CREATE A TEST
The Test Manager provides space to create and store tests for your course. Tests in the Test Manager are not visible to students. Making a test available to students is a two-step process: First, you must deploy the test to a course content area (e.g., Course Documents, Assignments). Second, you must make the test visible on the Test Options page. You can make the test available for as little or as much time as you like, and you may set a time limit for students taking the test.
IMPORTANT: In a remote testing situation (where students are taking the online test from off-campus), the identity of the individuals taking the test cannot be verified. A student may very easily have someone else take the test for him, even if the test has been password protected. The only way to ensure that each student takes her/his own test is to conduct the test in a proctored lab. For this reason, many faculty choose not to use the Blackboard Test function for actual graded tests. Instead, they utilize Tests as student self-assessments or as practice tests before an in-class exam. If placed strategically throughout the course, Blackboard Tests are an excellent way to gauge student understanding of course concepts.
1. Login to Blackboard, choose your course, click on Course Tools on the Control Panel.
2. Under Course Tools menu click Test, Surveys and Pools.
3. In the Test, Surveys and Pools window click Tests.
4. On the Test page, click on Build Test.
5. On the Test Information page, give a name to the Test in the Name textbox; enter a description of the test in the Description text box and testing instructions in the Instructions text box.
5. To create the Test, Click Submit.
6. The Test Canvas window will open. It is in this window that you begin to create your test.
When you create a new test, Blackboard immediately takes you to the Test Canvas so you can populate the test with questions. If you have previously set up questions in the Pool Manager, this is where you can pull them into a specific test.
Adding a new question:
1. Choose the type of question you want to create from the “Create Question” drop-down list. For instance if you want a Multiple Choice question, click on it.
2. This will open up a Create/Edit Multiple Choice Question Page. Type the test question into the text box.
3. Move down to the third area of the page, the Answers area, and select the number of possible answers for your questions from the “Number of Answers” drop-down menu. OR Click 
next to an answer box to decrease the number of possible answers.
4. List the possible answers to the question and indicate the correct response(s). For the question, “The first modern Olympics was held in which of the following cities?“ there are four possible answers: Athens, Rome, London, and Paris. You will see four Text Boxes labeled Answer 1., Answer 2., etc. In each box type in one answer. For instance, for the question above the first answer choice is Athens. Athens also happens to be the correct answer choice so in this instance the radio button under the Correct heading for Answer 1. is selected.
5. Type the remaining answer choices in each of the next three boxes, e.g., Answer 2’s text would read Rome, Answer 3’s text, London, and Answer 4’s text, Paris.
6. In the Feedback section, you can enter responses to correct and incorrect answers. This section is optional and only necessary if you wish to give students additional information regarding their answer choices.
7. In the Categories and Keywords section, click on 
button to create a new Category, Topic, Level of Difficulty or Keyword. To save it, click 
. To delete one of them click on the red check mark 
next to it.
8. Click on the Submit button to save the question. You will see your question appear in the Test Canvas page.
9. For more options, e.g. creating the next question or editing the current question, click on the chevron . If you create a new question then repeat the process outlined above to create all other remaining questions.
10. To assign a point value to the questions, click on the point value on the right hand side of the questions.
After you have updated the point value, click on Submit button to save the changes.
11. When you have added the final test question, click on the button at the bottom right side of the page.
Deploying a Test to a Content Area
Once you have created a test you must deploy it to a content area for students to view and submit. If you do not place your test in a content area students will not be able to access it.
1. Click on Create Assessment on the Content Area where you want to deploy your test and then click on Tests.
4. On the Create Test page, click on the test you want to post from the “Add test:” field or if you wish to create a new test from scratch, click on the Create button. In this case the selected test is Sample Test.
5. Once you click the Submit button you will be taken to a Test Options page where you can edit the test options and add, remove, or reorder test questions on the Test Canvas.
The Test Options page has 6 major panels: Test Information, Test Availability, Due Date, Self-assessment Options, Test Feedback and Test Presentation.
A. The first panel, Test Information, allows you to change the name of the test and provide or modify a description of the test if you so wish. However, you will have already given your test a name when you created it and you may also have provided a description.
B. The Test Availability section is a key area. By default, a test is not visible to students. You must make the test visible via your choices on the Test Availability panel.
You can also set other options such as dates of availability for the test. The following steps you through making your test visible to students and setting availability dates. It also explains the other options under Test Availability such as multiple attempts and forced completion.
