extra credit assignment in blackboard ultra

Ultra Essential Guidance

Guidance and support for supported workflows in Blackboard Ultra

Blackboard Tests (Ultra): 1.2: Adding, Scoring and configuring questions (Question Types)

This section provides guidance on the question types available and how to configure them.

• If you intend to randomise question order or randomise which questions students encounter from a larger set of potential questions, you should not add numbers or other ordering references to question texts.
• Overall question points: 2
• Correct answer 1: 50%
• Correct answer 2: 50%
• Incorrect answer: 0%
• If the student selects the two correct answers, they will receive an overall score of 2 points.
• If the student selects one correct answer, they will receive an overall score of 1 point.
• If the student selects one correct answer and one incorrect answer, they will receive a score of 1 point.
• If the student selects the wrong answer, they will receive 0 points for the question.
• Allow negative overall score should not be used. Depending on the overall number of questions that allow for negative scoring, using this system could produce an overall negative score for the test which, for summative assessment, may be challenging to translate to SITS.
• Allow extra credit should not be used. Extra credit is not a system generally favoured in UK HE practice.
• If you are using Question Banks as Pools where students only encounter some of the questions in the bank at random, all of the questions in that bank should be equally scored. This will avoid a student from encountering a question that offers more points than another by chance, sustaining parity of opportunity overall.

If you require advice on adding and scoring questions, please contact [email protected] .

• If you have not already, navigate to the Question Bank where you would like to add your question by Selecting Manage Banks under the Question Banks header in the Details & Actions menu on the left-hand side of the screen and selecting the Bank from the list.
• Click on the + symbol and select Multiple Choice Question . A blank question will be produced.

• Toggle Allow partial and negative credit if you wish to, but please read the section on scoring before you use this function.

• If you want to add more options for students to select from, select Add Option at the bottom of the question.
• If you wish to remove options, click the bin icon to the right of the option you wish to remove.
• If you wish to reorder options, click and drag the ↑↓ icon to the right of the option.
• Choose one or more correct answers by toggling the tick-box to the left of the correct option(s), turning it green.
• By default, selecting more than one correct answer will mean students need to select one correct answer to receive 100% of the available mark. If you wish to alter this, use the Allow partial and negative credit options to adjust how points are awarded, but please read the guidance on this provided in the section on general scoring.
• CORRECT ANSWER FEEDBACK where you can provide feedback for a correct answer.
• INCORRECT ANSWER FEEDBACK where you can provide feedback for incorrect answers and partially correct answers (where partial credit is enabled).
• Click Save once you have finished making the question.
• If you have not already, navigate to the Question Bank where you would like to add your question by selecting Manage Banks under the Question Banks header in the Details & Actions menu on the left-hand side of the screen and selecting the Bank from the list.
• Click on the + symbol and select True/False Question . A blank question will be produced.
• Select whether the statement you have provided is True or False by toggling either True or False .
• Click on the + symbol and select Fill in the Blank question. A blank question will be produced.
• Once you have finished writing your question, select Next Step from the bottom-right of the question, which will expand new configuration options.
• Write the correct response or selection of responses available in each of the boxes provided for each blank entered. If there are multiple correct responses, separate them with semicolons. For example, “Red; Blue; Green”.
• Exact match where the answer provided by the student must be identical to the answer you’ve provided.
• Contain match where the answer provided by the student must contain the answer you’ve provided.

• For each blank, you can toggle whether the response provided by students should be Case sensitive . Note, this option is removed from Match a pattern responses, where case sensitivity should be expressed in the pattern itself. For example, “[A-Za-z]” will provide the pattern where either capital or lower-case letters through the range of the alphabet are accepted as correct.
• All or nothing where all responses should be correct to receive any score for the question.
• Allow partial credit where proportional points are awarded for the number of correct responses provided. If you choose this option, you should set the maximum number of points available for the question so that it matches the number of available blanks in the question. Not doing so may produce fractional grades.
• CORRECT ANSWER FEEDBAC K where you can provide feedback for a correct answer.
• Click on the + symbol and select Matching question. A blank question will be produced.
• If you wish to remove a pair, click the bin icon to the right of the pair you wish to remove.
• If you wish to add a pair, click on Add Pair .
• If you wish to add a distractor, click Add Distractor . Distractors are selectable options that do not belong to any matching pair, providing a “distraction” amongst otherwise parable responses and prompts.
• Write a Prompt and an Answer pair in each of the boxes provided.
• Click on the + symbol and select Calculated Formula question. A blank question will be produced.

