Submissions displays all enrolled students and allows you to keep track of all submissions on one page. You can filter and access individual submissions to provide feedback and assign grades.
Table of Contents
- Submissions
- Grading Submissions
- Content and Settings
- Test submissions list page
- Feedback Panel
- Feedback Content Library
- Feedback Recording
- Annotation Overview
- Supported document types
- Grading multiple attempts
- Dropping Low/High Grades
- Download assessment submissions
- Download assessment results
- Download grades from the gradebook
Additional Resources
🚩For Blackboard Original courses, see the following:
🏴This information applies only to Blackboard Learn Ultra.
Submissions
You can access the Submissions page from an assessment or from the Gradable items view in the Gradebook.
Use the Filter menu to display only those submissions that need grading.
Student profile pictures appear with a red circle when they have late submissions or the due date has passed with no attempt submitted.
You can search for a student or a group and select how many items to display on the page. The system remembers your selection, so if you leave and come back, the setting is retained in the next session.
Keep track of all submissions on one page: Quickly see which attempts are ready to grade.
Access the details: Review the instructions and settings at any time. For example, select the Content and Settings link to return to the assignment page.
View students with accommodations. You can set accommodations for individual students and exempt them from requirements, such as assessment due dates and time limits. In the gradebook and roster, a flag icon appears next to the names of students with accommodations.
Exemptions. You can add or edit exemptions for individual assignments. An exception includes additional attempts or extended access, even if the assignment is hidden from other students. You can also add exceptions after you post grades.
Start grading: Select student names to access their individual submissions, and assign grades and provide feedback.
Ready to post grades? Post appears next to each grade you haven't released yet. You can choose which grades to post and when. Posted grades appear with a Posted message in the column. You can also grade all submissions for an item in succession and then select Post all grades to release all grades in one action.
When you access an assignment, the Content and Settings page displays the instructions and files you provided, and details such as the due date. Select the Settings icon to make changes. For example, you can change the grading schema at any time and the change will show to students and in your gradebook.
Why wait to“Post grades”? Many instructors prefer to grade all submissions before posting grades to students so one students feedback does not become another students advantage.
Grading Submissions
You can choose where you want to start grading:
- Activity Stream in base navigation
- Grades in the base navigation menu
- Gradebook in the course navigation menu
- Submissions page
- Assignment submissions tab
Content and Settings
When you access a test, the Content and Settings page displays the questions and settings, such as the due date and maximum score.
View the rubric: If you associated a rubric with the assignment, you can review it.
Keep up with the conversation: If you allowed conversations about this assignment, select the Open class conversation icon. A small circle appears with the icon to indicate new activity.
Check how many need grading: Select the Submissions link to see how many students have completed the assignment.
Refine questions: If you included questions, you may need to make corrections after students have opened an assignment or group assignment. For example, you may have chosen the wrong answer, found a typo, or want to adjust points or scoring options. You can make a change for all students to see and automatically update all grades.
Test submissions list page
Use the Filter menu to display only those submissions that need grading. At this time, you can filter by All statuses and Needs grading.
Review the instructions and settings at any time. For example, select the Content and Settings link to return to the test page.
If you chose to enable anonymous grading on a test, a message appears stating anonymous grading is in progress.
Use the arrows to move to another submission ready for grading.
Review student work: Student answers appear for each question. Students can also add comments and files to the end of their tests. You can't change the points an individual student earned for an automatically graded question.
See a count of how many you've graded: As you grade each submission and move on to the next one, you can view your progress in the upper-right corner.
Show correct answers? If you chose not to show correct answers for automatically scored questions, return to the assessment settings panel and select the Show correct answers check box.
Grade, provide feedback, and post: Assign points for each question. You can use up to two decimal places. Click anywhere outside the points to save. When you've finished, the total appears at the top of the test. A test's score consists of the sum total of all the questions' points.
From a student's submission, you can open a question's menu and select Edit/Regrade to make changes or give full credit to everyone.
What do students see? After you grade tests and post the results, students can view their scores on their grades pages or in the Activity Stream. They can also access the test, their submissions, your feedback, and their grades from the Course Content page.
