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Assessments and Assignments

Blackboards Ultra streamlines the creation and management of assessments and assignments with intuitive tools. Instructors can create various question types, set availability dates, apply accommodations and provide rich feedback. The Gradebook allows easy tracking of student progress and supports rubrics and inline grading for more consistent evaluation. 

Creating a Rubric

To create a rubric, first open the assignment or assessment you wish to add it to and select the settings button on the right hand side of the screen. Scroll down to Additional Tools and select Add grading rubric, then select Create New Rubric. Within the rubric creation screen, you can enter a description, select the rubric type (percentage, percentage range, points, point range, or no points), adjust complexity, and define the number of columns and rows. Then, click save and within the assignment settings, assign the rubric to the assignment via the add button. Existing rubrics can also be added to assignments created.

 

Creating Exams and Tests

To create an exam or test, click the plus button located on the homepage (normally on top and under existing items) and under the assessment group, click on Test. Within the test page, you can add test content, control visibility for students, and apply test settings. To begin to add questions or a question pool to the test, select the plus button on the test page.

 

Creating an Assignment

To create an assignment, click the plus button located on the homepage (normally on top and under existing items) and under the assessment group, click on Assignment. Within the Assignment page, you can add a title, instructions, and change settings such as due date, grade category, and grading attempts allowed.

 

Creating Question Sets for Assessments

In Blackboard Ultra, question sets are replaced by question pools, which allow you to select a number of questions to be randomly displayed in an exam or test. To add a question pool, select the plus button and Add question pool from within the assessment. On the Add Question Pool page, you can choose an existing question pool to add to the assessment. To create a new Question Pool, on the home page, on the right-hand side, select Manage Banks, where you can click the plus button and select New.

 

Uploading Question Sets from Excel

To upload a question set from Microsoft Excel, select the plus button and Upload Questions from File from within the assessment. Uploaded questions are required to have the following guidelines:

  • Each file must be a tab-delimited TXT file. You can edit this file in Microsoft® Excel® or in a text editor.
  • It is recommended that each batch file not exceed 250 records.
  • Don't include a header row in the file.
  • Don't include blank lines between records. The blank line will be processed and return an error.
  • Include only one question per row.
  • The first field in each row defines the type of question.
  • Separate each field in a row with a TAB.
  • Correct, incorrect, true, false, and other words that identify answers must be in English.

 

Proctoring Assessments (Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor)

Blackboard Ultra offers the use of Respondus Lockdown Browser to monitor students during assessments and promote academic integrity and honesty. To turn on the Lockdown Browser, select LockDown Browser Dashboard within the test or assignment settings. On the dashboard, a list of all assessments in your course appears. Find the assessment you want to update. Choose to deliver the assessment using Respondus LockDown Browser alone or include the Webcam.

CONTACT US

The University of Texas at El Paso
UTEP Center for Instructional Design
University Library, Rms.309 & 410
500 W. University Ave.
El Paso, Texas 79968

E: instructionaldesign@utep.edu