Assessing Students in Brightspace

The grading and assessment function in Brightspace provides an efficient way to evaluate student performance. This feature allows instructors to easily provide feedback, assign grades, and review student submissions within a clear and organized platform. It supports various types of assignments, such as submitted documents, media files, or group projects, enabling structured assessment and offering students valuable insights into their progress.

Navigate to the right assignment.  

First, log into Brightspace Utrecht University with your username and password. Open the Grades Tool within the course by clicking on ‘Grades’ in the navigation bar. You will be redirected to a new page called ‘Enter Grades’. Here, you’ll see an overview of students and their grade distribution. If you click on ‘Switch to Spreadsheet View’, you can assign grades for all students. When you click on ‘Switch to Standard View’, you can easily grade individual students again.Navigate to the item that needs to be graded by clicking on arrow (see 1 on the picture below) next to the name of the activity, assignment, quiz, or discussion forum you want to grade. To grade all students simultaneously for the one item, click on ’Enter Grades’ (see 2). If the assignment required a submission, an icon will appear next to the grade. Click on the icon (see 3) to be redirected to the submission. 

OF: review the assignments of every individual student. 

Select a student by clicking their name to view their submitted work. Review the work carefully. Brightspace often allows you to view the work directly on the platform and add comments. 

Note: the ‘Save’ button publishes the grades. After saving, students will be able to see their grade immediately, unless the grade is hidden. You can hide and unhide grades by clicking on the eye-icon next to the relevant grade.

Assign a Score 

Scroll to the right assignment that you want to grade. Enter a grade or score in the designated field for an individual student. Always click ‘Save’ when you are done to post the grade and feedback, ‘Save and Close’ will bring you back to the overview. If a rubric or grading form is set up, use this by clicking on the arrow ‘Show Comments and Objective Based Assessments’.Evaluate each criterion by selecting the appropriate level in the rubric. Add any feedback in the comment text box that opens with the arrow too if needed.Use the arrow under the name of the student to move directly to the next student. 

OR Grade all students for one assignment simultaneously. 

Select ‘Enter Grades’ to get the overview of one assignment. This way, all grades can be entered simultaneously. You can view submitted documents by clicking on the icon, this will open a new page. Add feedback for selected students by clicking on the box next to their names and then clicking ‘Add Feedback’. Enter the grades and click on ‘Save and Close’ when you’re done.Double-Check Everything  

Review the grades to ensure they’re correct; return to the overview to ensure all grades and feedback are entered correctly. Verify that all students have received a grade. 

Communicate with Students (optional) 

Use the announcements board or send a message via Brightspace to inform students that their grades are available.