Feedback Panel
Open an attempt. On the Submission page, select the feedback icon to open the feedback panel. The panel remains in place as you scroll through the assignment and add overall feedback and a grade.
Feedback Content Library
Create a library of frequently used comments to reuse across all of your courses:
Feedback Recording
You can embed an audio or video recording of your feedback in the editor as you grade attempts. The recording option appears in the feedback editor for most graded items in your course. Students watch or listen to your feedback alongside any text you include.
You can include a recording of your feedback so it appears with any text you've added for a student. Add feedback wherever you start grading. In the editor, select Insert/Edit Recording to get started.
In the window that opens, select the camera icon on the recording interface to enable your camera. Without the camera enabled, the tool only records audio when you begin. When you're ready, select the Record button to capture your audio and video feedback.
When you've got your microphone and camera set up, you're ready to go.
- Select the red record button and watch as the tool counts down. You can make a recording up to five minutes long.
- Select Pause recording to stop and resume recording your feedback or select Stop recording to review the recording and save or discard. You can delete the recording and start over if you want to re-record.
- Review your recording and select Save and exit if you're satisfied and want to share it with the student.
- The recording is automatically inserted in the editor.
You may rename the recording display name and add alternative text to make it accessible to all users. The system uses the recording time and date for these fields by default. Select the recording in the editor and select Insert/Edit Recording again in the menu. Edit the display name and alternative text. By default, the alternative text field automatically uses the display name, but you can edit the alternative text separately if you want.
Select Save when you're finished editing.
Setup your microphone and camera
Select the gear icon to set up and test your microphone and camera.
- Set up microphone: Having trouble recording audio? Use this option to test your audio and select the input source. If the volume level moves, your device's audio is being detected and should record as expected. Select Yes - It's working to exit the test.
- Set up camera: Select an input source for your camera. If you see your image on the screen, you're all set! Select Yes - It's working to exit the test.
Issues with your audio or video?
- Does the browser have permission to access your camera and microphone?
- Are the audio or video controls enabled? A line through the icons means that a device is not enabled.
- Have you installed the latest version of your browser?
What do students see? Students can access the recording with grade details and any other feedback you add. The recordings stream to student devices and don't require them to download anything. Students can play the recordings on most modern browsers without any additional plugins or extensions. Students can't download or save recordings.
Annotation Overview
You can annotate and grade student files directly within the browser with Bb Annotate.
Bb Annotate offers a more robust feature set to provide customizable feedback to students. Features include a sidebar summary view, freehand drawing tools, various color selections, and much more.
Menu options from left to right
- Sidebar: View Thumbnail, Outline, or Annotation views of the submission.
- Pages: Use the arrows to jump to different pages in the submission.
- Pan: Move the submission on the page.
- Zoom and Fit: Zoom in and out of the submission or adjust the view to fit the page, fit the width, or select the best fit.
- Annotation tools: Select each tool to view the tool properties.
- Drawing, Brush, and Eraser: Draw freehand on the submission with various colors, thickness, and opacity. Select the eraser to remove annotations. You can erase parts of a freehand drawing with the eraser or select the Delete icon to delete the whole drawing.
- Image or Stamp: Choose a preloaded stamp or create your own customized stamp or image to add to the submission.
- Undo: Undo or revert the last thing you did.
- Redo: Repeat the last thing you did.
- Text: Add text directly on the submission. You can move, edit, and change the text and select the font, size, alignment, and color of the text.
- Shapes: Choose Line, Arrow, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and Polyline. Each shape has its own settings to change the color, width, opacity, and more.
- Comment: Provide feedback in comments. Your comments appear in a panel next to the submission.
- Print or Download: Print or download the submission with the annotations.
- Search: Search the submission for specific text.
- Content Library: Create a bank of reusable comments! You can add, edit, delete, and search comments in the library. You can also add a comment directly to the submission page from the menu. Select the plus sign to add a new comment to the Content Library. You can Place comment, Copy to Clipboard, Edit, or Delete content from the library. Type keywords or phrases to search for saved comments.<
- Highlighter: Select specific portions of the submission to highlight. As you highlight text on the submission, an additional menu opens. You can highlight, strikethrough, underline, squiggle, or comment on the highlighted section.
