The following resources show:
- How to create a test.
- How to deploy a test.
- How students complete a test.
- Trouble-shooting during a test.
- How to mark a test with non-automatically marked questions.
Tests: Roles and Responsibilities
Academics are responsible for test content and ensuring that tests are set up correctly – see Blackboard Tests: quality checking your test.
Formal or summative tests: Academics should liaise with their Programme Administration team in good time before tests take place to clarify roles or arrange additional support, for example, to ensure tests are set up correctly or to deploy the test in the Blackboard module.
Recommended Settings for Tests
There is specific guidance on the settings to use for formal summative assessments:
Recommended settings for Online Exam submission points (Word document) Updated for Summer 2023
In-class tests Recommended settings (2020/21) (Word document)
These settings should be used when creating and deploying a Blackboard test and adhered to wherever possible. If you need to deviate from these settings for any reason you should liaise with your Senior Programme Administrator.
For other uses of Blackboard Tests, for example, formative quizzes, you can choose your own settings but be aware that adding restrictions on how students can take a test can increase requirements for support when the test is taken.
1. How to create a Test
Screencast: How to create a Blackboard test (10 mins)
Getting started – creating a test:
- Blackboard Tests and Surveys: Getting Started
- Create a test
- Removing unintentional text formatting (when copying and pasting questions from MS Word)
- Embed Audio and Video Files in Questions
- Creating test questions offline in Excel and uploading to Blackboard course
- Quality checking your test
Timed tests:
- Timer, Auto-submit and force completion settings
- Timed Tests – Adding a time limit (Blackboard Help screencast: 1 min)
Question management:
- Reusable question pools
- Edit a question from a question pool
- Copying or moving tests between courses
Scoring:
2. How to deploy a Test
Screencast: How to deploy a test (11 mins)
- Making a test available to students (deploy the test)
- Availability Exceptions (to give individual extensions for specific students)
3. How students complete the Test
Screencast: How a student completes a test (4 mins)
Students have access to guidance on how to complete and submit a Blackboard Test. TEL Support site for Students: Blackboard Tests
4. Trouble-shooting
The following guides may be of use should a student have a technical difficulty whilst completing or submitting a test attempt and require staff intervention:
- Submit a test for a student
- Clear a test attempt
- Clearing and submitting ‘in progress’ test attempts
- Test access log (shows student progress through test, access times)
5. Marking the Test
Screencast: How to mark a test (non-automatically marked questions) (10 mins)
Marking and moderating Blackboard Tests
Marking File Response questions
Analyse data from a Blackboard Test
Video playlist on Blackboard Tests
This playlist enables you to watch, in sequence and in less than 35 minutes, the instructional videos featured on this page: how to create a test, deploy a test, how a student completes a test, and how to mark non-automatically marked test questions.
Page last updated on April 5, 2023 by taralehane
