Blackboard Ultra: Accessing online assessments as an external examiner

Find out how to log in to Blackboard and navigate courses, view student submissions in different online assessment tools, access samples of student work, and get support for your external examiner responsibilities.

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Overview

The University of Sheffield uses Blackboard as its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to deliver online teaching and learning activities.

Students complete online assessments using several different digital learning tools linked to Blackboard, such as Blackboard Tests and Turnitin assignments.

This page provides support for common tasks external examiners perform across the University. If you need help with an online assessment tool that’s not listed here or need help finding specific student work, contact the school you are working with.

Accessing Blackboard

  1. On the University of Sheffield website, select Log in to MUSE from the top left of the screen.

  2. Enter your username and password then select Log in.

  3. Set up multi-factor authentication when prompted to do so.

  4. Select My services from the toolbar at the top of the page then select Blackboard.

    University of Sheffield MUSE My Services menu expanded with Blackboard link highlighted

You should change your default password when you log in to your University IT account for the first time.

Accessing a Blackboard module course

  1. After logging into Blackboard, select the Courses tab on the left-hand menu.

  2. Module courses will display in order of academic year (most recent first) then by name alphabetically. Select the course name for the module you are examining to open it.

  3. You can also use the Search your courses field at the top of the page to find the relevant Blackboard course

    Blackboard course interface. The courses tab in the left-hand menu, a course name and the search your courses field are highlighted

Which version of Blackboard am I using?

The University is in the process of moving to a new version of Blackboard. Your courses may use either the old version, Blackboard Original, or new version, Blackboard Ultra.

On Blackboard Original the navigation menu is on the left side of the screen (A), while on Blackboard Ultra a simplified navigation menu is at the top of the screen (B).  

Comparison showing Blackboard Original and Blackboard Ultra interfaces - see accompanying text

Visit Blackboard Original: Accessing online assessments as an external examiner if your school is using Blackboard Original courses.

Preventing accidental changes to Blackboard courses

Blackboard courses contain live material, and changes to the content will be reflected to all users (staff and students) on the course. 

Any enrolled staff members (including external examiners) can potentially move, modify, or delete course materials. There is no undo function, and so care should be taken while navigating the course and student work.

Accessing online assessments and submissions

For most online assessments, you should open the module’s Blackboard course first. For PebblePad assessments, you will need to log in to PebblePad with your external account.

A student may have multiple attempts listed in the Gradebook for an assessment. If it is not clear if you are reviewing the correct attempt, contact the school you are working with.

Blackboard Tests

Blackboard Tests can use a range of questions for an assessment, such as multiple choice, fill in the blank, or calculated formulas where students have different values for variables in the question.

To view a submission to a Blackboard Test:

  1. Scroll down the Course Content page and open the Assessment & Feedback Learning Module.

    You can also use the search tool (magnifying glass icon) on the Course Content page to find it if you know the name of the assessment you are looking for.

  2. Select the relevant Assessment folder and then select the Blackboard Test.

    Blackboard Ultra course displaying the Assessment & Feedback learning module expanded and a Blackboard Test

  3. Select the Submissions tab to open a list of student submissions. 

  4. Select a student’s submission to view their work and any associated feedback.

    Blackboard Test Submissions tab with a student submission highlighted

  5. You will be presented with the marking interface. All Test questions, given answers and marks will be displayed.

  6. Navigate between submissions by selecting the student’s name or the Next Student / Previous Student buttons.

    Blackboard Test review page - see accompanying text for feature descriptions

  7. Marks, overall feedback and comments will display on the right. If you cannot see the feedback box, select the chevron (<) icon on the right of the screen to make this pop out.

  8. When you are finished viewing the attempt, select the X button at the top-left corner of the page.

  9. You will be taken back to the Submissions page.

Blackboard Assignments

Blackboard Assignments are usually used when students need to answer one longer question, such as a dissertation plan, a video recording, or a more visual report.

To view a submission to a Blackboard Assignment:

  1. Scroll down the Course Content page and open the Assessment & Feedback Learning module.

    You can also use the search tool (magnifying glass icon) on the Course Content page to find it if you know the name of the assessment you are looking for.

  2. Select the relevant Assessment folder and then select the Blackboard Assignment.

    Blackboard Ultra course displaying the Assessment & Feedback learning module expanded and a Blackboard Assignment

  3. Select the Submissions tab in the menu bar to open a list of student submissions. 

  4. Select a student’s submission to view their work and any associated feedback.

    Blackboard Assignment Submissions tab with a student submission highlighted

  5. You will be presented with the marking interface: 

    • A list of submissions shows in the left-hand panel. You can organise submissions by marking status, submission date, name and student ID.

