Author: digitaleducation

Use Course Links in Blackboard

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You can use Course links to cross-reference content located in a different part of your Blackboard course.

To add a Course link:

  1. Find a purple plus button in a Learning Module or Folder in your course, click Create and select Link.
    Course content plus menu with Create option highlighted, then Create Item side panel with Link highlighted.
  2. Go to the Course Link tab, enter a Keyword or choose the Category of the content item you want to link to and click Search.
    Course link tab showing the keyword and Categories fields and the Search button.
  3. Select the item you want, change the display name and description, if needed, and click Save.
    Display Name and Description fields for a selected Blackboard item.
  4. Make sure the link is visible to students.
    Blackboard item's visibility menu, with Visible to students highlighted.

See more about Course Links in Blackboard

FeedbackFruits for summative peer assessment

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Introduction

FeedbackFruits is an assessment platform integrated with Blackboard which provides several options for summative peer and self-assessment. It allows instructors to choose from two templates or ‘activity types’: 

  1. Peer Review asks students to submit an artefact (document or video), then to evaluate work that their peers have submitted.
  2. Group Member Evaluation asks students to evaluate their peers.

Both activity types can be customised, for example by adding a self-assessment element, a final reflection, or a step which allows instructors to give feedback.

Our institutional licence also includes the Automated Feedback activity type, which is recommended for formative activities but not summative assessment.

Aim and structure of this guide 

This guidance is not intended as a comprehensive, step-by-step ‘workflow’. Instead, it provides practical recommendations for University of Bristol staff around key actions and processes, and links to FeedbackFruits’ own guidance for broader details.

Recommendations are provided in chronological order from assessment setup to completion.

eVision setup

Use the Submission Type “BB-Other” to list FeedbackFruits submission points in eVision.

Warning

For the SITS integration with Blackboard to function, the assessment must be given a name in eVision which is not shared by any item in Blackboard. We recommend using the following naming convention: “[Assessment Name] FeedbackFruits Marks”.

Creating the assessment in eVision will not produce a submission point in Blackboard. Rather, it will produce a Gradebook column for marks extraction which can be mapped to the submission point in Blackboard. For guidance on this and more advice on setting up assessments in eVision, see the Bristol Education Administration Manual (BEAM)

FeedbackFruits activity setup

Create groups if needed

If your assessment is group-based, ensure that you have created a set of groups in your Blackboard course before setting up the FeedbackFruits activity. Using Syllabus+ groups for FeedbackFruits activities is not recommended.

Add a FeedbackFruits activity to your Blackboard course

Newly created FeedbackFruits activities are visible to students by default, so it’s best to set them up in an area of your course that’s hidden from students, such as the Assessment, Submission and Feedback folder. Once fully set up, you can move them to a visible location and set release conditions if needed.

Screenshot of a FeedbackFruits activity shown as a Blackboard Course Content item. The activity is called Group Member Evaluation - assigned groups. An eye icon and the text 'visible to students' are shown underneath the activity name.

To add a FeedbackFruits activity in your Blackboard course, navigate to the relevant section in Course Content, select the plus icon, go to Course Tools, and select FeedbackFruits. Choose Start from scratch, then the activity type.

Screenshot of the Blackboard Course Content view showing the 'add' dropdown menu. The Course Tools option is highlighted.

Full guidance from FeedbackFruits Help Centre on setting up the two activity types can be found on these pages:

Use the above guidance pages in the way that is the most helpful for you. Each page contains a video walkthrough, as well as detailed written information on setting up each part of the activity.

Selecting Save once you’ve finished setting up the activity will cause it to appear in your Blackboard course as a Course Content item.

Consider how due dates and deadlines will be communicated to students

A FeedbackFruits activity often has multiple steps (such as submitting work and leaving feedback on others’ work), each with its own due date. These due dates are clearly visible within the FeedbackFruits interface and are communicated to students automatically through email notifications. However, they do not automatically appear as due dates on the Blackboard item.

