Grading settings are available when creating or modifying a forum in a course or organization. When grading is enabled for a forum, Instructors, Teaching Assistants, and users with the Grader or Manager forum roles will be able to access the Grade Forum Users page. Instructors may choose to grade the forum or to enable thread grading within the forum. If thread grading is enabled for the forum, Instructors have the option to turn grading on or off for each new thread.
This helpguide will first explain enabling and grading forums, followed by instructions on how to enable and grade threads.
Enable Forum Grading
Step 1: Create a new forum or click on the Modify button to the right of the forum you wish to add grades to on the initial Discussion Board page.
The Add/Modify Forum page will appear. The Grade settings appear at the bottom of the page.
Step 2: Under Forum Settings, select the Grade forum option and enter a point value to evaluate participants on performance throughout the forum.
Step 3: Hit Submit. This will take you to the initial Discussion Board page displaying a Grade button to the right of the created/modified forum.
To evaluate performance in a forum:
Step 1: Open the initial Discussion Board page. A list of forums will appear. For each forum that may be graded, an icon will appear in the Grade column.
Step 2: Click the icon in the Grade column.
-- OR --
Click on the forum title and select the Grade Forum button.
Step 3: A list of users will appear. Click Grade for a user.
Step 4: A collection of the user's posts in the forum will appear. Evaluate the posts and assign a grade.
Step 5: Click Submit to add the grade to the Gradebook and OK to return to the Grade Forum Users page.
Enable Thread Grading
Step 1: Create a new forum or click on the Modify button to the right of the forum you wish to add grades to on the initial Discussion Board page. The Add/Modify Forum page will appear.
Step 2: Under Forum Settings, select the Grade threads option and hit Submit. At this point, a pop-up window will be displayed notifying you that “Members cannot create new threads if thread grading is enabled. Creating new threads will be disabled.” Click O.K. to return to the initial Discussion Board page.
Step 3: Open the discussion forum with the Grade Thread setting and click the Add Thread button. When the Grade Thread option is used, a Points Possible option appears under the Grading section of the page each time a thread is started.
Step 4: Select the checkbox and enter a point value to evaluate participants on performance throughout the thread.
Step 5: Hit Submit. This will take you to discussion forum page displaying a Grade button to the right of the thread.
Keep in mind that users cannot create new threads if Grade Thread is selected for the forum.
To evaluate participants on performance in each thread:
Step 1: Open the Discussion Board and then open a forum. For each thread that may be graded, an icon will appear in the Grade column. Click on the Grade icon.
Step 2: Select the user you wish to grade for the thread. Do so by clicking the Grade button next to the user's information.
Step 3: On this page you will be able to view all of the replies made by the user within the thread. By clicking on the post title, as indicated by the mouse position in the image below, you can view the full thread in order to view the response in context to other posts made.
Step 4: After reviewing all of the users posts, you can assign a grade and then click Submit. After submitting a grade, you will have the option to clear a grade. You can click here to remove the user's grade and assign a new one.
