Blackboard Faculty Manual

Overview | Course Planning and Design | Content Areas | Communication Tools | Assessment | Monitoring Student Progress | Course Rollovers

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3.0 Assessment

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3.1 ASSIGNMENTS

3.1.1 Adding an Assignment in Blackboard

There are several advantages to creating an assignment directly in Blackboard. First, it automatically links the grade an instructor gives on an assignment to an item in the gradebook - reducing the need to manually update the gradebook. Second, it allows linked feedback and file exchanges that can be easily accessed at any time in the course. This helps students and instructors stay organized by having all class information in a central location. Finally, it reduces any problem of e-mailed assignment files becoming 'lost'.

1. Navigate to location in the course where assignment should appear.
2. Click Edit View in upper right corner of the screen.
3. Click the down arrow on the Add Item bar and choose Assignment from the drop down list. Click Go.
4. The Add Assignment window opens.

• Section 1: Instructions
  • Name: Enter name of assignment
  • Points Possible: Enter number of points possible
  • Due Date: Enter the due date for the assignment
  • Instructions: Enter instructions to the students
• Section 2: Assignment Files
  • Attach Local File - Click the Browse button and select any local file you wish to include with the assignment.
  • Copy File from Content Collection - Browse for a file that has been posted in the content collection.
  • Name of Link to Files - Indicate the text that you want displayed as the link to the attached file.
  • Currently Attached Files - Shows the files that you have already attached.
• Section 3: Options
  • Make the Assignment Available - Indicate whether you want this assignment to be made visible to students.
  • Track Number of Views - Tracks the number of times users access the assignment
  • Choose Date Restrictions - Select dates during which this assignment should be available to students. It will automatically be available if you don't specify any dates.
• Section 4: Click Submit

5. A "View/Complete Assignment Link" now appears in your course below the name of the assignment. Students should click this link to access the assignment window.

 

3.1.2 Grading an Assignment in Blackboard

1. From the Control Panel, choose Grade Center.

2. Assignments available for grading appear as exclamation points in the Grade Center.

3. Click the down-pointing chevrons (action link) in the cell with the exclamation point, and choose Grade Details.

4. Click the View Attempt button in the row showing the student's most recent attempt.

5. The Grade Assignment screen opens.

• Section 1: Assignment Information
  • This section summarizes information about the assignment. The 'Remove Attempt' button allows the instructor to clear this student's attempt, if necessary.
• Section 2: User's Work
  • User's Comments: Shows comments that the student has made regarding the assignment.
  • User's Files: A link(s) to the student's submitted work.
• Section 3: Feedback to User
  • Grade: Enter a grade for this assignment
  • Comments: Enter comments from the instructor to the student here.
  • Attach Local File / Copy File from Content Collection: Gives instructor opportunity to attach a file to be sent to student as feedback. (Often this is the marked-up copy of the student's assignment.)
• Section 4: Instructor Notes
  • Notes: Information entered here can only be viewed by the instructor and those with grading permission.
  • Attach Local File / Copy File From Content Collection: Files attached here can only be viewed by those with grading permission.
• Section 5: Click Submit.

5. The assignment has been graded. The grade will automatically appear in the gradebook under the student's name.

 

 

3.2 TESTS

**Remember that the helpful staff at E-Campus can assist you with creating and deploying tests for your class. We can do the data entry for you so that you can focus on the course content.

3.2.1 Create a New Test

If a test will only be used one time per term, you can use the Test Manager to create and deploy the questions. If you want to reuse some of the questions later in the term, create the questions using the Pool Manager and add questions to a test from the Pool. (See instructions later in section 3.2 about using the Pool Manager.)

1. From the Control Panel, choose Test Manager.
2. Choose the Add Test button.
3. The Test Information window opens.

• Section 1: Test Information
  • Name: Provide a name for the test.
  • Description: Enter a description of the test.
  • Instructions: Enter instructions for users taking the test.
• Section 2: Click Submit.

4. The Test Canvas window opens. It is here that you will create the questions for the test.

• The default value for all questions is 10 points. If you want to set a different default value for all questions, enter the Creation Settings link on this page and change the default point value in Section 4. If you don't change this default before adding questions, you will need to manually update the point value on each question as you create it.
• From the Add drop down list, select a question type, and click Go.
  See description of all question types just below these instructions.
• The Add/Modify Window opens. Depending on the type of question you are creating, information requested in each section below may vary.
  • Section 1: Question: Enter the text of the question and update the point value, if necessary. Indicate whether this should be an extra credit question.
  • Section 2: Options: Indicate how you want answer choices to appear.
  • Section 3: Answers: Indicate the correct answer(s) and/or answer choices.
  • Section 4: Feedback: Add feedback messages to accompany the question.
  • Section 5: Categories and Keywords: Not necessary to change.
  • Section 6: Click Submit.
• Continue adding questions by repeating the Add process above. If you need to add a question between existing questions, use the Add Question Here link on the Test Canvas before selecting a question type.
• When satisfied with your questions click OK at the bottom of the screen.

