Minerva - grading interface update for Blackboard Assignment and Tests

Following feedback, our vendor has released a new grading interface which we will enable in Minerva w/c 18th September. This will affect the marking of Blackboard Assignments and Tests only (it will not affect other assessment tools e.g. Turnitin or Gradscope). The new grading interface is not available for all Blackboard Assignment/Test types at this time. It is not supported for: peer review and group assignments or where multiple graders/anonymous marking settings are used. However, we expect the new interface to be available for these configurations in future releases.

The new layout aims to maximise the amount of screen space for the submission whilst making it easier to navigate between submissions. Importantly, the new marking interface for Tests allows staff to mark by question.

Alongside the new grading interface we will enable Anthology's inline marking tool, called Annotate, to offer more marking options for staff using Blackboard Assignment. Staff may also want to utilise the recently released Recording tool which can be used to create an audio and video, or audio-only recording, directly in Minerva. Read our guide on the Recording tool for more information on this.

Layout before the update

For Assignments staff currently see a link to the submitted file and for Tests, staff see the list of questions answered on a per student basis. Staff can navigate between student submissions using arrows at the top of the interface.

Figure 1. Current Assignment grading interface

Figure 2. Current Test grading interface

Layout after the update

After the update, for Assignments staff will see the file rendered on screen ready for inline marking, with a link to the file for files which don't support inline marking. The left panel can be used to navigate between submissions with filters available e.g. all unmarked submissions can be selected. Staff can collapse the left and right panels to see more of the submission on screen.

Figure 3. New Assignment grading interface with filter/feedback panels open

Figure 4. New Assignment grading interface with filter/feedback panels closed

The layout is similar for Tests with the key difference being the left panel can be used to select Grade by Question.

Figure 5. New Test grading interface with grade by question selected

The student experience

The student experience will be largely unchanged following the update. When reviewing grades and feedback, students may see new feedback methods being utilised (e.g. inline comments, recording). However, the layout and method to access feedback is unchanged.

When submitting work the experience is the same apart from when uploading files to Assignment. If uploading a file type which is supported by Annotate (the inline marking tool) students will see this render for review before submitting. This will give them the opportunity to check they are submitting the correct file.

Further Information

We will post a news item on this website when the new grading interface is available. This will include links to support materials.