Setting Up a Discussion Forum Category to Be Graded

If you want to grade messages posted by students in the Discussion Forum you can do this by linking a Discussion Forum category to a graded item in the Gradebook. This will allow you to enable the grading function, grade posted messages, and then make them available in students' personal Gradebook page.

How to Link a Category to a Graded Item in the Gradebook

1. Click Gradebook in the Administrative Tools section of the main Faculty Tools page.

2. Click Set Up Gradebook if you're not already on that page.

3. Click Create Graded Item.

4. Click the Link to Drop Box, Quiz, Discussion Forum, Peer Assessment, or Path Finder Simulation dropdown menu and select the category that you would like to grade from the Discussion Forum Categories section. The category name will also appear in the Graded Item Name field.

5. Use the Grading Method dropdown list to select one of the following grading methods:

• Percentage. Select this option if you would like to use percentages to grade the item.

• Points. When selecting this option, set the maximum possible points.

• Letter. Select this option if you would like to use letter grades to grade the item.

• Pass/Fail. When selecting this option, choose the percentage that students must achieve to receive a passing grade.

• Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. When selecting this option, choose the percentage that students must achieve to receive a satisfactory grade.

• Custom. A custom grading method gives you greater flexibility in the type of grading system you can setup. For detailed instructions on setting up this grading method, review the how-to documentation within the Gradebook tool.

6. Fill in the rest of the form if needed. More details are available about how to create a graded item.

7. Click Add.

Once the graded item is created, the word "FORUM" will appear in brackets to the left of the graded item to signify that it is now linked to a Discussion Forum category. You can now enter grades from the Gradebook's Enter Grades page or return to the Discussion Forum to enter grades there. 

How to Unlink a Category from a Graded Item in the Gradebook

Unlinking a Discussion Forum category from the Gradebook will disable Discussion Forum grading by removing the grading section from the category. However, the grades will remain in the Gradebook which allows you to modify the grades if needed and display the grades to the students.

1. Click Gradebook in the Administrative Tools section of the main Faculty Tools page.

2. Click Set Up Gradebook if you're not already on that page.

3. Click Edit for the graded item that you would like to unlink.

4. Click the Link to Drop Box, Quiz, Discussion Forum, Peer Assessment, or Path Finder Simulation dropdown menu and select the None option.

5. Click Save.

Note: If you decide to re-link the category with the same item, the grades will disappear from the Gradebook and you'll need to re-enter the grades.