brightspace assignment annotation

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Assignment Annotations to Student Submissions

D2L Brightspace has an inline annotation tool for assignments. Using the Annotation Tool in D2L Brightspace allows you to annotate document submissions inside of your course without having to download anything.

• Click  Assessments tab, then  Assignments  from the course navbar.
• On any assignment, click the dropdown caret next to its title.
• Choose View Submissions.
• Click on the title (link) of a student's submission.
• The banner above the submission is the annotation banner. The tools to the right are annotation tools.

• Click the appropriate tool icon.
• With the tool you'd like selected, click the document in the location you'd like to annotate.
• To save your annotations, you must click  Save Draft. Annotations not saved before leaving the page or reloading it will not be kept and will be deleted. Be sure to save your annotations often!
• When you are ready for the student to see your feedback, click  Publish.

About the Annotation Tools

The annotations features is made up of four components:

Textbox Tool

• Click the icon to use the tool and set color, transparency, and width.
• Click the down arrow to select a pen or highlighter.
• Write anywhere in the submission.
• Click  Save Draft  or  Publish  when done.

• Click the note icon to use the tool and set options.
• Click anywhere in the submission to add a note.
• Type into the note.

• Click the textbox icon to use the tool and set options.
• Click anywhere in the submission to add a textbox.
• Type into the box. It will expand as you type.

• Click the down arrow to select line, arrow, or rectangle.
• Click anywhere in the submission to add a line.

Note: It is also possible to download student submissions in bulk, edit them locally, and then upload the edited files in bulk back to D2L.

• Instructional Design Support
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705
• https://www.iup.edu/instructional-design

Annotations in Assignments

​Overview  

Instructors can now annotate student work directly within the Assignments tool using the Annotation toolbar. The Annotation toolbar will appear at the top of the page when you view a submission.  Annotations allow you to markup student work and provide detailed comments online. Features of the Annotation tool include highlighting, striking through, and underlining. You can also highlight and comment on a specific portion of an online submission or draw free hand on the assignment.

Previously, instructors had to run papers through Turnitin and use Turnitin’s GradeMark to annotate papers online. GradeMark and Turnitin are still available but are no longer necessary for annotation.

This feature is now available and is automatically turned on for your course.

Go to your course homepage and click on Assignments from within the Assessments drop-down menu.

Select the assignment that is to be assessed.

The Assignment Submission page will open, Select the submission to be assessed .

Begin annotating using one or more of the tools available.

Select Update to save the Annotations.

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Brightspace Assignments

The Brightspace Assignments tool provides the functionality of creating and editing assignments, setting up submission details, associating rubrics, viewing and grading submissions, and providing feedback. This unit will guide you through the steps to create a simple Brightspace Assignment.

The place where all assignments can be accessed, edited, graded, and created. Students can see all course assignments that the instructor has made visible.

Special Access

An option in Brightspace assignments that allows you to set exceptions or special access to specific students or groups of students.

Anonymous Marking

A feature that hides student names when you are grading, used to reduce the effects of unconscious grading bias. Anonymous grading can also increase students’ confidence in the fairness of evaluation.

Consider Multiple Submission Formats

Can the learning outcomes you are measuring be achieved by written submissions only or also by other types of student work, such as video submissions, audio only, or even visual artwork? All of these submission formats are possible in Brightspace assignments.

Let students know how they will be graded

In the assignment description, tell students how they will be graded. If you are using a rubric, share it with them. If you are going to grade anonymously, let them know. This helps students understand the expectations for the assignment.

Evaluate Originality Checker Needs

The Brightspace Assignments tool does not have a built-in originality checker. If you are creating a high-stakes assignment, you may want to create it in Turnitin, an external tool integrated into Brightspace and accessed from the Existing Activities menu in content modules.

Option A – From the Assignments

• Click on the Activities tab from the top navbar in the course shell.
• Choose Assignments from the pull-down menu.

Option B – From the Course Admin tab

• Click on the Tools tab at the top menu bar and choose Course Admin.
• Click on the Assignments link.

Option A – From Assignments

• Navigate to the Assignments tool.
• Click on the New Assignment button.

Note: Assignments created in the Assignments tool will not automatically appear in content modules. To create a link to an assignment from a module, from within the module click Existing Activities, and then click on Assignments, and select the assignment you wish to link to.

Option B – From a module

• Navigate to the module where you want to create an assignment.
• Select the module where you want to create an assignment.
• Click on Upload/Create.
• Select New Assignment.

Note : When you create an assignment in a module, it is automatically added to the Assignments tool.

• Type in the assignment name.
• Click into the ‘Grade Out Of’ field and enter the maximum points possible.
• Set the due date.
• Type in instructions.

Note : When you add points to the ‘Grade Out Of’ field, the ‘In Grade Book’ icon will appear with a dropdown menu indicating that the assignment has been added to the Grades tool.

In the New Assignment window, you can also set up:

• Availability Dates & Conditions
• Submission & Completion
• Evaluation & Feedback
• Click on the visibility toggle at the bottom of the screen and set it to the Visible option.

In most cases, the default availability settings are appropriate. If you want to set release dates or conditions, or special access conditions to grant an accommodation or an extension, follow these steps.

• Click on Availability Dates & Conditions on the right side of the New Assignment window.
• Define the start and end points of the assignment visibility.

Note: The assignment must be set to “Visible” using the visibility toggle at the bottom of the window for availability date restrictions to work properly.

• Click the Add Release Condition button to create new release conditions for this assignment.
• Click on the Manage Special Access button to change due dates or availability dates for selected students.

Note: Students can submit assignments up until the End Date. Assignments submitted after the Due Date will be marked late. If you set the End Date and Due Date to the same date, to give a student an extension you will have to grant them Special Access.

In most cases, the default submission options will be appropriate. The most common exception is if you are creating a group assignment.

• Expand the Submission & Completion section on the right side of the New Assignment window.

