UHD Core Assessment - Instructions for Submitting Student Assignments

September, 2016

Introduction

Colleagues,
On behalf of the UHD Core Assessment Committee, I want to thank you for submitting your students’ work to the Core Assessment project. If at any point you need help with the submission process, please contact UHD Blackboard Support by calling (713)221-2786 or by sending an email to bb@uhd.edu.
Some key facts about Core Assessment:

• This is not an evaluation of any individual faculty. Students build skills like communication, critical thinking and teamwork over multiple courses and the purpose of this assessment is to determine overall, how students are doing at this early point in their academic careers. For that reason, student and faculty identifiers will be removed from the student work before evaluators begin the assessment process. The results will be reported in the aggregate and there will be no reference to individual students or faculty in that document.
• The final assessment will use 100 student artifacts for each outcome, but we are collecting more to ensure proper demographics.
• These artifacts will be submitted to a group of your UHD faculty colleagues from all colleges for evaluation in January 2016. The evaluators will review each selected student artifact using either the AAC&U Written Communication Rubric or the AAC&U Teamwork Rubric.
• Findings will be submitted to the University Curriculum Committee/UHD General Education Committee and a report shared with the faculty at large in early March. At that point, faculty in the Core will be asked to review the findings and collaborate with UCC and General Education to determine how best to proceed. Faculty will also have an opportunity to make recommendations regarding the assessment and the student artifact collection processes.

If you would like additional information on the Core Assessment Process, please review the materials here or contact me directly.
Thank you again for your support and contributions to UHD’s General Education Core.

Dr. Vida Robertson,
Chair, Core Assessment Committee robertsonv@uhd.edu/ 713/222-5369

OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS

CONTENTS

• STEP 1: CREATE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT IN BLACKBOARD
• CREATE A CONTENT AREA FOR THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT
• CREATE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT
• STEP 2: COLLECT STUDENT SUBMISSIONS IN BLACKBOARD 
• STEP 3: BATCH DOWNLOAD SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENTS 
• STEP 4: UPLOAD SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENTS TO THE ORGANIZATION CONTENT COLLECTION

OPTIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1-a: CREATE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT IN TURNITIN 
• STEP 2-a: COLLECT STUDENT SUBMISSIONS FROM TURNITIN
• STEP 3-a: BATCH DOWNLOAD SUBMISSIONS FROM TURNITIN 
• STEP4-a: UPLOAD SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENTS TO THE ORGANIZATION CONTENT COLLECTION 

APPENDIX

• EXAMPLE OF STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT
• EXAMPLE OF STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT THE ASSIGNMENT TO TURNITIN 
• WHERE TO GET HELP

Direct any questions about the BB system to UHD Blackboard Support by calling (713)221-2786 or by sending an email to bb@uhd.edu. If you have questions about core assessment or the assignments themselves, please contact any member of the UHD Core Assessment Committee.

STEP 1: CREATE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT IN BLACKBOARD

NOTE: It is important that the assignment be properly set up in Blackboard for the process to be as simple as possible. If you are familiar with setting up an assignment in Blackboard and your students know how to submit an assignment, please skip to Step 3: Batch Downloading the Signature Assignment.

If you are interested in using a Turnitin Assignment Skip, to Page 11: Creating Your Signature Assignment in Turnitin To create the signature assignment in Blackboard:

1. Log into Blackboard.

2. Enter the course in which you wish to create an assignment.

3. Make sure to turn edit mode ON at the top right-hand corner of the page.

4. You may want to Create a new Content Area in the Content Menu for Assignments.

5. Click the Available to Users checkbox to allow users to view the item and then click Submit.

 

CREATE A CONTENT AREA FOR THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

1. Select the (+) in the left-hand course menu and click Content Area.

2. Enter a name for the content area, such as Signature Assignment.

3. A new button will be added at the bottom of the main left-hand menu. Click the new button to enter the empty content area. You are now ready to create the Signature Assignment.

 

CREATE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

1. In this new content area, click the Assessment button, and select Assignment.

2. Within the Create Assignment page, type the name, instructions, attach any files necessary. Please see the Appendix for an example of instructions you can provide to students for submitting an assignment in Blackboard.

3. Select the due date.

4. In Grading, you must type in the points possible. Expand Submission details to determine if it is an Individual or Group Submission.