To ensure clarity for students, either set no due date in Blackboard and rely on FeedbackFruits’ messaging system, or use Blackboard’s due date function to set the ultimate due date for the activity only.

Screenshot of the FeedbackFruits interface, showing the Given reviews learning step. The due date for the learning step is indicated by a clock icon and the text '5 days left, Fri Dec 5 23:59'

Add instructions in FeedbackFruits and Blackboard

Instructions set in a FeedbackFruits activity do not automatically appear on the Blackboard course content item. Consider which assessment instructions (if any) you want students to see in the Blackboard course content area and which you want them to see once they open the FeedbackFruits activity. Add any relevant instructions to the Blackboard course content item manually. 

Finalise your course groups before the assessment starts

Students who are moved from one Blackboard group to another during an assessment may find that they have two sets of peer reviews: one from their former group and one from their new group. At present, this can only be corrected by contacting the FeedbackFruits support team.

During the activity

Student progress

FeedbackFruits does not send detailed analytics to Blackboard. This means that the Blackboard Gradebook does not show student progress for ongoing FeedbackFruits activities; it shows activities as Not submitted until the entire activity has been completed. During the activity, students should be advised to rely on messaging in FeedbackFruits itself, not in the Blackboard Gradebook, to see their progress.

When you enter a FeedbackFruits activity as instructor, the first thing you’ll see is the overall student progress panel. This shows how many students have completed the entire activity (including viewing the feedback that they’ve been given). For detailed analytics on student progress, select Statistics per active student or scroll down to a specific learning step.

Screenshot of the overall student progress panel. The panel shows that 2 of 16 students have completed the activity. The button to expand the 'statistics per active student' panel is highlighted.

For students giving feedback within groups 

If one member of a group needs an extension on the deadline for providing feedback to other group members, all group members should be given the same extension to ensure that everyone gets a review. 

After completion

Don’t use the ‘publish’ function in FeedbackFruits to release grades until they have been checked by a tutor. The action of publishing grades within a FeedbackFruits activity releases them to students. There is no need to then ‘post’ grades in the Gradebook.

For marks extraction, see Transferring marks from Blackboard to SITS. 

If you require further guidance on running your summative FeedbackFruits assessment, please email the DEO to arrange a consultation. 

Further resources

Use Turnitin similarity reports for Blackboard group assignments

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This guide is designed to help instructors bulk download group submissions from Blackboard to generate Turnitin reports for group work, without needing to manually upload each individual submission made by the group to Turnitin.

To streamline the process, the workflow involves:

  1. Creating a Hidden Turnitin Submission Point: Set up a hidden submission area where the group papers can be uploaded for Turnitin analysis.
  2. Downloading from Blackboard, temporarily toggling anonymity:
    • Use the bulk download option available in the Marks and Feedback LTI to collect all group submissions efficiently.
    • Temporarily disable anonymity in the Marks and Feedback extension before downloading the submissions. Once the download is complete, re-enable anonymity.
  3. Manual Upload to Turnitin: Upload each group’s compiled submission manually to the hidden Turnitin submission point to generate the report.

Create a Hidden Turnitin Submission Point

Create a Folder which is hidden from students

  1. Under Course Content click on the plus sign (+)
  2. Once the menu opens, select Create.
  3. Under Course content Items, click Folder.
  4. Name the folder as “Turnitin Staff Only” and make sure to select Hidden from students.
  5. Click Save.

Add the Turnitin submission point in the hidden Turnitin Staff Only folder

  1. Click on the hidden Turnitin Staff Only folder 
  2. Click on the plus sign (+) under the Turnitin Staff Only folder.
  3. Once the menu opens, select Course Tools.
  4. Scroll down and click on Turnitin Assignment (LTI).
  5. Enter the Assignment Title.
  6. Set start, due date. Then make sure that the feedback release date is set far in the future; at least a year after the due date.
  7. In optional settings set Submit papers to Standard paper repository.
  8. In Similarity Report select Generate Similarity Reports for student submission and Generate reports immediately.
  9. When finished, click Submit.
  10. Change the release conditions to Hidden from Students.

