Using and Installing Respondus

Respondus is a Windows-based software application that allows the creation and management of quizzes, tests, or surveys quick and easy. Assessments can be printed on paper or published directly to Blackboard. In addition, Respondus also provides the user many with time-saving tools such as an equation editor, multimedia functions, and web links.

Some of the features of Respondus include:

Create assessments and surveys "offline" using a Windows interface.
Insert tables, format font, and add bulleted items similar to a word processor.
Incorporate graphics, video, and audio.
Create random sets of questions using the Wizard
Publish assessments directly into Blackboard
Retrieve exams, reports, scores, statistics, and answer distributions from Blackboard

Installing Respondus:

UM-Flint has a campus-wide license for the Respondus software. Our license does not permit instructors to obtain support directly from Respondus, Inc. If our staff are unable to solve a particular question or problem, we will contact Respondus, Inc. on your behalf.

Our license does permit you to install a copy of the Respondus software on a home computer. However, please note that you are not permitted to provide the Respondus software or the password information to anyone who is not affiliated with our institution.

Step 1: You can obtain a copy of the Respondus software by downloading it from : http://oel.umflint.edu/respondus/respondus.htm. If you are downloading the software to an off campus computer, you will be prompted for your username and password. Insert your uniqname@umflint.edu and your LAN password. This should authenticate the system and allow you to continue the download.

System Requirements:

Windows 95, 98, NT4, ME, 2000, XP, Vista (
Minimum of 32 MB RAM
10 MB of free hard disk space

Step 2: Click Run to start the installation process immediately, or click Save and save it to your hard drive to be run later. If you wish to install the equation editor, make sure you have all other windows closed, or else it will fail to install correctly

Step 3: During the installation process, you will be asked to enter the name of the institution, the local support contact, and the installation password. This information can be obtained from our password protected site located at: http://oel.umflint.edu/respondus/respondus.htm.

Step 4: Respondus will ask you what CMS Personality you want to associate Respondus with. This is the online course software you will be working with. For our purposes, select Blackboard 6.0.

**Note: We recommend that you accept the default settings for where the program is installed. It's important to note that you are not able to download the software directly from the Respondus website, nor are you able to use the password listed above to activate a copy previously downloaded from their site.

**Note: To upgrade to Respondus 3.5.2, for Vista compatibility, click on Help and select "Check for Update."

Creating a Test through Respondus:
Step 1: Under the Start tab, click on the button.

Step 2: In the Create New File window, give a name for your test or survey in the Name of File field; give a description in the Description: field; under Type of File, select either Test or Survey.

Step 3: The Edit menu is displayed. You will see the following fields in this window.

Title of Question: Enter the title or description for the question.
Question Wording: Enter the text of the question.
Point Value: Assign a point value for the question.
Add to End of List adds the question to the end of the test. Insert into List inserts the question in any highlighted area in the bottom half of the window. For the first question, select Add to End of List.

**Note: Other fields will be available depending on the type of question selected. For instance, a Multiple Choice question will have Possible Answers and Select Correct Answer as fields.

Creating a Test from a Text File:

Step 1: Under the Start tab, click on the button.

Step 2: In the Import Questions window, select the type of file format, either text (.txt) or rich text (.rtf).

Step 3: Select the file by hitting Browse by the File name: field.

Step 4: Under Choose where to add the new Questions, select Create a New Document, named :, and type in the name you want to give the file. Select also whether this is an exam or a survey.

Step 5: Click the Preview button. This alerts you to any warning messages. Click the Finish button to complete the import process.

**Note: The text files have to be in a specific format; otherwise, Respondus will not recognize the questions. Follow the link for the following formats: Multiple Choice, True and False, Essay / Short Answer, Matching, Ordering, Fill in the Blank, Multiple Answers .

Adding a valid Multiple Choice question:

Step 1: Each question must begin with a question number, followed by either a period "." or a parentheses ")".

Step 2: The question wording must follow the question number. (Note: at least one space should be between the question number and the question wording).

Step 3: Each answer must begin with a letter (a-t) followed by a period - "." - or a parentheses - ")".

Step 4: To label the correct answer, place an asterisk - "*" - before the letter or letters that is (are) correct.

An example of a multiple choice question that Respondus can recognize:

3. Who determined the exact speed of light?

a. Albert Einstein

*b. Albert Michelson

c. Thomas Edison

d. Guglielmo Marconi

Optional Elements:

A "title" can be imported with each question. If a title is not provided for a question, the first 20 characters from the question wording will be used as the question title. Titles must be placed at the beginning of a question and begin with "Title:" followed by the actual text for the title.