Your selection for each tool is saved between submissions.
Students can access the annotated files but won't be able to add annotations in their submissions.
A known issue with some browsers' built-in PDF viewer may not display all your annotations. Please view annotated PDFs in a native PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat.
Supported document types
On the Assignment Submission page, supported file types open in the browser. You can view and annotate these document types in the browser:
- Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX)
- Microsoft PowerPoint(PPT, PPTX)
- Microsoft Excel(XLS, XLSX)
- OpenOffice Documents (ODS, ODT, ODP)
- Digital Images (JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIF, TIFF, TGA, BMP, HEIC)
- Source code (Java, PY, C, CPP, etc)
- Medical Images (DICOM, DICM, DCM)
- PSD
- RTF
- TXT
- WPD
Annotation sessions expire after one hour. You'll receive a warning message before your session expires. Your completed annotations, feedback, and files are saved on the page. When you return, you can resume working.
Animated gifs display only the first frame in the pdf viewer for annotation purposes. Download the submission to view the animated gif.
Original formatting and embedded images are preserved. If a student submitted an unsupported file, you're prompted to download it. Assignment submissions created through the editor aren't compatible with inline grading.
Grading multiple attempts
When you start or review grading, you can point to a submission timestamp to view more information. Timestamps appear on students' submission pages and on their attempts panels when you've allowed multiple attempts for an assessment.
For example, on a student's submission page, you can view when the student made the submission and when you posted the grade. The timestamp appears in red with a "late" label after the due date passes.
For multiple attempts, on the Submissions list page, select a student's name to open the attempts panel. Point to a timestamp to view the additional information.
You can grade an assignment with multiple attempts from the same places you grade an ordinary assignment:
- Activity Stream
- Gradebook
- Assignment
When you select a student's name, a panel appears that displays each attempt, along with the date it was submitted. Select an attempt to view the submission.
The feedback icon appears next to each attempt. Select the icon to open the feedback panel, which persists on the side of the screen. You can scroll through the assignment and add overall feedback and a grade.
Use collapsible and expandable panel on the right to navigate through tabs such as rubrics, feedback, and originality report. You can also navigate the submission view and the panel tabs with different scroll bars. Independent scroll bars allow instructors or graders to scroll up and down the submission content without affecting the side tab navigation or the header. Use rubrics in a more practical way and provide feedback focused on a specific part of the submission.
Multiple attempts change how the assignment's final grade is automatically calculated. Choose how you want to calculate the final grade:
- Average of all attempts
- First attempt with a grade
- Attempt with highest grade
- Last attempt with a grade
- Attempt with lowest grade
By default, the grading page displays the most appropriate attempt based on the Grade attempts setting and the grading completion status:
Grade Attempts setting | Grading completion status | Default attempt displayed |
Last attempt with a grade | Any | Most recent attempt |
First attempt with a grade | Any | First attempt |
Attempt with the highest grade | All attempts are graded | Attempt with the highest grade |
Attempt with the lowest grade | All attempts are graded | Attempt with the lowest grade |
Average of all attempts | All attempts are graded | Most recent attempt |
Attempt with the highest grade | There are ungraded attempts | Oldest ungraded attempt |
Attempt with the lowest grade | There are ungraded attempts | Oldest ungraded attempt |
Average of all attempts | There are ungraded attempts | Oldest ungraded attempt |
This allows you to quickly evaluate and grade student work. When the grade calculation method requires additional grading tasks, you are taken to that task. If not, the most appropriate graded attempt is displayed.
The Grade attempts setting determines how the final grade is automatically calculated, but you have the option to override the final grade. Each attempt is subject to the due date you set for the assignment. If a student submits an attempt after the due date, the attempt is marked late. Attempts submitted before the deadline are shown as on time. You can only override the final grade, not the grades for each attempt.
After you finish grading the attempts, you can post the final grade for the student to see. The final grade for a multiple attempt assignment is calculated based on the Grade Attempts setting you chose in the Assignment Settings. In the panel that lists a student's attempts, the final grade appears when those attempts are graded. For example, if the final grade is calculated based on the highest graded attempt, the final grade appears immediately after at least one attempt is graded. But, the grade may change as you continue grading more attempts.
