Creating and Managing Tests Version 1.10.06122006 Francis Tuttle Technology Center elearning Department
Creating and Managing Tests TABLE OF CONTENTS Purpose and Objectives... 3 Formatting Conventions... 3 Creating a Test... 4 Adjusting the Creation Settings... 5 Adding Questions to a Test... 5 Giving a Test or Quiz... 7 ModifyingTest Options... 7 Understanding Question Types... 8 Last updated: 10/20/2008 2
Creating and Managing Tests Purpose and Objectives This document provides instruction on how to: Set Creation Settings for tests Create tests Modify tests Make tests available to students Formatting Conventions Throughout this document you ll see various symbols and specially formatted text. Here s what it all means: General instructions and hands-on activities are laid out in numbered lists, like this: 1. Log into the Blackboard system. 2. Click on the Control Panel button. 3. and so on Menu commands are written in the form, Menu > Submenu > Submenu. For example, the instructions choose Edit > Copy would be the equivalent of the following if put into a numbered (step) list: 1. Choose Edit from the menu bar. 2. Choose Copy from the drop-down menu that opens. Important words or phrases are formatted in bold text. Text formatted in a different font is text that you need to type. In some of the hands-on activities, you may be asked to type a URL in the address bar of a browser, or to type a passage into a text box. For example, the following instructs you to type the word appreciate into the box provided: Type appreciate into the box provided. Folder and file names, as well as options you may choose to select from a menu are formatted in italics. Last updated: 10/20/2008 3
Creating a Test Because most Francis Tuttle instructors have existing course content in individual LAPs (Learning Activity Packets), including assignments that function like tests but which may or may not be graded, the simplest way to build one of these types of assignments is to use Blackboard s Test feature and build it as a test. Instructors also may build actual tests Either way, the process is the same, and is covered in this procedure. To create a test in Blackboard, complete the following steps: 1. Open the course in which you want to create the test, and then select Control Panel. 2. Within the Content Areas of the Control Panel, select Assignments or one of the other content areas. 3. Within the Assignments (or other chosen content) area, select Test from the Add menu. 4. Within the Create a new Test menu area, select Create. 5. Fill in necessary test information. Note: You must provide a test Name. It should be descriptive so that both the instructor and the student can be assured the correct test has been entered and taken. However, whatever Name you give it will be the same one that appears in the Gradebook, so make it as short as possible. You should also provide a Description, which is designed to tell any instructor looking at this test what the function or purpose of the test is. At Francis Tuttle, instructors often identify from what course and LAP or lesson this test is derived. You should also include Instructions, which the student will view. This will be a brief statement about how you want the student to proceed with this test. Last updated 2/01/2006
6. Click Submit. The Test Canvas opens. You can now adjust Creation Setting, and then add questions to this test. Adjusting the Creation Settings To specify what options are displayed for you when you are adding questions to a test, you must modify the Creation Settings for the test, and you should do so prior to creating the first test question so the settings will apply to all questions. (For more information on adjusting the creation settings for a test, refer to the procedure titled: Adjusting Test Creation Settings. Adding Questions to a Test Once a test has been created, you must add its content test questions. As there are several types of questions you can add, the first thing you will have to do is choose the type of question to be added. Question types included in Blackboard have both common question types true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and so on and less common types Calculated Formula, Hot Spot, Jumbled Sentence, and others. To learn more about test question types, review the last section of this procedure titled, Understanding Question Types in Blackboard. In the meantime, follow these steps to add questions to an existing test. NOTE: If you have just created the test, the Test Canvas window will already be open. If you are coming back into the test to add questions or modify existing ones, you will first have to get to the Test Canvas for the test you want to modify. (If the Test Canvas is not already open, select the course, select Control Panel, select the content area where you put the test, find the test you want to modify, and then select the Modify button next to the test. Next, choose Modify the Test. Now you can add new questions or modify existing ones. To add questions to a test, complete the following steps: 1. From the Add line, choose the type of question, such as Multiple Choice, that you want to create, and then click Go. (Click the down arrow to see all type choices.) 2. Copy and paste the test question from your MS Word document into the Question Text box, or type it in. 3. In the Point Value box, specify how many points the student should receive for correctly answering this question. 5
NOTE: If you specify the default point value in Creation Settings, the point value will be filled in automatically for you for each question you create. 4. In the Answer section, provide the appropriate information. For example, on a multiple choice question, you have to identify how many possible answers there will be, and then provide one answer in each of the Answer boxes. Also, you must choose which of the possible answers is correct. 5. If you want the student to see feedback related to their answer, you must provide feedback for both a correct and an incorrect answer. Type the feedback you want the student to see in the Correct Response Feedback and the Incorrect Response Feedback fields, and then click Submit. 6. Add more questions as needed. You must choose where to put the next question. If you want it to be other than the next on the list, click the Add Question Here link shown before each existing question. If you just want to add another type of question at the bottom of the list, select the question type from the Add drop-down menu, click Go, and then provide the necessary information 6