You can specify assignment types (individual or group), file submission types (PDF, Word, PPT, etc.), number of files allowed in a submission, the number of submissions that are allowed and kept, and whether you want to be notified by email when there are submissions to the assignment.

• Click on the Evaluation & Feedback section on the right to expand the options.
• Select Add Rubric if you wish to use a grading rubric. Either create a new rubric or add an existing one.
• Leave the Annotation Tools checked so that you can comment on student submissions using Brightspace annotation tools.
• Check Anonymous Marking if you want to have students’ names hidden while grading their submissions.

Save: allows you to save your progress without exiting the editing mode. It is useful if you want to continue working or need to double-check settings.

Save and Close: saves your changes and takes you out of the editing mode, bringing you back to the assignment list.

• Click on the Activities tab on the Nabar and choose the Assignments tool.
• Locate the assignment you wish to edit in the list of assignments.
• Click the arrow next to the assignment’s name to open its settings.
• Click on the Edit Assignment option.
• Make edits to instructions or settings.
• Click Save and Close to update the assignment after making all desired edits.

Test Your Knowledge

Take action.

• Using the steps above, create at least one assignment in your Brightspace course. Review them to ensure they are aligned with your course objectives and are accessible to all students.

D2L Brightspace Community: Create an assignment D2L Brightspace Community: Reorder, edit, and delete assignments D2L Brightspace Community: Set release conditions and special access in Assignments D2L Brightspace Community: Set availability and due dates for an assignment D2L Brightspace Community: Restricted File Extensions CUNY Brightspace Transition: Training and Resources CUNY SPS Accessibility Toolkit

Create an Assignment | Instructor

• Introduction
• Unit 1: Brightspace Login and Navigation
• Unit 2: Course Content in Brightspace
• Unit 3: The Brightspace Editor
• Unit 4: Announcements, Email, and Instant Messages in Brightspace
• Unit 5: Online Discussions
• Unit 6: Brightspace Assignments
• Unit 7: Grading

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Brightspace Support

Grading an Assignment

The Assignment tool provides instructors with a variety of tools to help grade assignments and to leave feedback. All of this is done on the Assignment evaluation page. You are also able to attach a rubric to the assignment, provided you have created one in Brightspace. Click here for our guide on creating rubrics.

The most convenient way to grade assignments, is on the Evaluation page . Another option is to download the assignments to your computer and grade them in Microsoft Word. You can also use TurnitIn, which is an application built into Brightspace. TurnitIn offers a “Similarity Check” to alert you of any possible plagiarism, and also offers annotation tools.

Access the Assignment Evaluation page

• Download Assignment files
• Use TurnitIn

Updated Spring 2022

This takes you to the evaluation page. Here you have many options for assessment and providing feedback. Also see the image below.

• By clicking on the document, you can use the built in Annotation Tool . Click here for more information on how to use annotations. 

On the right hand side you will see the feedback panel. This panel will allow you to privately communicate FERPA-sensitive grade information with your student. You can:

• Attach and use a rubric . Click to expand the rubric and grade by criterion.
• Assign a grade. Enter manually, or if you are using an rubric this is automatic entered.
• Add text. Add images and other things with the insert stuff button in the feedback text box.
• Upload a feedback file . This can be a graded copy of the submission, instructor notes, or another file. 
• Add video or audio feedback. This feature is useful when you want to communicate more personally with your students or accurately convey tone. You can record one minute of audio or three minutes of video.

After leaving feedback and assigning a grade, you can publish feedback immediately or save your feedback as a draft and release it at a later time. This enables you to revise and review evaluations and publish your feedback to multiple users at the same time. You also have the option to retract published feedback if you want to provide an update to past evaluations but only want learners to access your most recent feedback.   

Download assignment files

It is also possible to download all user submissions in a .zip file, leave feedback within the files using the Word or PDF track changes and comment features, then upload the files back to the appropriate assignment submission folder so they appear as attachments.

• Open the Zip file that is downloaded to your computer. Enter feedback one by one, save and close the files. Do not rename the files.
• To return feedback on all downloaded submissions at once, click Add Feedback Files . Upload your compressed .zip file using the same format that it was downloaded with, then click Add .

To add the file to students one at a time , go to the Evaluation page for that student. Use the File Upload button underneath the feedback text box

Use Turnitin

Turnitin is an originality checker (sometimes also called a plagiarism detector, although that term stretches what the tool is actually capable of). However, it is possible NOT to use the originality tools, and instead use Turnitin’s robust grading and evaluation tools which include rubrics, Quickmarks, and an e-rater that assigns student essays with typical feedback for surface-level writing issues that is then fully editable by the instructor. Here are our guides for using Turnitin:

• Video Introduction to TurnitIn’s Quickmarks
• How do I enable TurnitIn on a new assignment?
• How do I enable TurnitIn on an existing assignment?
• An Overview of TurnitIn Feedback Studio
• How to use the similarity report tools in TurnitIn
• How to provide feedback using TurnitIn
• How to manually enter grades using TurnitIn
• How do I use a rubric in the TurnitIn Feedback Studio

Division of Information Technology

Grading assignments in brightspace.

This article will show you how to grade your student's assignments via the Assignment tab in the Navbar. If you would like to learn how to grade via the Quick Eval tool, check out our these slides. 

• Go to the  Assignment Menu  of your course

• Once you are here, you can view your student's submissions. To view their submission, click on either:
• The student's name
• The student's file submission

• On the right of the screen, you can enter an  Overall Grade , type  Overall Feedback , and  Include Attachments  to the feedback.
• Once you are finished, you can either  Publish  your evaluation, or  Save it as a Draft .

Additional Information

Supported by.

(for thought)

Brightspace Tip #143: Annotate Assignment Submissions

Instructors can provide feedback directly in submitted assignments using the Annotations tool. Previously the only option for annotating assignments was by using the Assignment Grader app on your mobile device.

Features available in the Annotations Toolbar are:

• Text Highlighting
• Freehand Drawing
• Text Annotation
• Note Annotation

The ability to annotate on assignment submissions will assist instructors in providing valuable feedback to students.

