Blackboard Vista allows for you to assess your students through the use of online assignments and assessments. This guide covers the following topics:

• Getting Help
• Logging Into Bb Vista
• Creating Assignments
• The Assignment Drop Box
• Creating Assessments
• Creating Questions
• Adding Questions to an Assessment
• Assessment Settings
• The Assessment Manager
• Copying Assessments From One Section to Another

To create a new Assignment:

1. From the Build tab, click the Assignments link from the Course Tools menu.



2. Click the Create Assignment button.



3. Enter a Title and description (optional) and set of instructions in the appropriate fields.
   • Note that Item Visibility is set to Hide Item; you will not be able to change this until you specify the Assignment recipients.
4. If you would like to include any attachments to the Assignment, click Add Attachments to open the Content Browser and select the desired file.
5. In the Student Submission Format section, you may select one of two formats for your students to follow when submitting files, Text or Web site.
   • Select Text if you would like your students to submit their assignments as text content or attached files.
   • Select Web site if you would like your students to submit a ZIP file containing a web site.
6. In the Assignment Recipients section, you may select Decide later, All Students individually, or Groups of Students.
   • Decide later allows you to save the Assignment as a draft and designate how the Assignment will be deployed at a later time.
   • All Students individually requires each student to complete and submit the Assignment. You may choose to give additional instructions to specific groups by selecting Create additional sets of instructions for groups of Students and clicking Select Groups to designate which groups to provide additional instructions to and to enter these instructions.
   • The Groups of Students selection allows students to work collaboratively. Click Select Groups to designate the groups that will receive the assignment. If you would like to provide additional instructions to your groups, click the checkbox next to Provide groups with additional instructions to enter these instructions. You must create student groups first in the Group Manager.
7. In the Dates section under Due Date, select the date and time the Assignment is due. Any Assignments submitted after this date and time will be marked as late.
8. Next to Cutoff Date, choose the date and time after which the Assignment will no longer be accepted. After this date and time, the Assignment will be marked as missed in your Grade Book and the student's Inbox.
9. In the Grading section, you may select if and how the Assignment will be graded.
   • If you want to grade this Assignment, select Allow the Assignment to be graded.
   • If you chose to grade this Assignment, a new column will automatically be created in your Grade Book. If you would like to assign a title to this column, enter the title into the Grade Book column title field.
   • If you would like the grade to be released to your students, check Release grade to Students in My Grades.
   • If you would like to assign a numeric grade to the assignment, select Numeric grade: Out of and enter the maximum score into the accompanying text field. If you would like to assign a letter grade to the assignment, select Alphanumeric grade. If you would like to use a Grading Form to grade the assignment, select Grade by Grading Form, then click the Select Grading Form button, select the desired Grading Form from the list of available items.
10. If you would like to associate any Goals with this Assignment, click Select Goals to choose the desired Goal.
11. To view additional options for your Assignment, click More Options.
    • In the Taking Back Submissions section, select Students can take back and correct work after submission to allow students to retract and further edit submissions.
    • In the Publishing Submissions sections, select Only the Section Instructor can publish submissions to restrict publishing of submissions to the instructor, or Both the Section Instructor and Students can publish submissions to allow students to publish submissions.
    • In the Section Instructor notification section, if you would like to be notified via email when a student submits the Assignment, select Notify Section Instructor when a Student submits this assignment and enter your email address. Otherwise, select Do not send e-mail notification when Student has submitted an assignment.
12. Click the Save button.
    

The Assignment Dropbox tool provides an interface for reviewing and managing Assignments. Note that Assignments that have been created in your course but have not been assigned to your students will not appear in the Assignment Dropbox. To open the Assignment Dropbox, enter the Teach tab and click the Assignment Dropbox tool from the Instructor Tools menu.

The Assignment Dropbox page displays five tabs: Submitted, Not Submitted, Graded, Published, and All. Each tab contains a list of Assignments that you have created in your Course; they may or may not have been completed and submitted by your students

• Submitted contains Assignments that have been submitted by your students, but have not yet been graded.
• Not Submitted contains Assignments that been assigned to students but have not yet been returned to the instructor for review.
• Graded contains Assignments that have been reviewed, assigned a grade, and returned to the student.
• Published contains Assignments that have been published (made visible to all members of the course).
• All contains every Assignment that has been assigned to your students throughout the lifetime of the Course.

The Assignment Dropbox also provides a drop-down menu along the upper right-hand corner of the window that allows you to select All Assignments, or specify the individual Assignment you would like to review. To specify the Assignment to review, select the Assignment from the drop-down menu and click the Go icon. If you find that you cannot locate some of your Assignments in the Assignment Dropbox, make sure All Assignments is selected from the menu.

Items listed in the Assignment Dropbox will have up to two items in their ActionLinks menu: Review Submission and Publish Controls. Assignments under the Not Submitted tab will not have an ActionLinks menu, and Assignments under the All tab that have not been submitted-or, in other words, Assignments that would normally fall under the Not Submitted tab but are being displayed under the All tab-will only have Publish Controls available in their ActionLinks menu.