7. When you have added all questions you want to add to this test, scroll to the bottom of the Test Canvas page and click OK. You are returned to the Test Manager page. 8. Click OK again. You are returned to the Control Panel for the course. Giving a Test or Quiz You have control over if and when the students see a test. You give students access to the test by making it available through a course content area. To make a test available to students, complete the following steps: 1. Click the Control Panel button. 2. In the Control Panel, under Content Areas, click on the name of the content area where you d like to place the test and navigate to the appropriate folder. 3. Click the Test button on the menu bar. 4. Choose the test from the list of existing tests. 5. Click the Submit button to add the test to your content area. By default, the availability option for the test will be set to No. You ll need to modify the test options to make it visible to students. Modifying Test Options After you create a test and put questions in it, you have additional decisions to make. You must choose what to do with various options associated with tests, such as whether or not the test should be made available to the student at this time, what, if any, feedback the student should get when he or she takes the test, and what settings you want to turn on or off in association with this test. You can implement your choices by modifying the test s options. 1. In the Control Panel, under Content Areas, click the name of the content area where you placed the test. 2. Click the Modify button to the right of the test. Click the Modify the test options link. 4. Adjust any of the availability, feedback, and presentation settings. 5. Click the Submit button to save your changes. 3. 7
Understanding Question Types in Blackboard As educators are already quite familiar with the common question types, such as True/False, Multiple Choice, and Matching, details about common question types are not included here; only their names are listed so that you will be aware that these types do still exist. However, some question types exist that are special to only certain areas of education, such as mathematics, and which may not be commonly known or used. Consequently, a description of those question types is included in this document. The common question types found in Blackboard include: Multiple Choice True/False Multiple Answer Ordering Matching Fill in the Blank Essay The less-common question types found in Blackboard (version 6.3 and greater), and which are described in this document include: Calculated Formula Calculated Numeric Response File Response Hot Spot Fill in Multiple Blanks Jumbled Sentence Opinion Scale (Likert) Short Answer Either/Or Quiz Bowl Random Block This section discusses each of these new question types. Calculated Question (Calculated Formula) A Calculated Formula question contains a mathematical formula, the variables of which can be set to change for each user. The variable range is created by specifying a minimum value and a maximum value for each variable. Answer sets are randomly generated. The correct answer can be a specific value or a range of values. Partial credit may be granted for answers falling in a range. When using a Calculated Formula question, add question text that includes variables in square brackets [x] corresponding to variables in the formula that will be used to calculate the answer to this question. Answers are not part of the formula because answer sets are automatically calculated. Variables must consist of letters, but "pi" and "e" are reserved and cannot be used as variables. Last updated 2/01/2006
Calculated Numeric Response This question resembles a fill-in-the-blank question. The user enters a number to complete a statement. The correct answer can be a specific number or within a range of numbers. See the following graphic. It shows an example of how to fill in a Calculated Numeric Question. The same question created in the above graphic will display to the student as shown in the next graphic. Last modified: 10/20/2008 9
File Response Users upload a file from the local drive as the answer to the question. This type of question is graded manually. Hot Spot Users indicate the answer by marking a specific point on an image. A range of pixel coordinates is used to define the correct answer. Hot Spot refers to the area of an image that, when selected, yields a correct answer. Fill in Multiple Blanks This question type builds on fill-in-the-blank questions with multiple fill-in-the-blank responses that can be inserted into a sentence or paragraph. Separate sets of answers are defined for each blank. Jumbled Sentence Users are shown a sentence with a few parts of the sentence as variables. The user selects the proper answer for each variable from drop-down lists to assemble the sentence. Only one set of answers is used for all of the drop-down lists. Opinion Scale (Likert) Question type based on a rating scale designed to measure attitudes or reactions. Users indicate the multiple choice answer that represents their attitude or reaction. When the instructor creates an opinion scale question, six answer fields are pre-populated with the following answers: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree Nor Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, Not Applicable Short Answer Short Answer questions are similar to essay questions. The length of the answer can be limited to a specified number of rows in the text box. The number of rows is meant as a guideline when entering an answer; it does not impose an absolute limit on answer length. Either/Or Users are presented with a statement and asked to respond using a selection of pre-defined two choice answers, such as: Yes/No, Agree/Disagree, Right/Wrong Quiz Bowl The user is shown the answer and responds by entering the correct question into a text box. An answer must include a phrase and a question word, such as who, what, or where, to be marked as correct. Partial credit may be given if the question word is not included in the answer. Last modified: 10/20/2008 10
Random Block Users are presented with a group of questions selected randomly by the system from one or more pools. The test developer can choose the pools and question types from which the system will pull the specified number of questions and build the test. The test developer cannot select more questions from which to create the test than the number of questions that exist in all combined pools. From Question Pool or Assessment Users are presented with a group of questions selected specifically by the test developer from one or more pools or existing tests. This is the option to use when the developer wants control over which questions are presented to the students in this test. Last modified: 10/20/2008 11