Instructors will see the Annotations toolbar within the Assignments Evaluation Submission screen.

NOTE: The following file types are supported by the Annotations tool:

• .gif (once converted to a PDF, only the first frame of the .gif displays)

Students have to submit their assignments in one of the supported file types in order for the instructor to use the built-in Annotations tool.

ICYMI, read my blog post on how you can simplify assignment collection by using the Assignments tool.

Want More Information?

Instructor Annotations for Brightspace Assignments (pdf) Using Annotations for Instructor Feedback (video) Add Feedback and Evaluations to Assignments Simply Assignment Collection Assignments Tool Training Recap View all the Brightspace training recaps Continuous Delivery release notes Brightspace Known Issues Request a sandbox course Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website. Join the Brightspace Community . Try these Brightspace How-To documents . Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information or schedule a one-on-one session , email , or call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room .

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• Draft:Annotate a Brightspace assignment submission

Annotate a Brightspace assignment submission submitted to an assignments folder in a Brightspace course to provide quick feedback to students without having to open their original documents. Available annotations include freehand drawing, highlighting, and comments (e.g., sticky notes). Once published, students can see your annotations and download a PDF copy of their document with your annotations included.

Annotate student documents

Before you can use these annotation features, you must add an Assignments folder to your Brightspace course and students must upload their documents to this folder. Once you have documents to annotate, follow the steps below:

• From within your Brightspace course, select Assignments from the Assessments menu.
• Select the desired Assignment folder.
• Select the student's submission. The document will open in a preview window. The annotation toolbar will be at the top of that window (Fig 1) .
• Use the annotation tools to add annotations.
• Select the Publish button to save your annotations and release them for the student to review. Select the Save Draft button if you are not finished annotating and do not want the student to review your annotations yet. Return later to continue annotating.

Fig 1. The annotation toolbar .

More wiki articles

• Add a new assignment folder to your Brightspace course
• Review a survey report in Brightspace
• Embed a MediaSpace file into a Brightspace assignment folder
• Draft:Using annotation to give feedback

Navigation menu

Assignments, Feedback and Grades

Pixabay / CC0 1.0

What this resource is all about

This resource covers...

... an introduction to some of the assessment tools in Brightspace, including...

• the assignments tool (including how to set up an assignment, how to give feedback, and how to )
• Turnitin ® (including how to set up Turnitin ® , how to set up a Turnitin ® rubric, and how to mark in Turnitin ® )
• the Brightspace rubrics tool (including how to set up a Brightspace rubric and how to mark using a Brightspace rubric)
• the Brightspace grades tool (including how to set up your gradebook using the Setup Wizard)

The Assignments Tool

can be used to record and evaluate

File submissions, text submissions, on paper submissions, observed in person , can be linked to rubrics and the gradebook, allows you to annotate student submissions, the assignments tool.

From your homepage, navigate to Course Tools and then Assignments . (Figure 1)

Once you have entered the Assignments tool, you will be able to create new assignments by clicking on the blue New Assignment button . In addition, you will be able to see all previously created assignments as well as any categories they might be sorted in. You will also see a drop-down menu labeled More Actions . (Figure 2)

Setting up a new assignment

Once you have clicked on the blue New Assignment button , you will be taken into  the assignment editor. On the left of the screen you can add various Assignment details ; on the right there are three headings: Availablillity Dates & Conditions , Submission & Completion and Evaluation & Feedback .

See below for further information on these various areas.

Start on the left of the screen ( Assignment details ) where you can include a name, grade, due date and a set of instructions (Figure 3) .

Assignment details

Start by giving your assignment a name. Next, add a figure to the Marks Out Of area (doing this will activate a dropdown list, which asks if you want the assignment to be added to the Grade Book).

Enter a Due Date for your assignment.

We would encourage you to use the Instructions area to provide some instructions to students. You have access to a full html editor here, so you will be able to include a variety of formatting options, add in images, links etc.

If you have instructions in a PDF or Word document, you can also add an attachment via the 'File Upload' button at the foot of this screen. Additionally, you could opt to record audio instructions via the 'Record Audio' button or a video via the 'Record Video' button (Figure 4).

Availability Dates & Conditions

Further customise your assignment by setting start and end dates , as well as bringing in the functionality of Release Conditions and Special Access  (Figure 5).

Submission & Completion

In the Submission & Completion section of the menu, you can choose what type of assignment you are creating, and what file types you will accept from learners submitting their assignments.

Evaluation & Feedback

Finally, customise your evaluation and feedback options (Figure 8).

Giving Feedback within the Brightspace Assignments tool

Once students have submitted assignments, you will be able to see a list of submissions upon clicking on the assignment itself. In this list, you will see the students name (Test, Edu), the submission and file type as well as the submission date and time.

Once you have clicked on the submission or file you would like to evaluate, you will see the actual submission and a panel on the left that would let you edit the assignment folder, preview the assignment in student view, see the assignment availability dates and any rubrics you might have attached. If you attached rubrics, you can now use them to evaluate the submission.

If you have switched on the annotation tool, you will also see a menu bar for that. For further information on how to use it, familiarise yourself with the information below.

Scrolling further down in the right-hand side panel, you will also be able to enter the score, see the student preview of the score and add feedback. You can either type your feedback into the HTML editor, add an attachment, record and audio or record a video.

When you are done, you can either hit the blue 'Publish' button which means that the grade will be live and visible for students. You can also hit the 'Save Draft' button which allows you to publish all grades and feedback in bulk later on.

Marking using the Brightspace assignment submission annotation tool

Thumbnail view, Outline view, Bookmarks

If the submitted document has more than one page, you can quickly jump to other pages.

