1. Interact 2: Tests, surveys and pools
So far we’ve looked at:
A general overview, how to navigate around – few changes since the upgrade last weekend – Content Collection and Study Success
Creating organisations – hopefully all have one that you’ve been able to play around with
Communicating with students via the welcome page and discussion forums, adding content including content areas and modules, and using the content editor
Those presentations are available in our FOE i2 organisation – if you’ve missed those, encourage you to take a look
Course sites should be available to those who requested them – give ED access to course sites

2. Agenda 1 Creating a test or survey 2 Adding questions 3
Deploying a test or survey 4
Creating question pools 5
Importing question pools from Test Centre 6
Using the Grade Centre 7
Hands on activity: Adding a test to your organisation

3. Tests and surveys
Online assessments are a powerful method to engage students, encourage learning, and test student understanding of subject content.
Tests and surveys are the main tools available in Interact2 for conducting online assessments.
EASTS will continue to be used for online submission, marking and return of assessment items.
Who is currently using online tests in Test Centre?
Other than summative assessment, how are online tests being used?
Graphic:
Ask who is using Test Centre
Ask for a few examples on how they’re using it – formative or summative
In terms of all forms – low and high-tech – of formative quizzes:
 Students can self-test understanding of fundamental concepts.
 Students can get a look and feel for upcoming exams.
 Students can gauge their own exam readiness.
 Staff can receive feedback on how their class is tracking.
 Staff can save marking time.
(Macquarie University)
In terms of online practice or formative quizzes:
 Students benefit greatly from being able to take online practice quizzes. These quizzes focus on the critical lower-level thinking learning for the students. The students can practice these activities on online quizzes, therefore, freeing up class time for higher-level thinking activities.
 Students do not have to wonder if their answer is correct or not as they answer a question, the quiz programme tells the student. Students get immediate reaction to their answer; they do not have to wait until the next class which may be 24 hours, 48 hours or more away.
 Students can read the teacher-provided strategy for improvement for each wrong answer. The students do not just know that they are incorrect but they see an explanation of how to improve. They learn how to do it correctly; they improve through formative assessment.
 Students can begin to use their new strategy as they encounter a problem using the same concept that they just missed. They can verify if they are applying the strategy correctly.
 Students can answer without feeling badly about having a wrong answer as can happen in a class. No other student knows.
 Students can retake a practice quiz as often as they want to improve their score. If the practice quizzes are truly formative then no mark will be recorded. Students will demonstrate their learning in class and on summative tests.
 Teachers can quickly analyse in what areas students are successful and in what areas they have demonstrated learning gaps. They can select an appropriate learning strategy for each student for class.
 If formative quizzes are used for homework, then lecturers can use them to mark and give feedback (if set up to do this). Lecturers then do not have to individually mark a lot of scripts or explain individually to each student which answers are incorrect and what strategy will work for each incorrect answer.
 Both students and teachers can see the students’ progress over time as they see the online quiz scores. In addition, lecturers may notice patterns over time and can adapt their teaching and learning strategies to address students’ learning gaps and misunderstandings accordingly.
(Adapted from Harry G Tuttle’s blog)
When not to use a quiz for formative feedback?
 Questions that require students to write answers freely. These must be manually marked which is time consuming in a quiz. Assignment or Turnitin is recommended instead.
 When assessing higher order skills such as analysis and application.

4. Tests vs. surveys Test Survey Anonymous results No Yes Graded
Set correct answer
Tests check how much your students have learned from the course, and are graded. Surveys are more informal; they are useful for polling, evaluations of the course and related material, and random knowledge checks. But students don't get points for answering survey questions, and the results don't display in the Grade Centre.
In Interact2, tests and surveys are much the same, with a few minor differences

5. Interact2 features
Questions and answers can contain or link to rich media resources such as YouTube videos and images
Question pools can be built to provide a portable bank of questions that can be imported into any test or survey
Questions can be categorised and assigned a level of difficulty, topic or keyword to allow customised deployment of tests
Student feedback can be provided generically as a response to a given question or specifically for each possible student response
The results of online assessments are recorded and collated automatically in the Grade Centre (except for short answer/essay questions, and file responses, which need to be marked by the lecturer).
Highlight differences and similarities to Interact
Rich media – new?
Question pools (available in both)
Categorise questions – new
Student feedback
Results recorded

6. Test lifecycle
Graphic: Blackboard Services
Image: Blackboard Services

7. Creating a test or survey
In the Control Panel, under Organisation/Course Tools:
Click on Tests, Surveys and Pools
Click on Test or Survey
Click on Build Test or Build Survey
Enter a Name for the test/survey
Enter any Description information that students should see before they take the test
Enter any Instructions to appear when the test is launched
Click Submit
Demo: Create a test called “Great monuments of the world”
Demo: Adjust settings

8. 1 2 3 Adding questions Create a new question within a test or survey
Three methods available: 1
Create a new question within a test or survey
Reuse a question from another test or survey
Select from a question pool 2 3
Three methods
Today I’ll be demonstrating creating a new question, and how to create a question pool

9. Question types
There are 17 question types, which may be used in any combination. Most are automatically graded.
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
17 question types
Some more advanced than others – calculated formulas, calculated numeric, hotspot, jumbled sentences, Likert scale, quiz bowl,
New ones – hot spot, jumbled sentences, quiz bowl (like Jeopardy)
Most are automatically graded
Essay, file response and short answer require manual grading
Not all question types are mobile friendly
Essay and file response require manual grading, and can have rubrics for the markers
* Manually graded. Can add a rubric.

