Blackboard
3.0 Instruction Manual
Assessment Manager
The Assessment Manager provides a forum for building quizzes/exams and
surveys.
Assessment
Options
There are two assessment options:
Quiz/Exam:
The quiz/exam option permits the instructor to assign point values
to each question. Student answers can be submitted for grading, and the
results can be recorded under each student entry in the gradebook.
Survey:
The survey option provides instructors with an assessment tool that
records answers anonymously. This is useful for polling purposes, instructor
evaluations, and random checks of knowledge. There is no method of grading
surveys.
Planning
a Quiz/Exam or Survey
To make the assessment creation as easy as possible, consider planning
out the quiz content before beginning the online creation.
Note: Creating a
Quiz/Exam and Survey are similar in that question types can be utilized.
The difference between the two types of assessments is that surveys cannot
give feedback to the user, they cannot be graded, there are no points associated
with a survey, nor will a name be associated with a submitted survey. The
online gradebook will reflect that the survey has been taken and submitted
by issuing a check mark next to the user's name.
Important items to determine before creating an assessment:
-
How many questions will this assessment contain?
-
Are there instructions that will be included with this assessment?
-
What type of questions will this assessment contain?
-
What is the point value associated with each question?
Types
of Questions
There are several types of questions that can be included in an assessment.
All of the options (except for the short answer/essay) can be automatically
evaluated. Short Answer/Essay questions require an instructor or TA to
read and evaluate individual answers. A description of each question type
and illustration of the required fields are provided below.
All quiz question fields can contain up to 255 characters and will accept
HTML coded text.
The types of questions available are:
-
Multiple Choice
-
True/False
-
Fill in the Blank
-
Multiple Answer
-
Matching
-
Ordering
-
Short Answer/Essay
-
From Question Pool
Multiple
Choice
In multiple choice questions, users indicate the correct answer by selecting
a radio button. The number of answer choices is limited to 20.
True/False
The True/False question type provides an area for the instructor to
type the question and designate correct answer. If appropriate images
and feedback may be included.
Note: True and False answer options
are by default limited to the words True and False. Additional text is
not permitted. If more complex answers are required (For example: False,
Benjamin Franklin is on the five dollar bill), then consider using a multiple
choice question format with two answer choices instead.
Fill
in the Blank
Fill in the Blank answers are evaluated based on an exact text match.
Accordingly, it is important to keep the answers simple and limited to
as few words as possible.
Consider the following tips when creating a Fill in the Blank question:
-
Provide answers that allow for common spelling errors (example: convenient
and conveneint)
-
Provide answer that allows for abbreviations or partial answers (example:
Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Mr. B. Franklin, Franklin.)
-
Create the question that indicates to students the best way to answer the
question (example: ______, is pictured on the one hundred dollar bill.
Avoid using nicknames or abbreviations in your answer.)
-
Keep answers limited to one or two words to avoid mismatched answers due
to extra spaces or order of answer terms. (example: if the question is
Ben’s favorite colors are _____
and the correct answer is Ben’s
favorite colors are red and blue but the student types blue, red,
the answer will be marked incorrect.)
Multiple Answer
Multiple Answers questions allow users to choose more than one answer
to a question.
Matching questions provide two columns for users to match appropriately.
Ordering
Ordering questions require users to put answers in the correct order.
Short Answer/ Essay
Short Answer/Essay questions require the instructor to provide users
with a question or statement. Users are given the opportunity to type (or
cut and paste) an answer into a text field. Sample answers can be added
for users (after the exam) or graders to use as reference in the Answers
section. (Note: if correct answers are provided for an essay, users
will see the answer upon submitting the assessment). Keep in mind that
Short Answer/Essay questions must be graded manually.
From Question Pool
The question pool allows the instructor to add previously created questions
to an assessment.
Creating
an Assessment
To create a quiz/exam or a survey:
Step 1: From
the
Control Panel, click Assessment Manager within Assessments.
Step 2: Click the Create New Assessment button.
Step 3: Select either Quiz/Exam or Survey.
Step 4: Click Submit to continue creating the assessment. Click
Cancel to return to the Assessment Manager start page from any point
in the assessment section.
Step 5: Enter the name and description of the assessment.
Note: Description items can include a sentence about the type of
assessment, an indication of what kind of questions are located in the
assessment, and the approximate time it should take students to complete
the assessment.
Step 6: Click the Submit button.
Step 7: Enter the instructions for the assessment and click
the Submit button.