• Use the MathType interface to enter the answer formula for the question. A manual for using the MathType interface can be found here or accessed by clicking on the ? icon at the top-right of the MathType interface.
• Choose whether or not to display the formula to students using the Display formula to students toggle.
• Click Next to move on to the next stage of configuration.
• Set whether the answer format is Normal or Exponential .
• Set the Rounding options to either Decimal places or Significant figures using the drop-down options and enter a rounding number.
• Toggle whether to Display place settings or significant figures to students.
• Allow full credit if the answer is within a chosen range which, if selected, will then be definable.
• Allow partial credit if the answer is within a chosen range which, if selected, will then be definable. Please read our guidance on using partial credit before enabling this feature.
• Enter the unit-type you want students to use in their answer and provide a Unit Points Percentage.

• Add Variable ranges as desired, setting Minimum, Maximum, and Decimal Places in the boxes provided.
• If you have provided variables in your question text, you can specify the Number of answer sets required.
• Click on the + symbol and select Calculated Numeric question. A blank question will be produced.
• Enter the Correct Answer in the box provided up to a maximum of 16 digits.
• Toggle whether to Allow an answer range . If you toggle this on, you will be invited to enter the range value.

• Do not provide in-text marking (commentary) features you may use in normal submission points. You can only provide general, overarching feedback.
• Cannot be auto-marked.
• Cannot be passed through Turnitin as a part of the submission process.

Depending on whether students are allowed to upload files or asked only to write text in the box provided, may inhibit accessibility options for some student users.

An alternative may be to include a Blackboard submission point. If you would like to discuss how this may be configured, please contact the DEO.

• Click on the + symbol and select Essay question. A blank question will be produced.
• If you wish to, you can provide an example of a correct response in the box provided.
• Once you have finished, select Save .

• Click on the + symbol and select Hotspot question. A blank question will be produced.
• In the box below the text editor, add a picture. You can either do this by dragging and dropping a file from your computer or by clicking Upload from device and selecting a file.

• If you wish to erase the hotspots you’ve placed, click Erase Hotspots .
• If you wish to remove the photo you’ve uploaded and any hotspots you’ve placed, click Delete all .
• If you have added multiple hotspots, you can choose whether to Show hotspots to students , essentially changing the question to a visual MCQ.

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Blackboard: Add Extra Credit to Weighted Grades

Step 1: create extra credit column.

• Go to Full Grade Center and select Create Column
• Name the column and choose the primary display
• Enter in 0 for Points Possible
• Fill out the remaining options and click Submit

Step 2: Create Weighted Total Column

Information on creating a weighted total column can be found at: Adding Extra Credit

Note: Do not add the Extra Credit Column to the Weighted column.

Step 3: Create Final Total Column

• Click Create Calculated Column , and select Total Column
• Name the column and choose a Primary Display. A Secondary Display is optional.
• Scroll down to the Selected Columns section and next to Include in Total, check Selected Columns and Categories
• Move your Extra Credit column and Weighted Column to Selected columns 
• Choose whether to show column and statistics to students, and select Submit when finished

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Here you will find documentation and tutorials for the various software and services supported by UT Online. If you are unable to find the information for which you are looking, please reach out to our help desk using the information on the left side-bar.

• Creating Ultra Groups

This article will cover how to create groups in Blackboard Learn Ultra.

You are viewing the Ultra Course View content, go to Orignal Course View page .

Select the Groups tab.

1. Select Import Group Set using a CSV file.

2. Select New Group Set to create new groups.

Group Sets allow instructors to break the class into smaller student groups. Use the CSV template example in the Import Group Set tab.

1. Type in a title for the new group set.

2. Select visible to students when ready to show the groups to students.

3. Select the drop down for Custom , Randomly assign or Self-enrollment .

Please note that Self-enrollment will not show up unless it is visible to students. If it is hidden from students, instructors will not be able to select Self-enrollment.