Settings (Page mode, Transition between pages, Rotation of pages)

Pan to move up and down the page

Zoom in and out

Click to make the document fit the page and fill the frame

Pen, Highlighter, Eraser with further settings for each of these tools

Notes and shapes

Text comments which can be added into the document

Further shapes

Search within document

Download document

Full screen

Highlighting / striking through / underlining portions of text

You can easily mark up students' submissions using the text highlighting feature - simply select the text you would like to mark up, and select to either highlight, strike through, or underline the selected text. (Figure 13)

Once you have selected and highlighted / struck through / underlined something, you can change the colour of the highlight / strike through / underlining by clicking on the portion of the text. A menu bar will pop up at the top of the screen which will allow you to change the colour (1) and opacity (2) of the highlight / strike through / underlining. (Figure 14)

Aside from highlighting text and then selecting that you would like to highlight / strike through / underline, you can also access the highlighter via the pen icon in the navbar. When you click on the pen icon, you can choose two different types of highlighters - a freehand highlighter (1) and the automatic highlighter (2) which highlights text after you select it. (Figure 15)

If you would like to delete any annotations, stricke through or underlining, simply click on the highlighted / struck through / underlined area, and click on the bin at the right-hand side of the menu bar to delete.(Figure 16)

If you have used the freehand highlighting tool, simply use the eraser to erase your highlighting. (Figure 17)

Using the freehand drawing features

If you would like to use a free hand drawing tool, click on the pen symbol. You can now either stick with the freehand drawing tool (pen; 1) or you can use the freehand highlighter (2) mentioned above. (Figure 18)

A mentioned above regarding the highlighting / strike through / underlining tools, you can further format your freehand drawing via a pop-up menu (1) which will allow you to change features such as colour, tickness, background colour as well as opacity. You can also use the bin on the right-hand side of this menu to delete the freehand annotation from the document. Within the text, you will also be able to move and resize your annotation. Simply click on the annotation when you are finished creating it. A frame (2) will appear around the annotation which will allow you to resize and move around your annotation. (Figure 19)

Inserting notes

Use the notes function to add collapsable notes to submissions. To do this, select the notes tool from the menu. (Figure 20)

You will now be able to add differently coloured notes to the submission. In addition to changing the display colour of the notes, you will also be able to use different shapes to show students there is a note. This means you could for instance use a checkmark or star note to highlight something a student did well (1) and a questionmark note to ask a student a question or suggest a revision (2). (Figure 21)

To add a note simply click anywhere on the page. This will add the note. You can now enter text (1). Clicking anywhere else on the screen will collapse the note and you will just see the symbol you chose for your note, in our example the questionmark (2). (Figure 21)

Just as freehand annotations, notes can be dragged anywhere you would like them to be. Simply click on the note icon and drag it to a different place in the document if you need to do so.

Similar to the other types of annotations, you can delete your note at any time by clicking on the bin icon on the right-hand side of the menu. (Figure 22)

Inserting text comments

If you would like to add shorter comments that will permanently appear in the document, use the text annotation function. To do this, select the text tool from the menu. (Figure 23) 

You will now be able to add text comments to the submission. To add text simply click anywhere on the page. This will add a text space. You can now enter text. Once you have added the text to the text box and click out of the box, you will be able to resize it and move it around, just like the freehand annotations. In addition, you can add the text annotation menu to change the text and background colour, the opacity, font, font size, and alignment. To delete your text comment, simply click on the bin in the right-hand corner of the menu. (Figure 24)

Inserting shapes

In addition to highlighting, striking through, underlining as well as adding notes and texts, you can also add shapes to your annotations. To do this, click on the shapes tool on the menu. (Figure 25)

You will now be able to select which type of shape you would like to insert.

How your students can access their feedback

Students should first access their assignment by clicking on the Course Tools drop-down menu in the Navbar, and selecting Assignments. (Figure 27)

Once students are in the assignment tool, they should see their assignment(s). In the column Evaluation Status, they should see that they have unread feedback. To access the feedback, they should click on the blue Unread link. (Figure 28)

This will take them to the feedback area for their assignment. To see their marked up and annotated submission, they should click on View Inline Feedback. (Figure 29)

Students will now see their marked up and annotated document, which they can download and print. Students will see all your annotations and can also read the notes by hovering over the note symbols. (Figure 30)

Turnitin ®

Can be used to perform originality checks on students' assignments, can be used to evaluate students' submissions using quickmarks®  and rubrics/grading forms, can be set up so marks generated in turnitin ®  automatically sync as draft into the assignments tool and gradebook in brightspace, before you start using turnitin ®, linking an assignment in brightspace to turnitin ®.

When you set up an assignment, you will see four tabs in the assignment set up wizard. The first two were already covered in the assignments section of this resource. To link your assignment to Turnitin®, navigate to the last tab on the right labeled Turnitin® . Once you are there, you will be able to enable the Turnitin® originality checker as well as Turnitin® GradeMark® which will allow you to attach a Turnitin® rubric to your assignment and grade it in the Turnitin® feedback studio. (Figure 31)

Turnitin® GradeMark®

Once you have enabled Turnitin® GradeMark®, you will be able to determine whether you would like grades in Turnitin® to sync automatically as a draft to Brightspace or whether you would like to sync Turnitin® grades manually as draft in Brightspace.

If you have linked the assignment to a grade item and choose the first option, a grade from Turnitin® will automatically saved as draft in Brightspace. This means that once you are done marking all assignments in Turnitin®, you will only need to release the grades to students afterwards. If you decide for option number two, you would have the added step of having to first sync all grades from Turnitin® into Brightspace and then releasing them to students. (Figure 32)

Turnitin® Originality Check ®

Once you have enabled the Turnitin® Originality Check®, you will be able to determine what will be displayed to students as well as whether or not you would like an originality check to be performed on all submissions or just individual submissions. (Figure 33) If you choose for students to be able to see their Turnitin® similarity scores, students will see the following once they have submitted their assignment and have clicked on 'Submitted' in their assignment view:

You as the instructor will see the following:

Once you have graded the assignment, you will also be able to see the score where at the moment it says 'No Score'.

For more information on how your students will use Turnitin®, have a look at our  Turintin® Student Guide .