Step 8: Select a question type from the drop down menu and click
the Submit button.
Example of a Multiple Answer Question in Normal View:
Step 9: Fill out the initial question fields:
-
Enter the question in the Question Text field.
-
Enter the answer selection (per the question type you selected).
-
Fill out the Correct Answer and Incorrect Answer fields (optional).
Note: The answer
options will be different for each question type. Essay questions do not
require answers. However, sample answers may be provided in the answer
field to guide students and graders.
Step 10: Submit the question by clicking the Add Question button.
This button will save the current question and take you back to the Select
Question Type screen.
Note 1: Click View Assessment to see the arrangement of your assessment
questions.
Note 2: You can modify or remove the Name, Description, Instructions,
or Questions by clicking the Modify or Remove buttons. Clicking the Remove
button will delete the question.
Step 11: To continue adding questions, repeat Steps 2-10 until the
assessment is complete.
Assessment Options
There are two assessment options:
Quiz/Exam:
The quiz/exam option permits the instructor to assign point values to
each question. Student answers can be submitted for grading, and the results
can be recorded under each student entry in the gradebook.
Survey:
The survey option provides instructors with an assessment tool that
records answers anonymously. This is useful for polling purposes, instructor
evaluations, and random checks of knowledge. There is no method of grading
surveys.
Planning a Quiz/Exam or Survey
To make the assessment creation as easy as possible, consider planning
out the quiz content before beginning the online creation.
Note: Creating a
Quiz/Exam and Survey are similar in that question types can be utilized.
The difference between the two types of assessments is that surveys cannot
give feedback to the user, they cannot be graded, there are no points associated
with a survey, nor will a name be associated with a submitted survey. The
online gradebook will reflect that the survey has been taken and submitted
by issuing a check mark next to the user's name.
Important items to determine before creating an assessment:
-
How many questions will this assessment contain?
-
Are there instructions that will be included with this assessment?
-
What type of questions will this assessment contain?
-
What is the point value associated with each question?
Types of Questions
There are several types of questions that can be included in an assessment.
All of the options (except for the short answer/essay) can be automatically
evaluated. Short Answer/Essay questions require an instructor or TA to
read and evaluate individual answers. A description of each question type
and illustration of the required fields are provided below.
All quiz question fields can contain up to 255 characters and will accept
HTML coded text.
The types of questions available are:
-
Multiple Choice
-
True/False
-
Fill in the Blank
-
Multiple Answer
-
Matching
-
Ordering
-
Short Answer/Essay
-
From Question Pool
Multiple Choice
In multiple choice questions, users indicate the correct answer by selecting
a radio button. The number of answer choices is limited to 20.
True/False
The True/False question type provides an area for the instructor to
type the question and designate correct answer. If appropriate images
and feedback may be included.
Note: True
and False answer options are by default limited to the words True and False.
Additional text is not permitted. If more complex answers are required
(For example: False, Benjamin Franklin is on the five dollar bill), then
consider using a multiple choice question format with two answer choices
instead.
Fill in the Blank
Fill in the Blank answers are evaluated based on an exact text match.
Accordingly, it is important to keep the answers simple and limited to
as few words as possible.
Consider the following tips when creating a Fill in the Blank
question:
-
Provide answers that allow for common spelling errors (example:
convenient and conveneint)
-
Provide answer that allows for abbreviations or partial answers
(example: Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Mr. B. Franklin, Franklin.)
-
Create the question that indicates to students the best way
to answer the question (example: ______, is pictured on the one hundred
dollar bill. Avoid using nicknames or abbreviations in your answer.)
-
Keep answers limited to one or two words to avoid mismatched
answers due to extra spaces or order of answer terms. (example: if the
question is Ben’s favorite colors are _____ and the correct answer
is Ben’s favorite colors are red and blue but the student types
blue,
red, the answer will be marked incorrect.)
Multiple Answer
Multiple Answers questions allow users to choose more than one answer
to a question.
Matching
Matching questions provide two columns for users to match appropriately.
Ordering
Ordering questions require users to put answers in the correct order.
Short Answer/ Essay
Short Answer/Essay questions require the instructor to provide users
with a question or statement. Users are given the opportunity to type (or
cut and paste) an answer into a text field. Sample answers can be added
for users (after the exam) or graders to use as reference in the Answers
section. (Note: if correct answers are provided for an essay, users
will see the answer upon submitting the assessment). Keep in mind that
Short Answer/Essay questions must be graded manually.
Blackboard
3.0 Instruction Manual