Using Bb rubrics with a VoiceThread Assignment

The assessment policy at SCU states that students should be provided with rubric-based grading and feedback however, VoiceThread assignments do not currently include a digital rubric grading method. When using VoiceThread assignments you can instead attach a Blackboard rubric to the Grade Centre column associated with a VoiceThread assignment. The following article explains how to attach a Blackboard rubric to the grade centre column.

Attach a Bb rubric to a VoiceThread Assignment

  1. Open the Full Grade Center in Blackboard
  2. Click on the chevron arrow beside the VoiceThread column name and click Edit Column information.


  3. Setup the Primary Display (student-facing) and Secondary Display (markers only), check the Points Possible is correct for the assessment, and then click on Add Rubric.

  4. If you have an existing Blackboard Rubric chose Select Rubric. Otherwise, chose Create New rubric. If you are unfamiliar with creating Blackboard rubrics view the following Blackboard help guide. 
  5. Check the settings for the rubric so that it is Used for grading. Note if you chose Yes (with Rubric Scores) students are able to see the numerical breakdown of the grade they have received.
  6. Click Submit to save the changes.

The following video provides in-depth guidance on how a Blackboard Rubric can used to grade a VoiceThread assignment:

Grading Bb rubrics with VoiceThread assignments

Blackboard Grade Centre overrides grades when the SAVE GRADE feature of the VoiceThread assignments is clicked. For this reason, it is strongly advised to maintain a separate record of assessment grades.

 Once a grade has been entered using the VoiceThread assignments it will be shown as GRADED. It is a good idea to do this before grading with a Blackboard rubric to avoid accidental overrides of a Blackboard rubric result.

Marking a VoiceThread Assignment with a Blackboard rubric

  1. Open Full Grade Center and click on the arrow next to a student name in the VoiceThread assignment column, and then click Grade User Activity.


  2. This loads the Voicethread Marking interface. The ungraded and graded submissions appear at the right-hand side of the screen. You are able to navigate through each students submission, enter comments and add a percentage grade. Click SAVE GRADE to save the numerical grade to Grade Center for each student who has made a submission.


  3. Return to the Grade Center and this time select View Grade Details.


  4. The Grading Details screen opens:

    From this screen you are able to do the following Actions:
    • Grade User Activity: Opens the VoiceThread marking interface again
    • Edit Grade: Allows you to modify the attached Blackboard rubric, add feedback comments and override the numerical grade that VoiceThread saved in step 2.

  5. Click on Edit Grade to mark using a rubric. Click on View Rubric to open the rubric marking interface in Blackboard. 


  6. Mark the work using the Blackboard rubric. Click Save to apply the new grade and rubric.


  7. When students log into Blackboard and click on My Grades they can click the VoiceThread assignment name to open their VoiceThread with any feedback you have provided, or click View Rubric to see the Blackboard rubric feedback.  


(Please note - it's better to refer to the Online version rather than export, as it's always up to date)