Download assignments from Blackboard and identify your students

  1. Open the relevant Blackboard course.
  2. Click Course Tools and then click Marks and Feedback settings.
  3. Identify your assignment and toggle off anonymity.
  4. Go back to the content folder and Click Course Tools and then click Marks and Feedback.
  5. Find the relevant assignment and click Download.
  6. Click Show all in the bottom right, then select the relevant students (one student per group if using group submissions). Administrators could use the Blackboard Group Sets created in the course to identify the students from the list.
  7. Click Submit. You will see a message saying Process has finished successfully.
  8. Click to continue and save the .ZIP file.
  9. Go back to the content area Click Course Tools and then click Marks and Feedback settings.
  10. Identify your assignment and toggle on anonymity to make sure marking is still anonymous.

Upload assignments to Turnitin

  1. Unzip file.
  2. Open your hidden Turnitin submission point.
  3. Make sure you use the submit on behalf tool in Turnitin to upload the submission for each student. Do this for only just one group member to generate the reports.
  4. Papers submitted by an instructor on behalf of a student will appear in the student portfolio if unhidden.
  5. Submit on behalf of a student:
    1. Click on the menu and identify the student.
    2. Click on the three dots on the right of the screen.
    3. Click on Upload.
    4. Select Choose file and attach the submission.
    5. Click Upload and Review.
    6. Click on Submit to Turnitin.

Follow the steps 5.a to 5.f as many times as needed.

You can find information on viewing and interpreting similarity reports in the resources at DEO’s Turnitin Guidance.

Blackboard Assignments for Formative Assessment

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How one configures Blackboard assignments for formative assessments will vary depending on local needs. This guidance provides a generalised set of principles and steps that may need modification and adaptation, depending on the specific requirements of the assessment.

Creating the submission point:

  1. Navigate to the Blackboard course.
  2. Locate and select the Unit Assessment learning module, expanding its contents.
  3. Select any of the dividing lines between items in the Unit Assessment learning module to open a pop-up menu.
  4. Select Create to open the Create Item menu on the right side of the screen.
  5. Select Assignment. This will create a new Blackboard Assignment in the Unit Assessment learning module.
  6. Give the assignment a name.
  7. Select the cog icon in the top right of the screen to open the Assignment Settings menu.
  8. You should consider the following:
    1. Does your course require a due date?
    2. Are you marking this assignment as “Formative” to students?
    3. Set the number of attempts as desired
    4. Set the marking schema as required
    5. Add a description
  9. Once configured to your needs, select Save.

Managing visibility and Release Conditions

  1. Select Hidden from students in the top right of the screen to open a dropdown menu.
  2. If you want to make the assignment visible to students immediately, select Visible to students.
  3. To set rules on when or how the assignment becomes available to students, select Release conditions.
    1. Select the pencil icon to change the name of the rule.
    2. Choose between All members to set a rule that affects all students on the course, or Specific members or groups to choose either individual students or groups of students.
    3. Choose Date/time to add Access from and Access until dates and times.
    4. Choose Performance to set prerequisite attainment in another assessment as the condition for students to access this assessment. For example, students must gain 50% or higher in “Practice Assignment” to access this assessment.
    5. Multiple Release Conditions rules can be set if desired by selecting Add new rule. If you have finished configuring access, select Save.

Turnitin formative assessment setup 

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This brief guide outlines the steps for setting up a Turnitin submission point. The submission point will enable students to submit multiple drafts, supporting the development and improvement of their academic writing.

If a similarity report is an essential part of your formative practice, we recommend using the settings outlined below. Please note that using a Blackboard assignment with Turnitin enabled is not currently recommended for formative submissions requiring a similarity report, due to known issues. More information on issues with Blackboard Ultra Assignments.

