Overview
Instructors can set a minimum word count for student posts in their Harmonize discussions. When a student's post reaches this word count minimum, it will be counted toward the completion of discussion Milestones.
Setting Minimum Word Count for Posts & Comments
- Navigate to your Harmonize Discussion and click the Edit button.
- Click the Milestone Due Dates & Auto-Grading tab.
- Click Add Milestone.
- Create your Harmonize Milestones as you normally would. If your Milestones are already created, skip to the next step.
- In the Minimum Word Count for Posts field that appears, enter the minimum number of words a post must contain to count toward completing a Milestone. Leave this value at 0 if there is no minimum.
- In the Minimum Word Count for Comments field that appears, enter the minimum number of words a comment or reply must contain to count toward completing a Milestone. Leave this value at 0 if there is no minimum.
- Review all of your Milestone settings and requirements. When you are finished, click Save & Close.
Student View
For Posts
- When a student clicks Create a post... a word count requirement will appear in the lower right corner of the Create Post window.
- A banner which shows the number of words needed before the post will count toward Milestone progress will also appear at the bottom on the Create Post window.
- Once the word count minimum is met, the banner will disappear and the counter will update to reflect the current word count.
For Comments
- When a student clicks Add Comment or Reply, the word count requirement will appear in the lower right corner just above the Publish button.
Milestone Requirements
- Milestones, located at the top of the Harmonize window, will show student discussion requirements.
- Student posts and comments not meeting word count minimums will be listed beneath the progress bars, but do not count toward Milestone requirements.
- Once all Milestone requirements are completed, the student will only see full progress bars.
Instructor View (Canvas)
Harmonize Discussion Activity
- Navigate to your Harmonize Discussion and click the Activity button.
- Select a student from the student list or drop down menu.
- A summary of student posts and comments will appear in the Milestones section of student activity page.
- Here is a closer view:
SpeedGrader
- Click the SpeedGrader button
- The Harmonize Discussion Activity report appears in the left window for all students who have submitted work in the current discussion.
- Enter grades via the Assessment field provided by Canvas.
- Grades entered in SpeedGrader will automatically appear in the Canvas gradebook.
Instructor View (Blackboard, Brightspace, & Moodle)
- Navigate to your Harmonize Discussion and click the Grades & Activity button.
- Select a student from the student list or drop down menu.
- A summary of student posts and comments will appear in the Milestones section of student activity page.
- Points entered into the Grades field provided by Harmonize will automatically appear in the LMS gradebook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Will setting a Word Count minimum prevent students from making posts or comments that do not meet the minimum threshold?
- No. Students are free to publish posts and comments of any length, but only posts and comments meeting or exceeding their respective word count minimums will count toward Milestone completion.