Optional settings for Turnitin ®

Once you have enabled the Turnitin® GradeMark® and Originality Check®, click on the 'More Options' button to customise your settings further. In this step, you will also be able to create and/or attach a rubric. (Figure 36)

Once you have clicked on the 'More Options' button, a new window will open for you. Initially, you will be able to see the title of your assignments and the max grade which are both taken from the assignments tool. You will also see a button that says 'Optional settings'. Click on the button to customise your assignment further. (Figure 37)

Submission settings

Submission settings (figure 38).

Compare against

Compare against (figure 39).

This area allows you to customise what you would like to compare student submissions agains.

Similarity Report

Additional settings

If you check this box, your settings will be saved for the future. (Figure 41)

Setting up a rubric or grading form in Turnitin ®

If you would like to create and/or attach a rubric or grading form to your assignment, check the box next to 'Attach a rubric' under 'Submission settings' and click on the blue 'Launch Rubric Manager' button. (Figure 42)

This will take you to the Turnitin® rubric manager (opens in a new window). If you already have rubrics and grading forms in the manager, you will be taken to the first on your list. If not, you will be able to create a new rubric or grading form.

If you are taken to a previous rubric or grading form, or to see the rubric manager options, click on the list button on the top left-hand side.

From there, you will be able to create a new rubric (analytic rubric) or grading from (holistic rubric). You can also duplicate previously created rubrics or grading form, rename them or delete them.

(Figure 43)

Note: You can only delete rubrics or grading form that have not yet been used for marking an assignment.

Rubrics in Turnitin®

Within Turnitin ® , there are different types of analytic rubrics that you can create.

• Weighted rubrics (weight each criterion)
• Custom points rubrics (enter custom points for each scale)
• Qualitative rubrics (no grade is assigned, there is only text based feedback)

To start, launch the rubric manager menu and select 'Create new rubric' from the menu. (Figure 44)

Rubrics - How to start

Here, you will find a brief explanation of what you will see when you start creating a rubric. (Figure 45)

• Start by giving your rubric a name.
• The + sign next to criteria and scales will allow you to add additional criteria and scales.
• This is where you can change the weight of each criterion in weighted rubrics. By clicking on the individual criteria, i.e., 'Criterion 1', you will also be able to rename them.
• This is where you can edit the scales. Click on the individual scales, i.e., 'Scale 1', to edit the scale name. Click on the point value in the top right-hand corner to edit the value of each scale. Click on the boxes below the scales to edit the description/feedback.
• Here, you can choose the type of rubric you would like to create - weighted rubric (%), custom points rubric or qualitative/text only rubric (0).
• When you are done, click save.

Weighted rubric (%)

Here, you will find a brief explanation of the components of a weighted rubric. This is usually the default that comes up when you create a new rubric.

If not, click on the percentage symbol on the bottom of the screen next to Rubric Scoring. (Figure 46)

• Next, determine the criteria you would like to evaluate and how much each will be worth. Note: Once you have entered the criterion names, you can also provide short explanations for each criterion by clicking on the field below the criterion name. This comes in especially handy when your criteria are more elaborate since each criterion name can only be 12 characters long.
• Next, determine the scale names and how much each scale will be worth.
• Provide a short description/feedback to indicate what students will have to do to achieve a certain scale for any of the criteria.
• When you are done, click on 'Save'.

Once you are done and have saved your rubric, you can go to back to your previous Turnitin ® optional settings window and can select your rubric to be attached to your assignment. Now you will be able to use this rubric to mark students assignment in the Turnitin ® Feedback Studio. (Figure 48)

Custom points rubric (pen and paper symbol)

Here, you will find a brief explanation of the components of a custom points rubric. To start creating a custom points rubric, click on the pen and paper symbol on the bottom of the screen next to Rubric Scoring. (Figure 49)

• Next, determine the criteria you would like to evaluate. Note: Once you have entered the criterion names, you can also provide short explanations for each criterion by clicking on the field below the criterion name. This comes in especially handy when your criteria are more elaborate since each criterion name can only be 12 characters long.
• Next, determine the scale names.
• Provide a short description/feedback to indicate what students will have to do to achieve a certain scale for any of the criteria. This area is also where you can enter your custom point values for each scale and criteria.

Once you are done and have saved your rubric, you can go to back to your previous Turnitin ® optional settings window and can select your rubric to be attached to your assignment. Now you will be able to use this rubric to mark students assignment in the Turnitin ® Feedback Studio. (Figure 51)

Qualitative Rubric (0)

Here, you will find a brief explanation of the components of a qualitative rubric. To start creating a qualitative rubric, click on the '0' on the bottom of the screen next to Rubric Scoring. (Figure 52)

Once you are done and have saved your rubric, you can go to back to your previous Turnitin ® optional settings window and can select your rubric to be attached to your assignment. Now you will be able to use this rubric to mark students assignment in the Turnitin ® Feedback Studio. (Figure 54)

Grading forms in Turnitin®

Within Turnitin ® , you can also create a grading form or holistic rubric . To start, launch the rubric manager menu and select 'Create new grading form' from the menu.

Grading Forms

• Start by giving your grading form a name.
• Next, enter your criteria and a short description for the crieria.
• Use the big + button on the bottom of the page to add further criteria.
• If you would like to be able to enter scores for the criteria when you mark the assignment, enable scoring in the bottom left-hand corner of the page.
• Once you are done, click 'Save' in the bottom right-hand corner.

To attach the grading form to a Turnitin® assignment, select it from the list of rubrics in the 'Optional Settings' pop-up window. (Figure 57)

Marking in Turnitin® - General

Once students have submitted an assignment that's linked to Turnitin ® , you will be able to evaluate it via the Brightspace assignment tool.

To access the assignment tool, select Assignments from the Course Tools drop-down menu in the navbar. (Figure 58)

Once you are in the assignment tool, you will be able to access all assignment submission folders set up for the module/unit.

Click on any of the submission folders to  evaluate student submissions to that folder.

