1. Create Questions in the Question Library
  2. Question Types Available in Brightspace
  3. Import Questions in a CSV File
  4. Creating a Self Assessment
  5. Preview your Self Assessment
  6. Add a Self Assessment to a Module
  7. Edit Questions in an Existing Self Assessment

The Self assessment tool can help students evaluate their contributions and performance for individual or group work. Self-assessments can encourage student involvement and responsibility, as well as provide an opportunity for reflection. Self assessments are often phrased using “I” statements and you can include hints for students to clarify the meaning of individual questions or statements. 

NOTE: Self-assessments in Brightspace cannot be evaluated or tracked. They are meant to provide students with in-the-moment feedback or hints as they are going through the assessment. The answers that a student chooses on a self assessment are not visible to either the student or the instructor once the assessment is completed. 

Create Questions in the Question Library

  1. Log into Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
  2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
    • Select the course tile under the My Courses widget.
    • Select the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
  3. In the navbar, select Course Admin.
    Screenshot of Brightspace navbar with red callout around Course Admin.
  4. Under Assessment, select Self Assessments.Screenshot of the Assessments section with red callout around Self Assessments.
  5. Select the Question Library tab.       Screenshot of Self Assessments page with red callout around the Question Library tab.
  6. Select New to add new questions manually from the dropdown menu (to Import questions select links to Upload a File as a csv file or by Browsing Existing Questions) [Link these to the sections below]
  7. Type the question and the answer options, as required by the question type.
  8. Select Save and New to add another question or Save and Copy to copy the question (if only minor changes are required, such as changing the question or statement but using the same answer options). Continue until all questions have been added.
  9. Select Done Editing Questions.

Question Types Available in Brightspace

→Checkout D2L’s instructions and video tutorials for each specific question type

The table below is copied with expressed permission from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Question Type Description Benefits Challenges Tips
True/False (T/F) True or false is a type of question where the question-creator indicates whether a statement is truthful or not. Automatically graded. Easy to create simple low level recall questions. Learners have a chance of guessing the correct answer. Difficult to create challenging questions. Without e-proctoring, learners could cheat.

Works best if you create a Question Pool by selecting a sub-set of questions from the Question Library.
[:30]
Multiple Choice (MCQ) Multiple choice questions give users multiple possible answers to a question and asks them to select the correct or best answer Automatically graded. Easy to create simple low level recall questions.  Options can be randomized. Difficult to create challenge questions. Without e-proctoring, learners could cheat.

NOTE: If using “All of the Above” or “None of the Above” as options, the options should not be randomized.

 Works best if you create a Question Pool by selecting a sub-set of questions from the Question Library.
[:30]
Multi-Select (MS) Multi-select is a type of question where the user selects one or more correct answers from a group of possible answers. Automatically graded. Easy to create simple low level recall questions. Can enable students to receive partial marks. Options can be randomized. Difficult to create challenge questions. Without e-proctoring, learners could cheat.

Works best if you use a question pool in the library. Better than multiple choice for higher order items.
[1:00]
Written Response (WR) In Brightspace Learning Environment, written response (formerly know as long answer) is a type of question that is more than a few words long. It is an open-ended text response. You can allow learners to upload files to this question type, as well. Easy to create. More challenging questions can be asked. More difficult for learners to cheat/copy. Automatic grading is not possible, although an answer key is available. Students do not have time to polish their response.

A rubric would help with marking. Useful for Math or Science as students can solve problems on paper, take a picture, and upload the image in the question response.
[10:00-30:00]
Short-Answer (SA) A short answer question is a type of question where the user responds to a prompt with a short, one or two-word text response. Traditionally, many people think of a short answer question as a sentence or two in length, but for the short answer question type in Brightspace Learning Environment, it can be automatically graded, and for this reason, is shorter. Can be graded automatically. Easy to create. More challenging questions can be asked. Part marks are possible. Automatic grading is more challenging. Learners need to have correct spelling. Good for 1-2 sentence responses.
[2:00]
Multi-Short Answer (MSA) Like the short answer question, multi-short answer is a few short-word text responses. It is well-suited for situations that require an answer in the form of a list Can be graded automatically. Easy to create. More challenging questions can be asked. Works well if the answer comes from a pool of possible answers. Automatic grading is more challenging. Learners need to have correct spelling. Good for 1-2 sentence responses per space.
[4:00]
Fill in the blanks (FIB) A fill in the blanks question is a question type where the user has to insert the correct response into a blank space in order to complete a sentence. You can have more than one blank in this question type, and it can be automatically graded. Can be graded automatically. Easy to create. More challenging questions can be asked. All correct/acceptable answers need to be included. Learners need to have correct spelling. Good for lower level skills, knowledge.
[1:00]
Matching (MAT) Matching questions ask users to pair correct items together for points. For example, users may be asked to match a term to its proper definition or a date to its event. Can be graded automatically. Easy to create.  Options can be randomized. Can have a 0:1 match, 1:1, 2:1, or a combination. Directions need to be clear. May take longer for students to complete.

