To create a better experience, the new Assignment page includes these improvements:
A new Instructions box where instructors can use the full content editor to craft assignment instructions.
Assignments created before this release will continue to create blank attempts when students view the instructions. We'll address this issue in a future release.
Now the Student Overview page has a student activity log. The Activity log can be filtered by event type and can look to the past 140 days. Any information older than that won’t be stored in this report. The log can take up to 20 minutes to update from the last time a student performs an action. Progress Tracking needs to be turned on in order to see the activity log.
Students can access the new assignment submission review page from these locations:
The gradebook feedback button for the assignment.
The small panel that displays when students access an assignment from the Course Content page.
If a student submits multiple attempts, they can review each on the submission review page. By default, the student sees the appropriate graded attempt. The instructor defines which attempt to grade in the assignment's final grade calculation setting.
The new assignment submission review page displays the following information and feedback formats:
Assessment content
Student submission with inline feedback
Submission timestamp
Submission receipt
Final grade and calculation model
Attempt grade and feedback
Override grade and feedback (if applicable)
Optimized display of rubrics information and criterion feedback
When enabled, the Automatic Zeros gradebook setting gives a zero score to students who haven’t made a submission by the due date.
To help instructors to find and grade late assessment submissions, they are now indicated as Needs Grading on the Grades and Gradable Items gradebook pages.
Students must access feedback on past submissions. Feedback review is vital for their academic growth. Now students can access all feedback on their submission, even if the assignment is hidden by a release condition. We are planning to ensure that students have access to all feedback on tests, discussions and journals in future releases.
New option to help instructors remove submissions from the grading workflow without having to delete them. When grading a student, you can now select Exclude Attempt to remove it from the Needs Grading workflow.
If an attempt is excluded, the Excluded label appears above the attempt grade and in the attempt selector. If you need to remove the attempt exclusion, select from the menu.
Grade calculations ignore excluded attempts. Students aren’t automatically granted an additional attempt if an attempt is excluded. You can grant additional attempts to the student via the exception's workflow.
You can exclude any submitted attempt by a student. If you exclude an attempt when the student has no remaining attempts, you receive a warning that their final grade can’t be calculated.
When students review their submissions, a banner notification appears on excluded attempts.
Added Indicator to the Gradebook tab to let you know when there are new submissions to grade. The indicator displays the number that needs grading. If the count goes higher than 99, it displays as 99+. Also, a new gradebook Overview tab to improve task orientation and grading efficiency. This tab contains two sections: Needs Grading and Needs Posting.
Needs Grading section
This section displays up to five items at a time, ordered by the oldest ungraded submission. For an item, select Grade now to quickly access the submissions you need to grade. If your course has more than five items that need grading, you can use the buttons at the bottom of section to navigate through all pending tasks.
Needs Posting section
The Needs Posting section increases accessibility of assessments with grades that need posting. For an item, select Post now to its grade If there are more than five items that need posting, you can use the buttons at the bottom of section to navigate through the pending tasks.
An enhanced presentation of top-level and nested content
The new design incorporates:
Subtle gradients and softer edges
A more cohesive color palette with inviting, warmer tones
More intuitive navigation, which reduces cognitive load and increases focus on the content
Content presentation enhancements
Improved differentiation among learning modules, folders, and content items. Currently, users sometimes find it challenging to distinguish among these elements. This can lead to confusion and inefficiency in navigating course materials.
Question Types: Multiple choice and multiple answer questions
Feedback: Pre-populated correct and incorrect answer feedback, which instructors can edit
Student Interaction: Students can select an answer and submit it. They receive immediate feedback on whether their answer is correct or incorrect. Knowledge checks allow unlimited attempts.
Metrics: Instructors can access detailed metrics including:
Number of students participating
Total number of attempts
Average number of attempts to reach the correct answer
Maximum number of attempts to reach the correct answer
Level of difficulty metric
Percentage of students selecting each answer option
Teaching Tidbits: Blackboard Ultra
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