5. Add any rubrics if necessary to this assignment.

6. Scroll down to enter the Assignment Availability Dates.

7. Select to Track the Number of Views if you would like.

8. Verify your Assignments settings, and then click Submit to save the Assignment.

 

STEP 2: COLLECT STUDENT SUBMISSIONS IN BLACKBOARD

Once the signature assignment has been set up, students will be able to submit their signature assignment during the dates of availability you assigned in the previous step. You will see the submissions appear in the Grade Center.

STEP 3: BATCH DOWNLOAD SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENTS

NOTE: Do this step BEFORE YOU GRADE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT
Once the due date for the signature assignment has passed but BEFORE you grade the assignment, you will need to batch download the signature assignments.
Note: When you use the Assignment File Download function, students’ usernames are included automatically in the file names for easy identification. However, files downloaded one by one from the Grade Assignment page will not include usernames. Therefore it is important to download the signature assignments using the Assignment File Download function described below.

1. Log into Blackboard and go the Grade Center in your course. The Grade Center is located toward the lower part of the left navigation column. Select Full Grade Center.

2. Access the assignment column's drop down menu and select Assignment File Download.

3. On the next screen, select the student submissions to download (last attempt) and then select Submit.

4. Click the Download assignments now link.

5. In the pop-up window at the bottom, select Save File and click OK.

6. Save the file to your desktop using the following naming structure:
For a teamwork assignment:
TEAMWORK_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN
(Ex: TEAMWORK_Smith_CHEM1301_42351)
For a written communication assignment: WRITING_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN (Ex: WRITING_Jones_History1301_43226).

 

STEP 4: UPLOAD SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENTS 

Once you have created the single file on your desktop, you will now upload the assignments and your instructions for the assignment into the Core Teamwork Assessments organization or the Core Writing Assessments organization.

1. Log into Blackboard 

2. Under “My Organizations” select either “Core Teamwork Assessments” if your signature assignment is a teamwork assignment OR select “Core Writing Assessment” if your signature assignment is a written communication assignment.

3. Select Content Collection from the left menu under Organizational Management.

4. Select link to appropriate assessment for your assignment: Teamwork or Writing.

5. Select the Create Folder.

6. In the Name box, type the name of your file using the following format:
TEAMWORK_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN (Ex: TEAMWORK_Smith_CHEM1301_42351) OR
WRITING_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN (Ex: WRITING_Jones_History1301_43226).

7. Open the folder you created and select Upload and then Upload Files.
Note: You do not want to select Upload Zip because Bb will unzip the file in the process.

8. Select Choose File on the next screen. Browse your desktop for the file of student work and select Submit.

Please use the following naming convention for this file:

TEAMWORK_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN_Assignment_Instructions

(Ex: TEAMWORK_Smith_CHEM1301_42351_Assignment Instructions)OR

WRITING_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN_Assignment_Instructions (Ex: WRITING_Jones_History1301_43226_Assignment_Instructions).

 

10. Select Submit.

11. You should now see both the zip file of student work and the assignment instructions in the Blackboard.

OPTIONAL INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1-a: CREATE THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT IN TURNITIN

Turnitin is an online plagiarism checker that runs papers through a series of databases to check for already existing content within a student’s paper. To create your Signature Assignment using the Turnitin Too follow the instructions below:

1. Enter the content area in which you would like to place a Turnitin assignment.

2. Click the Assessment button, select Turnitin Assignment.

3. The first time you create a Turnitin assignment, you will need to confirm that you are at least 13 years of age. Click the “I agree – continue” button.

4. Type in the assignment’s title and point value.

5. Choose a start, due and post date for this assignment. In this example, the Turnitin assignment will be called

6. “Signature Assignment”.

7. In the Optional Settings menu, there are several controls available, including:

• Exclude searching for bibliographic content from student papers
• Exclude searching for quoted content in student papers
• Exclude small matches
• Allow students to see the results
• Select which paper databases you include in the search

8. After you have made your selections, scroll down and click submit.

9. You will receive a confirmation. Click OK. The new plagiarism checker you have created will be an object on the content area.

STEP 2-a: COLLECT STUDENT SUBMISSIONS FROM TURNITIN

Once the signature assignment has been set up, students will be able to submit their signature assignment via Turnitin by clicking “View/Complete”. You will see the submissions appear in both Turnitin and the Grade Center.