If you have any questions during or after the setup, please contact the DEO (digital-education@bristol.ac.uk)

General configuration

  1. Navigate to the Blackboard course where the assessment needs to be configured.
  2. Navigate to the location you would like to create the assessment. In the instance of a formative submission, this will likely be the Unit Assessment Learning Module of the course.
  3. When you have found the location, you want to make your submission point, select the + icon in the Course Content feed – you may need to hover your cursor over the space between two items so that it appears - and select Course Tools from the options.
  4. This will open a new menu called Course Tools. Locate and click on Turnitin Assignment (LTI). This will open a new screen that may take a few moments to load.
  5. Enter the name of the formative assignment in the Assignment Title box and ensure it indicates that this is a formative tool in the top-left of the screen.
  6. Add any instructions to students in the assignment instructions.
  7. In Max Grade, the maximum grade available to students submitting work to this submission point can be added. This should always be 100.
  8. In Start Date, enter the date and time you want the formative assessment to become available to students. If this is immediately, then enter today’s date and the current time.
  9. In Due Date, enter the date and time far into the future.
  10. In Feedback Release Date, enter the date and time when you would like feedback and marks to be automatically released to students. If students are not expecting marking and feedback, enter a date and time far in the future
  11. Click on Optional Settings to expand more options.
  12. Under Submission Settings:
    Use the Submit papers drop-down menu to select between and choose:

    1. Do not store the submitted papers: this will ensure that any submissions made to this submission point are not stored by Turnitin. If you are setting up a formative submission or a submission point for students to submit work in progress or drafts, you must use this setting
    2. Toggle Allow submissions of any file type. Some file types cannot be checked for similarity.
    3. Toggle Allow late submissions.
  13. Under Similarity Report:
    1. Toggle Generate Similarity Reports for student submission on if you wish to generate similarity reports for all submitted work.
    2. Use the drop-down options and choose:
      1. Generate reports immediately (students can resubmit until due date). This will generate a similarity report as soon as possible after the student has submitted. Please note that for the fourth and any subsequent submissions, the Similarity Report will be generated after 24 hours.
      2. Select Allow students to view similarity reports.
      3. Select Exclude bibliographic materials.
        The following are optional (Discuss with school)
      4. Exclude quoted materials
      5. Exclude small sources
  14. Under Compare Against:
    1. Toggle Student paper repository on to check all submitted work against Turnitin’s repository of submissions from both Bristol and other institutions using Turnitin.
    2. Toggle Current and archived web site content on to check all submitted work against Turnitin’s repository of website content.
    3. Toggle Periodicals, journals and publications on to check all submitted work against Turnitin’s repository of published materials.
  15. Under Exclude assignment template, you can click on Upload Template to upload a pre-produced template that will be excluded from the similarity report (limitations on what can be in that template can be viewed by expanding the Template Requirements information). This is useful if students will be asked to include a coversheet or grading rubric as a part of their submitted work, ensuring that all submissions receive a more accurate similarity report.
  16. Click Submit.  You will be returned to the Blackboard course’s Course Content. The Turnitin submission point you have produced Will be invisible to students be default. When you are ready for students to access the submission point make sure to change the setting to visible to students. Students will now be able to begin submissions to the submission point from the Start Date you have set.

Submission

The following guidance instructs students on how to submit their papers to Turnitin.

Submit a Turnitin Assignment (video)

  1. Find the submission point. This will normally be found in the Unit Assessment Learning Module.
  2. Once you find the submission point, click on the assignment name.
  3. Click Upload Submission.
  4. Edit your submission’s file name, if you need to.
  5. Select Choose File to select a file from your computer. You can also use the Cloud Submission tab if you prefer. Before attaching the file, make sure you have saved any changes and closed the document. Then proceed by selecting Choose File to upload a file from your computer. You can also use the Cloud Submission tab if you prefer
  6. Click Upload and Review.
  7. You will see a preview and be asked to confirm your submission. Check through your upload, using the arrows to view each page as necessary, and click Submit to Turnitin.
  8. Click Download Digital Receipt in the green bar or select the Download Digital Receipt icon.
The icons displayed in Blackboard next to Turnitin submissions. The Download Digital Receipt icon is circled.
The icon for downloading a digital receipt

Create and Grade with Rubrics in Blackboard

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Rubrics provide standardised grading criteria for assessments, often helping to provide transparency, consistency and clarity for students.  They can be associated with assignments, journals and discussions in Blackboard. If it is linked to a submission point, students are always able to see the rubric and marking criteria it uses before submitting their work via the assignment submission point.

