< Return to Contents

3.g - Taking an Online Test

Most courses on Blackboard will at one point or another require students to complete an Online Test, Exam, or Quiz. The process is generally the same for any of these, while the type and number of questions may vary from course to course and Instructor to Instructor. There are a number of different ways that tests may be administered by the Instructor. Please review the following list of items and become familiar with the different aspects of taking online tests:

• Types of Questions -- There are many different types of questions that can be placed onto an exam or quiz in Blackboard. Here are some examples of the types of questions you might see:
  • Calculated Formula
  • Calculated Numeric
  • Either/Or
  • Essay
  • File Response
  • Fill in Multiple Blanks
  • Fill in the Blank
  • Hot Spot
  • Jumbled Sentence
  • Matching
  • Multiple Answer
  • Multiple Choice
  • Opinion Scale/Likert
  • Ordering
  • Quiz Bowl
  • Short Answer
  • True/False
• Multiple Attempts -- Some tests may allow you to attempt the test multiple times. This means that you will be able to continue taking the test as many times as you wish. However, it is important to note that the gradebook will ONLY show the MOST RECENT attempt. This also means that if you have attempted the test multiple times, and you START the test again, but do not complete/submit the test the final time, you WILL NOT receive a score AT ALL for the test/quiz. This is VERY IMPORTANT, and it causes students problems every semester. If you start a test attempt, ALWAYS complete and submit the test!
• Saving an Exam In-Progress -- Some tests may allow you to save the test uncompleted, and come back later to finish the test at a later time. If you save the test, always remember to come back and complete the test. If you save the test, and do not come back at a later time to submit the test, you WILL NOT receive a score for the test!
• Timed Tests -- Some tests may have a timer. This means that students are only given a limited amount of time to complete the test. Please note that even though the test is timed, it DOES NOT PREVENT you from submitting the test. This feature ONLY marks the test as having gone over the time limit, and requires an Instructor to review the test before grading. If you are taking a timed test and run out of time, SUBMIT the test ANYWAY. If you do not submit the test, you WILL NOT receive a score for the test!
• Question-at-a-time tests -- While most tests will present all questions on a single page, some tests may present the test as a series of questions one-at-a-time. You will then need to answer each question, and submit the answer to move on to the next question. Once all the questions have been answered, you MUST submit the test in order to receive a grade. If you do not submit the test, you WILL NOT receive a score for the test!

Here is an example of taking an online Test using the Blackboard System:

1. Once the Instructor has activated an Online Test, you will need to locate the Test in the course. Many Instructors will also post an Announcement on the Course Home Page with a link to the Exam, while some other's may post all exams and tests into certain areas of the course. You should quickly become familiar with how your Instructor posts exams, tests, and quizzes within their respective courses. In this example, the Instructor has posted a Test in the "Tests" area on the course; so in this example, clicking on "Tests" would reveal the online test ready to start. To begin the Test, click on the test title:
   
   
   
2. This will open the "Begin Test" confirmation page. To start the test, you would click on "OK":
   
   
   
3. This will open the Test screen where you will be able to complete the online test. If this test has a time limit, you will also see the time limit for taking the test on this screen as well. Scroll down the screen, and answer each of the questions on the screen:
   
   
   
4. Continue scrolling down the screen, and make sure that you answer every single question. Make sure you are using the browser's scroll bar to move down the page to read each question. When you have finished answering all of the questions, you will need to click on "Submit" to submit the test. If you do not click on "Submit" your test will not be recorded and you will not receive a grade for the test!
   
   
   
5. Once you have successfully submitted your test, you should see an "Assessment Submitted" Receipt to confirm you have successfully completed the test:
   
   
   
6. If you click "OK" on the Receipt, you will be able to see your graded test result. However, if the test contains questions that must be reviewed by the Instructor (such as essay, fill-in-the-blank,short answer, file-upload, etc.), your grade might not be immediately available. You can check your gradebook, or return to this test/quiz to see your final grade when it has been reviewed by the Instructor:
   
   

< Previous  |  Return to Contents  |  Next >