August 9

5 WAYS TO SAVE TIME WITH RESPONDUS 4.0

Respondus 4.0 News can be found here.

Instructors use Respondus 4.0 because it saves them time preparing online tests. Lots of time. Here are just five ways Respondus 4.0 accomplishes that.

1. Import Wizard
The feature with the greatest time-saving potential is the Import Wizard. Questions for an entire exam can be imported with Respondus 4.0 in minutes. For example, an exam already in MS Word format can be imported with images, equations, tables, and most types of formatting. This article explains how it works: Importing Questions from MS Word with Respondus 4

2. Respondus Test Bank Network
Publisher test banks typically include thousands of questions for a textbook, but using the questions to create online exams can be cumbersome — unless you use Respondus 4.0. Over 25 of the leading textbook publishers in higher education make their test banks available from the Respondus Test Bank Network. These ready-to-use questions make creating an online exam a breeze with Respondus 4.0. Learn more by watching this video: Using Publisher Test Banks with Respondus 4.0

3. Publish Wizard
The Publish Wizard is part of the “magic” of Respondus 4.0. Once an exam is created, it takes less than a minute to publish an assessment to one or more courses in a Learning Management System. When an institution has a campus-wide license, administrators can input “preconfigured server settings” so instructors only have to enter their user name and password for the LMS. This video shows how it can be set up: Using Preconfigured Server Settings

4. Moving Exams Between Learning Systems
Respondus 4.0 makes it easy to move exams from one learning system to another. This is useful when more than one LMS is used at an institution, or when an instructor moves to an institution using a different learning system.  Simply “retrieve” the original exam using Respondus 4.0 and then “publish” it to the new system. The entire process takes just a few minutes, as shown in this video: Moving Assessments Between Two Learning Systems

5. Working Offline
Sure, you usually have access to an Internet connection. But when you don’t, it’s nice to be able to get work done with Respondus 4.0 because most tasks can be done offline. The client-based interface for Respondus 4.0 is also faster than web-based applications because you don’t have to wait for web pages to load.

A few minutes here, a few hours there … it all adds up to tremendous time savings with Respondus 4.0. You won’t find a faster way to create online test.

(This post taken from Respondus.com Blog.)

Category: Course Design, How Does It Work?, Product Watch | LEAVE A COMMENT
June 22

Respondus Assessment Tool

Respondus is a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to D2L Brightspace. Exams are created offline directly in the software, then quickly uploaded to your specific D2L course. This time-saver tool is available to St. Cloud State faculty, so if you wish to use it let us know and we will instal it and give you a quick tutorial on how to use it.

Here, I will list the major features and provide 5 minute video tutorials for creating your quizzes and publishing them to your D2L course.

Authoring Features

  • Create exams and assessments offline using a Windows interface
  • Supports up to 15 question types, including calculated and algorithmic formats
  • Import questions from MS Word (including embedded images), rich-text, QTI, and tab/comma delimited formats
  • Access to thousands of Respondus-compatible publisher test banks – FREE to instructors who adopt a participating textbook

Preview, Publish and Printing Features

  • Preview questions before publishing them to D2L
  • Publish exams and assessments directly to an online course (media files are automatically uploaded)
  • Determine point values and exam settings offline
  • Print exams/surveys directly from Respondus, or save files to MS Word or rich-text format

Retrieval and Reporting Features

  • Retrieve exams from the leading learning platforms, complete with media files*
  • Retrieve custom reports, such as student scores, summary statistics, and answer distributions*
  • Download answer databases for quizzes or surveys and save them in an Excel-compatible format*
  • Archive and restore exam/survey projects (including media content) with one click — ideal for providing a colleague with a ready-to-use exam
Category: Product Watch, Spotlight on Ed Tech | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 12

D2L Q&A: Understanding Quiz Question Statistics

MnSCU D2L Brightspace Service DeskHere is another useful tip for instructors on how to get the statistics on their quiz questions.

Q: What statistics are available for quiz questions in a D2L Brightspace course?

A: Learn about quiz statistics and common questions at FAQ #1601.

Below is a brief overview in tables taken from the MnSCU D2L Brightspace Service Desk:

Statistics by Question Type and Question Collection:

Are statistics available for:

Question Type Average Grade Standard Deviation Discrimination Index Point Biserial
T/F Yes Yes Yes Yes*
M/C Yes Yes Yes Yes*
M/S Yes Yes Yes No
Matching Yes Yes Yes No
Ordering Yes Yes Yes No
LA Yes Yes Yes No
SA Yes Yes Yes No
MSA Yes Yes Yes No
FIB Yes Yes Yes No
2+2 Yes Yes Yes No
x10 Yes Yes Yes No

* Note: There can only be one answer worth 100%; all other answers must be worth 0%.

Are statistics available for questions:

Question Condition Average Grade Standard Deviation Discrimination Index Point Biserial
In Random Section** No No No No
In Folder Section Yes Yes Yes Yes
In Root section Yes Yes Yes Yes
Has Randomized Responses Yes Yes Yes Yes

* Note: any questions that are contained in a Random folder DO NOT produce item analysis statistics.

Category: D2L Tip of the Month, How Does It Work? | LEAVE A COMMENT