Whilst they offer many benefits for staff, including speeding up and making the marking process more consistent across a team of markers, they require some upfront investment in time from both academic and administrative staff.

All rubrics should be created with reference to school, faculty and institutional marking criteria. Refer to the University of Bristol marking criteria and/or to local guidelines for school and faculty-level marking criteria when creating your rubric.

Creating, editing, and copying rubrics

Rubrics can be created and edited via either an individual assessment or the Gradebook. They should be carefully checked for clarity and consistency before use and should adhere to guidance on marking criteria for your school, faculty, or the institution at large.

If you intend to use the rubric in just one assessment within a course, it is best to create it within that assessment.

If you intend to use the rubric in several assessments within the course, it is best to create and edit it via the Gradebook before linking it to any assessments.

Warning

Rubrics can only be edited before they have been used for marking.  Once they have been used to mark work, you can only duplicate and edit the new version.
No changes to a rubric applied to a submission point should be made after the assessment is available to students.

Once created, all rubrics can be accessed and edited via the Gradebook and may be applied to any assessment within a course.

Creating a rubric in an assessment:

Rubrics added to a visible submission point will be shared with students. No changes should be made after rubrics have been shared with students.

  1. Go to the assignment in your course and select the assignment title.
  2. Select on the cog icon in the top-right hand corner of the screen.
  3. Scroll down to the Additional Tools section and select Add marking rubric.
  4. Select the Create button.
  5. Amend the title from ‘New Rubric’.
  6. Select the rubric type you wish to use from the drop-down menu. See our guide for the different types of rubric you can create, including additional considerations for each.
  7. To edit the contents of a cell, hover your mouse over it and select the pencil icon.
  8. To add extra rows, hover over the column/row boundary line in the title row and select the purple plus icon that will appear.
  9. To delete a row/column, hover on the title and select the trash icon that will appear.
  10.  When this is completed, select Save in the bottom right-hand corner. 

Creating a rubric in the Gradebook:

  1. Go to the Gradebook and select the cog icon. This will open a side-bar.
  2. Scroll down to the Course Rubrics section.
  3. Select the Create button.
  4. Amend the title from ‘New Rubric’.
  5. Select the rubric type you wish to use from the drop-down menu. See our guide for the different types of rubric you can create, including additional considerations for each.
  6. To edit the contents of a cell, hover your mouse over it and select the pencil icon.
  7. To add extra rows, hover over the column/row boundary line in the title row and select the purple plus icon that will appear.
  8. To delete a row/column, hover on the title and select the bin icon that will appear.
  9.  When this is completed, select Save in the bottom right-hand corner.

Adding an existing rubric to an assignment

Warning

Rubrics added to a visible submission point will be shared with students. No changes should be made after rubrics have been shared with students.

  1. Find the assignment in your course and enter it by selecting the title.
  2. Select the cog button in the top-right hand corner of the screen.
  3. Scroll down to the Additional Tools section and select Add marking rubric.
  4. Look for the name of the rubric: If you are using a points-based or points-range rubric, you should toggle the option to apply the points possible.
  5. Select Add.
  6. Select Save at the bottom of the settings page.

Duplicating and deleting a rubric

To duplicate a rubric:

  1. Go to the Gradebook tab and select the cog icon on the right-hand side.
  2. Scroll down to the Course Rubrics section and select the “…” icon next to the relevant rubric.
  3. Select Duplicate, change the name and press save.

To delete a rubric;

  1. Go to the Gradebook tab and select the cog icon on the right-hand side.
  2. Scroll down to the Course Rubrics section and select the “…” icon next to the relevant rubric.
  3. Select Delete.  You will be asked to confirm that you wish to permanently delete the rubric.