• Review Submission displays the Assignment's properties, instructions, and the student's submission and attachments. It also provides a text field for leaving comments for the student. Finally, it offers three Save Options: Return to Student for further editing, Save for further review and editing, and Return graded submission to Student with the following grade: (which includes a field for entering the submission's grade).
• Publish Controls allows you to make a submission visible to all members of the course. From the Publish Controls page, click Publish or Republish. The submission will then be available to Course participants.
  

To create a new Assessment:

1. From the Build tab, click the Assessments link from the Course Tools menu.



2. Click the Create Assessment button.



3. Enter a title and description (optional) in the appropriate fields.
   • Note that Item Visibility is set to Hide Item; you will not be able to change this until you add at least one question.
4. Specify the header you would like to use in the grade book for this Assessment.
5. Select the type of Assessment you would like to create.
   • Quizzes are graded and entered into the Grade Book.
   • Surveys are anonymous questionnaires that are not graded, but are marked as Completed once they have been submitted.
   • Self Tests are graded and returned to students, but the grades are not recorded in the Grade Book and the test may be retaken as often as the student likes.
6. In the Template section, you may choose to base this Assessment on a previously created assessment. This option will not be available if no assessments exist.
   • A new Assessment that uses a previously created Assessment as a template will be created with the same set of questions that the template possesses. If you prefer not to use another Assessment as a template, select Do not base on an existing assessment.
7. If you would like to associate any Goals with this assessment, click Select Goals to choose the desired Goal. This option will not be available if no goals exist.
8. Click the Save button.

To create questions for the Assessment:

1. Click the Assessments link from the Course Tools menu.



2. Click the Go to Question Database button.



3. Click the Create Category button.



4. Enter a title for your category and click Save.
   • It is strongly recommended you name your categories based on topic rather than chapter number.
5. Click the Create Questions ActionLink menu and select a question type from the drop-down list. For more information on creating each type of question, go to the Create Question page for the desired type and click Help from the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

   

   • Calculated questions require students to solve a mathematical problem.
   • Combination questions allow you to provide a list of groups of possible answers, from which the student must select the correct group.
   • Fill in the Blank questions display an incomplete statement and require students to provide the missing word.
   • Jumbled Sentence questions present the student with a sentence whose words are in random order, and ask the student to submit the sentence in its proper order.
   • Matching questions display two lists and require the student to match items from the first list with items from the second list.
   • Multiple Choice questions require students to select the correct answer from a number of possible answers.
   • Paragraph questions ask students to submit a paragraph answering the given question. Paragraph questions are not graded automatically by Vista and must be reviewed by the instructor.
   • Short Answer questions ask students to answer the given question with a word or phrase.
   • True False questions require the student to determine if the given statement is true or false.
6. Enter a Title for the question. You can choose whether to show this title to the student in the assessment settings.
7. Enter the Question text. HTML and images can be used if desired.
8. Enter the correct answer, question settings, point values, etc.
9. Under More Options, you can select the question's category.
10. Click the Save button when done.

To add questions to an Assessment:

1. From the Build tab, click the Assessments link from the Course Tools menu.



2. Click the Assessment you would like to edit from the list of available Assessments.



3. Click the Add to Assessment ActionLinks menu. You will be given three choices: Existing Questions, Question Set, and Part.

   

   • Existing Questions allows you to select previously created questions to add to your Assessment. All students will receive all questions when the assessment is delivered.
     1. Select Existing Questions from the Add to Assessment ActionLinks menu.
     2. From the Add Question page, click the checkboxes next to the questions you would like to add. You may need to expand your categories to see the questions available.
     3. Click the Add Selected button.
   • Question Sets are groups of questions with only a certain number of questions randomly selected from the set being displayed on the Assessment. Question Sets are useful if you want each student to get a different version of a quiz but don't want to write multiple quizzes.
     1. Select Question Sets from the Add to Assessment ActionLinks menu.
     2. From the Add Question page, select the questions that make up the set.
     3. Click the Add Selected button.
     4. From the Select menu, choose the number of questions to be pulled from this set and enter the point value for each question.
     5. Click the Update Total button from the bottom of the list.
   • The Part option allows you to group your questions into parts or sections.
     • To create a new Part:
       1. Select Part from the Add to Assessment ActionLinks menu.
       2. Enter a title for the Part.
       3. Click the OK button.
     • To move questions to the Part:
       1. Select the questions from the Assessment's question list.
       2. Choose the desired Part from the drop-down list labeled Move questions to part.
       3. Click the Go icon.
          

