How to Export Your Assessment to Another Course

Reviewed: 09/12/2019 

If you wish to use an existing test (or part thereof) in a different course, it would probably be quicker to export it from one course and import it in to another (and then make changes if needed) than to rebuild it completely. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Go to the course you wish to take the quiz OUT OF
2. Course tools
3. Tests, Surveys and Pools in the Course Tools section of the Control Panel
4. Ideally you want to export and import the pool, and then rebuild the test, however if you have not set up the original as a pool, or if the test is particularly complex (using random blocks/question sets, etc. Then you would need to export of import the test instead). Therefore at this point you want to click on Pools (recommended) or Tests (in cases where necessary). The rest of these instructions are going to assume you have exported the pools, however they can be fitted to exporting tests too.
5. Click on the button to the right hand side of the assessment you want to export
6. Click export to local computer, make sure you know where it is downloading to. Once it has downloaded, do not attempt to open or unzip the downloaded package.
   
   
7. In Blackboard, go to the course that you want to import the assessment IN TO.
8. Click Test, surveys and Pools in the Course Tools section of the Control Panel
9. Click Pools
10. Click Import Pool
    
    
11. Click Browse My Computer and locate the downloaded file, click Submit.
12. You will be presented with a ‘Pool Import Complete’ page. Click OK.
13. Your question pool is now in the new course and ready for you to use within a test.

If you need more assistance on creating tests from question pools, and deploying them, look at steps 2 and onwards below

 

(eLearning team note: This page has been transferred to the FBMH wordpress site)

There are 3 stages to creating BB9 assessments, they are:

1. Build your question pool
2. Build your assessment
3. Deploy your assessment

Creation of assessments may seem slightly long winded, but there are very good reasons for this, as will be explained throughout this guide.

1. Building your question pool

Although it is possible to build questions directly into your assessment, it is better practice to have your questions in pools because in pools there is less chance of accidentally deleting them, and pools will give you a single point of truth for changes and versionning.

1. Navigate to Tests, Surveys and Pools from ‘Course Tools’ in the Control Panel and then click on Pools in the main content area
   
   
2. If you have not already created a question pool you will need to make one; if you have already got a question pool but wish to add more questions to it, you will need to edit it. A question pool is a set of questions from which you may want to make a random selection or all of the questions available to students. If you are not using randomisation then you probably want to have 1 pool per assessment. If you are using randomisation then either 1 pool per assessment, or one pool per set of questions. Consult the eLearning team if you require guidance on this.
   1. Creating a question pool – Click on Build Pool, on the next screen give the pool a name (such as ‘Assessment 1’ and if you wish, add a description and instructions – these do not appear to students, only to instructors when using a pool. Once you are done, click submit and your pool will be created.
      
      
      
      
      
      
   2. Editing a question pool – In the Pool area, click on the button to the right hand side of a question pool name, then click edit, this will open up the pool so that you can see all of the questions.
      
      
3. You can now start building or editing questions. To edit a question use the same type of button and edit option as above. To build a question hover over Create Question in the main content area and a menu will display, you can then click on the question type you wish to use. All question types are explained here (this link will open in the same page).
4. Whilst you are in a question pool area you can alter the question settings to allow images and individual response feedback by clicking on the question settings button in the top right hand corner (these settings are question pool specific and therefore have to be set for each pool).
   
   
5. Once you have created your question pools and added your questions, you are ready to start building your assessments.

2. Building your Assessments

In Blackboard you build ‘Tests’ and these are built away from the students eyes. A test will not become visible to the students unless you actively deploy it (stage 3 of this document).

1. In the Tests, Surveys and Pools area click on Tests
   
   
2. If you have not already created a test you will need to make one; if you have already got a test but wish to add more questions to it, you will need to edit it. As above, editing is done using the button to the right of the item name and then clicking Edit. Once in the Tests area click ‘Build Test’ to create a new one. You will need to give it a name, but instructions and description are optional. Both of these will be available to students. Instructions may be used to tell students how to answer the test, for example “For questions 1-5 choose the ONE CORRECT option, for questions 6-10 choose the ONE INCORRECT option”. The description can be used to describe what area of the course the test covers, e.g. “This test covers lectures 1-5”. Assessment instructions and descriptions get carried forward in the yearly roll over, so it may be wise to not be too specific if possible, i.e. don’t put “This test covers lectures given on 28-10-2011 and 04-11-2011”.
   N.B. If you are editing a test name, you will need to also update that name in the grade centre, or delete the depolyed test link and redeploy it one you have changed the name as it will not update automatically.
3. Once your test is created you are ready to add your questions. You will need to be inside the test area to add questions, therefore if you are still on the tests page, click on the test’s button and edit.
   1. Adding single questions – you can either use the + buttons that appear before/after existing questions to add new questions in exactly where you want them, or you can click on Reuse Question and Find Questions to add questions to the end of the assessment.
      
      
      
      
      Select the appropriate pool in the left hand menu of the pop up screen and then tick the check boxes next to the questions you want to use. Once you have selected all of the questions you require, click Submit in the bottom right hand corner of the pop-up window.
      
      
      
      
      Once you have all of your questions added, you can move them into place by dragging and dropping them from the left hand side of the question.
   2. Adding a question set (a set of questions from which Blackboard will randomly select a set number to give each student). Please talk to the eLearning team if you require any advice on setting up question sets so that your students get a certain number of questions on certain subjects etc).
      use the + button before or after an existing question or click on Reuse Question and Create Question Set. Select the questions in the same way as above. Once you have the questions in the test area you can select how many Blackboard should randomly pick from the set to give each student.
      
      

3. Deploying your assessment

All assessments should be delivered through the left hand menu Assessment page. This has been advised as a University standard following feedback from students about consistency of course layout. Once an assessment is placed in this area, if it is not set to hidden or dated out, the students will be able to see it and access it.

1. Click on Assessments in the left hand menu, in the main content area hover over ‘Assessments’ until the menu shows, then click on ‘Test’.
   
   
   
2. You will get the option to create a new test or add an existing one, select the appropriate existing test and click submit.
   
   
3. You will then see a screen where you can input your assessment settings. Please follow these guidelines for setting assessments. Please note that it is a faculty standard to have all assessments open for at least 1 week, have all assessment deadlines at 4pm on Fridays and not to have assessment deadlines during holidays. BB9 Deploying Assessments Guidelines
4. Once you have done this your test will be deployed to students. Please contact the eLearning team if you wish to have your assessment settings double checked to ensure everything is set up correctly.