Tip #64: Grade Discussion Board Forums or Threads

Tip: You can grade Discussion Board forums or threads.

Here’s how to enable grading:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Discussion Board
   


2. Choose the specific Discussion Board containing the Forum you would like to grade
   


3. Click the Modify button for the Forum you would like to grade
   


4. Under Forum Settings, select Grade Forum or Grade Threads
   
   1. Grade Forum will allow you to assign grades for students’ posts to that forum
   2. Grade Threads will allow you to assign grades for students’ replies to each thread in a forum

Here’s how to grade:

1. Click the Grade icon next to the forum or thread you would like to grade
   


2. Click the Grade button next to a student’s name
   
   1. The student’s posts to the forum or thread will display
   2. You can filter, sort, and print the student’s posts
      


3. Type a grade in the Grade box and click the Submit button

Discussion grading and the gradebook:

It is important to note that when you enable grading for a forum or thread, columns for those forums or threads are automatically generated in the gradebook.

• When you enable grading by forum, a column for that forum is created in the gradebook
• When you enable grading by thread, a column for each thread in a forum is created in the gradebook

Keep this in mind when choosing whether to grade by forum or thread. Gradebook management can become cumbersome if you choose to grade a large number of threads.

Tip #63: Partial Credit Test Questions

Tip: When creating a test, you can set some questions to allow for partial credit by following a two-step process that includes first enabling the option on a test level, and then setting the option on a question level.

Question types:
While all manually-graded questions can be assigned partial credit, only the following automatically-graded questions allow it:

• Calculated Formula
• Fill in Multiple Blanks
• Jumbled Sentence
• Matching
• Multiple Answer
• Multiple Choice
• Opinion Scale/Likert
• Ordering
• Quiz Bowl

Here’s how to do it:

Part 1 — Enable the option on the test level:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Test Manager.
   
2. Click on the Modify button to the right of the test containing the questions you plan to make partial credit. This will take you to the Test Canvas page.
   
3. Click on the Creation Settings link.
   
4. Scroll down to the Scoring subsection, and check the box correlating to “Specify partial credit options for answers”.
   
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Submit and then OK.

Part 2 — Set the option on the question level:

1. Click on the Modify button to the right of the question you plan to make partial credit.
   
2. Scroll down to the Options subsection, and check the box correlating to “Allow Partial Credit”.
   
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click either Submit or Next until you are able to click Submit.

Please note:

• Partial credit scoring for automatically graded questions must be set up before students have taken the test.
  


• If you choose to disable partial credit scoring, you must first disable the option on the question level before doing so on the test level.

Tip #62: Best Practices for Student Test Taking

A Blackboard Tip of the Week: Best Practices for Student Test Taking

Tip: You can help students reduce the chances of technological mishaps while taking exams by encouraging them to follow a few best practices.

Best Practices for Students Preparing to Take a Test:

• Students should view Blackboard using Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 3.5
• Students who have already updated to Internet Explorer 8 should enable Compatibility View by clicking on the Compatibility View button located to the right of the Address Bar
• Students should run a System Check at least 30 minutes before an exam
• On the TWU Blackboard system front page under the Getting Started Guide, they should click on System Check
• Students should disable pop-up blocking in their browsers
• In Firefox, they should:
• Go to Tools > Options > Content
• Uncheck Block pop-up windows
• Click OK
• In Internet Explorer, they should:
• Go to Tools > Pop-up Blocker
• Click on Turn Off Pop-up Blocker
• Students should close all other applications and browsers before starting their test, and not open any others for the duration of their exam session
• Students should check for possible firewall issues before choosing their test taking location—especially if they plan on taking an exam at their places of employment
• Students can make sure their test submission will not be blocked by a corporate or home firewall by submitting the Sample Exam in the Blackboard Sample Course
  1. Go to http://online.twu.edu and log in with “online” as the username and password
  2. Click on TWU Sample Course and click on Exams
  3. Take the Sample Exam (choose to “take the assessment again” if given the option)
• If, after agreeing to submit the exam, the student receives “Assessment successfully submitted” message, then there should not be a test taking firewall problem on that location’s connection

Best Practices for Students While Taking a Test:

• Students should not open any other browser window or application for the duration of their exam session
• Students should not click outside of the test—including the navigation on the left side panel in Blackboard
• Students should not click on any browser navigation such as the Back, Forward, or Home buttons
• Students should not use the scroll wheel on their mouse as this will sometimes inadvertently change answers
• Students should click the Save button every five questions to save their answers unless questions are being delivered one at a time—in which case, they will need to press save on every question
• When ready to submit, students should click the Submitbutton just once

Tip #61: Alter Assessment Settings

Tip: You can alter assessment settings even after you’ve initially released an assessment. This ability allows you to release results, answers, and feedback after students have completed the assessment.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on the Content Area where the item is located


2. Click on the Modify button to the right of the assessment
• This will take you to the Modify Test page


3. Click on Modify the Test options


4. Scroll down to the Test Feedback subsection, and check boxes correlating to the kind(s) of test feedback you want to make accessible
   
   • Score
   • Submitted Answers
   • Correct Answers
   • Feedback