Grouping Students Using the Custom Feature

1. Select the plus sign in a circle .

2. Give the group a title .

3. Select Save .

Once an instructor selects Save, the instructor will need to go back and edit the Custom groups.

Select the 3 dots and select Edit .

Select the 3 dots next to the students name and select the group to assign the student.

After assigning students to the groups, select Save .

Randomly Assign Student Groups

Select Randomly assign .

By default Blackboard creates groups and assigns students.

1. Select the plus sign in a circle to create another group.

2. Select the name of the group to give it a new title.

3. Select the 3 dots next to the students name to unassign it from a group or change to a different group.

5. Select Save .

Allow Students to Self Enroll in Groups

Select Self-enrollment .

1. Type in the title of the new group set.

2. Provide a description of the group set.

3. Select an enrollment start and end date .

4. Select maximum members per group .

5. Hide enrolled members .

6. Search for students to add to a new grou p or to an existing group .

7. Select Save .

Creating Ultra Groups Video

• Prev: Adding a True/False Question to a Question Bank
• Next: Viewing and Editing Ultra Groups
• What is Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV)?
• Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) Quick Start Guide
• Blackboard Ultra Course View Features Versus Original Course View
• Navigating Ultra Course Using the Keyboard
• What is a Merged Course? (Ultra Course View)
• Introduction to Blackboard Learn UCV Navigation
• Accessing Courses in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
• Uploading a Profile Picture
• Modifying Notification Settings
• Navigating Ultra Courses as an Instructor
• Accessing Course Evaluations
• Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) Settings
• Institution Page
• Activity Stream
• Preconversion Checklist
• Common Conversion Exceptions and Possible Conversion Issues
• Blackboard Learn Ultra Course Conversion
• Viewing Conversion Exceptions
• Blackboard Ultra Course Copy
• What To Do After a Course Copy (Ultra Course View)
• Batch Edit in Ultra
• Course Content Creation Overview
• Creating Content Items
• Creating a Learning Module
• Moving Content into Learning Modules
• Creating a Content Folder
• Creating a Web Link
• Adding Files
• Content Release Conditions
• Creating Blackboard Ultra Document
• Allowing Class Conversations
• Accessing and Viewing Blackboard Ultra Calendar
• Creating a Calendar Event
• Modifying or Deleting a Calendar Event
• Calendar Settings
• Viewing Announcements
• Create an Announcement
• Schedule an Announcement
• Discussion Board Introduction
• Create Discussion
• Set up Grading for Discussions
• Grading Discussions
• Discussion Post Release Conditions
• Viewing Participants Responses and Replies
• Discussion Analytics
• Allow Students to Create Discussions Topics
• Manage Discussion Notification Settings
• Course Messages Introduction
• Create New Message
• View Messages
• Receiving Blackboard Course Message in UT Rockets Email
• Manage Messages Notification Settings
• Journals Grades and Participation
• Assessments in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
• Group Assessments in Learn Ultra Course View
• Extra Credit in Learn Ultra Course View
• Creating an Assessment with Peer Review
• Viewing Peer Reviews Submissions
• Assignments and Tests in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
• Creating an Assignment in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
• Adding Content to an Assignment
• Editing Assignment Content
• Editing Assignment Settings
• Viewing Assignment Statistics
• Viewing Submission Activity
• Creating a Test in Blackboard Learn Ultra
• Editing Question Banks
• Reusing Questions from Question Banks
• Making a Test Question Extra Credit
• Copying Test from Previous Course to Ultra Course
• Setting Up Test Exceptions and Exemptions
• Using SafeAssign in Learn Ultra
• Accessing SafeAssign Originality Reports
• Uploading Files to SafeAssign for Instructors in Blackboard Learn Ultra
• Viewing SafeAssign Originality Reports for Uploaded Content
• View Attempt Log
• Introduction
• Creating a Text Element
• Attaching a File
• Adding a Page Break
• Creating a Calculated Formula Question
• Creating a Calculated Numeric Question
• Creating an Essay Question
• Creating a Fill in the Blank Question
• Creating a Hot Spot Question
• Creating a Matching Question
• Creating a Multiple Choice Question
• Creating a True/False Question
• Reusing Questions
• Creating a Question Pool
• Editing Questions and Assessment Elements
• Viewing Questions in a Question Pool
• Blackboard Ultra Course Rubric
• Question Banks Introduction
• Creating Question Banks
• Importing Question Banks
• Adding a Calculated Formula Question to a Question Bank
• Adding a Calculated Numeric Question to a Question Bank
• Adding an Essay Question in a Question Bank
• Adding a Fill in the Blank Question to a Question Bank
• Adding a Hotspot Question to a Question Bank
• Creating a Matching Question within a Question Bank
• Adding a Multiple Choice Question to a Question Bank
• Adding a True/False Question to a Question Bank
• Viewing and Editing Ultra Groups
• Creating Ultra Group Assignments
• Creating Ultra Group Tests
• Creating Ultra Group Discussions
• Assigning Groups to a Discussion
• Grading Introduction
• Grading Discussion Boards 
• Submitting and Post Grades with Gradable Items Tab
• Submitting and Post Grades with Student Tab
• Modifying Posted Grades for Assignments and Tests
• Creating a Column in Blackboard Learn Ultra
• Adding New Category to Gradebook
• Adding Feedback to Assignments That Collect Submissions Offline
• Setting up Overall Grade
• Grading Calculations in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View
• Hiding Inactive Students in the Gradebook
• Deleting a Column from the Ultra Gradebook
• Enroll People to Blackboard Learn Ultra Course
• Setting up Accommodations
• Editing Users in Learn Ultra Course View
• About Progress Tracking
• Disabling and Enabling Progress Tracking
• Viewing Student Progress Reports
• Viewing Student Progress on a Content Item
• Blackboard Ultra and McGraw Hill Connect
• Create New Server to Publish Test in Ultra course Only
• Managing the Content Collection in Ultra Course View  0
• Enable Microsoft Teams for Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV)
• Create Microsoft Teams Meeting in Blackboard Ultra Course View
• Open Microsoft Teams Classes in Blackboard Ultra Course View
• Sign Up for Blackboards Anthology Idea Exchange
• About Artificial Intelligence (AI) Design Assistant
• AI Auto-Generate Modules
• AI Auto-Generate Assignments
• AI Auto-Generate Discussions and Journals
• AI Auto-Generate Rubrics
• AI Auto-Generate Tests Questions
• AI Auto-Generate Test Banks from Ultra Documents