What do students see?
Assignments with multiple attempts list the number of attempts allowed, as well as how the final grade is calculated. Students view this information on the Details & Information page before they begin. When grades are posted, students can view grades for each of their attempts, as well as the final grade. If you decide to override the final grade, a message appears to let the student know.
Dropping Low/High Grades
As part of the Overall Grade Calculation, you can drop the lowest/highest grades from Categories.
From Overall Grade select Calculation Details:
You will see all of the categories in the course. In order to drop grades automatically, categories must be used. For example, if you would like to drop the lowest quiz grade, all quizzes would have to be in the “Quiz” category and must hold weight towards the final grade.
Locate the category that you want to edit to drop grades and select Edit calculation rules.
- Make sure the Enable setting is checked
- Select Drop Grades
- The Use Only function will let you choose to only count the highest or lowest grade in the category
- You can type the amount of grades you want to drop into the boxes
Download assessment submissions
To accelerate your grading process, you can download students' assessment submissions and view them offline. You can download all or only selected submissions as a single ZIP file. Unzip or expand the file to view the contents. Each submission is saved as a separate file with each student's username.
You can download the content and files that students create and attach in the editor for their submissions. You can't download content and files attached to assessment questions. For example, if an assessment has only Essay questions, students' answers aren't downloaded. You also can't download discussions, group work, or anonymous submissions.
Select the download option from these areas in the gradebook:
- List view: Item's Submissions page > menu in the header row
- Grid view: Item's menu
On the Download Assessment Files page, select the Name or Date column header to sort the submissions.
- Select the check box next to the Name column to select all submissions or select submissions individually. If you select all, only submissions with files and text provided by students in the editor are included in the ZIP file.
- Select Create ZIP File to start the process.
- In the pop-up box, select Send. The file is created in the background and you automatically return to the Submissions list page or grid view. The process takes a few moments based on the size of the file.
If you allowed multiple attempts, the files for all attempts for each student are included.
You receive an email and a course message when the ZIP file is ready to download to your computer. On your course's Messages page or in your email, select the Download now link.
If you delete the email and course message with the link to download the file, you have to rerun the download. The ZIP file remains in the system until a routine system cleanup is performed—every 90 days or longer—or until an administrator manually deletes it. Contact your administrator for more information.
View ZIP file contents
Windows and Mac computers have built-in capabilities to view and extract compressed ZIP file packages. To learn more, see the help available for your computer's operating system.
After you unzip the file, a folder appears with files for each submission. Usernames are included automatically in the file names for easy identification.
Files included in the ZIP file
TXT file: If a student used the editor to complete the assessment, the submission text appears in a TXT file. You'll also find information about the submission, such as date submitted. Reminder: Content and files attached to assessment questions aren't downloaded.
Submission files: If the student uploaded one or more files as the submission, they appear together in the list. For example, a student's submission might include a Word doc, an image file, and a slide presentation. Reminder: If you allowed multiple attempts, the files for all attempts for each student are included.
Combination: A student can provide text and attach files in the editor to complete the submission.
Download assessment results
You may need to download test results for external analysis and evaluation. External analysis is important for supporting course quality and assessment efforts. Besides, institutions often want compiled assessment data for accreditation and program review activities.
You can download assessment results from either the gradebook grid or list views:
- From the gradebook grid view, select the assessment to display the options menu and choose Download results.
- From the gradebook list view, select the options menu of the assessment and choose and choose Download results.
You'll find several options when downloading results.
- File type: Excel spreadsheet (.xls) or Comma Separated Value (.csv). The default is .xls.
- Format of results: By student or by question and student. The default is by student.
- Attempts to download: Either all attempts or only attempts included in the grade calculation. You can define which attempts to include in the grade calculation in the Grade attempts settings. The default is to download only attempts used for calculation.
The downloaded report includes the following information:
- Student name
- Username
- Questions
- Answers
- Grading status
- Any content the student may have included with their submission
Sample for the result format Download by student:
Sample for the result format Download by student and question:
Download grades from the gradebook
You can download the full gradebook or select columns from your Ultra courses. However, items with anonymous grading enabled can't be selected and won't be included in the downloaded file. Select the Download grades icon in the Gradebook.