(Figure 59)

Once you have entered an assignment folder that is linked to Turnitin ® , you will be able to see a list of submissions. For each student, you will be able to see the following information about the submissions:

• Name of the student, assignment (inlcuding name, type and size)
• Turnitin ® similarity report
• Turnitin ® GradeMark area ® (including whether there is a score and feedback, a pen symbol that will take you straight to the Turnitin ® Feedback Studio, and an arrow symbol to refresh any mark that might not have synced)
• Date and time of submission

(Figure 60)

To mark an assignment in Turnitin ® , you can either click on the pen symbol in submission view... (Figure 61) ... or on the link 'Launch Turnitin ® ' when you are viewing a submission. (Figure 62)

Turnitin ® Feedback Studio

When you first enter the Turnitin ® Feedback Studio, you will see the following:

• Student name and assignment name
• Overall score for the current student
• Toggle through multiple submissions/students
• Feedback area and similarity details: any of the blue buttons have to do with assessment and feedback, any of the red buttons have to do with similarity

(Figure 63)

Turnitin ® QuickMarks

If you navigate to the first button (checkmark button) in the blue assessment and feedback area, you will get to the Turnitin ® QuickMarks. These are designed to help you give feedback quicker. From the drop-down menu, you will be able to select tag lists to make looking for a the appropriate QuickMark quicker. There is also a screw that will let you edit and add QuickMarks. (Figure 64)

Once you have clicked on the screw, a new window will open where you can see a list of existing QuickMarks (2). When you click on an existing QuickMark, you can see a description of what the QuickMark means. You can also see which sets or lists it already belongs too, or you could add it to a new set (3). In the QuickMarks editor, you can also add your own QuickMarks. Simply click on the '+' symbol (1) and add your QuickMark name, description and set affiliation. (Figure 65)

Turnitin ® Fedback Summary

If you navigate to the next button (pen and notepad button) in the blue assessment and feedback area, you will get to the Turnitin ® Feedback Summary area. Here, you can add overall feedback to the student's submission. This feedback can either be a voice or a text comment. (Figure 66)

Turnitin ® Rubric

If you navigate to the last button (grid button) in the blue assessment and feedback area, you will get to the Turnitin ® Rubric area. Here, you will be able to mark the submission with your previously attached rubric (in this case, a custom points rubric). Using the sliding scales, you will be able to determine how many points the student will get for each criterion (3). Below the sliding scales, you will also be able to see description for all the scales and criterion combinations (4). The overall student mark will update automatically in the grade area (1) and can be applied to the gradebook by pressing the blue 'Apply to Grade' button. (Figure 67)

Alternatively, you can have a look at the rubric as a whole by clicking on the expand button next to the rubric title. This will open up the rubric in a new window. (Figure 68)

Once the rubric has opened in a new window, simply select the scale for each criterion by clicking on the correct description/feedback (1). Once you have selected a scale, the field will turn a light blue which indicates that your choice has been recorded. When you are done marking the assignment, click on the 'Apply to Grade' button and then the 'Close' button (2). (Figure 69)

Your feedback has now been recorded. You will see that the sliding scales will have adjusted and reflect your selection (2). Additionally, the score will have been updated to reflect the student's overall mark (1). (Figure 70)

Marking in Turnitin ®

Aside from just being able to mark students' assignments and providing overall audio or written feedback, you can also annotate students' assignments and give them more specific feedback that way. To do so, highlight a word or phrase. Once you have done so, a little black bar will pop up from which you can select what you would like to do. Select the check mark button to add a QuickMark (see above) to the highlighted section. Select the speech bubble button to add a custom comment yourself. Or select the strike through button to strike the highlighted word or phrase. (Figure 71)

Once you are done with your detailed marking and feedback, you can either use the sliding scales of your rubric to mark the assignment (1) or you can expand the rubric and mark the assignment that way (see above). The grade will automatically update and once your are done, you will just have to confirm the grade by clicking on the 'Apply to Grade' button (3). Once you have done so, the grade will also appear on the top (4) and can be synced into Brightspace as a draft. (Figure 72)

Exporting the mark into Brightspace

Once you are done marking in the Turnitin ® Feedback Studio, you can close it and return to the Brightspace assignment submission area. If you look at a student assignment now, you will be able to see that the grade from Turnitin ® mark has been synced to Brightspace (if you set up for the mark to be synced automatically). You can now add further feedback, or hit the 'Publish' or 'Save Draft' button. (Figure 73)

When you are back in the assignment submission area where you can see a list of submissions, you will notice that the displayed information has now changed. You are now able to see that in Turnitin ® Grademark ® , there is now a grade as well as a symbol for feedback (1). You can also see that any grade or feedback has been saved as draft (2). Once you publish the grade an feedback, this will change to published. (Figure 74)

Marking in Turnitin® with different types of rubrics and grading sheets

Depending on what type of rubric or grading form you attached to a submission folder via Turnitin ® , marking will look somewhat different for you.

Weighted rubric

If you use a weighted rubric, you will be able to see sliding scales which include the point values specified when the rubric was set up (1). Below, there will be explanations for the different scales within each criteria (2). The total of the score from the sliding scales will be visible at the top and can be applied to the grade (3). (Figure 75)

Custom points rubric

If you use a custom points rubric, you will be able to see sliding scales which include the custom point values specified when the rubric was set up (1). Below, there will be explanations for the different scales within each criteria (2). The total of the score from the sliding scales will be visible at the top and can be applied to the grade (3). (Figure 76)

Qualitative rubric

If you use a qualitative rubric, you will be able to see sliding scales which you can drag to match the different scales you determined when you created the rubric (1). Below, there will be explanations for the different scales within each criteria (2). Since this rubric does not have point values attached to any of the scales, there is no overall score or 'Apply to Grade' button at the top. (Figure 77)

Grading form with scoring

If you use a grading sheet with scoring, you will see the name of your criterion, a comment box below where you can enter feedback, and a box next to the criterion name where you can enter a score (1). The scores entered in these boxes, will then be automatically updates at the top and can be applied to the grade (3). On the bottom, there will be explanations for the different criteria which you determined when you set up the rubric (2). (Figure 78)

Grading form without scoring

If you use a grading sheet without scoring, you will see the name of your criterion, and a comment box below where you can enter feedback (1). On the bottom, there will be explanations for the different criteria which you determined when you set up the rubric (2). Since this grading sheet does not have the option for entering a score attached to any of the criteria, there is no overall score or 'Apply to Grade' button at the top. (Figure 79)

Brightspace Rubrics

Can be used to evaluate students' submissions, provides useful feedback and feedforward to students, adds an additional layer of transparency and guidance (students      know what the evaluation criteria are which can help them prepare    their assessment), the rubrics tool.

