This post covers marking with a rubric that has been set up as a “Custom Points” rubric and that has been attached to either an assignment, discussion or grade item.

A Custom Points Rubric has points associated with each criterion and level of the Rubric. It calculates a total score (and overall level) for a student by adding the points they have scored against each criterion. You are then able to fine-tune this score by overwriting the default scores for each criteria/overall.

This post doesn’t cover setting up the rubric. If you have not done so – set up your rubric following these instruction: (Create a custom points rubric).

To access the rubric for each tool:

Assignment: Click “Evaluate” (or ‘draft saved’) on the right side of the screen in the assignment. The rubrics are then shown as links on the right-side menu area.

Discussion: Click the [v] icon next to the Topic you are assessing then choose “Assess Topic”. From the list of students shown click “Topic Score” and the rubric is shown on the top of the window that loads.

Grade Item (ie, directly into the gradebook): Click the [v] next to the name of the grade and choose “Grade All”. From the window that loads you will see a link to the rubric on the right-side column for each student row.

Note: The Rubric tool will save your work as you go. It is also not possible to edit the rubric in the rubric tool once you’ve started marking, so be sure to preview it in the rubric tool before you start marking to ensure it is correct.

Step 1: Click the ‘level’ for each criteria that best represents the Feedback you wish to provide to students about their work. 

The rubric tool is essentially a “feedback” tool – useful for you to calculate a score but primarily the idea is to provide students with useful informative feedback about why the score was arrived at.

The “default” score associated with this level (as set up in the rubric tool) is then shown on the right of the rubric window. You may need to resize this window if you have a large rubric, or scroll sideways to see it.

Step 2: Edit the points and feedback associated with a level if required.

Once you’re happy with the criteria levels you’ve chosen to provide to students – you can then alter the score associated with either each level OR the overall score that was calculated.

To edit the score for an individual criteria click on the score as shown on the right of the rubric. Type your new number in and hit enter/return or click elsewhere. Your new score will be highlighted with an asterix to indicate the default was changed. The ‘x’ shown next to the new score will return this score to the default.

 (Showing the score was changed from the default, the X returns the score to the default)

To add written feedback click the ‘add feedback’ link on the left, a box will appear for you to type into. Please note, once you add written feedback here it stays put on the page. Don’t click the X unless you want to wipe what you’ve written*.

Step 3: Check the total at the lower part of the rubric. You can also overwrite this score by clicking on it & typing a new score. You can overwrite the default chosen ‘level’ if your rubric has them – click on the new one to overwrite the default.

Step 4: Click “Close” button at the end of the rubric to finalise the process. Double check the correct score is sent to the ‘score’ field of the tool you’re working in. If it doesn’t – it usually means you have missed a criteria.

* Don’t ask me why it was designed like that, I have no idea why the standard computer logic of x=close was broken for this tool – but here we both are, sighing loudly and reaching for the schnapps.

Step 1

Go to the Assignments tool from the toolbar.

Click on the assignment you wish to mark.

Step 2

A new page will load. Scroll down until you see a list of student submissions. The student’s names will appear, followed by the files they have submitted. You can view an individual file by clicking on the file name (this is usually the quickest option, especially if students have submitted cover sheets which you do not have to mark).

A preview of the student’s work will load, as the screenshot below shows the content of the assignment will appear to the left, the “Evaluation” area to the right.

Step 3

Click on the name of the rubric to load it up – it will appear in a new window. You may need to resize the window to see the whole rubric. The example below shows a “Custom Points” rubric, this being the most commonly used rubric.

You will see the list of criteria and levels arranged somewhat like above (yours is likely to have more text than this example). To “choose” a level just click the radio button. It is more important to choose the option that contains the most relevant feedback for your student – the default score can be altered.

To alter the score click the Pencil icon – over on the right of the rubric – then enter an alternate score and/or optional feedback text. When you do this you’ll notice a small icon (see above, the second criteria shows as red shaded and an icon in the ‘Score and Feedback’ area indicating that a ‘custom’ score was entered for this criteria.

To have the rubric fully calculate a score you MUST choose an option for EVERY criteria.

When you have completed the rubric choose “Save and Record” to send the score to the ‘Score’ field of the assignment (which then is sent to grades).

(The option you see in the screenshot ‘Transfer rubric feedback’ relates to any text you have typed that gets transferred to the “Feedback” area, this option is on by default but is optional).

When you click Save and Record you will see the score appear in the ‘Score’ field. If none appears it may mean there is a score missing for one of the criteria. You can click on the rubric at any time to edit/alter the mark – just remember to hit save and record each time.