Last Updated

Jul 02, 2024

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Other Resources

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• Echo360 EchoVideo
• Respondus Lockdown Browser, Monitor and Live Proctoring
• Respondus 4.x Test Authoring
• UToledo Online Faculty Handbook
• Remote Delivery Quick Reference Guide
• Blackboard Ally
• Kramer Connect
• Microsoft Teams in Blackboard Learn

Blackboard (Faculty) - Grade Center: Extra Credit

• www.siue.edu
• ITS Home Page

Extra Credit can be given in three ways:

Extra Credit for Total Points

• Extra Credit When Weighting Grades (Added to the category)
• Extra Credit When Weighting Grades (Added to the overall grade)

There are many reasons to give an extra credit assignment, but in all cases, the points must not penalize the students that do not complete the extra credit assignment. For example, if the total possible points for a semester is 1000 and students have the ability to earn an extra 50 points, a student has the potential to receive a maximum of 1050 points for the semester. However, if a student chooses not to do the extra credit, the student should not be penalize 50 points, but should still be able to earn the full 1000 points.

• From the full Grade Center, click Create Column .
• Give the column a title in the "Column Name" box. (Extra Credit would be an appropriate name.)
• Primary Display should remain as Score .
• Points Possible must be 0 . When the points possible are 0, any points added to the student's cell will be above (extra credit) the total points possible for the course. If you place a number in this box, the number will be added to the total points possible for the course (1050 points in the example above) and students not completing the extra credit will be penalized.
• Click Submit at the bottom of the page.
• Click on the menu drop-down button next to the Total column heading.
• Click  Edit Column Information  from the expanded menu.
• From the Select Columns section, ensure that "All Grade Columns" is defaulted.

In the example above, Student 1 earned all possible 1000 points on the course assessments but did not complete the extra credit. Student #2 also earned all possible 1000 points on the course assessment but DID complete the extra credit. Student 1 is not penalized for not completing the extra credit.

