Assessment and Surveys
- Creating Tests and Assessments
- Surveys
- Using Safe Assignment Plagiarism detection and preventing cheating during exams
- Assignments and Digital Dropbox
Assessments/Tests
Tips for Online Tests:
- If you can't bring all the students in one proctored classroom setting, you could join the Consortium of College Testing Centers
( http://www.ncta-testing.org/cctc/find.php ) so that faculty can implement proctored tests all over the U.S.- Have all your questions in a word document? Here is a relatively easy way to put them into a Blackboard test. http://www.csi.edu/blackboard/bbquiz/
- For a fancier quiz generator www.respondus.com (30 day trial evaluation).
- Separate the essay from the rest of the test and collect it in assignment manager--it simply offers more control for both the user and faculty member. Lengthy answers to essay questions can first be written in Word, saved locally, then pasted into the exam (lockdown browsers don't permit this, of course)
- Cut the number of being locked out by switching from one question at a time to "all at once" and have the students use the bottom save button every 5–10 questions.
- Don't use the save next to each question.
- A few students will still get dumped out of the test, but they can be rescheduled; unlock the test for them to complete their work (don't clear their work), and then lock it back up when they finish.
- Try not use the one-at-a-time because these problems are almost guaranteed in that format.
- Random blocks and timing tests (setting a reasonable time) are good ways to prevent cheating and to limit the usefulness of books and notes.
- If students get locked out often, you can leave force completion off so they can get back into the test and continue on where they left off. This is especially good when taking the test with a wireless connection, which has a higher tendency to bump people off the network.
- Use other ways to assess deep learning through authentic activities such as projects and writing assignments rather than BB tests
- Students love to do self-assessments with multiple attempts to gain confidence around acquiring knowledge and skills as they progress through a course ( many publishers offer test banks that can serve this purpose), this is a low-risk, high pay-off strategy to encourage consistency in investing in learning
Next tips courtesy of University of Vermont College of Medicine
- Stagger the delivery of the password to the students. We have 100+ students in the exam room, and if they all hit the exam at the same time, Blackboard will not cooperate very well. We can usually get all 100 students into the exam within a minute or two by showing the password to a group (15-20 students), waiting until they receive the exam, then moving on to the next group. This works very well
- A bunch of images, each at a couple megs, will slow down the delivery of the exam. Please compress your images
- Train students to take online exams. Stress the importance of consistent behavior and communication: click once for the exam, wait for delivery, save often during the exam, alert a proctor to any technical issues.
- We have an exam proctor, and a 'technical' proctor. We also allow a few minutes before the exam begins to troubleshoot any issues with students' machines.
- It's very easy and effective to have a written 'exam issue flow chart' available to any one involved in exams. If this happens, do this, kind of matrix. This way if students experience an issue, the person they contact can either solve the issue or contact someone who can.
- Software Secure's Secure Exam Browser is an excellent tool for security, but it also has the benefits of everyone using the same browser. This help with troubleshooting if everyone is on the same platform.
- Animated tutorials with narration on creating tests and question types (Click on the left of the menu to navigate to the test tutorials)
Surveys
- How do I create an anonymous survey?
- The Blackboard quiz generator: for faster quiz creation.
- How do I view survey results?
- What to do with your course at the end of the semester.
- How to create assessments and manage grades.
- How does the weighting grades functionality work?
- How do I drop the lowest score? Answer: By creating an extra gradebook item and assigning a negative value.
- Using question pools for your assessments.
- Study: Online Learning and Time-on-Task: Impact of proctored versus un-proctored testing.
- Assessment questions video clips for version 6.3.
Assignments
-
How to create an assignment tutorial
- Assignment Manager (Courtesy of NIU)
Assignments and Plagiarism Detection (SafeAssignment)
-
Safe Assignment Instructor Manual (New
SafeAssignment tutorial
)
- What is SafeAssignment?
- How do I create a SafeAssignment? (a slower explanation of SA using video)
- How do I interpret and review the plagiarism report?
How to prevent cheating during exams
- http://www.softwaresecure.com/suite.htm offers secure browsers that will prevent cheaters from collaborating
- Tips for preventing cheating
Assignments vs Digital Dropbox
-
How to use the Digital Dropbox and Assignments tutorial
- Unlike Digital Dropbox, when an Assignment is created, a corresponding column is automatically created in the gradebook.
- Assignments can include (multiple) file attachments for download.
- Assignment submissions can include (multiple) file attachments.
- Assignment submissions are time stamped.
- Assignment submissions are accessible (click to view) through the gradebook either by student or by assignment, and of course grading can be done on the spot.
- Feedback can be attached to submissions either as text or files.
- Notes for the instructor's use can also be either text or files
attached to assignments.
In short, Assignments offer a good workflow for both the student and the instructor, together with effortless integration with the gradebook.
- Blackboard@WSU operates on
Pacific Time.
Thus, all assignments and discussion board posts will be time-stamped in
Pacific Time (either Standard or Daylight, as appropriate) upon
submission. Please bear this in mind when submitting items that have
date/time-sensitive deadlines. If you are unsure of the relationship
between your time zone and Central Time, please visit this link for more
information: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html - Instructions for submitting assignments
Naming your files
Please begin your filename with your last name, followed by some
descriptive text. For example: wong_case_summary2.doc. Please do not
use any of these symbols (or spaces) in your file names: # % $ & * as
they sometimes cause problems in Blackboard.Assignments refers to work you need to submit digitally using the link
provided.COMPLETING/SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS
STEP 1:
Every assignment has a View/Complete Assignment link at the bottom of
the description/explanation of the assignment. This link takes you to
an area where you cana) find attached files associated with the assignment (if any)
b) attach/upload your completed assignment (i.e., return to this area
when you're ready to submit your work)STEP 2:
When you're ready with your assignment file, go back to the
View/Complete Assignment link that corresponds to the assignment you
want to submit and follow the steps for attaching your file and sending
the instructor a brief comment. Be sure to click "Submit" (and not "Save" - see
below).STEP 3:
Once you submit an assignment, the instructor will grade it and give you feedback.
To access your grade/feedback, go to Student Tools > Grades.
If you see an exclamation point (!) where your grade should be, that
means the instructor hasn't graded it yet, please be patient.
If you see a padlock icon, that means that you have clicked Save rather
than Submit (in lower right corner). Save means you intend to come back
later and finish (e.g., it's a work in progress). Submit means you're
ready to have the Blackboard system send it to the instructor for grading and
feedback.