Grading with a rubric

This is general advice on marking with a rubric. Some variation may appear depending on the rubric type used. Please refer to our guide on different rubric types for more information.

  1. Go into the Markable items tab of the Gradebook and select the assessment name. 
  2. On the submissions page, select the student whose work you wish to mark.
  3. The rubric appears within the overall feedback tab on the right-hand side of the page. If you are unable to see it, select the overall feedback tab to open it as shown below.
    The icon for opening the feedback tab
    The rubric can be found underneath the Overall Feedback box.
  4. Select a performance level for each criterion to select it.  In the example below, Criterion 1 has Satisfactory selected.
    The four marking bands (from Poor - 10 points to Excellent -40 points) for Criterion 1, which gives 40 possible points (25%). 30 points have been entered in the Satisfactory range.
  5. Select the Show Descriptions toggle underneath the maximum score if you wish to have descriptions of each criterion showing.
  6. Add feedback for each criterion by selecting the ‘Add feedback’ option next to the criterion name, which appears as a plus sign.
    All rubric scores and feedback will calculate and save automatically.
  7. Add overall feedback by entering it in the box above the marking rubric and selecting Save changes.

Blackboard Rubric Types

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This guide details the different types of rubric available and lists some considerations and implications for marking with each, helpful for both markers and those creating rubrics.

Blackboard allows five different types of rubric to be created. Before creating and marking with a rubric, you should familiarise yourself with these types and decide on which is most suitable for your assessment and marking requirements.

Percentage rubrics

Considerations when making percentage-based rubrics

Percentage rubrics use percentages on two axes:

  1. The Criteria Percentage is listed down the left-hand column for each criterion. These represent the weighting given to each criterion as they relate to the overall mark. Criteria percentages must be 100% in total (as they represent 100% of the mark), or else a warning message will appear, reading “The criteria total percentage must equal 100%”:
    To resolve this, you can either manually change your Criteria percentages so they total 100%, or else select Balance Criteria to automatically balance the criteria percentage across all criteria. Percentages must use whole numbers.
  2. The levels within each criterion are expressed as a percentage in a cell within each row. These represent the degree of success a student has realised in each criterion. The percentages expressed across the row of levels should span the full range of 0 to 100% in most instances.
    A rubric example: Seven columns show range of percentage marks, from 100% Excellent to 0% Very poor. Four rows, each weighted at 25%, are for knowledge and understanding, argumentation, clarity of expression, and referencing and citation
    Figure 1: The green highlighted column shows the Criterion percentage. The blue highlighted row shows the percentage across one set of levels.

Considerations when marking with percentage rubrics

When grading student work with a percentage rubric, the marker selects a percentage level in each marking criterion.

The example below shows an assignment where the “Satisfactory” has been selected for the first Criterion, awarding 20 points.

The overall grade is expressed as a percentage, calculated by the levels selected by the marker in each criterion. This mark can then be overridden by the marker, if desired, but this should be avoided.

Percentage-range rubrics

Considerations when making percentage-range rubrics

Percentage-range rubrics use percentages on two axis.

  1. The Criteria Percentage, which is listed down the left-hand column for each criterion. These represent the weighting given to each criterion as they relate to the overall mark. Criteria percentages must be 100% in total (as they represent 100% of the mark), or else a warning message will appear, reading “The criteria total percentage must equal 100%”:
    To resolve this, you can either manually change your Criteria percentages so they total 100%, or else select Balance Criteria to automatically balance the criteria percentage across all criteria.  Percentages must use whole numbers.
  2. The levels within each criterion are expressed as a percentage range in a cell within each row. These represent the degree of success a student has realised in each criterion.  The percentages expressed across the row of levels should span the full range of 0 to 100% in most instances.  Ranges should be exclusive of each other. For example, if one range is “75% – 100%”, the next range’s floor should be no higher than 74%.
    A rubric example: Four range columns show percentage ranges from 75-100% (Excellent) down to 0-24% (Poor). Four criteria rows are labelled from 1 to 4.
    Figure 2: The green highlighted column shows the Criterion percentage. The blue highlighted row shows the percentage range across one set of levels.