From your homepage, navigate to Course Tools and then to Course Admin . (Figure 80)

Once you are in the Course Admin area, select the rubrics tool from the menu. If you have your Course Admin area set up to be sorted by category, the rubrics tool will be one of the assessment tools. (Figure 81)

Once you have entered the Rubrics tool, you will be able to see a blue New Rubric button .

You will also see a search field that can help you look for a particular rubric.

Once you have created rubrics, you will see a list of them below the search field.

(Figure 82)

Setting up a new analytic rubric

To set up a new analytic rubric, start by clicking on the blue New Rubric button. This will open the rubric editor for you. (Figure 83)

When you first get into the rubric editor, you will see a default analytic rubric which is scored on points. You will later be able to change that using the Type and Scoring drop-down menus (2).

On the top of the page, you can see the status of your rubric which is Published by default. As with content items in Brightspace, you can change this status to Draft, though. Next to the status information, you will be able to check the saving status of your rubric. The Brightspace rubric tool automatically saves all changes you make to it. (1)

Most of the page is taken up by the actual rubric. You will be able to edit level and criteria names, point values as well as criteria descriptions and feedback.

Finally, toward the bottom of the page, there is an options menu which will be explained in detail further down (3).

(Figure 84)

Setting up an analytic rubric

As mentioned above, new rubrics will be analytic rubrics by default, so there is no need for you to change the rubric type. Depending on what kind of analytic rubric you would like to create, you might want to change the scoring method, though. You have the choice between:

• No score (= qualitative rubric for feedback purposes only)
• Points (all levels for all criteria are worth the same amount of points)
• Custom points (you can customise the point value of the levels for each criterion)

If you want to create an analytic rubric with ranges, use the custom points scoring method and see the instructions below.

(Figure 85)

Once you have selected your scoring method, you can start creating the rubric. The rubric on the right-hand side is an analytic points rubric.

• Give your rubric a name.
• Label the levels and enter the point value for each level.
• Enter the name as well as any possible description for the criteria.
• Enter the generic level/criteria performance description.
• Enter the generic level/criteria feedback.
• Use the waffle icons on the left-hand side to drag and drop criteria to different places within the rubric.
• Use the Add Criterion button on the bottom to add further criteria.
• The total on the bottom will update when you change the points values, and add/remove criteria.

(Figure 86)

Alternatively, you can also work with criteria group. To do so, click on the Add Criteria Group button below the current group of criteria. (Figure 87)

Criteria groups allow you to create a broader category, such as Content and Language (1), and then add criteria that are part of that category (2).

The points value of the levels for each criteria group or category can be the same or you could choose to weigh one criteria group / category more heavily by raising the points value for its levels. (Figure 88)

On the bottom of the screen, you will see a separate section called Overall Score . Simply change the level names and provide the minimum percentage needed to reach the levels (1). You can also add some overall feedback for each level in the box below the minimum percentage needed to reach the level (2). (Figure 89)

Under Options , you will be able to customise the visibility of and availability of your rubric. (Figure 90)

• Rubric visibility: You can choose whether a rubric should be visible to students, hidden from them, or only released to them once feedback is published.
• Score visibility: If you choose to hide the score, students will be able to see the rubric and any feedback from the rubric but will not see any points.
• Description: Entering a description here, might make it easier for you to find a specific rubric, especially if you use many rubrics.
• Advanced Availability: Allowing new associations of a rubric with competencies and/or the ePortfolio means that you can use rubrics to evaluate competencies and that students can attach rubrics to ePortfolio items that they might want to share with you. Note: Leave Competencies checked to be able to associate rubrics with assignments.

Once you finished setting up your rubric, you will only need to click on the Close button at the bottom of the page. Remember that all changes were saved by the system as you were working on the rubric. (Figure 91)

Setting up a weighted analytic rubric with ranges

If you would like to set up an analytic weighted rubric with ranges, you will need to set up an analytic custom point rubric .

Start by changing the scoring method to Custom Points (1). You will now have the option to enter different point values for the levels of each criterion (2). (Figure 92)

For more information on how to customise your weighted rubric with ranges, see this guidance . Here, you will also find a calculator that can help you figure out the point equivalent for different percentages.

When you have set up all the levels for your criteria, you will need to edit the overall score again. Simply change the level names and provide the minimum percentage needed to reach the levels. (Figure 93)

Setting up a new holistic rubric

To set up a new analytic rubric, start by clicking on the blue New Rubric button. This will open the rubric editor for you. (Figure 94)

Finally, toward the bottom of the page, there is an options menu which will be explained in detail further down.

(Figure 95)

Setting up an holistic rubric

To set up a holistic rubric, you will first need to change the rubric type from 'Analytic' to 'Holistic'. (Figure 96)

This will change the scoring options. You can choose between:

• No Score (= qualitative rubric for feedback purposes only)
• Percentage (this allows you to pick a level and students will receive a certain percentage for their work)

(Figure 97)

To set up your rubric, you should:

• Label the levels and enter the percentage value for each level.
• Enter the generic level/criteria  specific feedback.

(Fogure 98)

Under Options, you will be able to customise the visibility of and availability of your rubric. (Figure 99)

Once you finished setting up your rubric, you will only need to click on the Close button at the bottom of the page. Remember that all changes were saved by the system as you were working on the rubric. (Figure 100)

Marking with a Brightspace rubric

To mark with a Brightspace rubric, you need to attach the rubric to the assignment when you set it up.

