Intro to Business Instructor Resources
by Tim LaPlante 5 years, 10 months agoOpen Source is a great idea, but I've been reluctant to make the move because of the work load. On me. The automatically graded assignments that the traditional publishers offer are too good to pass up, and it is the only way I can manage classes of 40+ students.
If OpenStax also offered a robust test bank I could use that to develop different assignments in Canvas. Does anyone know if there are test banks in the works and when they may possibly be offered?
Tim, I am also looking for test banks.
E
I've been excited about OER since I first heard about them, the quality is great and it would be such a burden off of my low-income students. But the full service publishers have made me dependent on their automoatically graded assignments and other resources. I'm hoping I can make the switch soon.
Hi. I just looked at the test bank and agree with Tim. If the questions were in a format that Respondus would recognize, we could quickly upload them to our LMS. Or, if they were formatted for Brightspace/Daylight and/or Canvas. tc
I found the testbanks, and have recently downloaded the Respondus test generator, but now I'm trying to solve the next problem. The testbanks are in Word format, but they have no correct answer designated, and there are no answer keys at the bottom of the document. And when I try to import the Rich Text Format, it says it can't find any questions. They seem to be set up to the correct format (the question starts with a number with a period behind it) but I can't get it to import the questions. Does anyone recognize any obvious errors I may be committing?
I have the test banks working in Canvas and they are shared on Canvas Commons if you want to import them to your course. The entire course is shared, so you will have to select to download just the test banks.
It was easy to create chapter quizzes from them and this week my students are taking the first unit test. So far so good. The book is working out, students especially like the search feature. I wish the powerpoints were more robust, but often I just project the ebook on the board when the powerpoints are not enough.
To find my shared course, use the search tags 'laplante', or 'Open Stax Intro to Business'.
Hi Tim,
I've found your shell in the commons that you've share but I'm curious for future reference, how did you get them into the Canvas question banks?
Thanks!
Katie
Katie,
I used the Respondus test generator to convert the files from rtf/Word format to QTI for Canvas. If your school has access to Respondus, here's a video that I made to help me remember how to covert the Openstax test banks.
If you don't have access to respondus, here's a file converter that KSU put up a few years ago. I can't vouch for it now, because it's been about four years since I last tried it out.
Tim
Thank you Tim! How have you liked this text so far?
I like the text, it gets the job done for an Introductory class. The powerpoints need editing, though. They are loaded with conversation-starting questions that are solid and on topic, but they assume the students have read the text before class. And that's just not the case. So on most days I end up putting the actual text up on the projector and scroll to the different graphics and tables to get the conversation going.
Also, the search feature is great. When students are working on quizzes they can search a topic quickly, which is a feature that my students actually used before, when we were using $75 ebooks. It's nice to see this has been added to an OER.
Hi Tim, I can't seem to be able to download your course. Do I need to subscribe to Canvas? Any help would be appreciated.
Robyn-Jay,
Is the problem only that you can't download it? Can you see it on Canvas Commons? I'm not sure what is going on.
Tim
I can see your course here. But I don't see textbanks and it won't let me download anything. :(
I'm not going to be able to use respondus as I have a mac. This is crazy-making.
Hmmm, this is getting crazy. When I went to the link you sent it took me to the correct page and there was a blue download button on the upper right side of the page. The test banks are not a line item to select by themselves, I always had to download everything to get them to come along.
I went back and changed it make sure the licensing matched from the copied version and the settings in Commons.
Perhaps there is a better idea out there. Let me do some research into whether one can just copy the test banks (or maybe in Quiz format) and share the questions that way. Next week I'll be back on my home computer, and the installed version of Responses Test Generator, I'll see what we can come up with.
I think it won't let me download anything because I'm not a user of Canvas, and it isn't letting me register on the site. I am really irritated it's this hard to convert.
I'm going to continue to work on converting them using a free converter. It is a very, very slow and painful process but I really have to get them into Blackboard. I can do it with the QTI 2.1 package you get from Respondus.
Thanks for your help.