This advice is only relevant to the Blackboard assignment tool feature called ‘Delegated Marking’.
- Are you thinking about using delegated marking?
- Do you have an assignment to mark where delegated marking has been set up?
The following advice should help you avoid issues that have arisen, based on recent queries we have received.
Is delegated marking really necessary?
It is not always necessary to enable delegated marking, even if you have multiple markers or the work needs to be moderated. It is only required where all staff are marking online.
e-Marking and moderation can often be accommodated more easily without using the delegated marking feature. For example, double marking and moderation can be facilitated through standard marking features, using the ‘Feedback to Learners’ and the ‘Instructors Notes’ fields.
Delegated marking can be helpful if you have large cohorts of students and sets of students need to be allocated to different markers or if you need to undertake blind double marking.
Check with a member of the TEL team, if you are not sure if delegated marking is required.
What can I do if delegated marking has been enabled but isn’t required?
If students have not yet started submitted their work, then it is possible to change the assignment settings and un-tick the option for delegated marking.
DO NOT un-tick the option for delegated marking if students have submitted assignments or the work has started to be marked. This will result in the assignments or the feedback disappearing.
Make sure staff who are marking the assignment know delegated marking has been enabled.
All staff will need to know what implications the delegated marking feature has on the marking process in terms of what they can expect to see and do in the Grade Centre. Refer to the guide on delegated marking for details.
When should you assign markers?
Only assign markers when you know for certain who is marking the work and how student assignments will need to be distributed amongst them. Markers can be assigned after the assignment has been set up and after students have submitted their work but this should be done once.
DO NOT remove assigned markers once students have started submitting work or when marking has begun. This can prevent work from being marked online.
Allocating students’ assignments between markers
DO NOT change how assignments have been allocated between markers once this has been selected and students have started submitting work.
Editing the settings can result in the following unexpected behaviour:
- Assignments not been allocated correctly,
- Markers are prevented from being able to mark assignments,
- Assignments and/or feedback disappears.
Using ‘Random Set’ – DO NOT edit (add or remove) markers once students’ assignments have been allocated using this option. Avoid using this option.
Using ‘Groups’ – DO NOT change the membership of Groups used to allocate marking once marking has started. This will result in the loss of feedback and prevent the student from seeing their feedback.
Using ‘All submissions’ – Additional markers can be added at any time where ‘All submissions’ is being used.
What if I need to add a marker after the assignments have been allocated?
Please speak to a member of the TEL team for advice before making any changes to the settings.
Note: It is possible for the instructor managing the marking process to add an additional marker to mark a piece of work from the ‘Needs Reconciliation’ page and this can be used to overcome issues around marking allocation.