Online Assessments:SafeAssign + Tips and Pitfalls

• “Whats” and “Whys” of assessments• Assessment types• Types of test questions• Assignments• Rubrics• SafeAssign• Peer Review

Blackboard’s Assessment Features• Blackboard’s “Assessments”

o Testso Surveys

• Other Assessment Toolso Assignmentso Self and Peer Assessmentso SafeAssignmentso Links to External Publisher Assessment Tools

• Other Gradable Activitieso Discussion Forumso Journals, Blogs, Wikiso “Instructor’s Choice”

Advantages of Online Assessments

• Increase student engagement• Provide timely feedback• Location- and time-independent • Automatic score recording • Time-saving (Students and Instructors)• Inclusion of online media

Disadvantages of Online Assessment

• Students require technology• Students require technology skills• Technology problems• Impersonal• Difficulty providing assistance during a test• Integrity Issues

Uses for Online Tests

• Traditional Testing• Gather (useful) information• Assess your teaching• Pre-class preparation• Online Worksheets• Practice tests

COMMONLY-USED TYPES OF QUESTIONS

Commonly-used Types of Questions• Multiple Choice

o Students pick the single correct answer

• True/Falseo Students choose whether

a statement is true or false• Fill in the Blank

o Students must fill in a blank or blanks with the correct answers

Commonly-used Types of Questions• Matching

o Provides two columns for students to match

• Short Answer or Essayo Students type their

answers into a text boxo Only difference is the size

of the answer box• File Response

o Students can upload a file to answer the question

More Types of Test Questions

• Calculated Formulao Assigns values to variables in

an equation and asks students to calculate the answer

• Calculated Numerico Fill in the Blank question

which only accepts a numeric answer

• Hotspoto Student must click on the

correct (rectangular) area of an image

Still More Types of Test Questions

• Jumbled Sentenceo Students select the correct

order of answers from a drop down list containing all of the potential answers

• Opinion Scale / Likerto Survey-style answers based

on an ordered scale• Quiz Bowl

o Jeopardy-style “answer with a question”

• Either/Oro Fancier True/False question

which allows other dichotomous answers like agree/disagree

• Multiple Answero Students choose all

answers which are correct• Ordering

o Students must place a list in the correct order

How to Build a Test

• Manually, from scratch• Use Respondus to import from .doc files• Re-using questions

o From other testso From Pools

Test Exceptions and Feedback

Test Best Practice

• Provide a practice test in your Course• Provide Test Taking information to your class‐• Randomize the order of answers

o Don’t use “all of the above” and “none of the above” or other positional questions

• Use a mixture of question types• Structure tests with sets• Avoid large images or other large media

Academic Integrity

• Difficult to prevent students from referring to other sources

• Online tests should be viewed as open book• Steps to reduce the potential for dishonesty:

o Have students sign an academic integrity policyo Limit the time for completing the testo Use “Question Sets” and randomization to present a different

version of a test to each student o Create a follow-up assignment requiring students to apply the

knowledge they have demonstrated on a testo Proctor the online tests where you can monitor student activity

Assignments• Allows for paperless marking• A “drop box” for electronic submission• Automatic creation of Grade Center column• Drop box “closes” on or shortly after the due

date• Two kinds available

o Regular Blackboard “assignment submission area”o SafeAssignment

Grading Assignments

Grading an Assignment

• From the Grade Assignment Window:o Download submitted

documento (Use track changes?)o Enter commentso Enter Gradeo Upload marked document

Rubrics

• Clarify expectations for assignment

• Standardize marking across graders

• Improve feedback• Time-saving

Create Rubric

Grading With A Rubric

Rubrics Available…

• Assignments• SafeAssignments• Essay, Short Answer, and

File Response test questions

• Blogs and journals• Wikis• Discussion board forums

and threads

SafeAssign: The Plagiarism Detection Tool for Blackboard

SafeAssign™ is a plagiarism detection and identification service included with our Blackboard license. It helps

educators determine if plagiarism has occurred by detecting unoriginal content in student papers.

Instructors: How to Begin

• Go to a Content Page such as ‘Course Content’

• Under ‘Assessments’ choose SafeAssignment.

• Choose ‘student viewable’ = NO

How Does SafeAssign Work?

• The submitted papers are checked against SafeAssign’s databases of source material:o The Internet: comprehensive index of documents

available for public access on the Internet.o ProQuest ABI/Inform database.o Institutional document archives.o Global Reference database: papers volunteered by

students from Blackboard client institutions.• Trent students cannot contribute to the Global Database.

Sample Originality Report

Types of Submissions

• Student Submit:o A dropbox is created in Blackboardo Student may submit only one documento Paper becomes part of the Trent repository

• Direct Submit:o Instructors can submit particular papers or portions

of papers o Paper becomes part of the Trent repository

Best Practices for SafeAssign

• Do not use the ‘student viewable’ optiono greatly increase questions and anxiety for studentso report should be viewed subjectively by the

instructor• Do not use the ‘draft’ option

o draft assignments do not join the Trent Repository• Demonstrate to your students:

o what a safeAssign report showso emphasize whether or not it’s plagiarism is still

subjective

To Be Aware Of

• “Trent Respository” and the “Global Respository” hosted on Blackboard’s servers in the US o Documents are identified by code numbero Key linking code and student is held only on Trent’s

server• Trent students’ submissions cannot become part

of the Global Repository• Disabled for Trent

Peer Review

• The Blackboard Guide: http://www.trentu.ca/it/learningsystem/documents/self_peer_assessment.pdf

• Blackboard’s Help Pages: https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_10_and_SP_11/Instructor/070_Assignments/005_Self_and_Peer_Assessment

• A good quick guide from University of New South Wales: https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/blackboard-assessment

Questions

Contact Us:Web: http://www.trentu.ca/trentonlineEmail: online@trentu.ca