Reviewing/Grading Journal Entries

  1. Once a journal has been created you can view Journal Submissions information and Journal Details on the journals homepage:
    • Submitted – number of journals that contain submissions from users.
    • Remaining – number of users who have yet to submit an entry to the journal.
    • Graded – number of journal entries that have been graded.
    • There is also a summary of pertinent journal settings viewable on this page including the journal mode and release date. If there is an expiration date for the journal it will be displayed here as well.
    • You can also send out a student reminder by clicking the Send a Reminder button. This will send an email to those users who have not submitted an entry for the journal.
  2. Click the Grade Submissions button, which will take you to the Detailed Grader, when you are ready to begin reviewing and grading the journal entries.
  3. The Detailed Grader will display journal entries one user at a time. All journal entries will be displayed here.
  4. On the top right of the screen you will see the name the user whose submission is currently visible. This is also where you will provide the grade for the journal entry:Detailed Grader
    • Use the left and right arrows to scroll through users in the course.
    • Click the downward arrow to see a drop down list of users in the course.

      Users that have submitted an entry for the journal will be highlighted in dark gray, users who have not submitted will be highlighted in light gray, and users whose journal entries have already been graded will be highlighted in green.

    • Below the user’s name is where you will type in the grade for the journal. The total points are displayed and you can click the blank space to type in the grade. If the Grading Scale is set to “Scale Grade” for the journal then there will be a drop down menu that can be used to choose the grade instead. Once you have entered the grade click the green Grade Assignment button.

      For those journals utilizing a “Points Grade” Grading method, you can hover over the question mark icon to review a list of possible alternative grades for the journal.

      Once you have entered a grade (even if you have NOT clicked the green “Grade Assignment” button) the student will no longer be able to upload or add anything else to the assignment. This is because adding a grade indicates that grading has begun.

    • You can leave Student Grade Feedback about the journal entry by clicking the thought bubble icon and typing into the “Add a comment for student...” text box. Once you have added your comment click the green Save Grade Comment button. The comment will be visible to the student once the grades have been released.
    • You may also leave Instructor Feedback for the student in the text box located on the left side of the screen, below their entry. This comment becomes available to the student as soon as you click the green Save Comment button and is not dependent upon grades being released.
    • Click the pencil icon to add a note for yourself about the journal. The student will not be able to view this private note. Click the green Save my private note to save your note to the entry.
  5. Grades entered through the Detailed Grader are automatically populated in the Gradebook. To edit Gradebook settings from the Detailed Grader click the small settings icon.
  6. Next to the settings icon is the Statistic icon:
    • The overall average score is shown in the yellow circle.
    • The highest percentage grade is shown in the green circle.
    • The lowest percentage grade is shown in the red circle.
    • The grade median and standard deviation, total number of students and number of journals not graded, and the score distribution can also be found on this page.
    • Click the green Close Reports & Return to Grading button to return to the Detailed Grader.
  7. You can enter a comment for the student’s submission by using the HTML editor text box below their entry. This comment will display on the student’s journal submission through the Journal tool. Grades for the journal assignment do not need to be released in order for students to view this comment.
    • This is not the same as leaving a note through the grading panel on the right. Those comments are only visible once the grades for the assignment have been released.
  8. When you have finished grading the journal and you are ready to release the grades to students you can click the green Release Grades button at the top of the screen. Grades can also be released from the Gradebook.
  9. Click the blue Back to Journal button to return to the journal.