And other test options to be aware of:
You may choose to set the Options one way for the duration of the test/survey and then change the Options after the test/survey has been taken. (i.e. do not allow the students to see correct answers until all have completed the test.)
Test / Survey Availability Options Best Practices
- Make the Link Available – YES
- Add New Announcement for Test/Survey – YES (this will create an announcement about the test/survey to remind the students and a link to the item can be within the announcement) This is optional, but if not used make sure your students know where to find the Test/Survey.
- Allow Multiple Attempts – NO. Do not set this unless the Test/Survey is just a tool for self assessment and the instructor doesn’t want the results. Multiple Attempts only will keep the last attempt within the Grade Center. The instructor will know how many times the Test/Survey was taken or what scores where given.
- Force Completion – NO. This will only make it harder for you. The force completion setting will not allow the student to re-access a Test/Survey if they were kicked out or if the Fire Alarm goes off! If you are concerned about cheating, then there are other settings to use to help reduce cheating, but with online Tests/Surveys there is no real way to prevent cheating without a proctored environment. If you use this option, for every student who has technical difficulties, you will need to manually clear their attempts (3 clicks each student). When clicked YES it means that a student will be required to submit the test after they first click the link to begin the survey. If the student does not click the Submit button, the attempt will be marked as In Progress and the attempt will need to be cleared. Force Completion with LockDown Browser? No. LDB does not like Force Completion. Use the timer and Auto-Submit instead
- Set Timer – YES. This will help to detour cheating. Set the time to allow those students who have studied the proper amount of time to complete the Test/Survey. If a student didn’t study, they will not be able to finish the Test/Survey in the time you provide. Students who exceed the limit will still be able to submit the test but no grade will be displayed. This option also records total completion time. If a test is NOT set as Force Completion, then a student will be able to answer some of the questions, click the Save button, exit the test, and then click on the link to take the test. The completion time will show the total time the student spent working on the test.
Test availability for just one student. Example: Student requiring accommodations per Disability Services
- Display After/Until – YES. Make sure you set both dates by checking the boxes and choosing the dates and times. This will make the link for the Test/Survey available only during the time you posted.
- Password -YES/NO. This can be helpful if you have a proctored lab. The proctor can tell the students the password in the lab so that students can’t access the Test/Survey before the correct time/section.
Self-assessment Options
Include this test in Grade Center Score Calculations – Self Assessment Options allow the Instructor to determine how the Assessments are treated in the Grade Center. The Include this test in Grade Center score calculations options allows the Instructor to view the Grade and allows the score to count towards the Grade. Grade Center items excluded from summary calculations are also excluded from weighting. Also note that if some weighted items are included in calculations and other weighted items are not, grade weight calculations will be skewed.
Hide results for this test completely from the Instructor and the Grade Center – If this option is checked, the instructor will not be able to see any student grades for this test, view answers or aggregate results, nor download result details. To protect student privacy, this choice cannot be reversed later without losing all attempts.
Test / Survey Feedback
Show Test Results and Feedback to Students
After they complete a test, test results and feedback are available to students. By setting up rules, you can set the release of progressive feedback to keep test results secure and prevent cheating.
For example, you can choose After Submission to present Score, All Answers, Correct, Submitted, Feedback, andShow Incorrect Answers to show students their scores along with all answer options. Student also see their submitted answers marked as correct or incorrect and any feedback you provided.
| Feedback Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| When |
Sets the time when test results and feedback are shown to students: After Submission One-time View On Specific Date After Due Date After Availability and End Date After Attempts are Graded |
| Score | Shows the final score out of points possible to students. |
| All Answers | Shows all answer options for certain question types, such as multiple choice. |
| Correct | Shows the correct answers. |
| Submitted | Shows all the student’s submitted answers. |
| Feedback | Shows instructor generated feedback messages for each question. |
| Show Incorrect Questions | Shows the questions the student answered incorrectly or partially incorrectly. |
- Test / Survey Presentation
- Presentation ModeAll at Once: displays the entire test / survey on one page.
Note: This can be an issue if your students are taking the test/survey off campus. While a student is clicking on the answers on the page the network connection is not active. If the questions take some time to answer, the network connection can be lost to the Blackboard server, which will not allow the student to submit the test/survey. There is no way to know how long a network provider will keep an inactive connection. It is best to use the One at a Time setting below.
One at a Time: displays one question per page.
Note: This is more time consuming (more clicks) for the student, but in the long run will keep the network connection active, save each question in the Grade Center, and if you set the Test/Survey Availability correctly…allow the student to resume if they are disconnected.
Prohibit Backtracking: Prevents the student from going back to review or change the question.
We advise against using this option. Some students will move forward to answer all questions they know first and then return to the ones they need to think more about. If you choose to use this setting, make sure you warn the students in the instructions.
Randomize Questions: Randomizes the questions from a Pool so each student receives different questions.
This can help detour cheating (telling classmates the questions on the test), but you will need to use the Pool Manager and depending on the complexity, you may need to create a Pool for each question