STEP 3-a: BATCH DOWNLOAD SUBMISSIONS FROM TURNITIN

From inside your Blackboard Course:

1. Expand the Course Tools section of the Control Panel and choose the Turnitin Assignments option.

2. You will see a list of all the Turnitin assignments. Click on the name of your assignment.

3. You will be taken to the Turnitin assignment inbox, containing a list of all the students who have submitted work for this assignment.

4. To download the work for all the students, select the box at the top of the list, above the first student's name.

5. Once you have selected the students you will see a yellow bar appear above the list of students. This contains some additional options.

6. Click the Download button in the yellow bar and choose to download.

7. Click the Download button in the yellow bar and choose to download the Original File that the student submitted.

8. You will get a pop-up asking if you would like to download the selected files. Click Ok.

9. Turnitin will tell you that your files are being compressed and to check the Messages Tab to find your file.

10. Click the Messages Tab at the top right of your screen.

11. You should see a Bulk Download message saying that your file is ready for downloading. Click on the title of the message to open the message.

12. Select the bulk download link.

13. When your file has been downloaded, click the arrow next to Save and choose Save as. Browse to where you want to save the downloaded papers. By default, Turnitin will create a file called turnitinuk_zip_download.zip,
but you will need to rename this file.
To rename the file:

1. 1. 1. Locate the file
      2. Right click the title of the .zip file and select Rename.
      3. In the box type the new name of the file. Use the following naming structure:

14. The downloaded zip file will contain each of the selected student papers. You will upload this .zip file to Bb2.

STEP4-a: UPLOAD SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENTS

Once you have renamed the zip file, you will now upload this file and your assignment instructions for the assignment into the Core Teamwork Assessments organization or the Core Writing Assessments organization.

1. Log into Blackboard
2. Under “My Organizations” select either “Core Teamwork Assessments” if your signature assignment is a teamwork assignment OR select “Core Writing Assessment” if your signature assignment is a written communication assignment.

3. Select Content Collection from the left menu under Organizational Management.

4. Select link to appropriate assessment for your assignment: Teamwork or Writing.

5. Select the Create Folder.

6. In the Name box, type the name of your file using the following format:
TEAMWORK_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN (Ex: TEAMWORK_Smith_CHEM1301_42351) OR
WRITING_Instructor’sLastname_Courseprefix_Number_CRN (Ex: WRITING_Jones_History1301_43226).

7. Open the folder you created and select Upload and then Upload Files.
Note: You do not want to select Upload Zip because Bb will unzip the file in the process.

8. Select Choose File on the next screen. Browse your desktop for the file of student work and select Submit.

9. Select Choose File a second time, browse your computer for the assignment instructions.

10. Select Submit.

11. You should now see both the zip file of student work and the assignment instructions in the Blackboard.

APPENDIX
EXAMPLE OF STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT THE SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

Once the Instructor has set up the signature assignment in Blackboard, students will be able to submit their signature assignment. Instructions for submitting the assignment are as follows:

1. Students should log into Blackboard and enter the course.

2. Once in the course, students will select the content area containing the assignment.

3. The student will then select the link to the Signature Assignment you have created. This allows students to view and submit assignments online. You will need to tell them which assignment link they should use for submission of the signature assignment. You will also tell them that they must submit their assignment as an attachment.

4. A new screen will load where which will include instructions, a due date, possible points, an area to type comments, and the ability to attach a file.

5. Students will select Browse My Computer in order to select the file to attach as their submission.

6. Once the student has attached his submission, the student will click Submit.

 

EXAMPLE OF STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT THE ASSIGNMENT TO TURNITIN

Once the Instructor has set up the signature assignment in Blackboard, students will be able to submit their signature assignment. Instructions for submitting the assignment are as follows:

1. Students should log into Blackboard and enter the course.

2. Once in the course, students will select the content area containing the assignment.

3. The students will then need to click View/Complete to submit their assignment.

4. Students will be taken to the Turnitin Submit Paper Screen.

5. Student will enter a title for the assignment and then choose one of the three options for uploading their submissions.

6. After selecting the assignment, the students will click Upload.

7. Turnitin will process the paper. The student MUST click CONFIRM before the paper is actually submitted.

8. After clicking Confirm, students will receive a submission receipt once the assignment is submitted successfully.

WHERE TO GET HELP:

If you or your students have any questions or comments regarding the steps outlined in this document, please contact UHD Blackboard Support by calling (713)221-2786 or by sending an email to bb@uhd.edu.

For additional support, visit http://uhd.edu/bbhelpform