This article outlines the process of setting up an assessment for a discussion and how to assess student posts. If you have not yet setup a discussion forum and topic, do so now. For more information on discussion setup, see the Discussion Setup Article.

Assessment Setup

Before you can "assess" a discussion in D2L, you need to link the discussion board to Grades. Enter the discussion setup for the discussion topic that you want to add an assessment to. Click on the "Assessment" tab and choose a grade item from the drop-down list or create a new grade item now.

Be sure to enter a value for the topic in the "Score Out Of" field. This score value should match the point value for the grade item you selected or created.

If desired, attach (or create) a D2L rubric to the discussion. For more information about D2L rubrics, see the Rubrics article.

Set the assessment calculation options.

The default is to provide one "score" for all of a user's posts. By checking "allow assessment of individual posts," the instructor can provide a "score" for each time a user posts to the discussion topic. D2L will calculate the overall topic score based on the calculation option you choose.

Assessing Posts

When a discussion topic has an associated assessment, a ruler icon will appear. After students have participate in the discussion, you can assess them by clicking the "actions" arrow" next to the topic name and choosing "Assess Topic" from the list.

To view a user's posts, click on the "Topic Score" below each user's name.

The “Topic Score Details” page will open. All of the posts and replies by the selected individual will appear at the bottom of the page.

At the top of the page, you can enter a score and written feedback. Determine if you wish to publish the grade now by toggling the "Published" check box. You can wait to publish all feedback after all students have been evaluated.

Be sure to click “Save and Close” after updating a score or feedback.

You will see scores update as you evaluate each student. If you did not publish each score individually, you can publish scores at this time by clicking the "Publish All Scores to Grades" button at the top of the screen. This will check all the boxes in the "Publish to Grades" column and send the discussion scores directly to Grades.

Be sure to click “Save and Close” after publishing grades.