Additional FAQs for WebCT users
- Why don't you still distribute Respondus Lite? Answer
- I'm able to get through the first several steps in publishing/retrieving a WebCT quiz, but I receive an error message in the final step (or, my exam is not getting published properly). What should I do? Answer
- How do I convert an exam from another course management system to WebCT? Answer
- Respondus indicates that my self-test file was submitted successfully, so why isn't it showing in WebCT? Answer
- My matching question isn't displaying as expected in WebCT -- specifically, my answers appear in a table at the top of the question rather than in the pull-down answer lists. What's happening? Answer
- With Multiple Response questions, why isn't the default value Respondus generates for each correct answer based on the negative value for the incorrect answer? Answer
Why don't you still distribute Respondus Lite?
See the complete explanation here.
I'm able to get through the first several steps in publishing/retrieving a WebCT quiz, but I receive an error message in the final step (or, my exam is not getting published properly). What should I do?
First, make sure that the server settings entered into Respondus (Step 1) are correct. If one of the settings is incorrect, part of the publishing process may work, but not all of it.
Second, make sure you are running a current version of Respondus. If you are running Respondus 2, go to Help>Check for Update to see if a more recent version of Respondus is available.
If you continue to have problems, we'll need access to your course (URL, user name, password, course name) in order to troubleshoot the problem.
How do I convert an exam from another course management system to WebCT?
Let's say that you are trying to move an exam from Blackboard to WebCT. These are the steps you would follow:
- In Respondus 2, select the correct "Blackboard personality" (Bb5, Bb6)
- Select the "Retrieval & Reports" tab in Respondus, select "Retrieve Questions," and then retrieve the desired exam(s) from Blackboard. Save the file in Respondus.
- Return to the "Start" tab in Respondus and switch to the "WebCT personality." You will be told that the original file was created in a different Respondus personality; respond to whatever prompts that are shown.
- Once the exam has been converted, it is now possible to publish it to your WebCT course (go to the "Preview & Publish" tab in Respondus to accomplish this).
Respondus indicates that my self-test file was submitted successfully, so why isn't it showing in WebCT?
In WebCT 3.x you need to "Update Student View" in order to make the self-test available.
My matching question isn't displaying as expected in WebCT — specifically, my answers appear in a table at the top of the question rather than in the pull-down answer lists. What's happening?
WebCT uses pull-down lists for answer choices in matching questions. Unfortunately, this type of list box cannot contain HTML (which includes everything from images to equations to bold/italics, etc.). In addition, if the match in the right column contains more than about 25 characters (the exact number varies because of proportional fonts), WebCT is forced to render the answers in a table rather than displaying them in the pull-down list box.
To prevent the matching question from being rendered as a table, make sure to avoid any special formatting in the right column of your match (such as equations, images, bold, italics, etc.). Also, keep the matches in the right column shorter than about 20-25 characters.
With Multiple Response questions, why isn't the default value Respondus generates for each correct answer based on the negative value for the incorrect answer?
There are two problems with having equal values for right and wrong answers:
First, if there are fewer wrong answers than right answers, checking all boxes will give the student a positive score. For example, if there are 3 right answers and 2 wrong answers, a student could check all 5 and get +33.3% of the score (100% - 66.65% = + 33.3%).
Second, if there are fewer right answers than wrong, checking all boxes gives the student a negative score instead of 0 credit. For example, if there are 2 right answers and 3 wrong answers, a student that checks all 5 would get a -50% score (100% - 150% = -50% score).
In sum, we chose not to use the above-mentioned method for scoring because we don't think many instructors would expect -- or want -- either of the two scenarios described above to happen.
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