As you can see from the above screenshot the rubric score that was calculated – when I click ‘Save and Record’ – is sent to the ‘Score’ field. You can always alter the score here too if you want.

Remember if you are marking and do not want to release the score to students YET – click ‘Save Draft’.

Instructions showing how to mark with a Text Only Rubric (for feedback only) are available here.

To upload an assignment file to MyLO, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Check the assignment requirements to ensure that your file is in the correct format.

Step 2: Log into your MyLO unit and select the Assessments Menu on the toolbar. Then choose the option “Assignments” (as highlighted below).

Step 3: You will see a list of  Assignment Submission Folders (see example below). Ensure you select the correct folder, then click on the Folder name to open it. You are responsible for selecting the correct folder.

Step 4: Select the Add a File button. You may need to scroll down to see it, if a rubric is associated with the assignment you may need to scroll past the rubric also.

Step 5: A dialogue box, like the one below, will open. If your file is on MyLO in the locker (or a group locker) you can choose those options. Or you can choose to upload from your computer.

If you need to select a file from your computer you will see a dialog box where you can either drag/drop the file or click the “Upload” button to ‘Browse’ for a file.

Step 6: Once uploaded, the selected file will appear beneath the Upload button. You can continue to upload files into this area by repeating Step 5. Once you have uploaded all the relevant files, select the Add button, shown circled below. Please note: This is NOT the final step!

Step 7: You will return to the Assignment area, where you will a list of the files that you are about to submit. Check  that they are the correct files. You can click on any file in the list to preview it. You may wish to enter a note to the marker into the Comments field. Finally, select the Submit button, as shown below.

Once you have submitted your assignment, you should receive a confirmation email at your UTAS email address.

Step 8: You will see a confirmation area. Select the Done button, or you can upload more files if you need.

Back in the Assignments tool you will see a number in a column titled Submissions. To check what you have submitted, click on this number. If you cannot see any number listed, then it means that your submission was not successful and you will need to try again. If you need to upload more files, click the name of the Assignment and follow the above steps to upload further files if needed.

If you experience difficulty uploading files and/or receive error messages, you will need to contact the UTAS Service Desk (opens in new window) for assistance.

There are a variety of online tools and software applications that you can use to help students create or perform items for assessment, and submit online. Here, we  review some of the tools supported by UTAS.

Turnitin is a text matching service used to compare student-submitted work to the existing literature, as well as student work already stored on its database. Turnitin highlights text matches, allowing you to rapidly detect possible areas of plagiarism or collusion in a student’s writing.

Grademark/Feedback Studio, which is available when a student’s work is submitted through Turnitin, allows you to leave comments on a student’s work electronically. Click here for more information about providing feedback with Grademark/Feedback Studio.

To use Turnitin and/or Grademark/Feedback Studio, you must enable Turnitin when setting up a Assignment Submission Folder (to collect student submissions) in MyLO. Ensure that you do this BEFORE students start submitting their work. Here’s how.

PART 1: Set an End Date for your Assignment Submission Folder

To work effectively, Turnitin requires that you set an End Date in the Assignment Submission Folder’s Restrictions tab.

If you have already created an Assignment Submission Folder, you will need to choose to edit it. Do this by selecting the arrowhead to the right of the Folder name, then select the Edit Folder option. Alternatively, when viewing the Submission Folder, click on the Edit Submission Folder button. If you’re already in the midst of creating a Submission Folder, read on.

By default, the Properties tab will be open. Select the Restrictions tab.

Scroll down until you see Has End Date. Check the Has End Date option then record a date and time. We recommend that you set the End Date to a few days after final results are released for the semester.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and select the Save button.

PART 2: Connect the Assignment Submission Folder to Turnitin

Click on the Turnitin tab (note that you will need to have given the Folder a name before you do this).

Check the box next to the Allow Turnitin for this folder option. Wait a moment while the connection is initiated.

PART 2: Choose the right settings – VERY IMPORTANT!

The following settings are the key to making Turnitin and Grademark/Feedback Studio work the way that you want it to. Do not skip these steps!!!

Leave the Allow learners to see Turnitin similarity scores in their submission folder setting (under Display) unchecked. Under Frequency ensure that you have the Automatic originality checking on all submissions options checked. If the Identify individual submissions option is checked instead, you will need to manually click on each file submitted by students to process them through Turnitin. Not fun!

