Configure a topic for assessment

  1. On the navbar, click The discussions icon Discussions.
  2. From the context menu of the topic you want to configure for assessment, click The edit icon Edit Topic.
  3. In the Assessment tab, configure your topic for assessment by doing any the following:
    • If you want your assessments to count toward the learner's Final Grade, and you want the learner to see their assessment score and feedback in the Grades tool, associate the topic to a numeric grade item. Use the Grade Item drop down list to attach an existing numeric grade item or click the New Grade Item link to create a new numeric grade item. Note that you can only associate numeric grade items with discussion topics.
    • Give the topic a Score Out Of to evaluate the overall score of the learner's contributions to the topic.
    • Click the Add Rubric button to attach an existing rubric or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric for the topic. You can assess a rubric for each learner in the course, and learners can view completed rubrics in User Progress.
    • If you want to score individual posts, select the Allow assessment of individual posts check box, then select your calculation method to allow assessment of individual posts in the topic. When this check box is not selected, you can give a single overall score to the learner for their participation.
    • If you want to score all the posts within a topic, select the Allow assessment of individual posts check box, and then select the Sum of post scores calculation method.
    • If you select Allow assessment of individual posts, the Include unassessed posts in the calculated topic score as zero check box becomes available. When you select this check box, the system automatically assigns a score of zero to individual posts that you have not yet evaluated, and the overall score for the learner is calculated from the score of all posts, including those not evaluated with a score of zero. Selecting this check box does not affect the Sum of post scores option. If you do not select the Include unassessed posts in the calculated topic score as zero check box, posts without a score are ignored and do not factor into the overall score.
  4. Click Save and Close.