    • The student’s submission currently being viewed will be displayed in the centre.

    • Marks, overall feedback and comments will display on the right. If you cannot see the feedback box, select the chevron (<) icon on the right of the screen to make this pop out.

    • Navigate between submissions by selecting the student’s name or the Next Student / Previous Student buttons. 

      Blackboard Assignment review submission page - see accompanying text for feature descriptions

  6.  When you are finished viewing the submission(s), select the X button at the top-left corner of the page

  7. You will be taken back to the Submissions page.

Turnitin

Turnitin assignments are usually used when students need to submit a longer piece of written work, such as dissertations or essays. 

To view a submission to a Turnitin assignment:

  1. Scroll down the Course Content page and open the Assessment & Feedback Learning Module.

    You can also use the search tool (magnifying glass icon) on the Course Content page to find it if you know the name of the assessment you are looking for.

  2. Select the relevant Assessment folder and then select the Turnitin assignment.

    Assessment & Feedback learning module expanded displaying a Turnitin assignment

  3. The Assignment Inbox will show all submissions to this assignment.

  4. Select the Title for the student you wish to view.

    Turnitin Assignment Inbox with Title column highlighted

  5. The Feedback Studio will open the student’s work in a new window.

You can select the Feedback Summary button (pencil in box icon) to open up overall feedback left by the markers, and the overall mark will display at the top of the screen (usually out of 100).

Any extra comments left inline will display as speech bubble icons on the work. The Match Overview button will display the percentage of text in the paper that matches other sources.

You can use the < and > buttons at the top of the Feedback Studio to cycle through other submissions to the assignment.
 
PebblePad

PebblePad is used when students need to submit a portfolio of work, such as reflective clinical practice.

To view a submission to a PebblePad workspace:

  1. Visit the PebblePad login page.

  2. Select I have a guest account for PebblePad.

  3. Enter your login details.

    PebblePad login screen with "I have a guest account for PebblePad" option selected

  4. Select the workspace you need from the list of Workspaces you have access to.

  5. Select Submissions in the top menu.

  6. Select the name of a student’s submission to view this.

You can type a keyword or name in the filter the submissions box to go straight to a particular submission with a certain name, or a particular student’s work. 

If Sets (groups) have been allocated, you can select the Filter sets dropdown menu to view the sets you have been added to.
 
Crowdmark

Crowdmark is used for assessments where students need to submit handwritten work for marking online. Some Crowdmark assessments may also include multiple choice or typed free text questions.

To view a submission to a Crowdmark assessment:

  1. Scroll down the Course Content page and open the Assessment & Feedback learning module. 

    You can also use the search tool (magnifying glass icon) on the Course Content page to find it if you know the name of the assessment you are looking for.

  2. Select the relevant Assessment folder and then select the Crowdmark assessment.

    Blackboard Ultra course displaying the Assessment & Feedback learning module expanded and a Crowdmark assignment

  3. Crowdmark will open in a new tab/window.

  4. Select the Students tab.

    Crowdmark interface with Students tab highlighted.

  5. Select Submission next to the student you wish to view, or use the Search for a student bar to find a particular submission.

If you wish to only view students’ answers to a particular question, when Crowdmark first launches instead select the Overview grid button. This will show a grid of all submitted students against all questions. Selecting the grade given for a particular answer will take you directly to that question.

If you cannot open the Crowdmark assessment, contact the school you are working with.

Accessing a sample of student work

You may only need to view a small sample of students’ work for an assessment. In these cases, your school may have set up a Filter within the Blackboard course’s Gradebook tab, which provides staff with a filtered view of grades and submissions for an online assessment.

For example, your school may set up a filter so that you only see the specific piece of assessment or group of students you need to view.

  1. Log in to Blackboard. Visit our instructions on accessing Blackboard above.

  2. A web address, also known as a URL, will have been shared with you. Copy and paste this URL into your web browser’s address bar. The filtered view showing a sample of the student’s work will appear.

  3. If you have further samples to view, simply copy the next URL which has been shared with you and paste it into the browser’s address bar.

    Blackboard course open in web browser. URL is highlighted in browser's address bar, and the Gradebook is displayed with filters applied.

Further support for external examiners

Schools provide materials and information to their external examiners in different ways. Your school may have built a hidden folder on the module’s Blackboard course containing this information.

If you need support with finding specific content on Blackboard, student work, or other parts of the external examiner process, contact your school. Schools vary by how they organise student work, eg students given extensions may have separate assignment submission points set up or they may have extra text added to submission titles.

If you see error messages or need further support using Blackboard, you can contact the Digital Learning Helpdesk using your University email account: digital.learning@sheffield.ac.uk

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