Blackboard provides a multitude of reports and data analysis. One of the newest tools is Course Analytics. This Blackboard tool can help instructors to oversee student progress and provide support.
Instructors can access Course Analytics reports in Control Panel/Evaluation area of the course navigation menu.
Before we describe the reports, we need to address a few definitions of terms used in the reports:
- Items: Blackboard assessments, content, and tools (e.g. discussions, blogs, journals)
- Access count: number of times user logged in
- Interactions count: number of times tools were used (e.g. discussions, posts, etc.)
- Grade Center Score: the score posted in the External Grade column in the Grade Center. It is important to set up a current total or weighted grade and assign it as the External Grade. See step-by-step for details.
For more details on the reports’ terms, see the Blackboard documentation at:
There are four reports available:
- Course At-a-Glance: this report compares your course to the other courses in the program using the same instructional method (e. g. online, face/face). The categories considered are: items count, % of items accessed, and activity. Four graphs are plotted: access average, submissions average, interactions average, and minutes average. The bottom of the report displays data regarding each student enrolled. You can click on the student’s name for a detailed student report.
- Activity and Grade Scatter Plot: this is a graph comparing the grade center score from the External Grade column to the course access count.
- Activity Matrix: this graphic representation divides users in for categories based on activity levels (active vs inactive) and grade (high grade vs low grade). It is important to maintain an accurate total or weighted total grade set up as the External Grade.
- Core Submission Summary: Displays all the test and assignment submissions for each user. The bottom of the report displays data regarding each student enrolled. You can click on the student’s name for detailed student reports.
If you choose, you can make available the Student Analytics in your course. Each student will see data regarding their own activity compared to the average for the course. See step-by-step for details.