Discussion assessment

Discussion assessment

Overview

A discussion assessment is a group activity where learners can earn points by joining a discussion thread started by the instructor. At the end of the assessment, the instructor grades each learner based on their postings and replies.

Course, Assessments, Discussion assessment example from an instructor's perspective

Adding a discussion assessment to a course or class

To add a discussion assessment:
  1. Access a course or class.
  2. Click Assessments from the course/class navigation menu.
  3. Click + Add.
  4. Click the Group tab.
  5. Click Discussion.
  6. Enter instructions and assessment details in the Add Discussion assessment pop-up.
Course, Assessments, Add assessment pop-up, Group tab

In the Add Discussion assessment pop-up, you can configure several assessment settings. 
  1. Click the Options tab.
  2. Require learners to post before seeing discussion: Check this setting if you want to require learners to post before seeing the discussion.
    1. This can prevent learners from immediately viewing the thread and copying another learner's response.
  3. List most recent posts first: Check this setting if you would like to list the most recent posts first.

Add discussion assessment pop-up, Options tab

Learners submissions

When learners access a discussion assessment, the instructions will display. To add to the discussion:

  1. Learners click the Discussion tab.
  2. Learners click + Post to create a new post.
    1. Learners use the editor to create their post and click Save to submit their post.
  3. Learners click Reply to reply to another post.
    1. In the example below, the instructor created the first post, and the learner replied directly to the post.

Course, Assessments, Debate assessment, Discussion tab from a learner's perspective

 Instructors and learners can subscribe to the discussion assessment. To subscribe to the discussion:
  1. Click the Discussion tab.
  2. Click Subscribe.
Course, Assessments, Discussion assessment, Discussion tab from an instructor's perspective with the Subscribe button highlighted

After participating in the discussion, learners can view how many times they have posted.
  1. Learners click the Instructions tab.
  2. The Submission widget in the right panel displays how many posts the learner has made.
  3. Learners can click details to view their postings. 
Course, Assessments, Discussion assessment, Instructions tab from the learners perspective with the Submission widget highlighted

Grading

To score a discussion submission:

  1. Click Assessments from the course/class navigation menu.
  2. Click the discussion assessment.
  3. Click the To score/To grade tab.
  4. Learner submissions are listed in the Posts column.
  5. Click the  icon in the Show column to score the submission. 

Course, Assessments, Discussion assessment, To score tab with a learner submission example

The learner's submission(s) will display. When learners participated in threads, the full thread will display with the learner's postings indicated by a crown icon. To score the learner's submission(s):
  1. Enter a score in the score widget in the right panel.
    1. Note that the score applies to all of the learner's posts and replies in the discussion.

Course, Assessments, Discussion assessment, learner submissions with the score widget highlighted

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