To edit the settings for an assessment:

1. Click the Assessments link from the Course Tools menu.



2. Click the ActionLinks menu for your assessment.



3. Choose Edit Properties.



4. You can change the Title and add or edit the description (optional) as well as setting the Item Visibility.
5. Additionally, there are various settings that can be altered to suit your needs:
   • Grade Book column name - The name of the column as you want it to appear in the Grade Book.
   • Question delivery - Whether you want the questions all on one page or separate pages. Whether you want the question titles displayed.
   • Display Assessment - The assessment can come up within the Vista window or in a new one.
   • Duration - The amount of time students have to complete the assessment.
   • Attempts - How many times students can take the assessment. The randomize setting can randomize the question order.
   • Student score - The release settings for the students to see their scores.
   • Statistics release - Basic statistics for the assessment can be released to the students to view.
   • Goals - If you have created goals, you can select them.
   • Dates Available - The start and end date and time.
   • Results Properties - What the students who have taken the assessment are able to see when they view their submission.
   • Submission Properties - You can enter a message that the students will see after they submit the assessment.
   • Security Properties - A proctor password can be entered if you require your students to access the assessment at a testing center.
   • Custom Instructions - Instructions to appear on the assessment for students.
6. Click the Save button when you are done altering the assessment settings.

The Assessment Manager allows you to review, grade, and compare assessment submissions. To open the Assessment Manager, enter the Teach tab and click Assessment Manager from the Instructor Tools menu.

The Assessment Manager page displays four tabs: Graded, Not Graded, Not Submitted, and All. Each tab contains a list of Assessments.

• Graded contains Assessments that have been completely graded, with a score entered into the Grade Book.
• Not Graded contains Assessments that include a Paragraph item that must be graded manually by an instructor.
• Not Submitted includes Assessments that have not yet been submitted to the instructor.
• All displays every Assessment associated with that course.

The Assessment Manager also provides a drop-down menu along the upper right-hand corner of the window that allows you to select All Assessments, or specify the individual assessment you would like to review. To specify the assessment to review, select the assessment from the drop-down menu and click the Go icon. If you find that you cannot locate some of your quizzes in the Assessment Manager, make sure All Assessments is selected from the menu.

Items listed in the Assessment Manager will have three options available in their ActionLinks menu: View Submissions, Grade All Attempts of a Single Question, and View Reports.

• View Submissions lets you view all submissions of a specific Assessment that you have received. You will be able to view each submission (click the date under Attempt), edit assigned grades (click the score under Grade), view a log of the submission attempt (click the value under Time), or reset selected submissions by checking the box next to the student's username and clicking Reset Entire Submission.



• Grade All Attempts of a Single Question allows you to grade a single question from every submission. Select Grade All Attempts of a Single Question from the ActionLinks menu to display the list of questions on the Assessment, then select Grade all attempts of this question from the ActionLinks menu of the question you would like to review.



• View Reports allows you to create and view reports on your students' performances on selected Assessments.
  

  

It is very easy to copy questions and quizzes from one section or template to another in Vista. Use these instructions to avoid retyping questions.

To copy an assessment (including the questions):

1. Open the section or template that contains the assessments you have created.
2. Click the Build tab if it is not selected already.



3. Click the Assessments link under the Course Tools menu.



4. Select (check the box) each assessment you want to copy. To select all, click the check box in the header bar.
5. Click the Export button.



6. Select a destination for the export file. This could be within the current section or template or a different one.
7. Enter a name for the file in the Save as box and click OK.
8. Click the Return button when the export is complete.
9. Return to your My Blackboard page and open the section or template you want to import the assessments into.
10. Click the Manage Course link from the Designer Tools menu.



11. Click the Import link.



12. Browse to the location you saved the zip file to.
13. Select the zip file you created by clicking the radio button to the left of the file name.
14. Click the OK button.
15. Click Return when the process is complete.
16. You should now see the assessments you imported when you enter the Assessments area.

To just copy questions in your Question Database without copying the assessments:

1. Open the section or template that contains the questions you have created.
2. Click the Build tab if it is not selected already.



3. Click the Assessments link under the Course Tools menu.



4. Click the Go to Question Database button.



5. Expand the categories (click the "+" next to the category) that contain the questions you want to export.
6. Select (check the box) each question you want to copy. To select all questions in the expanded categories, click the checkbox in the title bar.
7. Click the Export Questions button.



8. Select a destination for the export file. This could be within the current section or template or a different one.
9. Enter a name for the file in the Save as box and click OK.
10. Click the Return button when the export is complete.
11. Return to your My Blackboard page and open the section or template you want to import the assessments into.
12. Click the Manage Course link from the Designer Tools menu.



13. Click the Import link.



14. Browse to the location you saved the zip file to.
15. Select the zip file you created by clicking the radio button to the left of the file name.
16. Click the OK button.
17. Click Return when the process is complete.
18. You should now see the questions you imported when you enter the Question Database.

Author:

Jason Polubinsky, 2007

Contributor:

Mandi Witkovsky, 2007

Editors:

Han Fei, 2007
Scott Vitz, 2007
Mandi Witkovsky, 2007

Last Updated:

October 16, 2007