Good for lower level skills, knowledge.
[:30 per response]
Ordering (LA) An ordering question is a type of question where the user places the answers in the correct order. Can be graded automatically. Easy to create.  Options can be randomized. There has to be one linear sequence.

Good for lower level skills, knowledge.
[:30 per response]
Arithmetic Questions (2+2) An arithmetic question is a question type in which numbers can be randomly chosen for each variable. The numbers used for each variable in the question are based on specific number ranges. Can be graded automatically.  Easy to create.  Arithmetic symbols embedded in the software. Supports unique question generation using variables. It may take students time to orient themselves to the function of inserting symbols.

Good for basic arithmetic problems.
[varies]
Significant Figures (x10) The significant figures question type is most applicable to science and math related questions. Users are able to enter their answers in scientific notation format. Easy to create. Can be auto graded. Equation Editor and Sig Fig symbols embedded in the software. Supports unique question generation using variables. It may take students time to orient themselves to the function of inserting symbols.

Great for introductory science courses.
[varies]
Likert Question (LIK) The Likert question is unique to the Survey tool. Likert questions are a way to gather feedback by creating questions with answers based on one of the six scales available. Used in Surveys only. Ungraded. Great for conducting surveys for people’s perceptions, attitudes, and preferences towards a topic.
[varies]

For more information on how to use the Brightspace question library, you can visit the D2L support page Creating Question Library questions.

Import Questions in a CSV File

  1. Log into Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
  2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
    • Select the course tile under the My Courses widget.
    • Select the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
  3. In the navbar, select Course Admin.
    Screenshot of Brightspace navbar with red callout around Course Admin.
  4. Under Assessment, select Self Assessments.Screenshot of the Assessments section with red callout around Self Assessments.
  5. Select the Question Library tab.       Screenshot of Self Assessments page with red callout around the Question Library tab.
  6. Select Import.
  7. In the drop-down menu, select Upload a File. A pop-up window will appear.
  8. Upload a CSV file containing questions if you have already created one or select Download template CSV and save the file to your computer. Add questions to the CSV document and upload it.
  9. Select Import All or Review if you need to review the questions being uploaded.
  10. Select Done Editing Questions.
  11. Add questions to a new Self Assessment or an existing Self Assessment. See the instructions for creating a Self Assessment below.

Creating a Self Assessment

  1. Log into Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
  2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
    • Select the course tile under the My Courses widget.
    • Select the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
  3. In the navbar, select Course Admin.
    Screenshot of Brightspace navbar with red callout around Course Admin.
  4. Under Assessment, select Self Assessments.
    Screenshot of the Assessments section with red callout around Self Assessments.
  5. Select New Self Assessment to create the new self assessment.
    Screenshot of Self Assessments page with red callout around the New Self Assessment button.
  6. Enter a name for the Self Assessment.
  7. Select or add a category if needed. This is optional but may be helpful if you will have multiple Self Assessments in your course.
  8. Under Hints, you have the following options:
    • Select allow hints if you want them to be visible to students
    • Select Shuffle Questions at the self assessment level to randomize your questions.
  9. Select Expand page header or footer if you would like to include additional instructions or information for students. These can be added in one or both of the HTML editor boxes provided. You will need to select on to enable students to view comments in either the header or footer.
  10. Select Save.
  11. Select Add/Edit Questions.
    Screenshot of the Add/Edit Questions button.
  12. Select Import, then select Browse Question Library from the dropdown menu.
  13. Select the checkboxes to select your questions.
  14. Select Import.
  15. Select Done Editing Questions.
  16. Select Save and Close.

Preview your Self Assessment

  1. Log into Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
  2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
    • Select the course tile under the My Courses widget.
    • Select the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
  3. In the navbar, select Course Admin.
    Screenshot of Brightspace navbar with red callout around Course Admin.
  4. Under Assessment, select Self Assessments.
    Screenshot of the Assessments section with red callout around Self Assessments.
  5. Select the arrow next to the Self Assessment and select Preview. This will allow you to see all questions, hints and feedback included in the Self Assessment.Screenshot of Self Assessment pulldown menu with the Preview option selected.
  6. Select Exit Preview when done.

Add a Self Assessment to a Module

  1. Log into Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
  2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
    • Select the course tile under the My Courses widget.
    • Select the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
  3. In the navbar, select Content.
    Screenshot of Brightspace navbar with red callout around Content.
  4. Select the module/week section where you’d like to add the Self Assessment.
  5. Select Existing Activities and select Self Assessment from the drop-down menu.
  6. Select the self assessment from the list. Note that it will be added at the bottom of the module.

Edit Questions in an Existing Self Assessment

  1. Log into Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
  2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
      • Select the course tile under the My Courses widget.
      • Select the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
  3. In the navbar, select Course Admin.
    Screenshot of Brightspace navbar with red callout around Course Admin.
  4. Under Assessment, select Self Assessments.
    Screenshot of the Assessments section with red callout around Self Assessments.
  5. Select the title of the self assessment you want to edit.
  6. Select Add/Edit Questions.
  7. Select the individual question you want to edit.
  8. Select Save when you are done.

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