5. Your test should now appear in the Test Manager window. However, it is not yet deployed to the students! See the next two sections: "Add an Existing Test to your Course" and "Making a Test Available to Students" to complete this process.

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Question Types:

Multiple Choice - allows one correct answer

True/False

Fill in the Blank - evaluates against an exact text match; answers not case sensitive but evaluated on spelling

Multiple Answer - allows more than one answer

Matching - allow pairing of items; allows partial credit for correct matches

Ordering - require user to select correct order of a series

Essay - must be graded manually

Calculated Formula - variables can be set to change for each user within a range. Correct answer can be a specific value or range.

Calculated Numeric Response - a text based question that is limited to a numeric answer only.

File Response - users upload a file from the local drive as answer to the question. Must be graded manually.

Hot Spot - users indicate answer by marking a specific point on an image.

Fill in multiple blanks - multiple fill in the blank areas are created in a sentence or paragraph.

Jumbled Sentence - user selects an answer from several variable drop-down lists to assemble a proper sentence. Only one set of answers is allowed per question.

Opinion Scale / Likert - rating scale to measure attitudes or reactions.

Short Answer - must be manually graded.

Either/Or - useful for surveys. Two pre-defined choices provided as answer to a question. (i.e. yes/no, agree/disagree, etc.)

Quiz Bowl - jeopardy style questions where answer is given and user must create the question.

Add/Modify Random Block - Allows instructor to use a random block of questions from a pool.

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3.2.2 Add an Existing Test to your Course

Once a test is created, it needs to be added to the course in the location desired. Follow these instructions to add a test.

1. Navigate to the location in the course where the test should appear.
2. Click Edit View in the upper right corner of the screen.
3. Click the Add Test button.
4. The Add Test window opens. Any test that has not been added yet to the course will appear in the text box on this page.
5. Click on the desired test.
6. Click Submit.
7. The test is added to the course and you will be directed to the Modify Test page. See the next section on how to make the test link available to students. (If you are not ready to make the test available or don't know what date it should be made available, you can click through this screen and modify the settings later.)

 

3.2.3 Making an Existing Test Available to Students

Make a test available to students through the Modify Test page. This page can be reached in two different ways. You are automatically directed to this page after adding a test to your course (see instructions above) - OR - you reach this page by entering the Control Panel, choosing the Content Area where the test has already been placed, clicking Edit View, and choosing the Modify button.

1. On the Modify Test page, click Modify the Test Options.
2. In Section 2 on the Test Options page, click the radio button next to Yes on Make the Link Available.
3. In Section 6, click Submit.
4. The link to the test should now be available to students.

 

3.2.4 Change Test Settings

Instructors can change a number of settings on a test to alter how a test is deployed, students' access to a test, if test results appear in the gradebook, and how much feedback students receive after answering the questions.

1. If the test is already available to students, navigate to the location that contains the test and choose Edit View and then click the Modify button. If the test is not yet available, you can only access this page by entering the Control Panel, choosing the Content Area where the test has already been placed, and then choosing the Modify button.

2. Click the Modify the Test Options link.

3. On the Modify Test page, the following options are available:

• Section 1: Test Information
  • Name / Description: Update as desired.
  • Open Test in New Window: Leave the default as No so that the test is displayed within the Blackboard frame.
• Section 2: Test Availability
  • Make the Link Available: Click Yes to make the test available to students now.
  • Add a New Announcement for this Test: Click Yes to allow Blackboard to post an Announcement in your course telling students that the test is available.
  • Multiple Attempts: Choose unlimited or specify the number of attempts a student is allowed.
  • Force Completion: Click this checkbox to force students to finish the test. Not checking this box will allow a student to stop and then finish the test later.
  • Set Timer: Set the amount of time students have to finish a test. It also will record the completion time for the test.
  • Display After / Display Until: Limit the amount of time a test link is available to students by changing date/time selections in this area.
  • Password: If the test is to be proctored or must be restricted to users, click this checkbox and enter a password.
• Section 3: Self-Assessment Options
  • Choose to either include or not include the score of this test in the Gradebook. (Note: If you choose to hide the score of this test in the gradebook, only the student sees the score. The instructor will have no access to the score. Results are completely off limits to the instructor.)
• Section 4: Test Feedback
  • Click the checkboxes to indicate what students will see after submitting a test.
  • Score: Only the final score is presented.
  • Submitted Answers: The student's answers are shown.
  • Correct Answers: The correct answers are shown.
  • Feedback: Any feedback that you specified relative to each question will be shown.
• Section 5: Test Presentation
  • All at Once: The student is presented the entire assessment on one screen.
  • One at a Time: The student is presented one question at a time.
  • Prohibit Backtracking: Prevents students from returning to questions they've already answered.
  • Randomize Questions: Randomizes the questions for each assessment attempt. Each student will see questions in a different order.
• Section 6: Click Submit.

