Faculty Guides and Documentation

Importing and Publishing a Test or Survey Using Respondus

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Respondus allows instructors to author or import tests and surveys from Word documents in Blackboard.  Using Respondus is a more efficient method than manually building tests and surveys within Blackboard.  This guide will demonstrate how to import a Word document into Respondus, and use Respondus to publish your test to Blackboard

Launching Respondus

Launching Respondus

Launch Respondus.  Once Respondus has opened, click on the Import Questions to begin importing your test.

Importing Questions

Importing Questions
  1. Select the type of file you wish to import. (e.g. .doc or .docx)
  2. Click Browse to locate the file you wish to import on your computer
  3. Select Create a new document, and enter a filename in the space to the right
  4. Select to import your document as an exam or survey file. (survey files will ignore correct answer designations)
  5. Check the box here to use question stem numberings (e.g. ch1-) and enter the stem in the space to the right.
  6. Click Preview.  Respondus will import the question, and the questions and any import errors will appear at the bottom. (if you do not use question stems, you may get the following error message: The following questions contain the same question title. This error message can be ignored)
  7. When the questions have been imported, click Finish to continue setting up the test.

Editing Questions

Editing Questions

Once you have imported your questions, you can now use the Edit feature to add additional questions or make changes to existing questions.  If you do not wish to make any changes, continue onto the next step.  For more information on editing questions in Respondus, please refer to the guide on editing questions.

Editing a Question

This image shows how to edit a Multiple Choice question. Different types of questions have different appearances and steps.

  1. Title of Question: To edit a question title, enter the new value in the field labeled Title of Question
  2. Question Wording: To modify the question wording, make the desired edits in the Question Wording field. You can check the Randomize Answers check box to randomize the answer choices between students.
  3. Answers: Enter the answer choices in the requisite boxes. You can click the General Feedback button to allow correct and incorrect feedback for the question.
  4. Select Correct Answer: Use the dropdown menu to indicate which answer option is the correct option. You can also change the point value in the requisite field.
  5. Click Save Changes to update your question.
Creating a New Question

This image shows how to edit a Multiple Choice question. Different types of questions have different appearances and steps.

  1. Select the type of question you wish to create from the menu on the left.
  2. Title of Question: To add a question title, enter the new value in the field labeled Title of Question
  3. Question Wording: Type your question in the Question Wording field. You can check the Randomize Answers check box to randomize the answer choices between students.
  4. Answers: Enter the answer choices in the requisite boxes. You can click the General Feedback button to allow correct and incorrect feedback for the question.
  5. Select Correct Answer: Use the dropdown menu to indicate which answer option is the correct option. You can also change the point value in the requisite field.
  6. Click Add to End of List to add the question at the end of the test.
  7. Click Insert into List to choose where you would like to add the question.

Inserting a Question

If you choose to insert a question in the list, a dialog box will appear asking you where in the list you would like to add the question. Enter the desired value and click the OK button to add the question.

Editing Test Settings (Optional)

Editing the test settings in Respondus is optional. You can skip this step if you wish to edit the exam settings in Blackboard

Adding Test Settings

Respondus allows instructors to select which test settings they wish to add to the test.  More detailed information is available in "Setting up Question Sets in Respondus" and in "Setting up Test Settings in Respondus."

  1. Click on Random Blocks to set up question sets within the test
  2. Click on Availability to change the availability dates and times of the test
  3. Click on Other Settings to change how the test appears to students.

Previewing the Test, Part 1

Previewing the Test, Part 1

The next step is to preview the test.  It is recommended to preview the test to verify that there are not any errors with the test

  1. Click on the Preview and Publish tab at the top.
  2. Select Preview from the left.
  3. Click on the button labeled Preview the File.  This will launch the test preview.

Previewing the Test, Part 2

Previewing the Test, Part 2

You will now see how the question would appear to students online.  You are able to view the question text, the answer choices, the correct answers and feedback.

  1. Use the Previous and Next buttons to move between questions, or click the Go button to go to a specific question.
  2. Click Modify Item to edit the item and make changes.
  3. When you are finished, click X button in the upper right corner to exit the preview.

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 1

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 1

After you have previewed the questions and made any corrections, the test is now ready to be published to Blackboard

  1. On the left, click the Publish to Blackboard tab.
  2. Click the Publish Wizard button

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 2

Note: If you are using Respondus test authoring for the first time after installing, you will need to connect it to the Blackboard server.

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 2
  1. Select whether to publish to a single course or publish to multiple courses.
  2. Select the Blackboard server to publish to.
  3. When finished, click the Next button at the bottom.

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 3

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 3
  1. Select the course you wish to publish the exam to
  2. To publish the test as an exam in Blackboard select the Create New Exam option
  3. To publish the questions as a pool in Blackboard to reuse questions later, choose Create New Pool
  4. Leave the options checked by default
  5. When finished, select the Next button at the bottom.

If the instructor is using Ultra Course View (UCV) please skip to Publishing to Blackboard UCV

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 4

Publishing to Blackboard, Part 4

Select the content area you wish to publish the exam to and click Next at the bottom of the screen.

Confirmation

Confirmation

Respondus will now show the status of the publish operation.  When the process is completed, click Finish at the bottom of the screen.

Publishing to Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV)

Image of publishing exam

When publishing to UCV instructors will need to deselect Link Exam to Content Area and make available.

Previous Article Formatting a Word Document for Importing Questions into Respondus
Next Article Adding Question Sets in Respondus

Respondus 4.x Test Authoring

Respondus Introduction and Setup 4
Creating and Importing Tests and Surveys using Respondus 5
Retrieving Questions and Data Using Respondus 2

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