Auto-Grading

Overview

Harmonize has added a participation-based Auto-Grading feature to Milestones (multiple due dates) the allows instructors to set participation points for each individual task in an online discussion.  Points will be assigned and populate the LMS grade book as milestones are fulfilled - once the activity is completed or the due date arrives, whichever occurs first.

Using Auto-Grading in Your Harmonize Discussion

To set up automatic participation points for a Milestone in a graded Harmonize discussion

• Navigate to your Harmonize discussion and click the Edit button.
• Select the Milestones & Auto-Grading tab.
• Click the Add Milestone button. This will add a configurable Milestone to your discussion and open the Milestones options menu.

• Toggle ON the  "Turn on Participation Auto-Grading" option.  This will provide a text box where you can enter points for each Milestone created.  As you add Milestones a running total of points will appear at the bottom of this screen. Click the Add Milestone button to add additional Milestones.

• You may also set a minimum word count threshold student posts and comments need to meet in order to count toward Milestone completion. Read more about this feature here: Word Counts Minimums
• Once you are finished allocating points for each Milestone you've created, click the Save & Close button.

Auto-Grading Grade Passback

• Students receive all of the allocated participation points when they fulfill each Milestone requirement prior to its due date.
• Points earned by students will be transferred to your LMS gradebook when the student fulfills all Milestone requirements or the final Milestone Due Date elapses, whichever occurs first.
• Here is an example of a Harmonize discussion in Canvas that uses Milestones with Due Dates and Auto-Grading:

• Because the student fulfilled all Milestone requirements prior to their respective due dates, full participation points were earned.
• When the final Milestone was fulfilled, Harmonize submitted full participation points (in this case 100 points total) to the Canvas gradebook.
• Please note that any auto-grade submitted by Harmonize can be overridden by the instructor at any time.

A Quick Note of Grade Calculation

Harmonize will pass a score in the form of a percentage to your LMS grading system.  If you set the total number of points possible for the assignment in the LMS to be exactly the same as the total participation score created in Harmonize, then you will see the same number of points earned by the students appear in your LMS.  For example: 10/25 points earned by the student in an assignment with 25 possible points will appear in your LMS grade program as a 10.  If the total number is not the same, then a score equivalent to the percentage of points earned will be populated.  For example: 10/25 participation points will populate a score of 40% or 40/100 in the LMS.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Help! I can't figure out why a student did not receive full participation points!

• Students only receive points for the Milestones they complete prior to each Milestone's respective Due Date. If the student does not receive full points, it's likely they did not fully complete the Milestone on time (ie they completed the Milestone requirements after the Milestone due date elapsed), they only partially completed their Milestones (ie they only submitted one comment of a two comment requirement), or they posts did not meet minimum word count requirements.
• The student's Milestone Summary in the Discussion Activity report will show exactly which Milestone requirement went unfulfilled.