Tip #51: Copy/Paste content without including MS tags and formatting

You can copy and paste content from Microsoft Word documents into Blackboard without accidentally including Microsoft tags and formatting.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open your Microsoft Word source document as well as the editing location in Blackboard where you plan to paste it
2. Open a new blank Notepad document in Windows
   • Press the Windows Start button and then go to Programs > Accessories > Notepad
3. In Microsoft Word, highlight the text you want to paste and copy as you normally would
4. Paste the highlighted text into the blank Notepad document
5. In Notepad, use Ctrl-A and then Ctrl-C to copy the now formatting-free version of your text
6. Paste this text into the Blackboard editor as you normally would

Tip #50: Setting Partial Credit on Assessments

When creating a test, you can set some questions to allow for partial credit by following a two-step process that includes first enabling the option on a test level, and then setting the option on a question level.

Question types:
While all manually-graded questions can be assigned partial credit, only the following automatically-graded questions allow it:
· Calculated Formula
· Fill in Multiple Blanks
· Jumbled Sentence
· Matching
· Multiple Answer
· Multiple Choice
· Opinion Scale/Likert
· Ordering
· Quiz Bowl

Here’s how to do it:
Enable the option on the test level:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Test Manager.
2. Click on the Modify button to the right of the test containing the questions you plan to make partial credit. This will take you to the Test Canvas page.
3. Click on the Creation Settings link.
4. Scroll down to the Scoring subsection, and check the box correlating to “Specify partial credit options for answers”.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Submit and then OK.

Set the option on the question level:

1. Click on the Modify button to the right of the question you plan to make partial credit.
2. Scroll down to the Options subsection, and check the box correlating to “Allow Partial Credit”.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click either Submit or Next until you are able to click Submit.

Please note:
· Partial credit scoring for automatically graded questions must be set up before students have taken the test.
· If you choose to disable partial credit scoring, you must first disable the option on the question level before doing so on the test level.

Tip #49: Student self-assessments tool

You can use Blackboard’s Test tool to create student self-assessments with grades that only the student may see. This capability is useful when you want students to be able to assess their current knowledge and skill level while setting aside any fears they might have that this score will be used towards their grade.

Best practices:
· Use the test’s description to assure students that you will never have the capability to view their score for this particular self-assessment.
· Because only the student is able to view their grade and answers, use only question types that do not require manual grading. Otherwise, those questions will be left ungraded.

Here’s how to do it:
1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel and click on the Content Area where the assessment is located.
2. Click on the Modify button to the right of the assessment. This will take you to the Modify Test page.
3. Click on the Modify the Test options link.
4. Scroll down to the Self-assessment Options subsection, and check the box correlating to “Hide the score of this test from the Gradebook”.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Submit.

Please note:
· Once the “Hide the score of this test from the Gradebook” option is enabled for a test, only the student will be able to see their results for that particular assessment. Disabling the option afterwards will only result in the complete loss of their scores and answers.

· If the “Hide the score of this test from the Gradebook” option is accidentally enabled for a test, please contact us at blackboard@twu.edu before doing anything else.

Tip #48: Best Practices for Student Test Taking

A Blackboard Tip of the Week:  Best Practices for Student Test Taking

Tip:  You can help students reduce the chances of technological mishaps while taking exams by encouraging them to follow a few best practices.

Best Practices for Students Preparing to Take a Test:

• Students should view Blackboard using Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 3.5
• Students who have already updated to Internet Explorer 8 should enable Compatibility View by clicking on the Compatibility View button located to the right of the Address Bar
• Students should run a System Check at least 30 minutes before an exam
• On the TWU Blackboard system front page under the Getting Started Guide, they should click on System Check 
• Students should disable pop-up blocking in their browsers
• In Firefox, they should: 
• Go to Tools > Options > Content
• Uncheck Block pop-up windows
• Click OK
• In Internet Explorer, they should:
• Go to Tools > Pop-up Blocker
• Click on Turn Off Pop-up Blocker
• Students should close all other applications and browsers before starting their test, and not open any others for the duration of their exam session
• Students should check for possible firewall issues before choosing their test taking location—especially if they plan on taking an exam at their places of employment
• Students can make sure their test submission will not be blocked by a corporate or home firewall by submitting the Sample Exam in the Blackboard Sample Course
  1. Go to http://online.twu.edu and log in with “online” as the username and password
  2. Click on TWU Sample Course and click on Exams
  3. Take the Sample Exam (choose to “take the assessment again” if given the option)
• If, after agreeing to submit the exam, the student receives “Assessment successfully submitted” message, then there should not be a test taking firewall problem on that location’s connection

Best Practices for Students While Taking a Test:

• Students should not open any other browser window or application for the duration of their exam session
• Students should not click outside of the test—including the navigation on the left side panel in Blackboard
• Students should not click on any browser navigation such as the Back, Forward, or Home buttons
• Students should not use the scroll wheel on their mouse as this will sometimes inadvertently change answers
• Students should click the Save button every five questions to save their answers unless questions are being delivered one at a time—in which case, they will need to press save on every question
• When ready to submit, students should click the Submitbutton just once