Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Online Learning

Using a rubric to grade an assignment or discussion

Once you have created a rubric and linked it to a discussion or assignment, it is easy to complete and have the grade transferred to the grade book.

  • Who is this for: Online Instructors.
  • What is required: A D2L course shell in which you have created one or more rubrics to use with an assignment.

Step 1: Grading assignments using a rubric

  1. Click on Assignment on the main navigation bar.
  2. Click on the title of the Assignment you want to grade.
  3. Click on the Evaluate Submission link for a student.
  4. Review the assignment (possible attachment).
  5. On the right side of the screen you will see an “Evaluation” heading. Below this heading, click the link to the rubric button.
  6. Complete the rubric.
  7. Be sure the box for “Transfer feedback to the general feedback for the assignment” is checked. This will put your feedback into the comments area under grades for the student to see.
  8. Click the Save & Record button.
  9. Leave Feedback if you wish.
  10. Click the Publish button.
  11. The points will be entered on the evaluation screen and in the grade book.

 Step 2: Grading discussions using a rubric

  1. Select Assess Topic from the action menu in line with the discussion topic you want to grade.
  2. There will be two links below each student name, Topic Score and the Title of the Rubric.
  3. First, click the rubric title link.
  4. All the posts from that student will appear below the rubric.
  5. After assessing the posts, complete the rubric.
  6. Make a note of the total points, which will be automatically tallied in the lower right of the rubric.
  7. Click the Save button.
  8. Click on Topic Score for the same student and enter the total score in the box provided.
  9. Check the Published box, which will export the grade to the grade book.
  10. Add any Feedback comments you wish.
  11. Click the Save button.

NOTE: The grade book will display the points you enter but in the discussion assessment list, the rubric level achieved will be displayed. Not the point value.