Exams in Blackboard

The Digital Education Office have provided two guides for managing online/remote exams using either Blackboard Tests or Blackboard Assignments (File-Upload). These guides provide recommendations based on our experience of supporting online/remote examinations. Whilst your local approach may vary, the key considerations outlined in each should be attended to in any online/remote exams.

If this is the first time you have run an online/remote exam, the Digital Education Office recommends you contact us for a consultation. We will walk you through the steps involved, advise on the support we can offer and highlight the responsibilities you will need to consider.

Before hosting an online/remote exam, you should carefully consider if this is a suitable format for your assessment. Key considerations include:

  1. Assessment security and academic integrity.
  2. The impact of the assessment format on Intended Learning Outcomes. For example, by introducing expectations such as working under time pressure, memory recall, etcetera.
  3. The provision of alternative modes of assessment and the management of reasonable adjustments, such as Alternative Exam Arrangements.
  4. The available resources to support the running of an online/remote exam.

Each of these considerations should be made prior to committing to online/remote assessments as an assessment method.

Typically, there are four phases to organising an online/remote exam using Blackboard:

  1. Consultation and planning.
  2. Preparation and implementation, including developing content.
  3. Running and ongoing administration.
  4. Managing results and evaluation.

The Digital Education Office can provide advice in the consultation and preparation phases and support you with evaluation after the assessment. Running, administering, and developing assessment content will be the responsibility of the school. The Digital Education Office does not offer responsive emergency support during an online/remote exam, but we can help you develop meaningful contingency plans you can deploy in the event high-stakes assessments are disrupted.

The guides we provide will take you through each phase of this process, providing information and highlighting considerations and decisions you will need to make.

Blackboard Test Exams

Blackboard Tests provides the main system of online summative and formative tests, online/remote and Computer-Based Exams using Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and other question types. In this type of assessment, students answer questions directly in Blackboard.

This assessment type is best for:

  • More definitive or absolute questions, where a ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ answer can be clearly expressed.
  • Multiple Choice Questions.

This assessment type allows for:

  • Automated marking (on most question types).
  • Visual countdown timers for students, adjusted for individual AEA needs.
  • Auto-save capability in case of a lost connection.
  • Automated submission when the timer has elapsed.
  • Immediate and automated feedback for correct and incorrect responses (on some question types).
  • In-system and automated question analysis after the exam is complete.

Read our Managing Blackboard Test Exam guide for further considerations on using Blackboard Tests for exams. For step-by-step instructions on how to create Blackboard exams, please refer to our Blackboard Tests Workflow.

File-Upload Exams (using Blackboard Assignments)

In a file-upload exam, students download a question paper from, and then upload their answers to, Blackboard. This means that rather than working in Blackboard directly, students produce their answers in other software, such as Microsoft Word.

This assessment type is best for:

  • More exploratory, interpretive exams, such as short essay or evaluation questions.
  • Questions that require the student to interpret and then produce a response to a brief or provocation.
  • Assessments where the student is required to provide uploaded evidence of activities conducted offline or on other software/systems.
  • Assessments where the student is required to upload several files.

This assessment type allows for:

  • ‘Best-of’ marking, where students respond to several questions via several uploads but are only scored on their best responses.
  • Combined scoring, where students respond to several questions via several uploads, each marked individually and then calculated as one score.
  • Offline marking, where markers can download student responses from Blackboard to mark in other software, such as MS Word.
  • Single or multiple file upload.

Read our Blackboard File-Upload Exams guidance for further considerations on using Blackboard Assignments for download/upload exams. For step-by-step instructions on how to create Blackboard Assignments, please refer to Using Blackboard for online submissions and marking, selecting between the Blackboard workflows provided.

Digital Education Office Support

Typically, the DEO will:

  1. Advise on effective practice.
  2. Advise on effective question design.
  3. Aid in identifying and analysing needs in relation to an assessment’s structure.
  4. Highlight system limitations and suggest adaptations to practice, where required.
  5. Provide guidance on software settings and configuration, including accessibility and security.
  6. Suggest staffing needs and roles that should be considered depending on the scale and complexity of the exam.
  7. Highlight any relevant University regulations.
  8. Prepare and deliver training for administrative and academic staff within the school on request.
  9. Provide generic support materials that the school can adapt if required. 
  10. Respond to non-urgent queries from staff via the DEO helpdesk.
  11. Advise on post-assessment evaluation and offer consultation on possible improvements.

We recommend that staff sign up to the DEO blog to ensure they receive immediate notifications of any suspected issues.

School Responsibilities

These may vary depending on the nature of the assessment, but school responsibilities will typically include:

  1. Identifying the pedagogic rationale for an online exam.
  2. Considering and mitigating against risks of academic misconduct.
  3. Identifying the academic and administrative lead(s) for the assessment.
  4. Considering and arranging broader staffing needs, such as marking allocation, in-assessment support and invigilation.
  5. Identify who may need training, including those who will devise, plan and implement assessments, and those who will administer them.
  6. Communicate with staff and students regarding the assessment.
  7. Create questions or the assessment paper and input or upload these and any other supporting materials.
  8. Check questions and materials, ensuring they meet accessibility, pedagogic, and disciplinary standards.
  9. Identify and make arrangements for students with special requirements, such as Alternative Exam Arrangements (AEAs) or specific access needs. Liaise with Education Services regarding timetabling and Disability Services regarding AEAs.
  10. Prepare contingency plans (including an offline, paper version of the assessment if required). The DEO can support with this planning.
  11. Run the exam, including assisting students, managing invigilation, and implementing contingency plans if needed.
  12. Provide or organise first-line support to students in the event of any difficulties during the assessment.
  13. Manage logistics, such as ensuring students have adequate personal or remote technologies to complete the assessment fairly, liaising with IT Services where necessary.
  14. Arrange invigilation, liaising with the Exams Office.
  15. Mark any questions not auto-marked, export results and generate reports as required.
  16. Liaise with external examiners, including providing access to the system if needed and where possible.
  17. Collect any staff or student feedback as appropriate.