Creating Assessments

Quizzes & surveys | Using surveys | Pool Manager | How to Avoid Quiz Problems and Frequently Asked Questions

Quizzes & Surveys

There are two popular types of assessments available in Blackboard, Surveys and Quizzes. Quizzes are graded and attach a user name to the individual results. Surveys are anonymous and non-graded.

Other tools can be used for instructor and peer assessment as well. The following matrix gives an overview of these tools and their capabilities.

There are two basics steps involved with creating a quiz or survey: Start by creating an assessment using the Test Manager or Survey Manager. Finish, by adding an assessment to a content area (Add Test or Add Survey).

About Using Quizzes

How can you be sure that the person taking the quiz is the student in your class. Unfortunately, in most cases, you can't unless you are ready to proctor an exam in a computer classroom. But that does not mean that online quizzes cannot be used effectively in your class. Quizzes can be used for practice and for review.

With an understanding of these physical limitations as well as some technical ones, quizzes can be used for high-stakes assessment. If your interested in using quizzes for high-stakes assessment, such as a final or mid term, please call the Blackboard help desk to find out about recommended approaches, 594-3485.

IMPORTANT - Make sure to read the section below, "How to Avoid Quiz Problems and Frequently Asked Questions" to avoid common assessment problems.

Using Surveys

Surveys are great for any type of information gathering where you either don't need or don't want specific names attached to the results. For example, a course evaluation or a survey to determine the success or understanding of a lesson. You could use a survey to poll your students to check the level of knowledge of various issues related to your content.

Pool Manager

The Pool Manager allows you to create pools or stockpiles of questions and then create quizzes using either selected or random questions from the pools. For example, if you create a pool of 50 questions, you can then create an assessment (quiz) from this pool using just 20 of the questions. If you choose the random question option, the system will create each quiz using 20 different questions from the pool. This feature can help address the problem of cheating or sharing of answers, because each student essentially gets a different quiz.

How to Avoid Quiz Problems and Frequently Asked Questions

Printing of Student Scores
Occasionally, a student will take a Blackboard quiz, receive a score, and but when the instructor looks up this score in the BB gradebook nothing is listed. This is a rare but known bug in the Blackboard software. Instructors can avoid this problem by having all students print their score after a quiz is completed, providing evidence of their earned score to the instructor if there is a technical problem.

Specific Steps for Student Test Score Printing:
Upon finishing a test and clicking the Submit button. The student should then click OK. The student's total score will then be displayed for the quiz attempt. Immediately in their browser program, students should then go to the File menu and choose Print. Student should keep this printout in case it is needed for quiz score verification.

Blackboard Quizzes Should Not Be Saved in Progress by the Student
Students should not use the Save Button during a test. This feature does not work well. It is recommended that students complete a quiz on the first attempt by answering all questions and then pressing Submit.

Advice About Essay Questions
When using essay questions in your quiz, we recommend that students write their essays in a word processing program and copy and paste them into Blackboard. This way, if the individual computer crashes, or there are problems with the server, the students work would not be entirely lost.

Advice About Timed Quizzes
A pop-up window with a timer appears for students while taking a timed quiz. This pop-up window may obscure and block the student from clicking the quiz SUBMIT or FORWARD button. To avoid this problem have the student use Firefox (This is the recommended approach).

If the student must use Internet Explorer, have the user change the Zoom level in IE7 / IE8 during the test. Zoom settings are located in the bottom right-hand corner of the IE browser. This resizes the screen and lets the student get at the submit button.

Browser Windows Should Not Be Resized or Refreshed During a Quiz or Survey
If a student resizes the window, the assessment will stop and no score will be recorded. In the Blackboard Gradebook you will receive an "Incomplete Attempt" message for that student. You may opt to clear the student’s attempt and allow that student to re-take the assessment. We recommend that students do not resize or refresh a browser window while taking a quiz or survey to eliminate this problem.

Can My Students Preview a Quiz?
No. Instruct your students not to take or "preview" the quiz until they are actually ready to take it. If the students "preview" the quiz or begin taking the quiz and then log out (manually or by quitting out of the browser) Blackboard will not let them back in to take or finish the quiz. The students will receive a "Sorry… you already took this assessment on (date) and (time)" message. You may opt to clear the student’s attempt in the gradebook and allow that student to re-take the assessment.

However, you can choose to allow multiple attempts on the quiz. This means that a student can take the quiz as many times as they would like. Blackboard always retains the most recent score, not the highest score. This function is good for practice or review.

Can My Students Print Out a Quiz Before Taking It?
Yes , students can print a quiz, however if a student prints out a quiz, then leaves Blackboard without actually answering any questions, the system will consider the quiz "taken" unless you have specified "Allow Multiple Attempts." Blackboard considers a quiz has been attempted every time it is entered regardless if any questions have been answered. This means that if your student enters the quiz and prints out a copy in an attempt to look up the answers, they will not be able to re-take the quiz unless you clear their attempt.

Some of My Students Did Not Complete Their Quizzes Because of Computer Problems, What Can I Do? (Clearing an Attempt)
If a student has made an unsuccessful or incomplete attempt of a quiz, instead of a score you will see a red exclamation point next to their name in the gradebook. Click on the exclamation point or the actual point total to bring up the quiz report. Click on the Clear Attempt button at the top right corner of the page. This will allow the student to take the quiz again.

When I Try modify a quiz, I am Told That All Grading Associated with That Quiz Will be Deleted. Is This a Common Problem? (Approach with CAUTION!)
It’s not a problem, it’s the way the software functions. Blackboard's idea behind this logic is that since some of the students may have already taken the quiz and been graded, it’s unfair to change the quiz mid-stream.

(Making a Quiz Unavailable) Hiding a quiz after students have taken it.
The way to make a quiz unavailable without losing grades is in Assignments area, not the Assessment Management area. Also, delete any announcements that might contain a link to the quiz. Essentially, you’re making links to the quiz unavailable, but the quiz and grades still exist. You can also make the quiz unavailable by placing a password on the quiz. Without the password, students cannot access the quiz.