3.2.5 Modify Content of a Test

You should only attempt to modify a test if it has not yet been taken by students. If students are in the process of taking a test or have taken it already, you will receive the following warning message.

"Any changes other than textual changes to existing fields will invalidate existing test attempts and could corrupt the entire test and its gradebook entries."

1. Enter the Control Panel of the course and choose Test Manager from the Assessments group.

2. Locate the test to be modified and click the Modify button.

3. To modify the test name or instructions, click Modify in the top gray section of the Test Canvas. Make the changes and click Submit.

4. To make minor text changes to questions (i.e. correcting typos), click the modify button next to the desired question.

5. Click Submit.

6. Click OK at the bottom of the Test Canvas when finished making changes.

 

3.2.6 The Pool Manager: Overview

The Pool Manager allows instructors to store a group of questions that can be used repeatedly to create tests. Questions that are placed in a pool are drawn out as needed to create tests. Instructors can create new questions in a pool or add questions from other tests, pools, or other courses.

Note: When questions are taken from a pool and included in a test, links are established between the pool and the test. Do not make changes to pool questions that have been placed in a test once students have started taking the test.

To Create a Pool:

1. Enter the Control Panel and choose Pool Manager from the Assessment group.

2. In the Pool Manager window, click the Add Pool button in the Action Bar.

3. In the Pool Information window, provide a name, description, and any instructions for the pool. Click Submit.

4. In the Pool Canvas, begin entering questions. (Note: Points are not assigned to questions in a pool. Points are assigned when the questions are added to a test.)

• From the Add drop down list, select a question type, and click Go.
  (See description of all question types in section 3.2.1 above.)
• The Add/Modify Window opens. Depending on the type of question you are creating, information requested in each section below may vary.
  • Section 1: Question: Enter the text of the question and update the point value, if necessary.
  • Section 2: Options: Indicate how you want answer choices to appear.
  • Section 3: Answers: Indicate the correct answer(s) and/or answer choices.
  • Section 4: Feedback: Add feedback messages to accompany the question.
  • Section 5: Categories and Keywords: Not necessary to change.
  • Section 6: Click Submit.
• Continue adding questions by repeating the Add process above. If you need to add a question between existing questions, use the Add Question Here link on the Test Canvas before selecting a question type.
• When satisfied with your questions click OK at the bottom of the screen.

5. Your new pool now appears in the Pool Manager window.

 

3.2.7 Creating a Test from a Pool

To create a new test using questions from a pool, follow the instructions under section 3.2.1 above. However, when you reach step 4 to begin adding questions, follow the instructions below.

1. In the Test Canvas window, choose From a question pool or assessment in the drop-down menu and click Go.

2. In the Search Pools and Assessments window, select the pool that you want to draw the question from. You can narrow your pool by selecting only certain question types. Click Search.

3. From the list of questions that appear, select the question(s) to use in the test.
Click Submit.

4. The questions will now appear in your test canvas. Click OK.

 

3.2.8 Reveal Test Answers to Students

If you want to reveal the answers to a test after students have completed the exam, you can change the test settings as follows:

Warning:  Allowing students to review exam answers in this format does not prevent them from printing those answers.  Some instructors do not reveal answers electronically to prevent their tests from being placed in test banks.

1. Navigate to the location in your course that contains the test link and choose Edit View.  If your exam is no longer available to students you will only see the test link after you have clicked Edit View on the page where the link has been placed. Alternatively, you could enter the Control Panel and then go the Content Area where the exam link has been placed and you will automatically be placed in edit view.

2. Click the Modify button next to that test.

3. Click the Modify the Test Options link.

4. Scroll down to Section 4: Test Feedback.  Click the checkboxes to indicate what you want students to see.

• Score: Only the final score.
• Submitted Answers: The student's answers are shown.
• Correct Answers: The correct answers are shown.
• Feedback: Any feedback you specified relative to each question will be shown.

5.  Click Submit.

Directions to give students:  Students must go the My Grades link (their view of the Gradebook) and click on the score they received for the test.  This will open up a View Attempts page where they can view the detailed results and answers to the exam.  