Scroll down and you should see the Grademark available to learners setting. The date recorded here is the date from which students can see the link to access their Grademark/Feedback Studio feedback. We recommend setting this date about one month following the Assignment Submission Folder due date, to avoid any students accidentally seeing their feedback as you’re marking. If you wish to release the feedback earlier, you can always come and alter this date accordingly.

Back to towards the top of the screen, you should see a More Options in Turnitin button. Click on it.

A new window will open. Locate the Allow submission of any file type option. We select you choose Yes. This is especially important if you want to mark files, such as PDFs or some image files, in Grademark/Feedback Studio, even if an Originality Report cannot be generated. 

Now click on the Optional Settings option that appears towards the bottom of the screen.

You should now see more settings. Scroll down until you see the Originality Report generation and resubmissions button. Make sure that the Generate reports immediately (resubmissions are allowed until due date) option is selected. If you do not select this option, you may find that students who submit more than one file (very common) only have the first file processed through Turnitin.

Scroll down until you see the Submit button. If you can’t see it, expand the window to full screen. You should be able to see it then.

This solution would suit scenarios like this:

Students must deliver a presentation for one assessment task. The task is worth 20% of the unit assessment. Students may deliver their presentation at a nominated tutorial time between weeks 5 and 10 of semester. You decide to make students submit their presentation plan/slides to a Dropbox the day prior to their scheduled presentation session. You will provide feedback to students and record their mark via the Dropbox folder.  The issue you need to resolve here is different due dates for different students.
Options

You have three options in this scenario:

• Create a Dropbox with no Start, Due or End Date restrictions and link it to a single Grade Item (see Grade a single assessment task comprising one item). A date will be recorded against each student’s submission, but overdue submissions will not be flagged as late.
• Place students in presentation groups (based on their presentation delivery date) using the Groups tool. Create one Dropbox and associate a Grade Item (see Grade a single assessment task comprising one item). Use the Dropbox Restrictions to add a Special Access condition for each presentation group that specifies a Due date unique to that group. Students will see the due date specified by their Special Access condition. Their submission will be flagged as late if the fail to submit before the due date set as their Special Access condition.
• This is the most complex option. Place students in presentation groups (based on their submission date) using the Groups tool. Create a unique Dropbox folder for each presentation group. You will also need to create a new Grade Item to attach to each Dropbox. You may wish to restrict access to each Dropbox and Grade Item according to Group membership using Release Conditions.

The remainder of this section assumes that you have chosen option 3. If you have chosen options 1 or 2, refer to the instructions for Grade a single assessment task comprising one item.

Grading system and other requirements

This method requires the use of a weighted grading system and the use of a special marking method (refer to When Marking section below).

You will need:

1. Create one Category to represent the assessment task and use the options suggested here.
2. Create one Grade Item per Dropbox and use the options suggested here. You must link each Grade Item to the Category that you have created.
3. Create one Dropbox for each presentation group. You must link each Dropbox with one of the Grade Items that you have created.

To see an example of what this solution might look like in the Grades tool, download this PDF.

When marking:

You will need to do the following:

• Record marks only for those Grade Items that the student needs to complete. Leave the other Grade Items unmarked. For example, if Tam needs to deliver only one presentation, and delivers it during Week 6, record a mark for her only in the Week 6 Grade Item.
• If a student fails to submit an item that they are expected to complete, record a 0 as their grade. For example, View Student failed to deliver their presentation for Week 5 and has therefore received 0 for this assessment task.

You can download a printable copy of this whole page here.

This solution would suit scenarios like this:

Students will deliver a presentation and then respond to questions from teachers and peers for an Assessment Task worth 35 marks. Face-to-face (F2F) students deliver their presentation and respond to questions in class. You will use a standalone Grade Item to provide F2F students with a grade and feedback. Distance students will pre-record a presentation. They will submit a copy to a Dropbox (worth 70%). You make the presentations available for viewing by linking to them to Discussion Topic. You will mark the Discussion Topic to assess how students respond to questions about their presentation (worth 30%).

Grading system and other requirements

This method requires the use of a weighted grading system. See also the instructions for marking un-submitted and irrelevant items below.

You will need to:

• Create one Category to represent the assessment task and use the options described here.
• Create one Grade Item per assessment item and use the options described here. You must link each Grade Item to the Category that you have created.
• Link each Dropbox/Discussion/Quiz with one of your new Grade Items. If students perform a task in class and do not need to submit items electronically, you can skip this step.

To see an example of what this solution might look like in the Grades tool, download this PDF.

When marking:

• Do not record a mark for items that a student does not need to submit.
• If a student fails to submit an item that they are expected to complete, record a 0 as their grade.

