Tip #36: Discussion Post Ratings

Tip: You can enable discussion post rating on your course Discussion Boards.

What is discussion post rating?
Discussion ratings allow students and instructors to rate discussion posts on a scale of 1 to 5. Ratings appear as stars in the upper right hand corner of each discussion post.

NOTE: Users are able to see only the overall rating for a discussion post. This means that students and instructors cannot see who rated which posts or how many users rated the posts.

Here’s how to do it:
Navigate to your course Discussion Boards and click the Modify button for a discussion forum. Under Forum settings, select Allow members to rate posts. Click Submit. Users will have a drop down menu in the upper right hand corner of the post enabling them to rate discussion posts on a 5-star scale.

Tips for discussion post rating:
The post rating tool is not a grading tool. The rating tool can be used to motivate students to read each other’s posts and to improve the quality of their own discussion posts. It is recommended that you provide a rating rubric for students. This will help students to apply appropriate lenses when reading other student’s posts and it will help students to know the standards by which their posts will be graded.