Once students have submitted their assignments, open one of them. You will see the submission preview as well as the assessment and feedback area on the right-hand side. Under Evaluation and Feedback, you will see the rubric that is attached to the assignment folder.

Click on the rubric which will open for you in a pop-up window.

(Figure 101)

Once the rubric has opened, you can choose which level the student achieved for the different criteria (1). If you are marking on a rubric with ranges and would like to customise the amount of points a student will receive, click on the last box in each criterion's row (2). You will now be able to customise the score for this criterion. The score on the bottom of the page will automatically adjust as you adjust the level score. Any changes to the score will furthermore be autosaved to the system. To add custom feedback, click on the Add Feedback link below each of the criteria names and/or descriptions (3). (Figure 102)

You will now be able to see the initial/generic feedback you provided when you set up your rubric (1), but will also be able to add customised feedback for the student (2). (Figure 103)

Finish marking the rest of the criteria, edit the scores if needed and leave further feedback. When you are done, click the blue Close button on the bottom of the page. (Figure 104)

You will now see the overall score you generated with the rubric is reflected in the assessment area next to the assignment preview. You can now add further overall feedback, save the mark and feedback as draft, or publish it to the student. (Figure 105)

The Grades Tool

Can be used to record students' marks, can be used to export students' marks as excel and cvs files, can be used with different grade schemes such as pass/fail which helps you tailor the gradebook to your needs, the grades tool.

From your homepage, navigate to Course Tools and then Quizzes . (Figure 106)

Once you have entered the Grades tool, you will be able to set up your grade book, monitor students' grades and create new grade items. On the top of the page, you can see four tabs. The 'Enter Grades' tab allows you to enter and monitor student grades. This is also where you can create an Excel sheet or a CVS document. The 'Manage Grades' tab allows you to create new grade items and categories. The 'Schemes' tab allows you to create new grade schemes. The grade book already has a preset percentage scheme but you can add other, such as Pass/Fail, etc. The 'Setup Wizard' tab helps you to set up your grade book. (Figure 107)

The Manage Grades area

The 'Manage Grades' area gives you an overview of all your grade categories and items. When you select the blue 'New' drop-down menu, you can also create new grade categories or grade items. Grade categories appear in grey in the table while grade items have a white background. You can also see the grade item type, any associations and the max amount of points. (Figure 108)

Grade Schemes

In the 'Grade Schemes' area, you are able to create new grade schemes. The grade book comes preconfigured with a percentage grade scheme. If you click on 'New Scheme', you can create your own. Any schemes you set up yourself will display under 'Course Schemes'. (Figure 109)

To set up your own grade scheme, click on the blue 'New Scheme' button. Once the grade scheme editor opens, give your new scheme a name. Afterwards, you need to determine the ranges. Start by adding the so called 'Grade Scheme Symbols'. In my case, they are Pass and Fail, but they could also be other text grades or letter grades. Next edit the 'Start %'. For the lowest level, the start percentage will be set to 0%. When setting up my grade scheme, I determined that students will start receiving a Pass if they have achieved 70%. Next, you can add colours to give students a visual clue for their grade. Then, in 'Assigned Value %' list the upper cut off percentage for your ranges.

When you are done, hit the blue 'Save and Close' button.

(Figure 110)

Setting up your grade book - the Setup Wizard

The grade book setup wizard help you in 7 easy steps to set up your grade book.

When you enter the grades tool for the first time, you will be directed to the Grades Setup Wizard.

Brightspace also comes with a preconfigured grade book which is what you will see when you first go into the Grades Setup Wizard.

To customise your gradebook, click on the blue 'Start' button.

(Figure 111)

Step 1: Choose Grading System

In Step 1, you have to chose your grading system. Most commonly, this will either be weighted or in points. (see Figure 112 for examples)

Step 2: Final Grade Released

In Step 2, you can choose whether you want to release the Calculated or the Adjusted Final Grade. You can also tick a box to automatically release the final grade. (Figure 113)

Step 3: Grade Calculations

In Step 3,you will first be able to choose what will happen to your ungraded items. You can either drop all ungraded items or tream them as 0. Dropping all ungraded items means that the final calculated grade actually reflects the students grade at a certain point in the semester. If ungraded items are treated as 0, all existing grade items will be factored into the calculation of the final grade. In Step 3, you can also select once again to keep the final grade automatically updated. (Figure 114)

Step 4: Choose Default Grade Scheme

In Step 4,you will be able to choose your default grade scheme which enables you to organize users’ performances on grade items into levels of achievement. The grade book comes with a preset percentage grade scheme, but you can also select any other grade scheme you have created. (Note: You will still be able to change the grade scheme for individual items when you are setting them up or are editing them.) (Figure 115)

Step 5: Managing View Display Options

In Step 5, you will chose the number of decimal places to display with grade items. This is especially important if you have a point or percentage grade scheme. (Figure 116)

Step 6: Student View Display Options

In Step 6, you are able to select what will be displayed to students. Selecting the 'Points grade' checkbox means that the points for individual assignments or quizzes will be displayed in the grade book. By selecting the 'Grade scheme symbol' and 'Grade scheme colour' boxes, students will for instance see the Pass/Fail grade scheme symbols as well as the colours associated with each. You can now also select how many decimals should be displayed to students. Another option for customisation is to change the 'Number of characters to display for text items'. This is really about grade item names, and usually 50 characters is perfectly adequate. Finally, you can choose if students should see the final grade calculation or not. (Figure 117)

Step 7: Grade Setup Summary

In Step 7, Brightspace provides a summary of your grade book setup. To save all changes and finish setting up your gradebook, hit the blue 'Finish' button. (Figure 118)

How the tools work together

How are assignments, turnitin ® , rubrics and grades linked in brightspace what are the connections between the assignments and the grades tools, and does it make a difference if i mark using turnitin ® rubrics or brightspace rubrics and where should i point students to see their mark and feedback, print preview, using this resource.

• Learning Management System Support >
• Guides for Students >

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