In the example below, Tam is studying F2F, while View Student is studying by Distance. Tam has received a mark of 67/100 for the presentation she delivered in class. No marks need to be recorded for the other tasks, as the F2F Presentation is worth 100% of Assessment 3 (A3) for F2F students.

View Student, on the other hand, failed to participate in the Distance Q&A required of Distance students. To account for this, a 0 mark was recorded for this task, bringing down the student’s overall mark (Subtotal) for the assessment task accordingly.

You can download a printable copy of this whole page here.

This solution would suit scenarios like this:

• Students submit their work to a MyLO Dropbox. Their submission is worth 100% of Assessment Task 1.
• Students contribute to one Discussion Topic. Their contributions to the topic are worth 100% of Assessment Task 1.
• Students complete a Quiz. The Quiz is worth 100% of Assessment Task 1.
• Students complete a presentation in class. It is worth 100% of the Assessment Task. As no files will be submitted, you will use a Standalone Grade Item.

You will need to:

• Create one Grade Item and use the options described here.
• Link a Dropbox/Discussion/Quiz with your new Grade Item. If students perform their task in class and do not need to submit something electronically, you can skip this step.

To see an example of what this solution might look like in the Grades tool, download this PDF.

You can download a printable copy of this whole page here.

Once you have created an electronic Rubric in MyLO, you can attach it to an Assignment Submission Folder.  This post will show you how. Once you have attached the Rubric, you can mark with it.

Step 1

Before you finalise your Rubric and attach it, you must ensure that the Rubric is correctly set up. You may wish to return to the Rubrics tool and check the text and settings before finalising it.

Step 2

Select Rubrics from the MyLO toolbar, then locate your completed Rubric. Select the black arrowhead to the right of the rubric name. Select Set Status, then choose Finalised (a Rubric cannot be attached to another item unless finalised).

Step 3

Select the Assignments tool from the MyLO toolbar. Locate the Assignment Submission Folder that you would like to attach the Rubric to. Select the black arrowhead next to the Submission Folder name, then choose Edit Folder from the menu.

Step 4

The Properties tab should open by default. Scroll down until you see the Rubrics heading. Select the Add Rubric button.

Step 5

The Select Rubric window will open. Select a Rubric by checking the checkbox next to it, then select the Add Selected button (seen at the bottom of the window).

Step 6

You should now see the Rubric name appear under the Add Rubric button. Scroll down and select the Save and Close button. If you have selected the wrong Rubric, select the red cross (the Rubric name will now appear crossed out), then select the Add Rubric button to select a different Rubric. 

You can now start marking Assignment Submissions with your Rubric.

Once you have created an electronic Rubric in MyLO, you can attach it to a Grade Item. We recommend attaching Rubrics to standalone Grade Items that will be used to grade Discussions, or to keep track of work that is performed in class, like participation or presentations. This page will show you how.

We recommend attaching Rubrics directly to an Assignment Submission Folder, rather than to the associated Grade Item. If you need to attach a Rubric to an Assignment Submission Folder instead, you will find these instructions more helpful.

NOTE: One of the down-sides of attaching a Rubric to a Grade Item, is that the Rubric Score will not articulate to the Grade Item (as it does when used with a Assignment Submission Folder) automatically. When you finish marking a Rubric, make note of the Rubric total score, then record this into the Grade Item Score field.

Step 1

Before you finalise your Rubric and attach it, you must ensure that the Rubric is correctly set up. You may wish to return to the Rubrics tool and check the text and settings before finalising it.

Step 2

Select Rubrics from the MyLO toolbar, then locate your completed Rubric. Select the black arrowhead to the right of the rubric name. Select Set Status, then choose Finalised (a Rubric cannot be attached to another item unless finalised).

Step 3

Select the Grades tool from the MyLO toolbar. Locate the Grade Item that you would like to attach the Rubric to. Select the black arrowhead next to the Grade Item name, then choose Edit from the menu.

Step 4

The Properties tab should open by default. Scroll down until you see the Rubrics heading. Select the Add Rubric button.

Step 5

The Select Rubric window will open. Select a Rubric by checking the checkbox next to it, then select the Add Selected button (seen at the bottom of the window).

Step 6

You should now see the Rubric name appear under the Add Rubric button. Scroll down and select the Save and Close button. If you have selected the wrong Rubric, select the red cross (the Rubric name will now appear crossed out), then select the Add Rubric button to select a different Rubric. 

You can now start marking with your Rubric.