respondus software creating tests in respondus · one feature that respondus offers is importing...

Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0

While you can create assessment questions directly in Blackboard, it is often much more efficient to use

Respondus software to create your exams offline, then upload them directly into your Blackboard

course. Kent State University has a campus-wide license for Respondus, which may be downloaded

and installed on your work and/or home computer.

Create Tests | Import Tests from Word | Publish Tests to Bb | Print Tests | Retrieve Questions From Bb

1. Open the Respondus

software on your

computer and begin on

the Start tab.

2. Set Current Personality

to “Blackboard 7.x - 9.x.”

3. Click the Create button

to create a new exam.

4. Enter a title and a brief

description for the

exam, then click OK.

Note: You will have

moved automatically

from the Start tab to the Edit tab (at the top

of the window). The Edit tab is where you

must go to add, edit, or delete questions

for your assessment.

Don’t forget to save your Respondus test file often by clicking the Save button in the top

toolbar!

Respondus Software

Creating Tests in Respondus

Katie Baer Educational Technology Designer Kent State University at Stark February 2015


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Adding Questions to Your Assessment

1. Choose the type of question you want to create from the left-side menu in

Respondus (multiple choice, true/false, matching, short answer, etc.).

2. Once you select the type of question, you can fill in the form to the right with

the question title, question text, possible answers, point value, and

miscellaneous settings based on question type.

Note: These are all the same fields and options available when you create an

assessment within

Blackboard Learn;

however, the forms in

Respondus make it

much easier to enter

question

information, indicate

correct answer, and

set point values—all

on one screen with

no refreshing of the

page.

3. When you are

finished creating

your question, click

the Add to End of

List button to add it to your assessment. Your question will now appear in the Question List

in the bottom pane of the window.

4. Repeat Steps 1-3 to create all of your questions in Respondus.

Editing, Previewing, Moving, and Deleting Questions in Your Respondus Assessment

In Respondus, all your options for individual questions are easily accessed from one menu:

1. Locate the question

in the Question List

pane at the bottom of

the window.

2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the question and select the desired

option, such as Edit, Preview, Delete, etc. Note: If you edit a question, be sure

to click the Save Changes button on the question form.


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One feature that Respondus offers is importing tests from a Word document into Respondus.

Blackboard Learn does not currently offer this feature, so the only way to import a Word document is to

go through Respondus first.

1. Open your test file in Word and make sure it is formatted precisely.

Click here to view formatting for importing questions into Respondus

2. Save your file.

3. Open the Respondus software on your computer and begin on the Start tab.

4. Set Current Personality to “Blackboard 7.x - 9.x.”

5. Click the Import Questions button to import questions from a Word document.

Importing Tests from Word into Respondus

http://www2.kent.edu/blackboard/faculty/upload/respondus-standard-format.pdf


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6. Complete the steps in the form as follows:

a. Choose the type of file

from the drop-down menu.

b. Click the Browse button

and locate the desired file.

c. Select Create a new

document and type in a

name. This is the

Respondus file’s name,

not the name that will

appear in Blackboard.

d. Click the Preview button

to preview how your Word

document will import into

Respondus.

e. Check the Warnings

and Notes at the bottom of

the dialog box to see if

there were any issues with

the formatting. If so, you

can either import anyway

and make adjustments in

Respondus, or you can fix

it in your Word document and restart the import process.

f. Click Finish to complete the import process. Your Word document will be converted to a

Respondus file and you will be able to view, edit, and publish your test to Blackboard Learn.

It is recommended you set the test options within Blackboard Learn after uploading your exam rather

than setting the options in Respondus.

Setting Test Options in Respondus


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Once you are finished creating your assessment and adding questions, you can upload (or publish) your

assessment from Respondus to Blackboard by using the Respondus Publish Wizard.

1. Open the Respondus software on your computer and open your test file.

2. Click on the Preview & Publish tab at the top of the window.

3. In the navigation menu on the left side, click the Publish to Blackboard button, then click the Publish

Wizard button.

4. Set the Type of Publish to

Publish to a single course.

5. Click the drop-down arrow next

to Blackboard Server and select

Add new server.

Note: You will only need to

configure your server once on

your own computer — next

time you can select your server

name from that drop-down list.

Publishing Tests from Respondus to Bb Learn


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6. A new dialog box will pop up. Select

Yes, check for preconfigured server

settings, then click Next.

7. Enter a name for the server (e.g. Katie’s

Bb). Then enter your FlashLine

username (without the @kent.edu)

and password. Click Next to run the

connection test.

8. Once the connection test completes

successfully, click the Next button.

Then click Finish to exit the wizard.

9. The dialog box will close and you

will be returned to the previous screen.

Your server name should now appear

as the selected server. Click Next.


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10. Complete the next form as follows:

a. All of your courses will

appear in the Group or Section

drop-down menu. Select the

course to which you want to

upload the assessment.

b. Select the bubble next to

Create New Exam. Type in the

desired exam name.

c. Unselect the boxes for all

additional options.

d. Click Next to begin publishing

your assessment to your

Blackboard Learn course.

11. You will now see a new window that

details the progress of uploading

your assessment. When you see

that it says Completed successfully,

click Finish.

You should now see your exam in the

Tests, Surveys, and Pools area when

you log into your Blackboard Learn

course

You will still need to deploy the test to

make it available to students.

You can then set your test options on

the exam properties page (including

date and time settings, time limits, results

properties, etc.) at any time from within the Test Options in Blackboard.


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While you can print tests from within Blackboard Learn, you have no control over what they look like on

paper, and often only part of the test will print. To print a much nicer-looking test, you can print from

Respondus instead.

1. Open your test file in Respondus.

Note: If your test is on Blackboard Learn and you do not have a Respondus file saved to your

computer, you can retrieve (pull down) your test questions into Respondus (to do this, follow the

instructions in the Retrieve Questions from Bb Learn section).

2. Click on the Preview &

Publish tab at the top

of the window.

3. In the navigation menu

on the left side, click

the Print Options tab.

4. Select your format

(exam, exam with

answer key, or answer

key only) and set any

other desired options,

including headers,

randomized question

order, and questions

to include.

5. Once you have selected your options, click the Print Preview button to view how your test will print.

After previewing, click the Send to Printer button to print the test.

Note: You can also save the file as a Word document by clicking the Save to File button, or

save the test as a PDF by clicking Send to Printer and using the CutePDF Printer or Adobe PDF

feature in the Print dialog box.

Printing Tests from Respondus


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If your test is on Blackboard Learn and you do not have a Respondus file saved to your computer, you

can retrieve (pull down) your test questions into Respondus.

1. Open the Respondus software on your computer and open your test file.

2. Click on the Preview & Publish tab at the top of the window.

3. In the navigation menu on the left side, click the Retrieve Question tab, then click the Retrieve

Questions button to launch the wizard.

4. In the Retrieve Questions Wizard, select your Blackboard server from the drop-down menu. If you

don’t have a server set up, follow Steps 5-7 in the instructions for Publishing Tests from Respondus

to Bb Learn (page 5 of this document). Then click Next.

5. Fill out the form as follows:

a. Select the desired course

from the drop-down menu.

b. Select the test you want to

retrieve from the Exam drop-

down menu.

c. Type in the name of the file

for Respondus to save.

d. Click Next.

You can now edit your test in Respondus, print a copy, or publish it to another course.

Retrieving Questions from Bb Learn

respondus software creating tests in respondus · one feature that respondus offers is importing...

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