Send Reminder: include In Progress attempts

Idea created by at38029 on Jun 10, 2019

Comment • 11

Under review

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Grade Centre > Send Reminder

When sending a non-submission reminder to students who have not yet submitted to a particular assignment, the email is only sent to students who have not made an attempt at all. A reminder is NOT sent to students whose attempt is still In Progress i.e. they have pressed Save, but not Submit.

With Blackboard Assignments, it's not possible for the instructor to see In Progress attempts, and if the student does not press Submit before the deadline, then they are deemed not to have submitted on time.

Moreover, when non-submission reminders are sent out, these 'In Progress' students don't get one. Consequently they might not realise that they haven't successfully submitted, so take no further action, and are then deemed not to have submitted at all.

If they received a reminder they would at least have the opportunity to submit late, and have their work marked, albeit with a penalty applied.

If others agree, could the logic for these reminders be changed, so that they are sent to everyone who has not successfully Submitted an Attempt?

Product Version (if applicable):

srleone Jun 10, 2019 10:05 AM

I just discovered the Send Reminder feature last week and was thrilled - until realizing In Progress attempts were not included. That made it nearly worthless. Yes, please change the code!

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chrisboon Jun 10, 2019 10:18 AM

Yes please! Andy Turner's description of the required functionality above is perfect - if a student hasn't submitted their work, they should receive the reminder; saving something as a draft isn't a submission, so these students should definitely receive the reminder.

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fage Jun 10, 2019 9:27 PM

Yes, I agree including In Progress attempts is required here.

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at38029 Jun 11, 2019 8:36 AM

Thanks to Melanie Barrand for pointing out that this is in fact a Known Issue:

Student with Assignment Draft does not Receive Reminder Emails

Known Issue — Dec 04, 2017

Article #: 000047821

—If a Student has not submitted an Assignment, but does have a draft saved, they will not receive any Reminder emails sent by the Instructor.

It would be nice to see Blackboard set a target date to fix it though - currently just "Future Reference".

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mbarrand @ at38029 on Jun 11, 2019 8:47 AM

I noticed this known issue when upgrading to 2018 Q2 last year. We'd like to promote the reminder feature more internally but it really needs to include the students who have only saved a draft (which they often do in error). Thanks for highlighting it here Andy.

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rh22333 @ at38029 on Jun 11, 2019 4:04 PM

Or allow the faculty member to "submit" the assignment that is in Draft status.

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chrisboon @ rh22333 on Jun 12, 2019 3:44 AM

If you use LogIn As or Impersonate, an administrator could log in as the student (with their permission) and submit the assignment. We've done that before for students who didn't realise they'd saved a draft.

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rh22333 @ chrisboon on Jun 13, 2019 12:55 PM

Thanks for the idea. We do not have LogIn As or Impersonate yet. We also work with 40,000 students in multiple courses so we want the students and staff to be as self-sufficient as possible since there are not that many of us in the central IT office supporting our system.

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kevin.blobaum Jun 11, 2019 9:19 AM

That might be ok for assignments but you would want to be careful not to include in progress tests in these reminders. Often our instructors will use this option with one or two days left for an assessment and there will be students that are currently working on times tests/quizzes as the reminder goes out. It does not take sense to include these students in the reminder.

On a side note: I wouldn't mind instructors being able to be able to click on an edit mode to modify the wording of the message that is sent.

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skajpust @ kevin.blobaum on Jun 13, 2019 6:57 PM

Maybe there could be 2 options? I send reminders after it's due and would like to include the in-progress in those.

Actions

skajpust Jun 13, 2019 6:56 PM

I really wish they would include in-progress! It makes absolute no sense not to! I have to email each of these students individually and it's really annoying.

Actions

11 Comments

srleone Jun 10, 2019 10:05 AM
I just discovered the Send Reminder feature last week and was thrilled - until realizing In Progress attempts were not included. That made it nearly worthless. Yes, please change the code!
Like • Show 2 Likes2
Actions
chrisboon Jun 10, 2019 10:18 AM
Yes please! Andy Turner's description of the required functionality above is perfect - if a student hasn't submitted their work, they should receive the reminder; saving something as a draft isn't a submission, so these students should definitely receive the reminder.
Like • Show 2 Likes2
Actions
fage Jun 10, 2019 9:27 PM
Yes, I agree including In Progress attempts is required here.
Like • Show 1 Like1
Actions
at38029 Jun 11, 2019 8:36 AM
Thanks to Melanie Barrand for pointing out that this is in fact a Known Issue:

Student with Assignment Draft does not Receive Reminder Emails
Known Issue — Dec 04, 2017
Article #: 000047821
—If a Student has not submitted an Assignment, but does have a draft saved, they will not receive any Reminder emails sent by the Instructor.

It would be nice to see Blackboard set a target date to fix it though - currently just "Future Reference".
Like • Show 4 Likes4
Actions
- mbarrand @ at38029 on Jun 11, 2019 8:47 AM
  I noticed this known issue when upgrading to 2018 Q2 last year. We'd like to promote the reminder feature more internally but it really needs to include the students who have only saved a draft (which they often do in error). Thanks for highlighting it here Andy.
  Like • Show 4 Likes4
  Actions
- rh22333 @ at38029 on Jun 11, 2019 4:04 PM
  Or allow the faculty member to "submit" the assignment that is in Draft status.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - chrisboon @ rh22333 on Jun 12, 2019 3:44 AM
    If you use LogIn As or Impersonate, an administrator could log in as the student (with their permission) and submit the assignment. We've done that before for students who didn't realise they'd saved a draft.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
    - rh22333 @ chrisboon on Jun 13, 2019 12:55 PM
      Thanks for the idea. We do not have LogIn As or Impersonate yet. We also work with 40,000 students in multiple courses so we want the students and staff to be as self-sufficient as possible since there are not that many of us in the central IT office supporting our system.
      Like • Show 1 Like1
      Actions
kevin.blobaum Jun 11, 2019 9:19 AM
That might be ok for assignments but you would want to be careful not to include in progress tests in these reminders. Often our instructors will use this option with one or two days left for an assessment and there will be students that are currently working on times tests/quizzes as the reminder goes out. It does not take sense to include these students in the reminder.

On a side note: I wouldn't mind instructors being able to be able to click on an edit mode to modify the wording of the message that is sent.
Like • Show 2 Likes2
Actions
- skajpust @ kevin.blobaum on Jun 13, 2019 6:57 PM
  Maybe there could be 2 options? I send reminders after it's due and would like to include the in-progress in those.
  Like • Show 1 Like1
  Actions
skajpust Jun 13, 2019 6:56 PM
I really wish they would include in-progress! It makes absolute no sense not to! I have to email each of these students individually and it's really annoying.
Like • Show 1 Like1
Actions

Send Reminder: include In Progress attempts

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