Configure a Discussion Topic for Assessment

Show Video Walkthrough

1. On the Discussions List page, click Edit Topic from the context menu of the topic you want to configure.
2. Click the Assessment tab.
   
3. If you want to link a topic score to a grade item, select your Grade Item from the drop-down list, or click "New Grade Item" to create a grade item for the topic in a pop-up window.
   
4. Specify the number you want to Score Out Of. This is the scale, ranging from zero to the number you enter, that students are evaluated on. For example, if you enter 15, students are assessed on a scale from zero to fifteen.
   
   NOTE: This is a required field. If you do not fill it out, or if you copy discussions that have no value here, you will not be able to grade the discussion.
5. Click Add Rubric to associate the topic with one or more rubrics. Click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
   
   See Create a Rubric and Connecting a Rubric to a Discussion Topic for more information.
   
   
   
   NOTE: A Rubrics section displays in the collapsible Description area of the topic, containing links to any rubrics you associate with the topic. Clicking on a rubric link will open the rubric in a pop-up window, allowing students to preview the expectations for the topic.
   
   
6. If you want to assess individual posts (rather than assigning an overall topic score directly for each student):
   • Select the "Allow assessment of individual posts" check box.
     
   • Select the Calculation method you want to use to determine students’ overall topic scores based on post scores. See Calculation Methods for Assessing Individual Discussion Posts for more information.
     
   • By default, the system ignores unassessed posts when calculating the topic score. However, if you want the calculation to treat unassessed posts as if those posts receive a score of zero, select the "Include unassessed posts in the calculated score as zero" check box.
     
7. Click Save and Close.