A grading schema provides a way for an instructor to establish how a grade is calculated and appears to learners. A schema takes points scored on an assessment and compares it to the chart, which is mapped according to specifications defined by the instructor. The default schema in Ultra courses is based on a points or percentage scale to a letter grade.
In early April, Ultra courses will support multiple grading schema, allowing faculty to add, copy and edit up to 100 different options in a course for how grades are calculated and appear to students. For example, if an assessment is a pass/fail or complete/incomplete, a grading schema can be created to support this scoring method. Items copied from other courses will keep their grading schema and when copying content and assessments, any configured schemas will also copy, even if not aligned to gradable items.
Image 1: Example of multiple grading schema
Another exciting update for Ultra courses is a new search function. Instructors and students can now search course content titles to find items in the course -- this includes folders, learning modules, Ultra Documents, file names, assessments, and discussions. When a user types a few letters, the course search function displays a list of matching items by title. Expanding the search results will provide more information related to the course item(s). Search will also check descriptions of items when this field is used in an Ultra course, but not the content of file attachments.
Image 2: Example of course content search
Additional updates to Ultra for April include:
- Hotspot question enhancements include a circle-shape selector to mark the hotspot.
- Clicking on a student's name will take the instructor to the Student Overview page to view the student's progress in a course from the Gradebook, Roster, Messages, and Discussions.
- Several improvements for the grading process include sorting records by first or last name or grade., accessing items that need grading quickly on the submission page, and posting status.
- Discussion enhancements include a new tab navigation for the student discussions, student activity, and grading.
- Bb Annotate features improved formatting and editing such as font colors, bold, underline, and hyperlinks. Instructors can also edit existing comments.
The next update to our Ultra test environment will take place on April 11, 2023. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Additionally, our Ultra feature tracker is updated and now includes a filter for functional category (e.g., assessment, course management, grading) so you can sort only those items you might be interested in tracking the status. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
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