Assess discussion topics in myCourses
- Jacqueline Kort Mascort (Deactivated)
- Donna Wong
You can create discussion topics to assess students’ contributions to class discussions. You can also allow students to rate each other’s posts using one of three different rating systems.
Create an assessable discussion topic
To enable assessment for a discussion topic, you must enter a value in the Score Out of field. You can also associate it with a Grade Item to transfer the scores to your Grades tool.
On the main Discussions page, create a forum and topic or click the arrow beside an existing topic and select Edit Topic.
Click the Assessment tab.
Select an existing Grade Item or click [New Grade Item] to create a new one. See Creating grade items for more details.
Enter a value in the Score Out of field. This value should match the MaxPoints value of the grade item.
(Optional) Click Add Rubric to assess the topic using a rubric. See Creating rubrics and Grading with rubrics.
Click Save to be able to enter an overall Topic Score for each student for this discussion topic.
Enable individual message assessment
If you enable assessment of individual messages, you will not be able to enter an overall Topic Score for students. A student’s Topic Score will be automatically calculated from the scores you enter for their individual messages according to the Calculation method you select.
On the Assessment tab of a topic, select the checkbox beside Assess each message and automatically calculate the topic score.
Select a Calculation method for a student’s overall Topic Score:
Average message score: Topic Score is the average of all individual message scores for the student.
Maximum message score: Topic Score is the maximum score entered for an individual message for the student.
Minimum message score: Topic Score is the minimum score entered for an individual message for the student.
Mode message score - Highest on multiple: Topic Score is the most commonly entered score for individual messages for the student. If two or more scores are equally common, the highest one is used.
Mode message score - Lowest on multiple: Topic Score is the most commonly entered score for individual messages for the student. If two or more scores are equally common, the lowest one is used.
(Optional) Select the checkbox beside Include unassessed messages in the calculated score as zero: Any messages for which you do not enter a score will be counted as zero.
Click Save to be able to enter individual message scores for each student for this discussion topic.
Assess discussion topics
The Assess Topic page allows you to view all posts a student posted in the topic. From this page, you can assess a student’s posts for a whole topic or individual posts.
If you are using moderated discussions, you must approve messages before you can grade them.
On the main Discussions page, click the arrow beside an assessable discussion topic and select Assess Topic.
Click Topic Score below a student’s name in the list.
Enter a numeric Topic Score
OR
If you enabled individual message grading in the previous section, enter a Score for each post.
(Optional) Enter Feedback (limited to 300,000 characters) and/or fill in the Rubrics assigned to the discussion in the right panel, and/or add an attachment using the upload button
.
Click Save Draft. After grading, you must Publish the scores to allow students to view them.
Release topic scores to the Grades tool
You must mark Topic Scores as Published to allow students to view the scores and feedback on the Grades page.
On the main Discussions page, click the arrow beside the topic you assessed and select Assess Topic.
Click Publish All Scores at the top of the page.
In the pop-up window that appears, click Yes.
All checkboxes in the Published column will be selected and the scores and feedback will be available to students on the Grades page.
Rate discussion posts
You can enable Message Ratings to allow students to anonymously rate each other’s posts on a 5-point scale.
Enable message ratings for an existing topic
This setting will enable students to anonymously rate each other’s posts in the topic.
On the main Discussions page, click the arrow beside the name of a topic and select Edit Topic.
On the Properties tab under Rate Posts, select a rating system:
Five-Star Rating Scheme: Adds stars to the right of all threads and replies. Students can give each other’s posts a rating of one to five stars.
Up Vote/Down Vote Rating Scheme: Adds a plus and minus sign to the left of all threads and replies. Students can up or down vote each other’s posts.
Up Vote Only Rating Scheme: Adds a plus sign to the left of all threads and replies. Students can up vote each other’s posts.
Click Save and Close.
Enable message ratings for new topics
This setting will enable Message Ratings by default for all new topics you create in all courses.
On the main Discussions page, click Settings in the top-right corner of the page.
Select a Default Rating Scheme that will be applied to all new topics.
Click Save.
Rate a message
On the main Discussions page, click the name of a topic.
Click the name of a thread.
Select a Rating from the 5 stars on the right of the page, or click the plus or minus sign on the left of the page.
To reset your rating, click the plus or minus sign again or click the Cancel icon beside your rating.