedback is a 2 part process. First, you have to enable the image setting for that test. To do so, click the Question Settings button on the Test Canvas (the page where you add questions). Place a checkmark next to Add images, files and web links to answers or Add images, files, and web links to individual feedback then click the Submit button.

When you create or modify questions, browse for the image file (click the Choose File button next to File). Choose Display image within the page from the Action drop down menu. With this option, the image will be embedded right into the question. Or you can choose Create a link to this media file -- in this case Blackboard will not display the image, but will add a link for it that students will be able to click on.

Will test scores update if I manually change a response?

It is possible for you to update the correct answer and point values after students have taken a test. You have the option of changing the correct answer, giving full credit to everyone, or making the question extra credit.

To change the correct answer in Original Course View for a multiple choice question:

  1. Go to the test canvas by clicking the round drop down arrow next to the test, either where it is deployed or in the Grade Center
  2. Click Edit the Test from the menu
  3. Find the question that needs to be changed
  4. Click the round drop down arrow next to the question
  5. Click Edit from the menu
  6. Change which answer choice is correct by selecting a different radio button
  7. When you click the Submit and Update Attempts button, Blackboard will automatically regrade the question and update student scores

The process is similar for other question types. If you want to give students credit for more than one response (i.e. you are now accepting 2 or more correct answers on a question that only had 1 correct answer), select the option for allowing partial credit and give the second correct answer 100% partial credit. 

You may also want to throw out a question by giving all students the points or by changing the question to extra credit.

To award full credit or extra credit in Original Course View:

  1. Go to the Test Canvas (steps 1 & 2, above)
  2. Find the question that needs to be changed
  3. Click the Point value to the right of the question
  4. Click the appropriate checkbox, Extra Credit or Full Credit
  5. Click the Submit and Regrade button
I found an error after several students completed the quiz
Questions can be modified before the test has been taken by students. After that, the text of the questions and answers cannot be changed, but the correct answer and point values can be updated. Blackboard will automatically regrade the student submissions.
I want to get a report on the percent correct per question in a test. Can I see this individually or by class?

Yes, it is possible to view percent correct on a test either for an individual student or for the class in general. To view a breakdown of percent correct for the class, go to the Grade Center and click the drop down arrow next to the title of the test in the Grade Center Column. Then, click Attempt Statistics. This will display each question of your quiz and the corresponding percentages of students selecting each possible answer. *Note - If you happened to use question pools to build your test, you won't see this aggregate summary as not all students answered identical questions.

You can also use the Item Analysis (Original Course View) or Question Analysis (Ultra Course View) to view additional details for each question on the test, such as the discrimination score and difficulty rating.

To view a the percentage correct and the specific questions answered correct/incorrect for an individual student, go to the Grade Center and click the drop down arrow next to the student's score. Click View Attempt to see each question that student answered and whether the response entered was either correct or incorrect.

Should I use Force Completion when I set up a test?

We do not recommend that you use the Force Completion option when setting up a test. This option requires that students complete the test in one sitting, without closing their browser. This seems like a useful feature to prevent students from beginning a test, viewing the questions, and then closing the test to look up answers or confer with a classmate. However, it also prevents students from continuing a test if they have technical difficulties, such as losing Internet connection, their browser crashing, or their computer freezing. Students who experience technical difficulties will have to contact you to have their test reset so that they can begin again in order to complete the test. You will then need to clear their attempt, and the students will have to begin the test over again.

Instead, we recommend that you use a timer to limit how long students have to complete the test. The timer begins counting down from when they click the Begin Test button. If a student closes their browser, the timer continues even though they have left the test. If you also turn on the Auto-Submit feature, the test will automatically be submitted when the timer expires. This would prevent students from closing the test to look up answers while allowing those who have technical difficulties to log in and continue the test within the time limit established with the Timer.

If individual students have accommodation requests for specific time limits, such as double the length of time allowed for other students, you can set those on an individual basis using the Test Exceptions feature. 

I have a Word document with multiple choice questions that I want to transfer to a Blackboard course (for student assessment/tests). I cannot copy and paste the test questions and answers. What can I do so that I do not have to type of all the questions and answers into Blackboard?

Fortunately, there are a few options for turning a Word document into a test in Blackboard. The system we have used and recommend most often is the Oklahoma Christian University Test Generator. You will need to reformat your questions in the Word document to match the style in their documentation guide (click the question mark on the page for formatting instructions), but that is easier to do than recreating the questions in Blackboard.

Once you have your test questions generated, the OCU Test Generator will give you a .zip file. In Blackboard, you would import this into Pools (Original Course View) or Question Banks (Ultra Course View)

To import this to Pools in Original Course View:

  1. Click Course Tools in the Control Panel
  2. Click Tests, Surveys, and Pools
  3. Click Pools
  4. Click the Import Pool button
  5. Click the Browse My Computer button
  6. Find and select the .zip file
  7. Click the Submit button

To import this to Question Banks in Ultra Course View:

  1. Click the Manage banks link under Question Banks in the Details & Actions area
  2. Click the plus + icon in the upper right of the page
  3. Find and select the .zip file
  4. Click the Open button
  5. Blackboard will display an import progress meter to show that the question bank is being uploaded

Once the questions are imported into the Pool or Question Bank, you would create a Test in Blackboard and use the Reuse Questions option to select the questions.


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