The Experience of Using Blackboard Tests in BISC 220
By Alan Watts, Professor of Biological Sciences – April 1, 2020
My colleagues and I (4 faculty, 1 laboratory manager) teach BISC 220 (General Biology: Cell Biology and Physiology). This is a core class for students in many life sciences programs. It’s also a GE class. We started the semester with about 650 students who are taught in 4 separate sections, the biggest of which has 250 students. It also has a significant laboratory component that is organized by our lab manager with a team of TAs. Now, all of this, including the lab, is being taught online.
The course has 4 exams that are distributed more or less evenly throughout the semester, the last one of which is given during finals week. The exam format is constrained by the large class size. This means that the only fair and efficient mechanism for assessment is a 60-minute exam comprised of 50 multiple-choice questions. All students take the exam at the same time. And because of the large class size, we have a strict policy of no-make up exams.
Exam 1 was given to all students on February 14th in the usual in-person format. Exam 2 was scheduled for March 13th, which turned out to be the last day of what was originally planned as the “test” period for online teaching. Rather than postpone or cancel, we decided to offer two options for the same exam. Both of these options were offered online through Blackboard: the first on the original date, March 13th; and the second on the 27th, by which time our students were already located in many different time zones.
To administer the exam, we used the Blackboard timer option (https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Tests_Pools_Surveys/Test_and_Survey_Options). To provide students with more flexibility, we allowed 24 hour access to the exam on March 27th. After students had started, the timer option ensured they had 60 minutes to complete the test, at which point students were blocked from taking it again or changing answers. Blackboard also allows us to give extra time to students who are registered with Disability Services and Programs.
To keep things simple, and to provide a level playing field, we opted to make Exam 2 open book but with somewhat more challenging questions. We didn’t use proctoring software. We were relieved and a little surprised that the average scores only increased by about 5% from Exam 1.
Our main worries were whether there would be technical issues with students finding or launching the exam, and whether their answers would be recorded correctly. But these were unfounded. About 600 students completed the exam with no problems. The key is using the Blackboard settings correctly. (For help with Blackboard see this site: https://blackboardhelp.usc.edu/). We already had collective knowledge with administering quizzes via Blackboard, so that came in very handy.
We embarked on this endeavor with some trepidation, but our experience turned out to be much better than what we feared it may have been.
More information on tests and exams can be found here: https://blackboardhelp.usc.edu/assessments/tests-and-quizzes/