Extra Credit When Weighting Grades 

Weighted totals are using the averages of individual columns.  Suppose you wanted to give a student 5 points extra credit and you credit an "Extra Credit" column worth 0 points and type 5 in the column.  In the weighted total calculation, the Blackboard system will try to take 5/0 to include in the calculations.  However, you cannot divide by 0.  It is mathematically impossible.  Hence, Blackboard throws it out and does not consider that 5/0 into the calculation (thus ignoring your attempt to add extra credit). Your options are to add the points to the category or to the overall grade.

Added to the Category

Example : Suppose you want to add 5 points extra credit to the quizzes.  In the Full Grade Center you would create an extra credit column worth 0 points. After adding the 5 points for each student to the extra credit column, create another column to calculate the quiz total. The quiz total column would include any columns that include quiz grades and the extra credit column. When you create the weighted total column, instead of adding the category "Quizzes" worth 20%, add the "quiz total" column for 20%.

• Give the column a title in the "Column Name" box. (Extra Credit would be an appropriate name.)
• The Primary Display should remain as Score.
• Points Possible must be  0 .  
• Click  Submit  at the bottom of the page.
• Add scores to the column.
• Create another column to calculate the total of the columns and the extra credit. From the full Grade Center, hover over the Create Calculated Column button and click  Total Column .
• Give the column a title in the "Column Name" box. (Quiz Total or Assignment Total would be an appropriate name. Whatever category you are adding.)
• The Primary Display should remain as Score.
• Click  Submit  at the bottom of the page. If you already have a weighted total column, check that the "Quiz Total" or "Assignment Total" is the column that is being weighted and not the category.
• If you do not have a weighted total column you must create it. From the full Grade Center, hover over the Create Calculated Column button and click Weighted Column .
• Give the column a title in the "Column Name" box. (Weighted Total would be an appropriate name.)
• The Primary Display should remain Percentage.
• Add the categories to the Selected Columns box on the right-hand side of the page. The only exception will be the total column that contains your extra credit. Instead of adding the category, add the total column (Quiz Total from the example above) to the Selected Columns box.

Added to the Overall Grade

• From the full Grade Center, click  Create Column .
• Points Possible must be  0 .
• Create a "Final Total" column that includes the " Weighted Total " and the "Extra Credit" columns. From the full Grade Center, hover over the Create Calculated Column button and click  Total Column .
• Give the column a title in the "Column Name" box. (Final Total would be an appropriate name.)
• Change the Primary Display to display Percentage .
• In the Select Columns section, click the radio button for Selected Columns and Categories .
• Add the "Weighted Total" and the "Extra Credit" columns to the Selected Columns box on the right-hand side of the page.
• Blackboard (Faculty) - Grade Center: Overview

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Ultra Experience

Make learning more effective in and beyond the traditional classroom walls.

The Blackboard Learn learning management system brings efficiency to day-to-day tasks for students and instructors. Empower your instructors with tools that excite learners. Blackboard Learn is flexible and easy to use for managing content and assessing outcomes.

What is the Ultra Experience?

"Ultra" describes the transformation of the user interface and workflows in Blackboard Learn.

Check it out! The intuitive, fluid interactions in our modern design are simple and fun to use.

Use any device! With our responsive design, the interface adjusts to fit on any computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Navigate simply . Our efficient navigation puts everything at your users' fingertips.

A new course look . We offer a dual approach to courses. You can allow your instructors to have a mix of courses in the Ultra Course View and the Original Course View. Both course views appear seamlessly in their course lists.

What else does Ultra offer?

Your name appears in the left panel of your window after you log in. Select Admin to access the Administrator Panel . Users can navigate to core features outside of their courses from the list.

When users select any link from the list, they see a global view across all their courses. They can access the global calendar that captures due dates in all their courses and the grades page that shows all their grading tasks organized by course. No need to navigate to each course to see what's ready for grading.

This list remains in view as users move from page to page—even when they're in a course. As users open pages, they open as layers. Close the layers to return to a previous page or the list.

The Ultra experience will look the same at every institution, including yours.

Compare the experiences from the instructor view

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