You can export the file in a comma-delimited (CSV) or tab-delimited (XLS) format. You choose whether to save the file to your device or the Content Collection.
You can import your downloaded file into an application such as Microsoft® Excel® to do statistical analysis or other ad hoc computational work.
These columns are included in a downloaded file:
- Last name, first name, and username
- Student ID, last access, and availability
- Grade columns
- Attendance
- Manually added items
- Calculations
In the gradebook, select the icon with the down arrow to open the Download Gradebook panel.
Make your selections:
- Download the full gradebook, select items, or grade history.
- Select the file type for the downloaded file. Data files are comma-delimited (CSV) or tab-delimited (XLS).
- Select the location for the download. You can save the file to your device or Browse to select a folder in the Content Collection.
When you choose Select columns, a list of columns appears. Select the check boxes for the columns you want to download. Select the Show more link to display all the gradebook columns.
You can only include feedback in the downloaded file when you select a single column. Select the check box for Include feedback for the selected column. If the single item you select is an assignment or test, feedback only appears if you posted the grade. For a manually added item and graded discussions, feedback appears for all grading statuses: posted, ready to post, and needs grading.
If you assigned a grade and added feedback and later overrode the grade, your feedback won't appear in your single-column downloaded file.
Grade statuses
When you download the full gradebook, the file includes the grades you posted or are ready to post. No feedback is included. Overall grades are included if you set that up in your gradebook.
Grades you assigned appear as points, letters, or percentages based on how you chose to display each graded item in the gradebook. The column header includes the grade display.
Some additional information is provided:
- In Progress: Student opened the item but didn’t submit it.
- Needs Grading: You have an attempt to grade.
- Needs Grading (grade): You assigned and posted a grade, and one or more attempts are ready to grade.
- Ready to Post (grade): You assigned a grade, but didn't post it.
If you haven't created any graded items, you may still download the gradebook. If you complete a course, you may no longer download the gradebook.
Upload a file to the gradebook
You can upload a grade file you worked on offline and update your gradebook. In the gradebook, select the icon with the up arrow to open the Upload Gradebook panel. To upload a correctly formatted file, download the gradebook. Then, edit the file with the data you want to upload.
In the downloaded file, be sure to clear any cells you want to add a new grade to. For example, if "Ready to Post" appears with a grade, remove the text and the grade.
You can drag a file from your computer and drop it in the "hot spot" of the upload panel. You can also browse your files or use one you stored in the Content Collection.
In the panel, you can review the list of columns you changed in the file you want to upload. Clear the check boxes for any data you want to exclude from the upload.
In the grid view, columns with grade changes appear highlighted for a few seconds to show where the changes occurred.
Any grade additions or changes you made to non-posted grades in the file appear as overrides in your gradebook. In the student list view, you can open a student's submission and select Undo Override if needed. If you change a posted grade in the file, you'll need to post the grade again.
File format guidelines
You can only upload a file in a comma-delimited (CSV) or tab-delimited (XLS) format. Reminder: To upload a correctly formatted file, download the gradebook. Then, edit the file with the data you want to upload.
To synchronize external data to gradebook data, unique identifiers are necessary for each student and for each column in the gradebook. The unique identifier used for each student is the student's username. The unique identifier for each column is a column ID number. Column ID numbers are generated by the system and shouldn't be changed or deleted.
You can add a column without a column ID number in the file you upload to create a new column in the gradebook. However, you must add at least one student's grade so the column is recognized and uploaded. The system adds a column ID number. You can edit the column after it appears in the gradebook to add the points total.
View errors
After you upload a file, a list of errors appears if you've made changes that adversely affect the gradebook. You're also notified about invalid usernames. Select the View Error Details link to learn more.
For some errors where you've cleared grades, you must select a result.
Examples:
You're about to clear some grades with attempts. Select a result:
- Preserve grade
- All attempts appear as submitted but not graded
You're about to clear some override grades with attempts. Select a result:
- Use the attempt grades
- All attempts appear as submitted but not graded
Download the grade history
Instructors and administrators need a record of changes to grades in a course. These records are important for addressing quickly student questions and grade challenges.