 

3.3 SELF AND PEER ASSESSMENTS

3.3.1 Creating the Peer Assessment

Self and peer assessment allows an instructor to set up exercises that help students learn how to assess their work and that of their colleagues. A few facts about this tool:
• It will work with text, images, and other digital based work produced by students.
• It is criteria-based to promote constructive feedback.
• It is scheduled so that each step in the process has a specific time available.
• It can be used for self, peer or anonymous evaluations.

These are the steps to create a peer assessment:
1. Create the assessment shell.
2. Add question(s) with model responses.
3. Add evaluation criteria and/or word count criteria to each question.

Step 1: Create the Assessment Shell:

1. Go to the location in your course that you would like the self/peer assessment to be located.

2. Click the Edit View link in the upper right corner of the screen.

3. Using the Select: drop down arrow in the Action Bar, select Self and Peer Assessment from the menu. Click Go.

4. Complete the Add Self and Peer Assessment window:

• Section 1: Choose New or Imported

• Section 2:
  • Name: Type a name for the assessment
  • Instruction: Enter instructions for the assessment. (These basic instructions appear in the content area of the course with the View/Complete Assessment link. Save the actual question that students are to answer for a later screen.)
  • Submission Dates: Set the dates for student submissions to start and end.

• Section 3:
  • Evaluation Dates: Set the dates for the peer evaluation period to begin and end.
  • Allow Anonymous Evaluation: Choosing "yes" will hide the names of the submitters and evaluators from each other.
  • Allow Self Evaluation: Choosing "yes" will allow self evaluations.
  • Show Evaluation Results to Submitter: Choosing "yes" allows the submitter to see evaluation results.
  • Number of Submissions to Evaluate: Indicate how many submissions each student should evaluate (excluding the self evaluation). The system will distribute submissions among evaluators based on this number. Indicate "0" if this is only a self-evaluation exercise.

• Section 4:
  • Make the assessment available: Choose "Yes" to make it available for use. (Even if you plan to set date/time restrictions, you must set this to "yes" or it will not appear at the time you specify.
  • Track number of views: Choose "Yes" to turn on tracking.
  • Choose date restrictions: Choose dates/times to make the assessment available to students.

• Section 5: Click Submit.

Step 2: Adding a question with a model response:

1. From the location in the course that contains the Assessment, click the Edit View link, if not already in that mode.

2. Click the Modify button next to the Assessment.

3. Click Assessment Canvas.

4. Click Add Question button.

5. In the Add Question window, enter the question text and a model response. The model response will only be available to evaluators during the evaluation period, after the submission period has ended. Click Submit.

Step 3: Adding evaluation criteria:

1. From the Assessment Canvas window (see steps 1-3 immediately above, if you are not in this window already), click Criteria next to the desired question.

2. Click the Add Criteria button from the Action Bar.

3. In the Add Criteria window specify:

• Criteria: specify the way responses should be evaluated (i.e. specific items to look for, organization, grammatical standards, etc.)

• Points Possible: enter number of points possible for this question.

• Assign Points: indicate whether partial credit will be allowed.

• Allow Feedback to User: Choose "Yes" if you want the student submitting the work to see the feedback.

4. Click Submit.

Optional - Adding word count criteria (enables points to be awarded based on length of an answer):

1. Follow steps 1 and 2 above.
2. Click the Add Word Count button from the Action Bar.
3. In the Add Criteria window:

• Points Possible: Update, if necessary.
• Recommended Word Count: Indicate number of words requested in response.
• Allowed Variation: Enter number of words (+/-) that is acceptable.

4. Click Submit.

3.3.2 Previewing the Peer Assessment

An instructor can preview an assessment to see what students will view. An Assessment can be previewed in Submission or Evaluation mode.

1. From the location in the course containing the assessment, click the Edit View link in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. Click the Modify button next to the desired assessment.

3. Click the Assessment Canvas link.

4. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Preview button in the Action Bar. Choose Submission or Evaluation. Click Go.

5. Submission Preview:

• Click on the question links to view a sample response window from a student's perspective.

6. Evaluation Preview:

• The number of evaluations that students must complete are listed under individual links. Click on a link to open up a sample evaluation window.
• Students may view the model response by clicking the Model Response button.
• Multiple criteria will be indicated by number links under the Criteria section. Students should save after grading under each criterion.
• When completed with an evaluation, students would click the Submit button at the bottom of the window.
• Evaluations can be modified or reviewed until the end of the evaluation period.

7. Click OK to exit the preview and return to the Assessment Canvas.

Blackboard Version 8.0