Considerations when marking with percentage-range rubrics

Warning

Percentage-range rubrics often produce fractional grades (for example, “70.35%”) and may need some manual rounding before extraction to SITS or presentation to students.

Warning

The methodology for calculating, applying and sharing these rounded marks with students should be agreed before marking begins. This methodology should be shared with students for transparency, helping to improve student confidence in equity and consistency.

When grading student work with a Percentage-range rubric, the marker selects a range of values and then specifies the exact percentage within this range.

The example below shows an assignment where the “Satisfactory” range between 50% and 75% has been selected, with 60% entered as the exact percentage awarded.

A percentage-range rubric result, showing Excellent, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory and Poor ranges. A percentage of 60 has been entered into the Satisfactory category.

The overall grade is expressed as a percentage, calculated by the criteria and ranges selected by the marker. This mark is often fractional when using this rubric type. This mark can then be overridden by the marker, if desired. The override function could be used as one method for applying and distributing rounded marks.

Points-based rubrics

Considerations when making a points-based rubric

It is only possible to use whole numbers for this rubric type. The maximum possible points should be less than or equal to 99,999.

The total points possible for each criterion is defined by the highest points value possible across the levels of that criterion.

A points rubric being created with five columns ranging from Very Poor (0 points) to Excellent (100 points). There is a single criteria row with 100 possible points. The requirements for each column are yet to be entered.

The total points possible for the rubric overall is defined by the sum-total of all criterion.

Considerations when marking with a points-based rubric

When grading student work with a points-based rubric, a marker selects the number of points awarded in each criterion. The overall points awarded for the assignment equates to the sum total of points awarded for each criterion. This can be overridden by the marker, if desired, but it should never exceed the total number of points possible for the assignment.

Points-range rubrics

Considerations when making a points-range rubric

It is only possible to use whole numbers for this rubric type. The maximum possible points should be less than or equal to 99,999.

The points range is set from the lower to the higher range, left to right at each level. 

Ranges should be exclusive of each other. For example, if one range is “7 – 10”, the next range’s floor should be no higher than 6.

The total points possible for each criterion is defined by the highest points value possible across the levels of that criterion.

A points-range rubric being created with five columns ranging from Very Poor (0-10 points) to Excellent (20-25 points). There is a single criteria row with 25 possible points. The requirements for each column are yet to be entered.

The total points possible for the rubric is defined by the points possible across all criterion.

Considerations when marking with a points-range rubric

When grading student work with a points range rubric, a marker selects the range awarded in each criterion and then enters the specific number of points awarded at that level.

In the example below, the marker has selected the “Satisfactory” range of 21-30 points, specifying the exact points awarded as 28.

A points-range rubric result, showing Excellent, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory and Poor ranges. 28 points has been entered into the Satisfactory category.

The overall points awarded for the assignment equates to the sum total of points awarded for each criterion. This can be overridden by the marker, if desired, but it should never exceed the total number of points possible for the assignment.

No points rubrics

Considerations when making a no points rubric

A no points rubric has no points associated with either the criterion or levels. They may also be referred to as “Mark Sheets” or “Feedback Tables”.

Considerations when marking with a no points rubric

When used in grading, markers select a level within each of the criterion, but this is purely indicative and doesn’t affect the overall grade directly. A singular overall mark is entered for the assignment.

Maintain your presence when teaching online

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Why consider your ‘presence’ when teaching online?

Teaching online can feel strangely distant from your students, and students can also feel isolated or cut off from their teachers and other students. Maintaining a presence online is important in setting the tone, keeping students engaged, and allowing your teaching style to develop online.

Note

Keep your interactions short, regular, timely, personal to you, and linked to what the students are doing at the time.

