Customising the Retention Centre

You can customise the default rule in the At risk table and create as many extra rules as you want. It is also possible to create rules that are not displayed in the At risk table (they are available from the right hand panel). Rules can be created for four different category types:

• Course Activity
• Grade
• Course Access
• Missed Deadline

It is also possible to delete a default rule if you do not want to monitor that category (below).

View rules

1. Click on the Customise button.

Delete a default rule

1. Hover over the rule name and click on the arrow button.
2. Select Delete from the drop down list.

3. Click on the OK button.
4. The deleted default rule will be displayed as shown below:

Course Activity rule

This alert is based on students’ overall activity within your course. Students who are below a defined level of activity trigger the alert. Blackboard uses data generated from “clicks” to determine a student’s activity level.

Note: Student may trigger this rule based on how they use your course. i.e. students who download material to read off line will have less course activity than those who read material online.

Example: Change Default Activity rule

Scenario: Due to your course having a fortnightly timetable and students mainly using your site to download resources the default Activity rule is triggering too many alerts. You decide to change the rule to: Criteria: 50% below course average in the last 2 weeks.

1. Click on the Customise button.
2. Hover over the rule name and click on the arrow button.
3. Select Edit from the drop down list.
4. Change the Rule Criteria as required:

5. Click on the Submit rule.

Example: Additional Activity rule

Scenario: You would like information on which students are the most engaged with your course site this semester. This rule would be excluded from the At Risk Table as you do not want these students displayed with students with a low activity level. Criteria: 70% above course average in the last 14 weeks.

1. Click on the Customise button.
2. Click on the Create Rule button.
3. Select Course Activity Rule from the drop down list.
4. Enter a title for the rule in the Rule Name textbox.
5. Select the No radio button, from Include in Risk Table.

6. Change the Rule Criteria as required:

7. Click on the Submit rule.

Viewing rule results

1. The rule is displayed in the right hand panel of the Retention Centre.
2. Click on the link to display students who meet this rule.

Grade rule

This rule is based on a defined score for any assessment or calculated column in Grade Centre. Rules can be based on:

Set Grade Value: Set the alert based a grade or percentage.

Average Grades: Set the alert based on percentage above or below the average grade.

Example: Change default Grade rule

Scenario: You would like information on all students who fail any of the first 3 tutorials in the At risk table.

Note: You will need to create three separate rules and select to have them all displayed in the At risk table. Criteria: Monitor Tutorial 1 with grades below 50%.

1. Click on the Customise button.
2. Hover over the rule name and click on the arrow button.
3. Select Edit from the drop down list.
4. Select the Monitor Specific Item radio button, from Select Grade.
5. Select the required assessment from the Select Column drop down list.
6. Select the Set Grade Value radio button, from Define Grade.
7. Change the criteria as required.

8. Click on the Submit rule.

Additional rules

Create additional rules for the other two tutorials:

1. Click on the Create Rule button.
2. Select Course Activity Rule from the drop down list.
3. Select the Yes radio button, from Include in Risk Table.
4. Repeat the Rule Criteria steps above.
5. Repeat all the above steps to create the third rule.

Example: Additional Grade rule

Scenario: You would like information on who are the high achieving students in the course.

Criteria: Monitor Final mark with grades above 90%.

1. Click on the Customise button.
2. Click on the Create Rule button.
3. Select Course Activity Rule from the drop down list.
4. Enter a title for the rule in the Rule Name textbox.
5. Select the No radio button, from Include in Risk Table.

6. Select the Monitor Specific Item radio button, from Select Grade.
7. Select the required assessment from the Select Column drop down list.
8. Select the Set Grade Value radio button, from Define Grade.
9. Change the criteria as required.

10. Click on the Submit rule.

Viewing rule results

1. The rule is displayed in the right hand panel of the Retention Centre.
2. Click on the link to display students who meet this rule.

Course Access rule

This alert is based on the date the student last accessed your course.

Example: Change default Access rule

Scenario: Due to your course having a fortnightly timetable the default Access rule of <5 days is triggers too many alerts. You decide to change the rule to: Criteria: Last accessed greater than 5 days ago.

1. Click on the Customise button.
2. Hover over the rule name and click on the arrow button.
3. Select Edit from the drop down list.
4. Change the Rule Criteria as required:

5. Click on the Submit rule.

Missed Deadline rule

This alert is based on a defined due date for an assignment. Rules can be based on:

Monitor all course deadlines: Determine how many deadlines must be missed and by how many days before triggering an alert.

Monitor Specific Deadlines: Select a specific assessment task and by how many days the deadline is missed by to trigger an alert.

Note: TurnItIn assignments will need to have the date entered in Grade Centre to be included. Manually create columns in Grade Centre with due dates can create false alerts. (refer the At risk table guide for information on workarounds for these problems).

Example: Change default Access rule

Scenario: You would like information on all students who submit any tutorial (10 for the semester) more than three days late.

Note: You will need to create separate rules for each tutorial and select to have them all displayed in the At risk table. Criteria: Monitor Tutorial with deadline missed by more than 3 days.

1. Click on the Customise button.
2. Hover over the rule name and click on the arrow button.
3. Select Edit from the drop down list.
4. Select the Monitor Specific Deadline radio button, from Define Criteria.
5. Change the criteria as required.

6. Click on the Submit rule.

Additional rules

Create additional rules for the other nine tutorials:

1. Click on the Create Rule button.
2. Select Course Activity Rule from the drop down list.
3. Select the Yes radio button, from Include in Risk Table.
4. Repeat the Rule Criteria steps above.
5. Repeat all the above steps to create the other rules.

Example: Additional Missed Deadline rule

Scenario: You need information on who has  missed the first major assessment task deadline.

Criteria: Essay deadline missed by more than 0 days.

1. Click on the Create Rule button.
2. Select Course Activity Rule from the drop down list.
3. Enter a title for the rule in the Rule Name textbox.
4. Select the No radio button, from Include in Risk Table.

5. Select the Monitor Specific Deadline radio button, from Define Criteria.
6. Select the required assessment from the Select Column drop down list.
7. Enter 0 in the days textbox.
8. Change the criteria as required.

9. Click on the Submit rule.

Viewing rule results

1. The rule is displayed in the right hand panel of the Retention Centre.
2. Click on the link to display students who meet this rule.