Grading Discussions

Link a Discussion Topic to a Grade Item

1. Log in to Brightspace using your MyCarletonOne credentials. 
2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
   • • Click on the course tile under the My Courses widget.
     • Click the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
3. In the navbar, click Tools.                
4. Select Discussions in the drop-down menu.
5. Locate an existing discussion or create a new discussion.
   • To edit an existing discussion: Click the arrow next to the discussion topic you want to connect to a grade item, then select Edit Topic.                                                                                               
   • To create a new discussion: Click the New Button, then select New Topic.
     

     NOTE: You will need to add a Topic name before you can access grade item settings in the Assessments tab.

     

6. Click the Assessment tab.                   
7. Do one of the following:
   • Select a grade item from the Choose a grade item drop-down menu
   • Click New grade item to create a new item (see instructions below)
8. Enter a score value in the Score out of field.
9. Add or attach a rubric if you will be using a rubric to grade the discussion.
10. Click Save and Close when you are finished editing your settings.

To create a new grade item within a Discussion:

1. Under the Assessment tab, click New Grade Item.
2. Enter the name of the Discussion into the Name field. 
3. Include a Short Name (abbreviated item name) for the gradebook, if needed.
4. If you have set up categories in your gradebook, select a grade category from the drop-down menu.
5. Enter the maximum points (your grading range) students can receive for the discussion.
6. Enter the weight (%) that you want the grade item to contribute to the category or final grade.
   

   NOTE: If a grade item is within a category you must specify the weight as a % of the category, not the final grade. E.g. 25% of a category worth 30%

7.  Click Save.

You will now see a grade item for your discussion topic in your gradebook.

Enable Assessment of Individual Discussion Posts

1. Log in to Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
   • • Click on the course tile under the My Courses widget.
     • Click the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
3. In the navbar, click Tools.
4. In the drop-down menu, select Discussions.
5. Locate your discussion topic, then click the arrow next to the topic name.
6. In the drop-down menu, select Edit Topic.
7. Click the Assessment tab.                       
8. Select the Allow assessment of individual posts checkbox.
9. Select one of the following Calculation Methods from the drop-down menu:
   • Average post score: This calculation method averages all of the post scores included per user.
   • Maximum post score: This calculation method identifies the highest score of all the post scores included per user.
   • Minimum post score: This calculation method identifies the lowest score of all the post scores included per user.
   • Mode post score – Highest on multiple: This calculation method looks at the frequency of scores on posts, then selects the highest occurrence of a score per user. Once it picks the frequency, the system looks to see if multiple scores occur at that frequency. If not, it assigns that score to the user. If there are multiple scores with the same frequency, it will choose the highest of those scores. For example, if a score of 7 occurs 2 times, a score of 8 occurs 3 times, and a score of 9 occurs 3 times, the system will choose the frequency 3 and the score of 9.
   • Mode post score – Lowest on multiple: This calculation method looks at the frequency of scores on posts, then selects the highest occurrence of a score per user. Once it picks the frequency, the system looks to see if multiple scores occur at that frequency. If not, it assigns that score to the user. If there are multiple scores with the same frequency, it will choose the lowest of those scores. For example, if a score of 7 occurs 2 times, a score of 8 occurs 3 times, and a score of 9 occurs 3 times, the system will choose the frequency 3 and the score of 8.
   • Sum of post scores: This calculation method sums up all the scores on posts within a topic.
10. By default, the Include unassessed posts when calculating the topic score option is disabled. If you want unassessed posts to receive a score of zero in the calculation, select the Include unassessed posts in the calculated score as zero checkbox.
11. Click Save and Close to return to your Discussion List page, or click Save to continue editing your discussion settings.

• Assess a Discussion Topic – Assess all posts/replies in a topic and assign a score for the entire topic.
• Assess Individual Discussion Posts within a Discussion Forum – Assess every post and reply in a topic individually. Brightspace will calculate a score for the entire topic based on the calculation method selected when the topic was created.
• Grade Discussion Forums in the Gradebook

Assess a Discussion Topic

1. Log in to Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
   • • Click on the course tile under the My Courses widget.
     • Click the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
3. In the navbar, click Tools.
4. In the drop-down menu, select Discussions.
5. Click the arrow next to the discussion thread you want to grade, then click Assess Topic.
6. Click Topic Score below the name of the student you want to assess.
7. A new page will open showing all posts and responses the selected student has made for this discussion. If you are using a rubric for this discussion, the the interactive rubric will appear in the panel above the Overall Grade and Overall Feedback fields.
   • Enter an Overall Grade in the top-right corner of the window.
   • Enter feedback in the HTML Editor under Overall Feedback.
8. When you are finished assessing the topic, click Publish. You can click Save Draft to save your feedback if you want to publish at a later date.

Assess an Individual Discussion Post

1. Log in to Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
   • • Click on the course tile under the My Courses widget.
     • Click the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
3. In the navbar, click Tools.
4. In the drop-down menu, select Discussions.
5. Click the Discussion topic that you want to grade.
6. Locate the thread you want to grade, then click the arrow next to the thread name.
7. In the drop-down menu, select Assess Student.         
8. A new page will open showing all posts and responses the selected student has made for this discussion. If you are using a rubric for this discussion, the the interactive rubric will appear in the panel above the Overall Grade and Overall Feedback fields.
   • Enter an Overall Grade in the top-right corner of the window.
   • Enter feedback in the HTML Editor under Overall Feedback.
9. When you are finished assessing the topic, click Publish. You can click Save Draft to save your feedback if you want to publish at a later date.

Grading Discussion Forums in the Gradebook

1. Log in to Brightspace with your MyCarletonOne credentials.
2. On the Brightspace homepage, locate your course in one of the following ways:
   • • Click on the course tile under the My Courses widget.
     • Click the Course Selector Grid  and select the course from the drop-down menu. If you are enrolled in more than 20 courses, you can search for the course name using the search bar.
3. In the navbar, click Progress.
4. Select Grades from the drop-down menu.
5. The Grades page will open. Click the Manage grades tab.
6. Click the arrow beside the title of the topic of you want to grade and select Enter Grades from the drop down menu.                         
7. You will see a table displaying the grading information for your students.  Students that have made new posts in the discussion will be indicated with an orange discussion icon
8. Locate the name of the student whose posts you want to grade, then click the discussion icon under the Submission column.
   

   NOTE: It is a best practice to avoid entering grades directly into the gradebook. It is recommended to grade in the Evaluation panel by clicking the discussion icon under the Submission column.

   TIP: You may filter students by group or name using the search feature.

9. A new page will open showing all posts and responses the selected student has made for this discussion.             
   • If you are grading with a rubric:
     1. If you are using a rubric for this discussion, the the interactive rubric will appear in the panel above the Overall Grade and Overall Feedback fields.
     2. Click the appropriate level for each criteria. The assigned points will automatically appear in the Criterion Score column.
     3. As you grade in the rubric, the Overall Grade will automatically update. This is the score that will be transferred to the gradebook.
        

        TIP: You may grade between levels of a rubric for partial marks by using the “Criterion score” column of a rubric. For example, you feel that the student earned a 1.5 which is between 1 and 2 on the rubric score. Edit the criterion score and always choose the lower of the two numbers within a rubric!

   • If you are grading without a rubric:
     1. Enter an Overall Grade in the top-right corner of the window.
     2. Enter feedback in the HTML Editor under Overall Feedback.
10. When you are finished assessing the topic, click Publish. You can click Save Draft to save your feedback if you want to publish at a later date.