Ideas to get you started

Podcasts

Create regular, short audio podcasts and publish to your Blackboard course. These could be used to introduce a new topic or week, to draw attention to anything particularly important or challenging, or even to connect the week’s topics to what’s happening in the news. Schedule them to appear at a certain day and time, so students know when to expect them. 

Headset on a yellow background
Photo by C D-X on Unsplash

Discussions 

Consider adding more social ‘cafe’ discussions to your course, to get students talking. Ideas such as ‘what three things…?’ or asking students to post something that they have seen or done in their own context can be good discussion starters.  

Having a Q&A space can also help reduce email questions, and help students help each other with common queries. Set expectations for how often you can expect replies, and make sure you drop in regularly to post and reply to posts.

Online drop-ins

Microsoft Teams provides an easy way to meet students informally, for example with drop-in sessions or for office hours. Note that time zones might make this difficult, so think about the best time to schedule sessions.

Vlogs

Video blogs are another way to regularly update students with a more personal touch. Create video updates from where you are working, to discuss interesting topics, share ideas, or introduce new perspectives, and publish them in your course. You could record yourself with your phone or webcam, take photos, or link to current affairs. These work best if they are more reflective than instructive, and informal in tone. You could even encourage students to do the same! 

Smartphone set to record video
Photo by Joey Huang on Unsplash

Weekly thoughts, updates, wrap-ups

Spend a few minutes at the start or end of the week to set the scene, or wrap things up for your students. Referencing specific comments in discussions or mentioning students by name is a great way to keep these relevant and motivate students to participate online. These can be announcements, text at the top of a course section, short videos or audio, or posts in a discussion.

Building and maintaining relationships in online courses – 10 ideas

Posted on by digitaleducation

This short guide provides some suggestions and includes links to relevant resources.  

  1. Show some of yourself as a person, maybe an image, biography with interests, Blackboard profile picture, short video or audio clip at the start of the course.
  2. Establish and maintain your teaching presence, eg responding in discussion forums or Padlets to ask or answer questions, nudge a discussion onwards, provide feedback or simply to show encouragement. Agree with students what “being active and present” means – both for you and them. Make sure you manage student expectations about your routine, the timing and frequency of your responses, clearly communicating this. Think of ways to create a personal touch which are sustainable for you, eg you could make a single regular short podcast or video clip with feedback for the whole cohort, addressing common questions.
  3. Give opportunities for students to share something of themselves, eg encourage students to upload profile pictures in Blackboard, create a short video about themselves, or write something about their favourite book, film, music, or the etymology/significance of their name in icebreaker activities. Examples of warm up activities from OneHE.
  4. Build peer to peer interaction into your course: scaffold group activity eg requiring groups to assign roles and providing a team-building activity at the start. Make sure students know why building online relationships, interacting with each other and with you, is important to their learning.  Consider the most appropriate group membership, perhaps persistent groups at the beginning to help students connect, then later mixing them up.  Allow plenty of time for students to build relationships in their groups as connecting online can take longer than in person. Create and manage Groups in Blackboard, Study skills group work resource.
  5. Reinforce a virtual home, your Blackboard space should be the hub where students know they can always go to access content, discussions, and other activities. Blackboard course design.
  6. Provide informal spaces for chat, eg edge times at the beginning and end of live online sessions, social online discussions, virtual study lounges.
  7. Check in with your students regularly, ask them how things are going eg in informal meetups or via quick polls, find out what is working well, what could be improved, acknowledge their feedback and adapt things if possible.
  8. Provide choice in activities, allowing students to connect with others who may have similar interests in personal learning networks, eg via self-enrol Blackboard groups which they can choose to join.
  9. Set engaging tasks, which can relate to students’ lives or interests, eg relating to real world problems or applications. Maybe these can be individual or group challenges.
  10. Empathise, try to show that you care, and to make everyone feel welcome and included, for example including low bandwidth ways to join in with discussions, such as text chat. 

Useful links 

Community building ideas: https://onehe.org/equity-unbound/