10. Question types
There are 17 question types, which may be used in any combination. Most are automatically graded.
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
Today we’re going to create a test with an either/or and multiple choice question.
* Manually graded. Can add a rubric.

11. Adding a question On the Test Canvas page: Click on Create Question
Select the question type from the menu
Complete the question details – different question types will have different options
Click Submit
Assign point value, if different to default
Demo: Add a multiple choice question “Eiffel Tower”. Add four options.
Demo: Add an either/or question “Statue of Liberty”. Add true/false options.

12. Deploying a test or survey
Tests and surveys must be ‘deployed’ to a course (subject) site before they can be accessed by students.
In your Content Area:
Click on Assessments
Click on Test or Survey
Select the relevant test or survey from the list
Click Submit
Adjust settings
Demo: Deploy test in Content Area. Click submit before reviewing settings (we’ll coming back to it).

13. Test and survey settings
Options for availability, presentation and feedback, include:
Show description and instructions
Open in a new window
Add a new announcement
Allow multiple attempts; scoring options such as last attempt or highest grade
Force completion
Set a timer for completion
Present questions all at once or one at a time
Provide feedback to students – various options
Display between start and end date
Randomise questions
Demo: Access test/survey options via drop-down menu > Edit Test Options
Brief overview of various settings
Mention adaptive release
Go into statistics tracking – turn on

14. Creating a test or survey (alternative method)
In a Content Area:
Select Assessments
Select Test or Survey
Click Create
Complete the details - Name, Description and Instructions
Click Submit
Note: The test /survey won’t be available until it has been deployed.
Demo: Add a new test from the Content Area (won’t add questions – just for demonstrating what happens)
Demo: Show how the test is not visible in the Content Area (as it’s not deployed)
Demo: Show how the test is visible in the Tests, Surveys and Polls section
Demo: Add a new test from the Content Area – select from existing tests

15. Creating question pools
In the Control Panel, under Organisation/Course Tools:
Click on Tests, Surveys and Pools
Click on Test or Survey
Click on Pools
Enter a Name for the pool
Enter any Description information that students should see before they take the test
Enter any Instructions to appear when the test is launched
Click Submit
Add questions as required
Demo: Create a question pool called “Cities of the world”
- Questions added the same as previously demonstrated; leave blank – use to import from Test Centre

16. Importing questions Questions can be imported from:
A text file – can create in MS Word or Excel, for example, and save as .txt file (special formatting requirements)
Other Blackboard sites
Interact Test Centre exported .txt file
Multiple choice
True/False
Likert scale
Fill in the blank
Matching
Question pools made available by your textbook publisher - check publisher's website for instructions on how to export and save the questions in a format compatible with importing to Blackboard Learn.
Note: Embedded content such as images can not be imported from Test Centre, and will need to be added to Interact2 manually.
Import options:
Text file (specific format)
Other Blackboard sites
Test Centre exported text file (Note: won’t include images)
Question pools from publishers

17. Importing questions from Test Centre
1. Export your Test Centre question pool(s) as text files (.txt).
2. Build a pool (or pools) in i2
3. Upload your questions into a pool
Graphics:
Detailed instructions can be found in the i2 help site

18. Importing questions from Test Centre
1. Export the pools from Interact as .txt files
Open your Interact subject site
Click on Test Centre
Click on Question Pools
Select the pools you which to export by clicking the checkboxes next to them
Click Export
Click Export again on the pop-up window
The files will be ed to you. Save them in a convenient location.
Demo: Export Test Centre question pool from Interact
Graphic:

19. Importing questions from Test Centre
2. Build a pool in i2
In the Control Panel, under Organisation/Course Tools:
Click on Tests, Surveys, and Pools
Click on Pools
Click on Build Pool
Give the pool are a name and click Submit
Create as many pools as necessary
Demo: None – using pool we’ve just created
Graphic:

20. Importing questions from Test Centre
3. Upload your questions into your question pool
Click Upload Questions
Locate your Test Centre text files
Adjust the points per question as required and click Submit
Imported questions are now ready to be edited and/or used in tests.
Note: images and other embedded content will not come across - you will have to add these manually.
Demo: Upload Test Centre question pool
Graphic:

21. Using the Grade Centre Grade Centre allows you to:
View and grade tests
See which tests need manual grading
Monitor student progress
Generate reports
Teaching staff are able to view grades for all students and assessment items but students can only see their individual grades for the assessment items which staff have selected to make available.
Demo: Go to Grade Centre, select Full Grade Centre. Show students who haven’t completed test.

22. Help
CSU Help -
Blackboard Help -
Faculty of Education i2 PD -

23. Hands-on activity Go to your Organisation Create a Test1
Go to your Organisation 2
Create a Test 3
Add a true/false question 4
Deploy the test to a Content Area
Graphic: