Assessing (evaluating) a discussion topic

Table of contents

1. Setting up assessment
2. Assessing users
3. Linking an assessment to a grade item
4. Rating discussion posts

Setting up assessment

You can evaluate users' individual posts and have Cobra Learning automatically calculate a topic score for each user, or you can assign a topic score directly to each user. If you choose to assess individual posts, you can specify how you want the system to calculate each user’s overall topic score.

Configure a topic for assessment

1. On the Discussions List page, click Edit Topic from the context menu of the topic you want to configure.
2. Click the Assessment tab.
3. If you want to link a topic score to a grade item, select your Grade Item from the drop-down list, or click New Grade Item to create a grade item for the topic in a pop-up window.
4. Specify the number you want to Score Out Of. This is the scale, ranging from zero to the number you enter, that users are evaluated on. For example, if you enter 15, users are assessed on a scale from zero to fifteen.
5. Click Add Rubric to associate the topic with one or more rubrics. Click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric. See Creating a rubric for more information.

Note  A Rubrics section displays in the collapsible Description area of the topic, containing links to any rubrics you associate with the topic. Clicking on a rubric link will open the rubric in a pop-up window, allowing users to preview the expectations for the topic.

6. If you want to assess individual posts (rather than assigning an overall topic score directly for each user):
   1. Select the Allow assessment of individual posts check box.
   2. Select the Calculation method you want to use to determine users’ overall topic scores based on post scores. See Calculation methods for more information.
   3. By default, the system ignores unassessed posts when calculating the topic score. However, if you want the calculation to treat unassessed posts as if those posts receive a score of zero, select the Include unassessed posts in the calculated score as zero check box.
7. Click Save and Close.

Calculation methods

There are six possible calculation methods that you can select when configuring a topic for assessment.

• Average post score  This calculation method averages all of the post scores included per user.
• Maximum post score  This calculation method identifies the highest score of all the post scores included per user.
• Minimum post score  This calculation method identifies the lowest score of all the post scores included per user.
• Mode post score - Highest on multiple  This calculation method looks at the frequency of scores on posts, then selects the highest occurrence of a score per user. Once it picks the frequency, the system looks to see if multiple scores occur at that frequency. If not, it assigns that score to the user. If there are multiple scores with the same frequency, it will choose the highest of those scores. For example, if a score of 7 occurs 2 times, a score of 8 occurs 3 times, and a score of 9 occurs 3 times, the system will choose the frequency 3 and the score of 9.
• Mode post score - Lowest on multiple  This calculation method looks at the frequency of scores on posts, then selects the highest occurrence of a score per user. Once it picks the frequency, the system looks to see if multiple scores occur at that frequency. If not, it assigns that score to the user. If there are multiple scores with the same frequency, it will choose the lowest of those scores. For example, if a score of 7 occurs 2 times, a score of 8 occurs 3 times, and a score of 9 occurs 3 times, the system will choose the frequency 3 and the score of 8.
• Sum of post scores This calculation method sums up all the scores on posts within a topic.

Assessing users

You can assess users from inside the topic while reading posts or from the Assess Topic page. Assessing users from within the topic lets you read users’ posts in context and evaluate them as you perform other reading-related tasks (approving posts, marking posts as read, replying, etc.). When assessing users from the Assess Topic page, you can see topic scores for all users and view all of a user’s posts together on one screen. Assessable topics display a Can be assessed icon beside the topic name in the Discussions List.

Note  If a topic uses post approval, you must approve a post before you can assess it.

Assess users from within a topic

1. On the Discussions List page, click on the topic you want to assess.
2. Do one of the following:

   To assess	In	Do this
   Individual posts	Grid View	Click on the user's post. Click Assess from the More Actions button. Enter a Post Score. You can also enter comments in the Feedback field. Note   You must select the Allow assessment of individual posts check box in the Assessment tab of the Edit Topic page to assess individual posts.
   Individual posts	Reading View	Click on the user's post. Click Assess Student from the context menu of the post. Enter a Post Score. You can also enter comments in the Feedback field. Note   You must select the Allow assessment of individual posts check box in the Assessment tab of the Edit Topic page to assess individual posts.
   The topic as a whole	Grid View	Click Assess Topic from the context menu of the topic. Click the Topic Score link beneath the name of the user you want to assess. This will bring up all of their posts for the topic, which you can then assign an overall Topic Score for. You can also enter comments in the Feedback field. Note   You must clear the Allow assessment of individual posts check box in the Assessment tab of the Edit Topic page to assess the topic as a whole.
   The topic as a whole	Reading View	Click Assess Topic from the context menu of the topic. Click the Topic Score link beneath the name of the user you want to assess. This will bring up all of their posts for the topic, which you can then assign an overall Topic Score for. You can also enter comments in the Feedback field. Note   You must clear the Allow assessment of individual posts check box in the Assessment tab of the Edit Topic page to assess the topic as a whole.

3. Click Save, then click Close.

Assess users from the Assess Topic page

1. On the Discussions List page, click Assess Topic from the context menu of the topic you want to assess.

Tip  If the Score column is empty on the Assess Topic page, click the Manage Columns button, select the Score Value and Percentage check boxes, and click Save.

2. Do one of the following:
   • On the Users tab, click Topic Score beneath the name of the user you want to assess.
   • In the Assessments tab, click the name of the user you want to assess.

   Tip  In either tab, you can search for specific users by typing all or part of a user’s name or user ID in the Search For field and clicking Search. You can also filter the view to display members of a specific group or section by selecting from the View By drop-down list and clicking Apply.

3. In the Topic Score Details window, enter a score in the Score column beside each post you want to assess.

   Note  If a user’s posts display across multiple pages, be sure to save each page before navigating to another page of posts. Any new post scores entered are lost if you change pages without saving.

   You can also enter comments in the Feedback field.

4. Click Save, then click Close.

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Linking an assessment to a grade item

When you link a topic’s score to a grade item in your grade book, your users’ scores automatically transfer to the grade book. This enables you to factor the topic score into users’ final grades for the course. It also enables you to display the result to users since users cannot view their topic score directly through the Discussions tool, but can view their grades in the grade book.

Note  You can only link numeric grade items to discussion topics.

Publishing topic scores to the grade book

You assess topics linked to grade items in the same way you assess stand-alone topics, by assigning a score to each post or to each user for the topic overall. However, you must publish the score to the grade book in order for Cobra Learning to update the grade item. This prevents the display of inaccurate grades before you finish assessing users.

When you publish the topic score, Cobra Learning updates the grade item in the grade book. Any additional changes you make to a user’s score automatically release to the grade book.

Publish a topic score to the grade book

1. On the Discussions List page, click Assess Topic from the context menu of the topic you want to assess.
2. On the Assess Topic page, select the check box in the Published column beside each user whose score you want to release, then click Save and Close.

Tip  You can publish a user’s score in the same place that you enter it by selecting the Publish score on save check box.

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Rating discussion posts

Post ratings enable the community to collectively assess the value of each post, which helps significant posts gain prominence as they collect the highest ratings over time. This helps new users focus on the most important posts in the topic. 

Enable post rating

1. On the Discussions List page, click Settings.
2. In the Org Unit Settings section, select the rating method that you wish to use from the drop down menu.
3. Click Save.

There are 4 rating options:  No ratings (the default); five star rating; up/down vote rating scheme; or up vote only rating scheme.

Note  When you enable post rating, it applies to all topics in the entire course. You cannot enable post rating for some topics and disable it for others.

Rate a post

With a star rating, select the number of stars (one to five) to rate the post.  With the up vote scheme, select the plus sign next to the user's name to add one to the rating score.  With the up/down vote scheme, select the plus or minus sign to add or subtract one from the rating score.

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