Introduction

Your Blackboard Ultra module comes with the option to create Achievements – a way of recognising and celebrating student accomplishments within the module. These are shown as digital “badges” within the module, and provide benefits to both staff and students.

Why use achievements?

Achievements provide insights for the academic, as well as providing inspiration and motivation for students.

When the tutor looks at the Achievements panel, it is possible to see which students have obtained each badge. This can give you a measure of student engagement.

When students access the Achievements panel, they will see a list of all available badges – those they have already earned, and those they have yet to earn. For each earned badge, they can see when they earned it. For badges not yet earned, they can check what are the requirements to earn it, thus encouraging them to engage with the module content.

The Basics

An Achievement can be awarded to anything that is graded in your module. By default this includes: Assignments, Tests, and Turnitin Assignments. Discussion Boards, Journals and Forms aren’t assessed unless specified otherwise. So, in order to award an achievement to those elements, you need to turn on the “marking” facility of each. At time of writing, “Knowledge Checks” (found within Documents) are not included in Achievements.

Achievements are awarded as digital badges. When creating Achievements, they are labelled as Badges.

Creating an Achievement is a 4 stage process:

1. Start by giving the Achievement a name and description
2. Choose one of the pre-set Achievement images
3. Select one (or more) gradable items
4. Determine the grade required to meet the achievement target

The Workflow

1. Log into Blackboard Ultra and open the module in question
2. From the menu, click Achievements
3. Click New Course Badge in the top right hand corner
4. Give your Achievement a name
5. In the Description box, give a brief description of what this badge is for. Students will see this description when they click on the badge.
6. Pick a suitable icon
7. Determine the Earning Requirement by picking a markable item and then choosing the mark requirement needed.
8. If required, you can add more than one requirement, allowing you to develop more complex badge requirements. Click Add Performance Criteria to add more requirements. You can delete any requirement by clicking the trash icon next to it
9. When finished, click Publish.

Some Points To Note

You cannot edit an Achievement once it’s been published. If you are unsure as to the requirements, click Save Draft and check with the Digital Learning Team or colleagues. Only click Publish when you are totally confident it is correct.

Achievements are not awarded retrospectively.

Worked example: Your module has a test. The student attempts the test and gets a score of 50. You then create the Achievement, with the criteria being based on this test and the student getting a score of 40. Even though the student scored higher than the criteria, the achievement was created after the attempt and as such the student won’t be awarded the achievement. If the student retakes the test, and gets 50 again, they still won’t get the badge due to the first attempt made.

If you create an Achievement for an item that has multiple attempts, as long as you create the achievement before any student has attempted the item, this will function fine.

Worked example: Your module has a test with multiple attempts, and so far no student has attempted it. You create an Achievement that requires them to score 50 or more to get the badge. A student attempts it, scores 40 and so doesn’t get the badge. They have another go and this time score 60. They will then be awarded their badge.