Tag Archives: grading

Exciting updates to Microsoft Class Team Assignments in 2023

The new updates to Microsoft Class Teams Assignments in 2023 have really impressed us, so today we’re going through some of the top changes we know are enhancing both the teacher and student experience.

Joe runs through each feature in this video guide:

New assignment creation layout

The new layout of Create Assignment places a stronger emphasis on instructions and gives more space for teachers to provide clear assignment guidelines for students.

Microsoft has made it even easier to attach resources, which are clearly visible under the instructions box.

Meanwhile, the assignment details are neatly organised into dropdown menus on the right side of the screen, eliminating the need for constant scrolling.

Quick assign to classes

Microsoft has also added the ability to assign tasks to multiple classes simultaneously.

Simply tap the dropdown menu and select the classes you want to assign this assignment to. You can also search specific class names in the search bar.

Attach to Classwork

A new Select a module option has been added to Assignments. This integrates with the brand new Classwork feature in Class Teams.

We have released a full guide on Classwork if you want to find out more.

To select a module for your assignment, tap the Select a module dropdown and select the module(s) you wish to associate this assignment with.

Student preview

At the bottom of Assignments, you can now switch to Student View. This allows teachers to preview how your class will see the assignment when they open it.

It’s a handy way to check everything is in order and nothing is missing.

Schedule shortcut

The Assign button has also had an update and now includes a shortcut.

Tap the arrow to schedule the Assignment for a later date and time.

While the ability to schedule an assignment for the future was already available in Class Teams, it was a bit hidden. So, this new update makes it a lot easier and quicker for teachers to set and schedule assignments.

New tabs layout in Assignments

The layout of Assignments in Teams has been improved with the addition of tabs across the top of the page, which allow you to quickly flick through forthcoming, ready-to-grade, past due, returned and draft assignments.

The Ready to Grade tab is a favourite of ours because if you find that you’ve got a little bit of marking time, you can jump in and see if there are any assignments ready to grade.

The status bar shows you how many pieces of work are ready to grade within that assignment.

Return graded assignments to multiple students

A very small-yet-powerful enhancement to the grading area is the Return to multiple feature.

We can now toggle select students and perform actions for multiple students at once.

Alternatively, if you like to grade everyone’s work before returning it all at the same time, you can check the box at the top of the student list to select all students and then tap Return.

Mark assignments as inactive

Another addition to Microsoft Teams Assignments that has been highly requested by teachers is the option to Mark as inactive.

Tap the three dots (…) in the corner of the selected assignment page and select Mark as inactive.

This allows you to remove assignments from the Due area and it can help clear up the Assignment space for you and your students.

Instead, it’s placed in the Returned tab and can no longer be accessed by students, but we can reactivate it at a later date.

Quick Actions

A further great update is Quick Actions, which you can find by tapping the three dots (…) next to any assignment on the main Assignment page.

From here, you can Edit, Copy Link, Duplicate, Mark as inactive or Delete the assignment.

Grade Weighting

You can now create Weighted grading categories.

You need to switch Weighted grading categories on in Assignment settings.

Weighted grading categories provide your students with an overall percentage grade based on the different weightings and different assignments that you can set.

For example, you can set up homework as making up 20% of a student’s grade, quizzes as 30% and in-class assignments at 50%.

Show average grade

Also, in Assignment Settings, you can allow students to view their average grades and trend over time.

Go to the cog icon to open Assignment settings, scroll to Grade settings and toggle on Average Grade.

Bookmark grade filters

Filters can be used in Grades to narrow down your search to a select time period. For example, Today, This Week, Previous Week etc.

You can bookmark those filters so you can quickly get back to that view the next time you’re in Grades.

Tip: You can also choose to Hide inactive assignments now that you can mark assignments as inactive.

Found this helpful? Share this guide with your colleagues.

How To Create a Group Assignment in Class Teams

Teams has introduced a new group assignments feature, allowing students to work together and submit one assignment for the whole group. Teachers can then provide feedback and grades to either each individual student within that group or give out an overall grade for the group.

