Create a Test

To create a test, go to the page or content area where you want to place the test and hover over the Create Assessments button and select Test from the drop down menu.

The following page will ask if you want to add an existing test on the course or create a new test. Click on the Create button to create a new test.

For Name, enter the name of the test.

For Description, enter a description for the test. This can be the test's general topic or what the test will cover.

For Instructions, enter the instructions for your students. This is a good place to tell your students about how you want them to answer your questions, inform them about any time limitations and deadlines, prepare them for the types of questions on the test, and tell them how it will be graded.

Click Submit to continue on to the test canvas where you will create questions for the test.

To create test questions, hover over the Create Questions button and select the type of question you wish to create.

If you have made tests in the past, the questions will be available in a question pool from which you can add them to this test. To do that, hover over the Reuse Question button and select find question to import questions from a previous test.

• Blackboard will automatically score questions that can be assigned a correct answer, like Multiple Choice. Questions that are open-ended, like Short Answer and Essay, will need to be manually graded in the Grade Center after a student has completed their exam.

• Different questions have different fields that need to be filled out. Although it is best to thoroughly fill out this section, only the fields marked by a red asterisk (*) are required. The fields listed below are the most common ones.

For our example, we will create a multiple choice question. Select Multiple Choice from the Create Question menu to continue.

Fill out the first section with information about the question.

• The Question Title is optional and is used to better organize test questions.
• In the Question Text, type in a test question that the students should answer when taking the exam.

Fill out the Options section. The options will be different for each question type.

Fill out the Answers section. Although it is also different for each question type, in general, you have to define the possible answers and select which one is correct (if applicable).

Fill out the Feedback section. In the Feedback section, you may provide instant feedback for correct and incorrect answers. The students will see the message after they complete the test.

The Categories and Keywords and Instructor Notes are useful if you want to later reuse the test questions in a different test.

Once you are finished creating the question, click submit.

Repeat this process to add more questions until you have finished creating the test.

Once you have finished creating questions for the test, click the ok button in the lower right corner of the test canvas page. This will create the test and you will return to the Create Test page.

The test you have just created will appear in the list. Select the test from the list and click submit to deploy the test.

You will taken to the test availability page with test deployment options where you can further customize how the test assigned.

• The Test Information section will be pre-filled out with data from the previous steps, so you may go on to the next sections.
• Fill out the Test Availability section.
  • Pick Yes for Make the link visible, so that students can take the test.
  • Pick Yes for Add a new announcement for this Test to create an automatic announcement when the assessment becomes available, otherwise, pick No.
  • Check the Multiple attempts box if you want students to be able to take the test more than once. A test attempt is when a student submits a test.
  • We recommend that you do not check the Force Completion box. When this option is enabled, students may be unable to complete their test if their browser crashes or they accidentally close it.
  • Check the Set timer box to select how much time your students will have to complete the test. If a student goes over the limit, his or her test will be marked as late in the Grade Center.
  • You can pick a specific time period during which the assessment will appear on Blackboard course page. Check the box(s) which you wish to apply and set the date and time. You still have to select Yes for Make the link available if you wish to use this feature.
  • Check the Password box if you want to have students enter a password before they can take the assessment.

You can enter a due date for the test. Students who take the test after this due date will have their tests marked late.

For the Test Feedback section, choose what students will see when they finish taking the exam by checking the box next to the item you wish to be included.

For the Test Presentation section, choose how the test questions will be displayed to your students.

• Presentation Mode - All at Once will display all of the questions on a single page.
• Presentation Mode - One at a Time will display each question on a separate page.
  • For this mode, you may check Prohibit Backtracking to prevent students from changing their answers to questions they have already answered.
• Check Randomize Questions to make your test questions appear in a random order for each test attempt.

Click Submit to make the test available to your students.