With an Exam file, general feedback can be imported by placing the tilde "~" symbol in front of the feedback for a correct answer. The @ symbol can be used to indicate the feedback for incorrect answers. There must be at least one space to the right of the ~ and @ symbols and the text you want displayed for the feedback. For example:

Title: Speed of Light

3) Who determined the exact speed of light?

a. Albert Einstein

*b) Albert Michelson

c) Thomas Edison

d. Guglielmo Marconi

~ Yes. Albert Michelson won the Nobel Prize for Physics for determining the exact speed of light.

@ No. The correct answer is Albert Michelson, who won the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physics for determining the exact speed of light.

To import feedback for individual answer choices of multiple-choice questions (only available with Blackboard 6 and higher), place the feedback immediately after the answer choice and begin the line with the @ symbol. There must be at least one space between the @ symbol and the feedback text. For example:

Title: Speed of Light

3) Who determined the exact speed of light?

a. Albert Einstein

@ No. Albert Michelson determined the exact speed of light.

*b) Albert Michelson

@ Yes. Albert Michelson won the Nobel Prize for Physics for determining the exact speed of light. .

Adding a valid True and False question:

Step 1: Each question must begin with a question number, followed by either a period "." or a parentheses ")".

Step 2: The question wording must follow the question number. (Note: at least one space should be between the question number and the question wording).

Step 3: Each answer must begin with a letter, a or b, followed by a period - "." - or a parenthesis - ")". The period or parenthesis must be followed by a space and then the answers.

Step 4: To label the correct answer, place an asterisk - "*" - before the letter that is correct.

Step 5. The answer to a. must always be True (or T), and the answer to b. must always be False (or F).

Step 6. To include a "title" or "feedback" with the true and false question, follow the same formatting rules described above for multiple choice questions.

An example of a true and false question that Respondus can recognize:

3) Albert Michelson determined the exact speed of light?

*a) True

b) False

Adding a valid Essay/Short Answer question:

Step 1: Each question must begin with Type: E as the first line.

Step 2: An optional title can be placed on the second line of the question. Otherwise, type the question on the second line.

Step 3: An answer (optional) can be supplied after the question by placing an a) or a. in front of the answer. If an answer isn't given, the question will have to be graded manually.

An example of an essay/short answer question that Respondus can recognize:

Type: E

Title: Michelson-Morely experiment

4) How is the Michelson-Morely experiment related to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity?

a) In 1887, Albert Michelson and Edward Morely carried out experiments to detect the change in speed of light due to ether wind when the Earth moved around the sun. The result was negative. They found the speed of light is always the same regardless of Earth's motion around the sun. Scientists were puzzled with this negative result, and they didn't know how to explain it. Albert Einstein came up with the answer in his famous second postulate in theory of relativity: that the speed of light (in vacuum) is always constant and absolute, regardless of its source's motion and observer's movement.

Adding a valid Matching question:

Step 1: Each question must begin with Type: MT as the first line.

Step 2: An optional title can be placed on the second line of the question.

Step 3: The question wording must follow the question number. (Note: at least one space should be between the question number and the question wording).

Step 4: Each answer must begin with a letter (a-t) followed by a period - "." - or a parentheses - ")".

Step 5: After each answer there must be an equal sign - "=" - followed by the term that matches to the first part of the match.

An example of an essay/short answer question that Respondus can recognize:

Type: MT

Title: Scientific discoveries

4) Match the correct name to the discovery or theory.

a. Michelson-Morely = Speed of light

b. Einstein = Theory of Relativity

c. Marconi = radio waves

Adding a valid Fill in the Blank question:

Step 1: Each question must begin with Type: F as the first line.

Step 2: An optional title can be placed on the second line of the question. Otherwise, type the question on the second line.

Step 3: Possible answers can be listed after the question. These answers are used to compare what the student has entered against the list, to determine automatically if the student is correct. Otherwise, this can be left blank so that the question has to be graded automatically.

An example of an essay/short answer question that Respondus can recognize:

Type: F

Title: Who invented television?

5. Who is known as the "father of television"?

a. Zworykin

b. Vladimir Zworykin

c. Vladimir Kosma Zworykin

Adding a valid Multiple Answer question:

Step 1: Each question must begin with Type: MA as the first line.

Step 2: An optional title can be placed on the second line of the question. Otherwise, type the question on the second line.

Step 3: Each answer must begin with a letter (a-t) followed by a period - "." - or a parentheses - ")".

Step 4: To label the correct answer, place an asterisk - "*" - before the letter(letters) that is (are) correct.

An example of a multiple answer question that Respondus can recognize Type: MA

3. Who determined the exact speed of light?

a. Albert Einstein

*b. Albert Michelson

c. Thomas Edison

*d. Edward Williams Morley

Adding a valid ordering question:

This cannot be done at the current time.