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Want to Build a Test Pool in Bb?

Tests/quizzes can be created and administered in Blackboard using test pools. So what are Test Pools? Blackboard defines pools as: sets of questions that can be added to any Test or Survey. Pools are useful for storing questions and reusing them in more than one Test or Survey.

It may be helpful to think of a test pool as a bag of marbles, where the bag of marbles is the pool and the marbles are the questions. Tests can be created to use all of the questions in the pool or you can ask the system to "reach" in and select random ones for each student.

There are a number of ways to add test pools into Blackboard for your testing use; in this training, we will review how to build the pool directly in Blackboard.

Step 1- Access the Tests, Surveys, and Pools tool:

Login to the course at

In the navigation menu, expand the Control Panel and choose Course Tools, then scroll down.Choose Course Tools

Click on Tests, Surveys, and Pools.Choose Tests, Surveys, and Pools

Step 2- Choose the Pools option:

To build a pool directly in Blackboard, click Build Pool. Build Pool button in Blackboard

The pool directions and instructions are optional, but the pool must be named.

Click Submit when you are finished to open the Pool Canvas and create the questions.

Step 3- Create Your Questions:

Pool Canvas page will open with options to Create Question, Reuse Question, or Upload Question. Click the Create Question button opening a dropdown menu of question types.Use Create Question to write your own questionSelect the question type you want to create. There are many questions types you can choose. If you have questions about how to set up a particular type of question, please email us: OIR@wichita.edu. This training will go over the most common types of questions: Multiple Choice, True/False, Fill-in-the-blank, and essay/short answer.

Multiple Choice Questions

Under the question heading, Enter an optional Question Title. Then Enter the question text into the Text box.Arrow pointing at a note that indicates asterisks are required info and a red box surrounds the Question Text box which is required

Adjust the question Options in the Options section. You can change how the answer choices appear (numbers, letters, vertically, or horizontally); if learners are able to receive partial credit (mostly for multiple answer question types); and choose for answer options to be displayed in a random order.Adjust the question optionsNote: If you choose for answers to display in a random order, please ensure that the answer options do not include order-dependent choices, such as "Both A and B," "Both A and C,"...etc. as these may lead to confusion for students.

Next input the Answers. Each answer option should be entered into it's own text box. Blackboard will default to provide 4 answer text boxes. You can change the Number of Answers to increase the answer options, or you can use the Remove button to subtract the number of possible answers.Input the answer optionsFinally, select the radio button to the left of the correct answer. Otherwise, Answer 1 will be selected by default.Select the correct answer using the radio buttonThe Feedback section allows for a response to students for both the correct and incorrect answer.red arrows pointing at separate text boxes for feedback for correct and incorrect answersSelect Cancel, Submit and Create Another, or Submit. If you use the Submit and Create Another option, Blackboard will open a clean creation page of the same type you have just saved. To create a different type of question or if you do not want to create any additional questions, click Submit and proceed to next steps.Submit, Cancel, and Submit and Create Another Question Buttons

True/False Questions

Under the question heading, Enter an optional Question Title. Then Enter the question text into the Text box.Arrow pointing at a note that indicates asterisks are required info and a red box surrounds the Question Text box which is requiredUnder the Options section, you can change answer orientation display between vertical and horizontal using the dropdown arrow.Adjust the answer orientation using the dropdownSelect the radio button to the left of the correct answer. Otherwise, "True" will be selected by default.Use the radio button to select the correct answerThe Feedback section allows for a response to students for both the correct and incorrect answer.Red arrows pointing at feedback text boxed for incorrect and correct answersSelect Cancel, Submit and Create Another, or Submit. If you use the Submit and Create Another option, Blackboard will open a clean creation page of the same type you have just saved. To create a different type of question or if you do not want to create any additional questions, click Submit and proceed to next steps.Submit, Cancel, and Submit and Create Another Question Buttons

Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

Under the question heading, Enter an optional Question Title. Then Enter the question text into the Text box.

Arrow pointing at a note that indicates asterisks are required info and a red box surrounds the Question Text box which is requiredNext, use the answer text box to type in the accepted answer. You can choose to list the answer as case sensitive using the selection box to the right if desired. Text box to enter a single correct answer to a fill in the blank question

If you will accept multiple answers, you will need to add "answers" options using the dropdown arrow and provide one acceptable answer per box.Two text boxes demonstrating one answer per box for fill in the blank testsThe Feedback section allows for a response to students for both the correct and incorrect answer.Text box to provide feedback for a test questionSelect Cancel, Submit and Create Another, or Submit. If you use the Submit and Create Another option, Blackboard will open a clean creation page of the same type you have just saved. To create a different type of question or if you do not want to create any additional questions, click Submit and proceed to next steps.Submit, Cancel, and Submit and Create Another Question Buttons

Matching Questions

Under the question heading, Enter an optional Question Title. Then Enter the question text into the Text box. This information provides instructions to students on how they should match the pairs.

Image of question text box for creating a question in Blackboard tests

Next, indicate whether partial credit is acceptable--this would mean partial points can be earned for correctly matching only some of the pairs.

Matching question partial credit and display options

Then, create your matching pairs using the "question" and "answer" text boxes. 

Question and Answer text boxes for matching type question in Bb

Please note, that you will have the chance to reuse an "answer" for other pairs if needed

Image of option to reuse an answer previously provided in the matching question creation page in Blackboard

When you are finished creating question and answer pairs, you can also add any "unmatched" answer options you would like. These answer options would display to students as potential answer choices, but are incorrect as they do not have a match.Image showing the "unmatched answer options" in the matching question creation page in blackboard

Be sure to also select the order you would like answers to populate. You can choose to display answer options in order or in a random order.Answer order display options in matching question creation page in Blackboard

The Feedback section allows for a response to students for both the correct and incorrect answer.Text box to provide feedback for a test questionFinally, select Cancel, Submit and Create Another, or Submit. If you use the Submit and Create Another option, Blackboard will open a clean creation page of the same type you have just saved. To create a different type of question or if you do not want to create any additional questions, click Submit and proceed to next steps.Submit, Cancel, and Submit and Create Another Question Buttons

Essay/Short Answer Questions

Under the question heading, Enter an optional Question Title. Then Enter the question text into the Text box.Arrow pointing at a note that indicates asterisks are required info and a red box surrounds the Question Text box which is required*Note: If you are creating a Short Answer question, you can also change how many rows display for students to begin writing their response.

If you would like to add an example of a correct response, you can do so in the Answers area. It is not required to provide an example answer.Text box for example correct answer for essay and short answer questionsNext, you can also associate a Rubric to the question to provide grading criteria information to students and to aid in the grading process.Button to add or associate a rubric to an essay or short answer questionFinally, provide instructor feedback or select Cancel, Submit and Create Another, or Submit. If you use the Submit and Create Another option, Blackboard will open a clean creation page of the same type you have just saved. To create a different type of question or if you do not want to create any additional questions, click Submit and proceed to next steps.Submit, Cancel, and Submit and Create Another Question Buttons

Step 4- Final Review and Ready to Add to a Test

When you are finished creating questions be sure to review them to ensure that all questions were created correctly.

You do not need to worry about adjusting points at this stage, as you will be asked to adjust them during the test creation stage as well. Once all questions have been added and reviewed, you are now ready to add the new pool into a test.