Assessments

↓ Jump to:   Assignments   |   Create Assignment   |   Create Portfolio Assignment   |   Adding Tests and Surveys   |   Build Tests and Surveys   |   Reordering Questions

Download Assignments PDF   |   Download Creating Portfolios PDF   |   Download Tests & Surveys PDF.

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Assignments

In Blackboard, a drop box is referred to as an Assignment. The Assignment Tool is Blackboard’s gift to instructors. Depending on the settings that you choose, it will check for plagiarism with a tool called SafeAssign. For Safe Assign to work efficiently, students must attach their document as a Word Doc or a PDF. It will automatically provide the instructor with information regarding the percentage of the work that has been plagiarized, with links to where the plagiarized document can be found.

If you are not checking for plagiarism, then the alternative is a tool that allows you to do Inline Grading might be more effective. No More downloading and uploading students writing assignments. When you have your students submit an original work as a Word Doc or a PDF, you can grade directly from the Grade center. Inline Grading allows you highlight misspelled words, cross out extra words, or run on sentences. You select a sentence or paragraph and write comments out to the side. These two tools alone make it worth using Blackboard.

Create an Assignment

1. On the action bar, point to Assessments and click Assignment.
2. On the Create Assignment page, provide the name, instructions, and any files students need.
3. Optionally, select a Due Date.
4. In the Grading section, type the Points Possible and optionally, associate a rubric.
   Optionally, expand the sections to make selections such as anonymous grading and
   how the grade is displayed.
5. Make the assignment available.
6. Select the Display After and Display Until check boxes to enable the date and time selections. Display restrictions do not affect availability, only when the assignment appears.
7. Optionally, select the check box to Track Number of Views. Click Submit.

Be sure to remind students to attach any required files to the assignment before clicking Submit. Inform students that their assignments are not completed until they are submitted. They must contact you if they submit the wrong files or forget to attach files so that you can reset the assignment attempts.

Attaching Files

Optionally, in the Assignment Files section, click Browse My Computer to upload a file from your computer. You can also upload a file from the course’s storage repository: For best results it is necessary for students to save their writing as a Word Doc or a PDF. They are the two formats that Safe Assign and Inline Grading work the best with.

• Click Browse Course if the course’s storage repository is Course Files

OR

• Click Browse Content Collection if your institution licenses content management.

Due Date

You can add a due date to organize and assign gradable items to grading periods in the Grade Center. Also, if a student submits an assignment after the due date, the submission is identified as late on the Grade Assignment page. Students will see it marked late on their Review Submission History pages. You can also use due dates when you are creating an assignment and want to grade anonymously.

Grade Settings

You can share grading responsibility with teaching assistants, graders, and other instructors. You can allow multiple graders to grade the same assignments to promote reliability in grading. You can also grade anonymously to eliminate bias.

Rubrics

You can associate a rubric with your assignment. Use rubrics to create criteria for evaluating student performance.

Multiple Attempts

To help students stay on track, allow them to submit assignments more than once and receive feedback for each submission. This can raise the quality of assignments, and ultimately improve student success and retention.

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Create a Portfolio Assignment

1. Access the course that you want to add the portfolio assignment in.
2. Click on the course content area where you want the portfolio assignment to reside.
3. In the Course Content area, click on the Assessment button at the top of the page. Click on the Assignment link.
4. In the Create Assignment page, provide the following details in the Assignment Information section:
   • Provide a name for the portfolio assignment.
   • Add instructions.
5. In the Grading section:
   • Add Points Possible for this assignment.
   • Add rubrics.
   • In the Submission Details, select Portfolio Submission in the Assignment type area. Select a Portfolio Template.
6. Click Submit.

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Tests and Surveys

In Blackboard, you are afforded the luxury of adding a variety of tests. Most publishers today have test banks that allow you to select the questions from a list that can be uploaded easily into your class. If you so choose, you can. Blackboard will select your questions randomly, giving each student a different set of questions.

However, if you choose to create your own tests over the material that you cover, Blackboard has twenty types of questions so you can add an assortment of question types that would address the learning styles of your students.

Build Tests and Surveys

You add questions to tests and surveys in the same way, but you add no points to survey questions. Before students take a test, you can add new questions exactly where you want them.

1. On the Control Panel, expand the Course Tools section and click Tests, Surveys, and Pools.
2. On the Tests, Surveys, and Pools page, click Tests.
3. On the Tests page, click Build Test on the action bar.
4. On the Test Information page, type a name. Optionally, provide a description and instructions.
5. Click Submit.
6. On the Test Canvas, point to Create Question on the action bar and select a question type.
7. On the Create/Edit page, provide the necessary information to create a question.
8. Click Submit.

Reordering Questions

By default, when you create new questions with the Create Question drop-down list, they are added to the end of the test or survey. On the Test or Survey Canvas, reorder questions by pointing to a question to show the double-tipped arrow and then dragging it to its new location. Alternatively, use the keyboard accessible reordering tool (  ) on the action bar. Click a question and use the up and down arrows below the title box to adjust the order.

Changing question order only affects new test attempts, assuming the test is not set to display questions in random order. Attempts already submitted retain the order as originally viewed when the test was taken.

Questions are numbered automatically in the order they are added, and the question numbers update when items are reordered or randomized. Therefore, use caution when referring to specific question numbers in the questions’ text.

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