Best Practices for Online Quizzing in Blackboard

Information for instructors

• Online tests (like Blackboard's) are not meant for high-stakes examinations!
• Instead, think of online quizzes as short "open book, open computers, cell phones on hand" end-of-chapter exercises designed to give students and instructors immediate feedback or for emphasizing some key concepts. An ideal Blackboard quiz should have just a few questions, only take a few minutes to complete and only have a very small grade value. Offer little online quizzes as often as you wish but don't misuse the technology
  
  

• Break a single long exam marathon into several shorter five-minute-long series of little online tests
  Doing so, minimizes the risk of problems caused by distant learners intermittently losing their Internet connections (which happens frequent enough).

• Do not use time limits on online tests at all
• Research shows that time limits are useless and unnecessarily stress the students.
  
  
  
• If a student grade shows up as an "!" mark or book icon in the Blackboard Grade Center, after the quiz is taken, it is probably because the student did not hit Submit or tried to back track on a question - students can not do this. If you continue to receive a "!" or book icon for multiple students consider using Blackboard's Multiple Attempts feature to display the grade for the last attempt (assuming the last attempt is not a locked "in progress" one.
  
  
  
• If a grade is a book icon, it is because on the most recent attempt, a completed quiz was not submitted.
• A Best Practice in online assessments is to allow enough time for students to finish the quiz without logging out.
  
  

Information to provide for students

• Avoid using the Back button, once a test has begun.
• Avoid using the navigation buttons on the left side menu once the test displays on your screen.
  
  
  
• Do not hit the Back button on your browser. The Blackboard system works best by utilizing the navigational elements within Blackboard.
• To move on to the next question click the arrowhead on the right bottom of the page (you do not need to hit Save).
  
  
• Students should take the quiz while on campus or at a location with a fast Internet connection. Students with a slow (dial-up) connection may face difficulities submitting a quiz. If you use a dial-up modem to connect to the Internet, turn off call waiting. If you receive a phone call and call waiting is on, Blackboard will assume that you have completed the quiz and erase any answers you have entered.
  
  
  
• Public Wi-Fi wireless connections are also extremely unreliable, expecially, when taking a long exam.
  
  
  
• Make sure your browser(s) are up to date.
• Avoid opening other browser windows while taking a Blackboard test.
  
  
  
• To minimize the risk of connection interruption, students can:
  
  • Open a second browser window and use it to generate some traffic every few minutes to keep the connection active. To open a second browser window go to the File Menu and select Open New Window. Open a site and then click in it every few minutes. That should keep your server from timing out.
    
    
    
• Pop-up blocker software may block a quiz from opening. If an assesment is set to open in a new window, pop-up blocker software prevents a new window from "popping up."
  
  
  
• To minimize the risk of connection interruption, students can
  
  • Open a second browser window and use it to generate some traffic every few minutes to keep the connection active
  • Contact their ISP to understand the time-out restrictions
  • Refer to their modem or Dial-up Settings documentation to learn how to disable call-waiting or other services that may cause interruption
    
    
    
• If the connection is terminated a student should
  • NOT close the assessment browser window
  • Attempt to re-connect immediately
  • If the browser is not closed and the connection can be re-established, the student may be able to successfully submit the quiz. Obviously, this would not apply to a power failure or system crash.
    
    
    
• A student may be locked out of a test if:
  
  • the Internet connection fails
  • your computer is accidentally turned off (e.g. power failure)
  • you are inactive during the test for too long– After a period of inactivity the test will time out.
  • you press the Back button on your browser
  • you resize your Browser window
  • call-waiting during the assessment
  • any number of other errors occur
    
    
    
• Obvious, but, after completing online quizzes, remember to hit Submit.