This information applies only to the Ultra Course View.
A question bank is a collection of questions that is stored for repeated use across assessments.
Instructors can use banks to create a database of questions they can reuse in multiple assessments. You can create new question banks or import existing ones to use in your courses.
More on reusing questions in your assessments
Ultra vs. Original Course View assessment terminology
We’ve made some changes to assessment feature names based on user research and current industry standards. The Ultra Course View includes new terminology that aligns with current standards.
This table lists the names of assessment question features in the two course views.
| Ultra Course View | Original Course View |
|---|---|
| Question pool | Random block and question set |
| Question bank | Question pool |
| Question analysis | Item analysis |
Create or edit question banks and questions
Go to Question Banks to:
- Create new, empty question banks in your Ultra courses.
- View and search for questions within a question bank.
- Add, edit, and delete all aspects of a question within new and existing question banks.
- Copy questions from other banks or assessments into a question bank.
This functionality is available both on the desktop and in the mobile app. You may access these options from Manage Banks in the Details and Actions.
About question banks
When you select questions from a bank and add them to an assessment, copies of the questions are created and added to the assessment. You can edit the copies in your assessment without affecting other assessments. Changes you make to one instance of the question or content aren't reflected in the other instances. If you want changes to show in all instances, you must find and edit each copied instance.
You can import question pools previously exported from the Original Course View into your course.
Questions imported from a QTI package are only supported in the Original Course View.
Sort Question Banks
Use sorting controls to easily navigate question banks. You can sort question banks by name, number of questions in a bank, or by date the bank was last edited.
Add descriptions to question banks
You can add descriptions to question banks to keep track of the topics or goals your questions cover.
Search question banks
The search bar allows you to easily locate a specific question bank in a course. You can search by name or description.
Copy question banks from other courses
Reusing assessment questions across courses can save time for instructors. You can copy question banks from Original and Ultra courses to save time.
From the Copy Content menu, select the Question Banks folder from the desired course. To copy all banks, select the checkbox for the Question Banks folder.
To copy individual banks, open the Question Banks folder and select the checkbox for each bank you want to copy.
Copied banks appear in the Question Banks area. Select Manage banks in the Details & Actions panel to review all question banks in the course.
Import question banks
On the Course Content page, select Manage banks in the Details & Actions panel. On the Question Banks page, select the plus icon and browse for one or more ZIP files to import.
As the file imports, you can view the supported question types. You'll receive a success message when the file imports successfully. You'll also receive a message if the file or some question types weren't uploaded.
The message can take some time to generate. You can refresh the page to see if the import was successful or not. You'll also receive an email when the operation is completed.
The most recently imported bank appears first on the list. An exclamation icon appears in banks where one or more unsupported questions were removed.
Watch a video about importing questions
The following narrated video provides a visual and auditory representation of some of the information included on this page. For a detailed description of what is portrayed in the video, open the video on YouTube, navigate to More actions, and select Open transcript.
Video: Importing assessment questions explains how to import questions to course assessments.
Supported question types
These supported question types appear in a question bank after import:
- Calculated Formula
- Essay
- Fill in the Blank
- Fill in Multiple Blanks
- Matching
- Multiple Choice
- Multiple Answer
- True/False
Unsupported question types are removed. If your file has no supported question types, the question bank isn't added to your course.
If you uploaded a file with multiple banks and some items weren't imported, select the View Details link. The Import Details panel opens with more information.
Other messages may appear:
- Unsupported question types were removed: Only supported questions in this file appear in the Question Banks section on the Reuse Questions page.
- The bank wasn't imported as no compatible questions were found: No questions in this file appear in the Question Banks section on the Reuse Questions page. The question bank isn't added to the Question Banks page.
Delete question banks
When you delete a question bank, it is permanently removed from your course. If you copied questions from the bank into one or more assessments, those questions remain in your assessments after you delete the bank. However, you can't delete question banks used in question pools.
What happens to Original course question pools when converted to Ultra?
Your Original course's question pools appear as Ultra question banks after conversion. Unsupported question types are removed.
When you convert an Original course to Ultra, two decimal places carry over.
On the Question Banks page, can I import files from the Original Course View?
Yes, you can import these files:
- Course packages that contain question pools
- Only the question pools are imported and converted to Ultra question banks.
- Question pools exported from the Original Course View
- If you unpackage the file and change it, the import may fail.
On the Question Banks page, can I import files from the Ultra Course View?
Yes, you can import Ultra Course View packages that contain question banks. Only the question banks are imported.
On the Question Banks page, can I import files from a third-party or publisher?
Yes, you can import question banks from a third-party or publisher if the package is in a Blackboard Original or Ultra format previously listed.
What workarounds can I use?
If you have other types of files that work in the Original Course View, you can import the files into an Original course and export them on the Pools page. Next, import the ZIP files into your Ultra course on the Question Banks page.
You can also convert an Original course to Ultra to convert the existing question pools into Ultra question banks.
