Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
Respondus Software
While you can create assessment questions directly in Blackboard, it is often much more efficient to use
Respondus software to create your exams offline, then upload them directly into your Blackboard
course. Kent State University has a campus-wide license for Respondus, which may be downloaded
and installed on your work and/or home computer.
Create Tests | Import Tests from Word | Publish Tests to Bb | Print Tests | Retrieve Questions From Bb
Creating Tests in Respondus
1. Open the Respondus
software on your
computer and begin on
the Start tab.
2. Set Current Personality
to “Blackboard 7.x - 9.x.”
3. Click the Create button
to create a new exam.
4. Enter a title and a brief
description for the
exam, then click OK.
Note: You will have
moved automatically
from the Start tab to the Edit tab (at the top
of the window). The Edit tab is where you
must go to add, edit, or delete questions
for your assessment.
Don’t forget to save your Respondus test file often by clicking the Save button in the top
toolbar!
Katie Baer
Educational Technology Designer
Kent State University at Stark
February 2015
Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
Adding Questions to Your Assessment
1. Choose the type of question you want to create from the left-side menu in
Respondus (multiple choice, true/false, matching, short answer, etc.).
2. Once you select the type of question, you can fill in the form to the right with
the question title, question text, possible answers, point value, and
miscellaneous settings based on question type.
Note: These are all the same fields and options available when you create an
assessment within
Blackboard Learn;
however, the forms in
Respondus make it
much easier to enter
question
information, indicate
correct answer, and
set point values—all
on one screen with
no refreshing of the
page.
3. When you are
finished creating
your question, click
the Add to End of
List button to add it to your assessment. Your question will now appear in the Question List
in the bottom pane of the window.
4. Repeat Steps 1-3 to create all of your questions in Respondus.
Editing, Previewing, Moving, and Deleting Questions in Your Respondus Assessment
In Respondus, all your options for individual questions are easily accessed from one menu:
1. Locate the question
in the Question List
pane at the bottom of
the window.
2. Click the drop-down arrow next to the question and select the desired
option, such as Edit, Preview, Delete, etc. Note: If you edit a question, be sure
to click the Save Changes button on the question form.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
Importing Tests from Word into Respondus
One feature that Respondus offers is importing tests from a Word document into Respondus.
Blackboard Learn does not currently offer this feature, so the only way to import a Word document is to
go through Respondus first.
1. Open your test file in Word and make sure it is formatted precisely.
Click here to view formatting for importing questions into Respondus
2. Save your file.
3. Open the Respondus software on your computer and begin on the Start tab.
4. Set Current Personality to “Blackboard 7.x - 9.x.”
5. Click the Import Questions button to import questions from a Word document.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
6. Complete the steps in the form as follows:
a. Choose the type of file
from the drop-down menu.
b. Click the Browse button
and locate the desired file.
c. Select Create a new
document and type in a
name. This is the
Respondus file’s name,
not the name that will
appear in Blackboard.
d. Click the Preview button
to preview how your Word
document will import into
Respondus.
e. Check the Warnings
and Notes at the bottom of
the dialog box to see if
there were any issues with
the formatting. If so, you
can either import anyway
and make adjustments in
Respondus, or you can fix
it in your Word document and restart the import process.
f. Click Finish to complete the import process. Your Word document will be converted to a
Respondus file and you will be able to view, edit, and publish your test to Blackboard Learn.
Setting Test Options in Respondus
It is recommended you set the test options within Blackboard Learn after uploading your exam rather
than setting the options in Respondus.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
Publishing Tests from Respondus to Bb Learn
Once you are finished creating your assessment and adding questions, you can upload (or publish) your
assessment from Respondus to Blackboard by using the Respondus Publish Wizard.
1. Open the Respondus software on your computer and open your test file.
2. Click on the Preview & Publish tab at the top of the window.
3. In the navigation menu on the left side, click the Publish to Blackboard button, then click the Publish
Wizard button.
4. Set the Type of Publish to
Publish to a single course.
5. Click the drop-down arrow next
to Blackboard Server and select
Add new server.
Note: You will only need to
configure your server once on
your own computer — next
time you can select your server
name from that drop-down list.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
6. A new dialog box will pop up. Select
Yes, check for preconfigured server
settings, then click Next.
7. Enter a name for the server (e.g. Katie’s
Bb). Then enter your FlashLine
username (without the @kent.edu)
and password. Click Next to run the
connection test.
8. Once the connection test completes
successfully, click the Next button.
Then click Finish to exit the wizard.
9. The dialog box will close and you
will be returned to the previous screen.
Your server name should now appear
as the selected server. Click Next.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
10. Complete the next form as follows:
a. All of your courses will
appear in the Group or Section
drop-down menu. Select the
course to which you want to
upload the assessment.
b. Select the bubble next to
Create New Exam. Type in the
desired exam name.
c. Unselect the boxes for all
additional options.
d. Click Next to begin publishing
your assessment to your
Blackboard Learn course.
11. You will now see a new window that
details the progress of uploading
your assessment. When you see
that it says Completed successfully,
click Finish.
You should now see your exam in the
Tests, Surveys, and Pools area when
you log into your Blackboard Learn
course
You will still need to deploy the test to
make it available to students.
You can then set your test options on
the exam properties page (including
date and time settings, time limits, results
properties, etc.) at any time from within the Test Options in Blackboard.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
Printing Tests from Respondus
While you can print tests from within Blackboard Learn, you have no control over what they look like on
paper, and often only part of the test will print. To print a much nicer-looking test, you can print from
Respondus instead.
1. Open your test file in Respondus.
Note: If your test is on Blackboard Learn and you do not have a Respondus file saved to your
computer, you can retrieve (pull down) your test questions into Respondus (to do this, follow the
instructions in the Retrieve Questions from Bb Learn section).
2. Click on the Preview &
Publish tab at the top
of the window.
3. In the navigation menu
on the left side, click
the Print Options tab.
4. Select your format
(exam, exam with
answer key, or answer
key only) and set any
other desired options,
including headers,
randomized question
order, and questions
to include.
5. Once you have selected your options, click the Print Preview button to view how your test will print.
After previewing, click the Send to Printer button to print the test.
Note: You can also save the file as a Word document by clicking the Save to File button, or
save the test as a PDF by clicking Send to Printer and using the CutePDF Printer or Adobe PDF
feature in the Print dialog box.
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Bb Learn 9.1 & Respondus 4.0
Retrieving Questions from Bb Learn
If your test is on Blackboard Learn and you do not have a Respondus file saved to your computer, you
can retrieve (pull down) your test questions into Respondus.
1. Open the Respondus software on your computer and open your test file.
2. Click on the Preview & Publish tab at the top of the window.
3. In the navigation menu on the left side, click the Retrieve Question tab, then click the Retrieve
Questions button to launch the wizard.
4. In the Retrieve Questions Wizard, select your Blackboard server from the drop-down menu. If you
don’t have a server set up, follow Steps 5-7 in the instructions for Publishing Tests from Respondus
to Bb Learn (page 5 of this document). Then click Next.
5. Fill out the form as follows:
a. Select the desired course
from the drop-down menu.
b. Select the test you want to
retrieve from the Exam dropdown menu.
c. Type in the name of the file
for Respondus to save.
d. Click Next.
You can now edit your test in Respondus, print a copy, or publish it to another course.
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