Blackboard Ultra: Accommodations and Exceptions

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Purpose of this article

This guide demonstrates how to use student accommodations and exceptions in the Blackboard Ultra.  You can set accommodations for individual students or groups of students. You can also exempt students from assessment due dates or time limits.

*Note Blackboard Ultra Accommodations and Exceptions exist to support students’ learning and enable them to progress in their courses.
What are accommodations and Exceptions and when should they be used?

Accommodations allow students to have individual assessment due dates or time limits for all their assessments and are configured at the Gradebook level so apply to all assessments within a module.

Exceptions allow adjustment to the number of submissions a student may make or the time a student can access a submission.  Exceptions are applied per assessment. An exception overrides some of the settings applied to everyone else for only that specific assessment.

In summary, there are two primary ways for adding extra time for students, depending on whether you’re using a timer.

  1. Assessments that make use of a timer: If your test or assignment uses a timer, you can add accommodations for the student.
  2. Assessments without a timer: For assignments and tests without a timer, you can use exceptions to release the assignment early for students who require extra time.
*Note that you can’t adjust the due date, so you’ll need to release the assignment early rather than push the due date back.

Setting up Accommodations

To add accommodations for a student in your module, go into the course register for your module.

Image showing how to access the area of BBU (Class Register) to add accommodations.

Locate the student, click on the three dots next to their name and select the Accommodations menu option.

Image showing how to add accommodations to a specific student from a class register.

Choose the accommodations to grant to the student (Due date or Time limit) and click Save when complete.

*Note Please note that this will only impact Blackboard items, not Turnitin or other tools.

Image showing how to add Time Limit accommodations to a student account in BBU.

*Note If you do not add a value to the custom percentage input box for the Date or Time value, you will be unable to Save the accommodation change.

An accommodation notification and link to more details regarding the accommodation settings will be added to the Class Register. A purple flag will also be added next to their name.

  Image showing how to review and access accommodations in BBU.

Viewing students with accommodations in a module

When accommodations are applied this then allows module leaders of the Blackboard Ultra module the additional view filter option of Students with accommodations when in grid view.

Image showing how to review and access accommodations in BBU.

When entering any assessment within this module an accommodation link will have been added under the Test Settings that will link to the specific student/s that have an associated accommodation.

Image showing how to review and access accommodations in BBU.

Clicking on the student hyperlink will open a list of students and details of their accommodation.

Image showing how to access the area of BBU (Assignment student submissions) to add exceptions.

Using accommodations with groups

Students with accommodations that are in a group, all students in that group inherit the accommodation for that item.

For example, if you create a group assignment, and one group member has a due date accommodation, then that amended deadline will apply to all members of the group.

Setting up Exceptions

To add an exception to your Blackboard test or assignment, open the test/assignment and enter the student submission area.

Image showing how to access the area of BBU (Assignment student submissions) to add exceptions.

Find the student you wish to add an exception and click on the three dots in the right column for that student and click on Add or edit exceptions.

Image showing how to add exceptions. to a specific student account in BBU.

Choose the exceptions to grant to the student (Due date or Time limit) and click Save when complete.

*Note Please note that this will only impact Blackboard items, not Turnitin or other tools.

You can adjust the visibility settings for that assignment and the number of submissions the student is allowed. Click Save.

Image showing how to configure one-off exceptions to a student account in BBU.

*Note: Exceptions can’t change the due date, the dates that you can adjust only change the visibility date/time for the item for the chosen student.

Once you have clicked Save and the exception has been stored, the newly applied exception will be highlighted in the class list view by a timer icon next to the username.  The icon appears in the Gradebook and class list.

Image showing new icon that is added to a student listed in the assignment submission list to identify that they have exceptions applied to their submission.

 

 

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