Assessment item creation process complete
The process to automatically set up assignment submission points and grade columns in 2024/25 Blackboard module sites for both first sit assessment and reassessment tasks based on the data held in the student record system, SITS, was completed on 4 September 2024.
Below are next steps in getting your assessments ready for students including important information about using Turnitin, some key changes about assessment set up in Blackboard Ultra, and what to do if you are missing any submission points or need to make a change.
What next?
Please check the setup of assessments in the Assessment and Reassessment folders and the Gradebook of your Blackboard module site(s). Ensure that these have been set up as you would expect. (Please note that grade columns are not automatically created for exams. Unless you will set your exam up online in Blackboard using an assignment submission point or test, you will need to create a grade column manually).
Add any additional instructional content, rubrics, or marking scheme (all module sites are set up with a range of marking schemas that meet the revised University Grade Descriptor (UGD3)).
If required, you can modify an assessment to a group assignment or to collect work offline, but these changes must be made before students start submitting work online. If a student submits work online to an individual assignment before it has been changed to a group assignment or to collect work offline, it cannot be updated.
Optionally, allow ‘class conversations’ for your assignment(s) so that students can ask for help or answer questions that others have in relation to the assessment task.
Turnitin
Assignments in Blackboard Ultra are deeply integrated with Turnitin. By enabling Turnitin for an assignment, student work submitted to Blackboard will automatically be checked for similarity without the need to set up a separate Turnitin Assignment. You (and your students) can only see the similarity score and similarity report for the last attempt submitted to Blackboard. Similarity reports are automatically overwritten for earlier submission attempts. You must enable Turnitin before students begin submitting work as similarity reports will not be generated retrospectively.
It is important to note that the Turnitin integration with Assignments in Blackboard Ultra is distinct from a standalone Turnitin Assignment, and if you use a standalone Turnitin Assignment alongside the deeper integration there will be a false similarity match between a student who uploads a similar piece of work to each one. You should choose only to use either Turnitin integrated with an Assignment in Blackboard or a standalone Turnitin Assignment in your module site(s), and the approach taken should be consistent across the course.
Additionally, you cannot assign groups to assignments when Turnitin is enabled.
When enabling Turnitin for an assignment, please note that there might be a slight delay before the settings appear, and the following settings are are recommended:
Store student submissions in Standard paper repository.
Compare submissions against:
- Student database.
- Website content.
- Periodicals, journals and publications.
- Institution database.
Allow students to view report after submitting (do not use any other options under Similarity Report).
What’s different about assessment set up in Blackboard Ultra?
As in previous years, all first sit assessments are immediately available to students in the Assessment folder. However, unlike previously, all reassessments are also set as visible to students. As they are created in the Reassessment folder, which is hidden, students cannot access reassessments until you make the Reassessment folder available (as and when required).
You may notice that submission points have a visible release condition. The release condition is only in relation to the availability of the submission point (50 days after the due date). This is exactly the same way that submission points were previously set up in classic Blackboard sites. However in Ultra, release conditions have greater visibility to instructors. Students do not see the release condition.
Grade columns for assignments cannot be hidden from students in the Ultra Gradebook. When you are ready to return marks and feedback to students, you ‘post’ them either to individual students or all students. Although posted marks and feedback cannot be retracted, they can be changed.
It is strongly recommended that you ensure that Automatic Zeros are turned off in your Ultra Gradebook. If Automatic Zeros are turned on, students are automatically given a zero mark (which is posted immediately) if they haven’t submitted an attempt for an assessment by the due date. This may cause anxiety for students who have extensions. To turn off automatic zeros, go to the Gradebook, select the gear icon, scroll to Automatic Zeros and ensure ‘Assign automatic zeros for overdue work’ is unchecked.
Rubrics cannot be associated with regular grade columns in Blackboard Ultra, only with Assignments. If you want to use a rubric to give feedback to students for an assessment which is not submitted online through Blackboard and only a grade column has been set up, you will need to replace it with an assignment set up to collect submissions offline.
Missing submission points or need to make a change?
If you are missing any submission points or grade columns, or you need to make a change to any of the assessment information set up in Blackboard, please follow the guidance for requesting changes to assessment information.
Please do not change the name of, due date or time, or delete an assessment item created automatically without following the guidance above as this will prevent Assessment Reports (such as the Capping Report) from working.
Need help?
The Digital Learning Team are providing support and development opportunities to help staff with the transition to Blackboard Ultra. This includes online sessions on setting up assessments and marking in Blackboard Ultra. There are also recordings of previous sessions.
Alternatively, contact the Digital Learning Team.