When a student submits an assignment online, makes a post to a discussion, completes a quiz, etc., Blackboard creates what is called an "Attempt Object" for that grade column.
When SS&E synchronizes with Blackboard, all of the student's attempt objects are taken into account, and the most recent attempt date is saved as the "Last Assignment Submitted Date".
However, there are instances where the last assignment submission date returned from this process does not make sense and is incorrect. The reason for this is that there is sometimes confusion around what Blackboard calls "Attempts".
- For example, when a student's Last Assignment Submitted Date for a course section is after their "Last Login Date".
Manual Attempt
When needed, an instructor may manually create an "Attempt" for a student using the following steps:
- From the Full Grade Center, click the down arrow on the grade box for a student under a grade column.
- Click on "View Grade Details":
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- This will open the Grade Details page, which defaults to an "Attempts" tab.
- When a grade is manually entered via the Attempts tab, an Attempt is created for that student.
Tools Dropdown
3. Manual grades entered in the Full Grade Center for any content of the Tools dropdown will create an attempt object for that student.
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- To clarify, grades for the Tools menu such as Discussion Boards, Blogs, etc. manually entered through the Full Grade Center will create an attempt.
- If manual grades should not create an attempt for an item on the Tools menu, they must be entered from the "Manual Override" tab on the Grade Details page. This is the only way to enter a "Tools" item manual grade that will not affect the last submitted assignment date.
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Assessments Dropdown
4. Manually entered grades for items on the Assessments dropdown such as Tests and Assignments made through the Full Grade Center will not create an attempt object.
Tools vs Assessments
5. Manual grades entered in the Full Grade Center for content on the "Tools" dropdown will create attempt objects while grades entered manually in the Full Grade Center for items on the "Assessments" dropdown will not create attempts.
Manual Override
In the response SS&E receives from the Blackboard API, there is no way for SS&E to differentiate between attempts from grades manually entered by instructors to real attempts made by students. Therefore, the manual grades must be entered in a way that determines if an attempt is made or not. If no attempt is made, the last assignment submission date will not be affected.
To summarize, as of September 2021:
- Blackboard grades for content created from the "Assessments" dropdown (Test, Assignments etc.) can be overridden directly from the Full Grade Center or the "Manual Override" tab on the Grade Details page without creating an attempt object.
- Blackboard grades for content created from the "Tools" dropdown (Discussion Boards, Blogs etc.) can only be overridden from the "Manual Override" tab on the Grade Details Page without making an attempt object.
The following screenshot shows where to manually override a grade without creating an "attempt" by directly entering an Assessment menu related grade in the Full Grade Center:
The following screenshot shows where to manually enter a grade by using the Grade Details "Manual Override" Tab. This can be done both for the Assessments and Tools items without affecting the Last Assignment Submission Date in SS&E:
How to clear a Grade
If a discrepancy is currently occurring, it can be resolved by clicking "Clear Grade" from the Attempts tab.
- This will "delete" the attempt that was created by previously manually entering the grade.
- The instructor can then manually set the grade via the full grade center or the manual override tab which will both not create an "attempt".