Below is a walk-through of how you can:

Create a group assignment.
Manually and randomly assign groups for assignments.
Complete a group assignment (as a student).
Grade a group assignment.

Create a group assignment.

In Assignments, select Create and then Assignment.

As with any new assignment in Teams, you can enter a title, instructions, attach any documents the students require, add points and rubrics and set due dates.

To assign the assignment to a group, go to the Assign to section and this will be currently set to the default All students. Select Group of students from the drop-down menu.

You have two options – to manually or randomly assign groups for your assignment.

Manually assign groups for assignments.

Select Manually group students from the pop-up window and then click Create groups.

This allows you to filter and manually add specific students to a group.

You can also add a group name for this group of students.

Once you’re happy with your first group, click Create.

You can then choose to add another manual group or randomly assign other groups.

Tip: There is a countdown of how many students are left to be assigned to a group at the top of the group list.

Randomly assign groups for assignments.

Select Randomly assign groups from the pop-up window.

Enter the number of groups you need and select Create groups.

You can then go in and add/remove students from groups and change the group names if necessary.

Editing and deleting assignment groups in Teams.

If you haven’t already set the assignment, you can edit and delete groups by selecting the pencil icon next to the group you wish to edit.

From here, you can add or remove members and change the group name. You can also delete the group.

Want to start over? You can recreate groups by selecting Recreate groups at the bottom of your list of groups.

Assigning a group assignment in Teams.

Once you’re happy with your groups, click Done to head back to the main Assignments page and select Assign.

Note: Currently, there is no option to edit groups after an assignment is set. You would need to delete the assignment and reassign all the groups.

Completing and submitting a group assignment as a student.

The group project is visible in the students’ general channel – they should receive a notification.

Also, if the student clicks on Assignments, they are able to view the group assessment, see who else is in their group, and open/co-author the document with their classmates.

Once the group work is complete, one of them can turn in the work on behalf of the whole group by selecting Turn in for group.

Note: If they have forgotten to add something, students can undo the turn in and add further information, attachments and work.

Reviewing a group assessment.

Teachers can see which groups have handed in the assignment by viewing the assignment in the Assignments tab in Teams.

You can choose to give the group an overall grade or grade students individually by selecting the three dots next to the selected group.

From here, you can add feedback and give points as you would any other assignment.

Click Return to return the work back to students for them to view your feedback or make amends.

Head to the Grades tab to look at a class overview of who has handed in their group assignments.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help your organisation achieve more with Microsoft, please contact a member of our team today.

Getting Started with Rubrics in Microsoft Teams Assignments

Rubrics are a powerful tool used to assess students’ work. The criterion helps students to have a concrete understanding and visualisation of what they need to do to achieve a particular score. Each criterion also includes a gradation scale of quality.

Microsoft Teams for education includes rubric based grading. They can be created and reused across Teams making it a powerful time saving tool for teachers while at the same time helping students understand how to succeed in the assignment.

When setting assignments there is a “Add Rubric” option on the “New assignment” form.

On the choose a rubric form, you can search for a rubric that has already been created or create a brand new one. In this post I go through how to create a new one by selecting the “new rubric” option.

Give the new rubric a name and turn on “points” so that we can assign scores to each piece of criteria.

Enter your criteria, you can add more lines by pressing the plus button. You can also adjust the grading balance for each element. Teams will turn the points into an overall percentage when marking based on the balance given to each criterion.

When you have finished creating your rubric, set the assignment for the students.

When the students have completed the assignment, go to review the work and open the student’s homework. In addition to the comment and grade, you can now select the rubric.

This will show the criteria and you can select which has been met. The student work will be automatically marked based on the grade balance set in the rubric.

This is what the student will see when you have graded their work with the rubric.

It’s another fantastic update to Microsoft Teams for education. There is still more to come this summer including Microsoft Forms integration with self-marking quizzes. We will bring you news and guides on how to use that as soon as it is released!