1. To make the test visible, click on the Yes radio button beside the instruction, Make the link available.
2. If you want to restrict the time period for which the test is available (visible) to students, indicate those time parameters in the Display After and Display Until areas.
3. Under “Display After,” choose the date and time you want the test to be visible and check the “Display After” check box.
4. Under “Display Until,” choose the date and time you want the test to disappear from the student view and check the “Display Until” check box.
5. If you want the test to always be available to students, uncheck the “Display Until” box.
The other options under Test Availability panel are as follows:
Allow multiple attempts – Check this option to let students take the test multiple times. The Grade Center will only record the student’s latest score on the test; previous scores will be deleted.
Force Completion – Check this option to make students complete the test in one session. They will not be able to save their work or return to the test later. Should they try to return to the test using the Back Button on their browser they will receive a “System error for exam submission” message.
Set timer – Check this option to impose a time limit on student taking the test. The time limit will appear at the top of the test at all times, although students do not get a countdown of the time they have left. Blackboard gives students a 1-minute warning before the time limit is up. A student may continue taking the test even after the allotted time has elapsed. The time a student takes to complete the exam is recorded in the Grade Center.
Password - You can set a password for the test if you wish. However, unless you actually proctor your test in a controlled setting, passwords will not guarantee that the person taking a test is actually the student.
C. The third area of the Test Options page is Due Date, which is the last date of submission for the students. Click on the check mark to enter the due date and make the test unavailable to students after the specified date.
D. The fourth area of the Test Options page, Self-Assessment Options, gives you the ability to include the scores from this test in the Grade Center and/or use the test as a practice tool for students in which only the student will be able to see the results of the test.
If you want the test included in your Grade Center Calculations make sure the Include this test in Grade Center score calculations box is checked.
The next option, Hide results for this test completely from Instructor and the Grade Center, will do just that. You, as the Instructor, will never be able to see the results of the test for any student. This option is only for student self-assessment in which the intent is to let the student practice with a test without having to worry about the instructor ever seeing the results. Do not use this option unless your intent is exactly as described above as you will not be able to retrieve test scores from an assessment that was originally set up with the Hide results ... option.
E. The fifth area of the Test Options page, Test Feedback, controls the amount of feedback students receive after the test is finished:
Score – checking this box allows the student to see the final score achieved for the test.
Submitted answers – checking this box allows the student to see the answers s/he submitted for the test.
Correct Answers – checking this box allows the student to see the correct answers to the test questions.
Feedback – checking this box allows the student to see any feedback the instructor has provided for each question on the test.
As an example, if the instructor checked Score, Submitted answers, and Correct answers, the student, upon completing the test and clicking on View Results, would see her/his score for the test, the answers s/he had submitted for each question, and the correct answers for each question.
E. The sixth area of the Test Options page, Test Presentation, allows you control how much of the test students see at one time and whether all students see the test questions in the same order as opposed to a random order.
You can set up the test so that students may view the questions all at once or one at a time. All at Once presents all the test questions on one screen. If you have a lot of questions in your test your students will have to scroll down to see all the questions.
If you choose One at a Time you may also prohibit a student from returning to a question s/he answered earlier by checking the Prohibit Backtracking option.
Randomize Questions randomizes the order in which students view test questions. Each student will see the same questions, but in a different order than her/his classmates.
F. Once you have finished setting the test options, go to the last section, Submit, and click on the Submit button in the bottom right hand corner of the page.
You should be taken to a Test Options Modified page in which Blackboard tells you that your Test Options were successfully modified. Once there, click on the OK button on the bottom right.
You have now successfully created your test, placed it in a content area, and made it visible to your students. You will notice that a column has appeared in the Grade Center with the same name as your test. The test will appear in the content area in which you placed it. For instance, in this course the test was placed in a content area called Tests. Clicking the button for that content area, Course Documents, in the Course Menu (not the Control Panel) as noted below will show you the Sample Test is now available for your students to take.
If a student, or the instructor, clicks on the underlined Sample Test s/he will be taken to the Begin: Sample Test page, in which clicking on the 
button will allow them to enter the test.
Viewing Test Attempts Statistics
To view a synopsis of test results, go to the Grade Center, click on the double arrow at the top of the test column, and select Attempts Statistics.
Back to Faculty Help Resources
