CEITL @ Zane State College

Blackboard 9.1 SP6 Timed Test Bug

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:19:00 -0800

If you have ever given a timed test in Blackboard, you probably know that an attempt that exceeds the time limit is indicated by a green box with an exclamation point. Service Pack 6 has introduced the option to auto-submit tests when the time expires as well as a new bug, described below.

The relevant settings for this test are: timed, yes; force completion, off; auto-submit, off.

As the student works on the test, the timer is displayed at the top of the page. When time expires, a pop-up message appears. As long as auto-submit is off, the student has the option of either submitting the test (by clicking OK) or continuing the test in excess of the allotted time (by clicking Cancel). Any additional time spent taking the test after clicking Cancel will be recorded by Blackboard and shown in the attempt details. Note that the student is prohibited from answering questions and then clicking OK; once the pop-up dialog appears, it must be dismissed before the test will take additional input.

Even if the student clicks OK to submit the test when the time expires, Blackboard will consider the attempt to have exceeded the time limit. The instructor will see the green box for the attempt in the grade center. When looking at the details of the attempt, Blackboard will report that it took 30 minutes out of 30 minutes, for example. This can be confusing because we would expect to see that the attempt took longer than the time allowed. This is the bug. To correct this, the instructor will have to view the attempt and submit it. Be sure to look at the test information to verify whether the student actually exceeded the time limit.

Note that if the student does not click OK right away to submit the test, the timer continues to run. You should make students aware of this.

Recall that the recommendation is to turn off force-completion for tests (yes, even for timed tests). If you absolutely do not want students to exceed the time limit on a test, you should turn on the auto-submit feature.

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CEITL @ Zane State College

Blackboard 9.1 SP6 Timed Test Bug

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