MimeoQuiz lets you build a Blackboard assessment as a series of simple-to-create, text-based assessment questions. Instead of having to enter questions one-by-one using Blackboard's web-based editor, you can use MimeoQuiz to type out your entire assessment all at once. Once you're done, MimeoQuiz generates a special quiz file you can upload to your Blackboard server. BlackBoard will read this quiz file and create your entire quiz in a single step!
MimeoQuiz can save you a great deal of time, especially when you're building a long assessment or when Blackboard is running slowly.
IMPORTANT: MimeoQuiz relies on Blackboard's "Upload Questions" functionality, which can be disabled on an institution-by-institution basis. Check with your school's Blackboard support representative if you're not sure whether this functionality is enabled for your institution.
MimeoQuiz uses a simple, human-friendly format for building Blackboard assessments.
If you are comfortable typing up a printable quiz in a word processor, you can use MimeoQuiz.
The following is an example of a simple MimeoQuiz assessment with two multiple-choice questions:
Some things to note:
<em> HTML tag to demonstrate how to use basic HTML formatting.We'll go into greater detail on these topics below.
Blackboard assessments are, at root, a series of questions. MimeoQuiz uses a simple text-based format to quickly and easily create each assessment question.
A simple MimeoQuiz assessment question looks like this:
Assessment questions follow a simple, 3-part format.
All questions must begin with a question type block-code.
The question type block-codes is a special code that indicates what type of question is being asked. A question block-code is a two or three letter code surrounded in square brackets, placed on its own line at the beginning of a question.
Question block-codes include [MC] for multiple-choice questions, [FIB] for fill-in-the-blank questions, and [ESS] for essay questions. A full list of supported question types and their block-codes is available later in this help document. Each question must use one of the question-type block codes defined in this document; you cannot create your own question type block-codes.
Question text is the text of the question you want the student to answer. You may use basic HTML formatting in your question text.
The role of the response text section will vary from question type to question type. Some of the most common scenarios include:
When a question has response text, it must be separated from the question text by a line of three or more dashes:
When an assessment has two or more questions, each question must be separated by a line of three or more octothorpes:
IMPORTANT: only put question separators between questions; do not put a question separator at the beginning or end of your assessment. Putting a question separator at the beginning or end of your assessment will generate an error.
An automatically-graded question that presents students with multiple answer options. Students must choose one answer option to complete the question.
Question block-code: [MC]
Response text: each answer option should be entered on its own line. All answer options should begin in one of two ways:
()(*)Notes: Multiple choice questions can have more than one correct answer, but the student will only be allowed to select a single answer option.
Example question:
The same as a multiple choice question, except students may select any number of answer options to complete the question.
Question block-code: [MA]
Response text: each answer option should be entered on its own line. All answer options should begin in one of two ways:
()(*)Notes: Multiple answer questions can have more than one correct answer, and the student will be allowed to select as many answer options as they would like.
Example question:
An automatically-graded true-false question.
Question block-code: [TF]
Response text: indicates the correct answer. Must be either true or false.
Example question:
A manually-graded question that presents students with a free-form text entry answer space.
Question block-code: [ESS]
Response text: optional, will appear as a writing prompt in the answer space.
Example question:
Similar to an essay question, but only a small, single-line answer space is provided.
Question block-code: [SR]
Response text: optional, will appear as a writing prompt in the answer space.
Example question:
An automatically-graded question where students must fill-in-the-blank with their own typed answer.
Question block-code: [FIB]
Response text: any number of correct answers to the question. Each correct answer must be on its own line.
Example question:
A manually-graded question where students attach and upload a file that contains their answer.
Question block-code: [FIL]
Response text: Not supported on this question type.
Example question:
A question where students are asked to provide a response on a Likert scale (strongly/somewhat agree/disagree.)
Question block-code: [OP]
Response text: Not supported on this question type. Students are automatically provided with a Likert scale.
Example question:
An automatically-graded question where students are asked to place the provided answer options in the correct order.
Question block-code: [ORD]
Response text: The correctly-ordered answer options to be presented. Each answer option should be provided on its own line. Answer options are automatically shuffled when presented to the student.
Example question: