Creating an Exam or Quiz from a Pool

Exam and quizzes can be established quickly and easily using pre-developed questions from a pool. Exams and quizzes can contain all of the questions from the pool, or a subset. Pool questions can also be randomized for greater test security.

Creating an exam or quiz involves three major parts:

Part 1. Establish an instance of an exam or quiz.
Part 2. Populate the exam or quiz with questions or response items.
Part 3. Make the exam or quiz available to students.

Part 1: Establishing the Exam or Quiz

Select Control Panel from the navigation bar.

Select Test Manager.

Select the Add Test button.

Complete the Name, Description and Instructions textboxes.
- a. Name is the title of the exam or quiz.
- b. Description is for details related to the assessment or evaluation. Example: "This is Exam 1, covering chapters 1 - 3."
- c. Instructions are the information that students will need to know in order to participate in the exam or quiz. Example: "There are 50 questions. You will have 1 hour to complete the exam."

Scroll to the bottom of the page to select the Submit button.

Part 2: Populating Questions

On the next screen, you will see the list of questions currently contained in the exam or quiz that you just created. This first view, it will be empty.

In the gray area near the top of the screen, you will see a dropdown menu of question type options. Choose From a Question Pool or Assessment option from this menu. (NOTE: If you wish to include several questions from a Pool, and you wish those questions to appear in random order when the test is given to students, select Random Block.)

Select the Go button.

On the next screen, select the pool that you wish to use from the menu.

Under the heading Question Types select the appropriate option to display the questions contained in the pool that match that criteria. Select All if you wish to see a display of all of the questions from the pool. This does not mean that all questions will be included in the quiz or exam - selection will be made on the next screen. (NOTE: If you have chosen the Random Block option in Step 8, you will not see a listing of questions, but will need to specify the total number of questions from the block that the system will randomly choose for each student).

Select the Search button to see the questions from the pool.

Select the questions that you want to include in the exam or quiz by placing a checkmark next to that question.

Select the Submit button to finalize your selections.

The questions will be displayed as part of the exam. From here, you can change the numbering order of the questions, make adjustments to the point values or otherwise modify individual questions. You can also remove a question if it has been errantly included.

Repeat steps 7 - 15 as needed, if questions are to be included from other pools or assessments, until the exam or quiz is complete.

Select the OK button at the bottom of the screen to finalize the exam or quiz.

Part 3: Make the Exam or Quiz Available to Students

Although the exam is now populated with questions, it is not immediately available to students. The instructor must deploy the exam for students to access it. Within the structure of your course navigation, select the location (choose the link on the navigation bar) where you want students to be able to find the exam. Navigate to the location that you have chosen, by clicking on the navigation bar.

In the upper right hand corner of the screen, choose the Edit View link.

Select the Add Test button.

Choose the test you created in previous steps from the menu provided.

Select the Submit button to finalize your selection.

You will receive a confirmation that the test was accepted. Select OK to continue.

Now it is necessary to configure the test settings for student use. Select Modify the Test options to continue.

The next screen includes several settings options. Choose those that are applicable.
- Name: This is the title of the exam. It will already be set from options you've previously chosen, but can be changed if needed.
- Choose color of name: This is the color that will appear on screen as the link that students will click to begin the exam.
- Description: This includes the details that you previously wrote, but can be changed if needed.
- Open Test in new window: No is selected by default. Choose Yes if you wish for the exam to launch a new browser window and appear separately from the Blackboard shell.
- Make the link available: No is selected by default. Choose Yes if you wish for students to begin taking the exam immediately after you finish this settings menu.
- Add a new announcement for this Test: No is selected by default. Choose Yes if you wish for students to receive an announcement that the exam is ready for them.
- Multiple attempts: Choose this option if you wish for student to use this as a practice exam repeatedly. Choose the appropriate sub-ordinate options regarding number of attempts.
- Force completion: Choose this option if you determine that students must complete the exam once it is begun.
- Set timer: This feature records the time span of each individual student's exam attempt, calculated from the moment the student accesses the exam. If a student exceeds the time limit, they will still be allowed to complete the exam, but a warning will be displayed and the time will be noted with the exam submission.
- Display After/Display Until: These dates specify a time period during which students will be able to access the exam. This is a useful feature for setting an exam for a future time. By default, these are not selected.
- Password: This feature allows the instructor to password protect the exam with one password. Students must receive the password from the instructor to participate in the exam. This feature is useful for exams that are deployed in multiple formats among differentiated groups of students.
- Self-assessment Options: By default, Include this test in Gradebook score calculations option is selected. A column in the Gradebook feature of Blackboard will is automatically created and as students complete the exam, any portions of the exam that can be autoscored will also be recorded for each student. This is primarily a labor-saving feature.
- Test Feedback: This option determines which data students will see immediately upon completing the exam. To select an option, put a checkmark by it.
- Test Presentation:
  - All at once: This is traditionally how most exams are displayed, as one long screen with all questions visible.
  - One at a Time: Only one question will be shown at a time. Instructors can also prevent students from changing answers or looking at previously answered questions by choosing the Prohibit Backtracking feature.
- Randomize Questions: Each student will see exam questions in a different order. This is one strategy for preventing dishonest participation.

Choose the Submit button to complete the deployment process. You will receive a confirmation of the Test options process.

Blackboard also provides additional features to enhance assessment and evaluation activities. To access these additional features, use the following procedures:

Navigate to the exam.
Select the Edit View link in the upper right hand corner.
Select the Manage button on the right side of the screen.
Several menu options are available:
- Adaptive Release: Use this option to create rules that will define when or under what circumstances an exam is available to students.
- Adaptive Release Advanced: Use this option to set multiple rules of access for students.
- Review status: Use this option as part of a course that prescribes paths of entry and navigation through the course materials. As students progress, each one will have to option to mark an item as Reviewed, meaning that the item has been seen or utilized.
- Adaptive Release and Review Status: User Progress: This item displays a chart showing which course items are available to which users and the progress of all course participants through course materials and activities.
- Statistics Tracking: Enable or disable statistical reporting of student use of the exam.
- Metadata: Use this feature to modify the metadata that has been established for the exam. Metadata includes the technical and descriptive information about the exam, including exam format, copyright status, and author identity. This information is useful if the exam will ever be distributed for use in other systems or among other instructors or courses.