Graded Discussion Assignments

Graded discussions allow teachers to create discussion-based assignments where students respond to a prompt and interact with peers. These assignments support participation, critical thinking, and collaboration while contributing to a student’s grade.

For example, an English teacher might use a graded discussion to encourage students to analyze and respond to a shared reading.

Create a graded discussion

In Faculty, you can create a discussion from:

  • My Day, Assignment Center

  • Classes, Assignments

  • Calendar

Tip: You can copy or import graded discussions to reuse them.

To create a discussion:

  1. In list view of the Assignment Center or class Assignments tab, select + Add, then Discussion.

    From calendar view, select +Discussion.

  2. Complete the available sections:

    • Details

    • Evaluation

    • Attachments and links

    • Publishing options

  3. Select Save or Save and add another.

Enter discussion details

The Title and Discussion prompt fields are required. All other settings are optional.

Available options include:

Show across all published sections: Make the discussion available to one class or all published sections.

Show comments to students: Choose when students can view comments (after posting or at any time).

Allow students to add attachments: Enable or disable file attachments.

Assignment type: Associate the discussion with an assignment type.

Set evaluation options

  • Under Evaluation, configure grading settings:

  • Enter Max points (based on the assignment total).

  • Enter a factor, if applicable.

  • Select grading options:

    • Add to gradebook

    • Add to cumulative grade

    • Publish grade

  • Select Extra credit to exclude the discussion from standard grade calculations

Add attachments and links

Under Attachments and links, you can include:

  • Links

  • Downloads

  • Embedded content

Enter a URL or HTML embed code in the provided fields.

Set Publishing Options

When and where the discussion will be available:

  1. Select the sections to publish to.

  2. Enter an Assigned date and time.

  3. Enter a Due date and time.

Note: Use the Publish dropdown to control when students can access the discussion. If set to Now, the discussion becomes available immediately after you save it.

Creating a new discussion

Discussions can be added through the Assignment Center, which can be found under My Day, from the Assignments tab on the class page, or from the Calendar. To add a new discussion, select +Add, Discussion. There are four sections to adding a new Discussion: Details, Evaluation, Attachments & links, and Publishing options.

Details

Title and Discussion prompt are required fields. Everything else is optional, including:

  • Show across all published sections - You can continue to make this discussion only available for this class, or all classes where it is published.

  • Show comments to Students - Select when comments show, either after a student has posted, or at anytime.

  • Allow students to add attachments - Enable this discussion to support attachments or not.

  • Assignment Type - Associate this discussion with a particular assignment type.

Evaluation

Under Evaluation, you will need to provide the Max points(this field will pull from Maximum points above), as well as a factor. You can also elect to Add to Gradebook, Add to Cum. Grade, and Publish grade. Mark the applicable box for Extra credit to make this Discussion count as extra credit.

Attachments & links

Under Attachments, you can add Links, Downloads, and/or Embeds. Simply place the HTML code or link in the provided text boxes.

Publishing options

Finally, you'll need to select the sections the Discussion should publish to. Add an Assigned date/time and a Due date/time as well to dictate when the Discussion will be available for students to complete.

Warning: Please remember to use the Publish drop down to select when the Discussion should publish to Students. This drop down defaults to Now, if Now is selected the Discussion will be made available to students as soon as Save and Add Questions is selected.

When finished, select Save or Save & Add Another to save your discussion.

Tip: Graded discussions can be imported or copied as needed.

Student participation

Students access the discussion by selecting the discussion title. They can:

  • Add a new response to the prompt

  • Reply to other students

  • Embed links in responses

  • Attach up to three files (if enabled)

Once a student submits an initial response, the discussion is marked as complete, but they can continue participating until the due date.

Work with and Grade Graded Discussions

Graded discussions allow students to respond to a prompt and engage with peers while earning a grade. As a teacher, you can review the full discussion, evaluate individual student participation, provide feedback, and manage responses.

Open a graded discussion

You can access a graded discussion from:

  • Assignment Center, select the discussion title.

  • Classes, Assignments, then select the discussion.

  • The course topic where the discussion is published.

This opens Discussion detail, where you can review and evaluate participation.

View the discussion

When you open a graded discussion, you land on the Full discussion view.

From here, you can:

  • Review all student responses.

  • Reply to any student post.

  • Add your own response to the prompt.

Respond to the discussion

  • Select Respond to prompt to add your own response.

  • Select Add response under a student post to reply directly.

Manage student responses

From the Full discussion view, you can moderate responses as needed:

  1. Select the pencil icon next to a student response

  2. Choose one of the following:

    • Hide response

    • Delete response

  • Hidden responses are not visible to students, but you can still view them.

  • If a response has follow-up replies, those replies are also hidden.

Evaluate an individual student

To grade a student’s participation, switch from the full discussion to the student view:

  1. Select a student’s name from the roster

  2. Review their participation, including:

    • Their original response and replies.

    • Their replies to other students.

  3. Select Add response to reply directly to the student’s post.

  4. Select Add comment to leave private feedback.

  5. Enter the student’s score in the Points field.

Best practices for grading discussions

  • Review both original posts and replies to evaluate participation fully.

  • Provide clear feedback to guide student engagement.

  • Use moderation tools to maintain appropriate discussion content.

  • Grade consistently based on your discussion criteria or rubric.

Delete a discussion

Deleting a discussion will delete the prompt, responses, and grades recorded for the discussion assignment.

To delete a discussion:

  1. In Faculty,

    Select  My Day, Assignment Center.

    OR

    Select Classes, choose a class, then select Assignments.

  2. In list view, select the context menu next to the discussion, Delete.

  3. Select the sections to delete the assessment from.

  4. Select Yes, delete for the selected sections to complete the deletion.