Milestones

Overview

Milestones allow you to create multiple participation requirements within a single discussion, encouraging students to engage in the discussion multiple times rather than all at once before the due date.

If you're setting up a discussion for the first time, follow the instructions in Milestone Setup Using the Wizard. If you're editing a discussion you've already set up, follow the instructions in Milestone Setup Using the Editor.

How Do Milestones Impact Grading, especially Auto-grading?

Milestones have several impacts on grading:

• If you set up Auto-grading using the wizard, your points will automatically be divided equally between the two milestones. At the end of the wizard setup, you can choose to Configure Additional Settings if you wish to allocate points differently.
• If you set up Auto-grading using the editor, you will need to allocate points manually between the two milestones. See Milestone Setup Using the Editor.
• If you're using Auto-grading, grades will pass back to the gradebook for a particular student when the student completes all milestones or when the assignment due date passes.
• If you're operating in the Canvas LMS, student submissions will appear in the SpeedGrader for a particular student when the student completes all milestones or when the assignment due date passes.

Milestone Setup Using the Wizard

You can enable milestones while setting the requirements for your discussion. Just make sure the box is checked.

You will be prompted to set up two milestones: one for post(s) and one for comment(s). Select the desired number of posts and comments. You can also change how many days before the due date the initial post is due.

Note: Be sure you set the final due date in your LMS if your LMS allows (Blackboard, Brightspace, and Canvas). The final due date should match when the final milestone is due.

If you'd like more or fewer milestones or would otherwise like to fine tune your milestone settings, you will have the chance to do so at the end of the setup process. During the final step, instead of choosing Publish, select Configure Additional Settings. You can then follow the instructions for Milestone Setup Using the Editor.

Milestone Setup Using the Editor

Watch the video or follow the text instructions that follow to set up your milestones using the Harmonize editor.

• Depending on your LMS and assignment settings, when you click to edit your topic, you will either see dates filled in at the top:

• Or you will be provided fields to fill in one or more assignment dates:

• Click on the Milestones Due Dates tab and then click Add Milestones to add a milestone.

• After adding a single milestone, several options are displayed:

• [1] Set Milestone Complete by Dates Relative to. At the top, you'll get to choose which assignment date you want to base the milestone completion dates on. The setting defaults to the assignment due date, and that is what we strongly recommend using.
  • CAUTION - Setting a Milestone requirement to be completed after the LMS assignment due date may result in student work being marked late by the LMS.
• [2] Auto-grading. Auto-grading can be enabled to automatically assign participation points based on milestone completion. For more information on Auto-Grading visit the dedicated Auto-Grading help page.
• [3] Minimum word count for Posts. A minimum word count can be set for posts. A value of 0 (default) means that any length post will be count towards meeting the milestone requirements. When a minimum is set, students are still allowed to publish posts below the minimum, but they will be warned that the post will not count towards completing their milestone requirements.
• [4] Minimum word count for Comments. Likewise, you can set a similar word count minimum for comments, which behaves the same way as the word count minimum for posts.
• [5] Complete By. Within the Milestone section is the Milestone Complete By setting. This allows you to set when each individual milestone must be completed by relative to the date you selected above. You can either pick the date manually or use the - and + buttons to enter a number of days relative to your selected assignment date.
• [6] Requirements. For each milestone, you can select how many Posts, Comments and Reactions are needed to satisfy the requirements.
  • (Note: in the collapsed view comments and replies are counted as one requirement)
• [7] Advanced Requirements. To count Comments and Replies as separate requirements, use the menu and select Expand Comment Requirements.
• [8] Total Requirements. This shows how many Posts, Comments, Replies and Reactions are required across all milestones.

Once all milestones have been entered, click the Save & Close button to save the settings and return to the discussion.

 

Teacher View

When milestones are setup in a discussion, teachers receive an overview of milestone progress across all of the students participating in the discussion:

• A solid green bar represents the percentage of students who have completed a milestone.
• A light green bar represents the percentage of students who have made some progress towards completing a milestone.
• A gray bar represent the percentage of students who have made no progress on a milestone.
• The total number of Posts and Comments & Replies for the entire discussion are displayed next to the milestones.
  
   

Student View

Students receive a similar view to teachers when milestones are setup on a discussion, the main difference being the overview tracks only their personal progress:

• A solid green bar shows how much progress a student has made on a milestone.
• A green checkmark appears next to milestones that have been completed.
• Counts for Posts, Comments & Replies and Responses Received show the student's contribution to the discussion and reactions from others in the discussion respectively.

If a student is late in completing one or more milestones, they will be presented with a slightly different view:

• A solid red bar shows how much of milestone progress was completed after the milestone due date.
• A red checkmark shows which milestones were completed after the milestone due date.
• A red attention icon shows which milestones are incomplete and overdue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there a limit to how many milestones I can have?

• No. The sky's the limit!

Q: I'm using auto-grading. When will grades for each milestone appear in the gradebook?

• Grades will show up in the gradebook if the due date has passed or if all of the milestones are completed, whichever one occurs first. No grades will be submitted for students who have not yet participated in the discussion.

Q: I'm using Canvas. Will student submissions pass back to the SpeedGrader after each milestone?

• No. Student submissions will appear in the SpeedGrader for a particular student when the student completes all milestones or when the assignment due date passes.

Q: I set up milestones and auto-grading using the wizard. How does it know how many points to assign to each milestone?

• If you set up auto-grading and milestones using the wizard, your points will automatically be divided equally between the two milestones. At the end of the wizard setup, you can choose to Configure Additional Settings if you wish to allocate points differently.