Guide overview
- External examiner account creation to enable access to HYMS (Hull York Medical School) Blackboard
- Log in to HYMS Blackboard
- Navigation of HYMS Blackboard grade centre
- Navigation of the HYMS Blackboard grading page (student submitted content and marker grading and feedback).
- Further guidance on assessment carried out on HYMS Blackboard
External examiner account creation to enable access to HYMS Blackboard
The Hull York Medical School Assessments team manage external examiner access to HYMS Blackboard. They will arrange for you to have access for the time frame required. Please note, you do not require a HYMS staff account. You will be given temporary log in details for Blackboard only. These details will be communicated to you by the Assessments team (a username in the format hyextex** and password). The Assessments team can be contacted at the following email address; exams@hyms.ac.uk.
Log in to HYMS Blackboard
HYMS Blackboard is the school’s centrally supported virtual learning environment (VLE). Blackboard is used by staff to deliver online learning resources and is the main technology used by students to support their studies. It is used as a primary method of communication, for formative and summative assessments and to facilitate collaborative online learning activities.
Blackboard can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. We recommend using either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers on a Windows or Mac computer. Please do not attempt to use Internet Explorer. This browser is not supported by Blackboard and you may encounter issues in accessing content correctly.
- Please navigate to http://hymsvle.york.ac.uk
- Enter your external examiner temporary log in details (a username in the format hyextex** and password) and click on the login button.
- You will then see the homepage and can select the relevant module or organisation.
The way content is presented and the access level you have is similar to that of a staff member. You will see listed any Hull York Medical School modules or organisations (organisations may be labelled as communities) that you have been given access to by the Assessments team. Access is specific to individual external examiner requirements. *Please note, it is rare for any assessment content to be included in an organisation area. You will most likely be accessing module areas, as highlighted in the screenshot above.
Navigation of HYMS Blackboard grade centre
- Click on the relevant module or organisation from the homepage.
- On the left-hand navigation panel, click on grade centre, under course management.
- You will now need to click on full grade centre.
- The next page will present a table with the first column listing all student names alphabetically. Subsequent columns represent assessments and individual student submissions for this particular Blackboard module.
- To view grading and feedback for a particular assessment and particular student, locate the student by name and then find the relevant submission in the corresponding assessment column.
- Scroll down the list of students by selecting the scroll bar to the right of the table, until you locate the correct student.
- Now scroll across the horizontal list of assessment columns by selecting the scroll bar at the bottom of the table, until you locate the correct assessment column for the student’s submission.
- Hover over the inputted grading and click on the grey chevron that appears.
- From the drop-down menu select the latest attempt (the latest version of the submission uploaded by the student and the version of the attempt that should be graded).*This may have a numerical or descriptive grade against it. The Assessments team can confirm the type of inputted grading to expect. * Please note, in rare cases it may not be the latest attempt that has been marked due to issues such as students accidentally submitting additional later attempts that have been disregarded. Please refer to the Assessments team if you are unsure of which attempt to look at.
- Upon selecting the latest attempt, the next page will now present the marker view of the grading page.
Navigation of the HYMS Blackboard grading page (student submitted content and marker grading and feedback)
Please be aware that your access level means that you have editing rights. Please be mindful of this and do not choose to click on save / submit at any point when viewing content.
Student submitted content; assignment submission
- Student submitted content displays in the centre of the grading page.
- In the event of a technical issue viewing content correctly, on the right side of the page you can see hyperlinks to the student’s downloadable assignment document(s).
Please click on the below image to enlarge this zoomed out view of content;
Please also see the below zoomed in view of content;
We strongly advise to not download content. If you encounter an issue viewing content, please first try from a different browser and ensure you are not using Internet Explorer. If you need to download content, please ensure you remove any downloaded content from your device.
Markers are generally instructed to grade the latest version of a submission. Please double check you are viewing the latest attempt of submission. This will be indicated at the top of the page and also in the pink attempt box to the right of the screen. If it is not the latest attempt, you can click on the downward arrow in the pink attempt box and choose to view the latest attempt from the drop down options that will appear (such as attempt 2 of 2).
Marker grading and feedback; assignment submission
- The marker may grade the assignment by entering a numeric value into the pink attempt box, to the right of the screen. The black attempt box will automatically populate with the latest scoring entered in from the pink attempt box.
The black attempt box is also used by the Assessments team to manually modify grades (such as for late submission penalties). Manually entering a value here flags grades up as overridden.
A small orange marker will also appear next to the grade in the grade centre view.
Please refer to the Assessments team to check if a grade is overidden and for the reasoning.
- The marker may provide overall feedback. Click on the downward facing arrow just below the pink attempt box, to the right of the page. *This may be referred to in guidance from the Assessments team as the ‘blue bar’.
Please click on the below image to enlarge this zoomed out view of content;
Please also see the below zoomed in view of content;
- You will now see the feedback to learner box and any text content that has been entered.
The marker may additionally upload a document with feedback. This will appear as a downloadable link in the feedback box. Please ensure you remove any downloaded content from your device. -
The marker may grade and provide feedback by using a rubric. Click again on the downward facing arrow just below the pink attempt box, to the right of the page (the ‘blue bar’).
Above the feedback to learner box, you will see a link to any rubric grading and feedback. Click on this link. 
Grading and feedback content will appear below the link. 
Further click on the white box to the right of the rubric link to see a full pop out of any content that will not display otherwise (such as written feedback for each section of the rubric).
A grading rubric may allow markers to give a grade and written feedback for each of the assessment criteria. Each criteria may contribute to the overall percentage of the assessment mark. The weighting may differ for each criteria. A calculated raw score can also be modified by entering a new grade in the raw score box or in the pink attempt box.
Once you have finished viewing content, you can navigate to another submission by clicking on the submission scroll option above the display of the submission document.
Alternatively you can click on the exit button to the right of the screen. This will take you back to the grade centre.
Please click on the below image to enlarge this zoomed out view of content;
This view of student submitted content and grading / feedback is similar to the student’s own view of their content and eventual grading and feedback.
Student submitted content and marker grading / feedback; group wiki
The guidance above regarding a standard assignment submission is also applicable to group wikis. Content is also accessed via the grade centre and marked via the grading page. Please however note the below deviations from the above workflow.
Access a group wiki submission from the grade centre
Hover over the inputted grading and click on the grey chevron that appears. - From the drop-down menu select mark user activity.
- The next page will now present the marker view of the grading page.
View the wiki
- From the grading page, locate the breadcrumb trail at the top that indicates your current location. Expand the three dots.
Please click on the first image below to enlarge this zoomed out view of content, then also see the second image of a zoomed in view of content.
2.Now choose to view the group wiki by selecting group wiki. 
View grading and feedback 
- From the grading page, select individual students or all to see grading / feedback and summary information regarding participation and versions of wiki content.
Further guidance on assessment carried out on HYMS Blackboard
Example grading workflows on HYMS Blackboard
Please note that this is an example list of possible grading workflows. Please refer to the Assessments team for specific guidance on a particular assessment. Such example workflows may be used individually or in a combination. Such example workflows also may not reflect all steps of a workflow (such as a rubric may not be used in Blackboard, but may be used outside of Blackboard by the marker)
- Marking schema out of 4; 1 = Fail or Serious Fail., 2=Borderline fail or Fail, 3=Pass, 4=Excellent. Such grading would display in the pink attempt box as a numerical grade, and from the grade centre table as the descriptive equivalent.
- Grading out of 100 points that would display in the pink attempt box.
- No grading / grading of 0 that would display in the pink attempt box. This may occur if grading is not necessary or has been provided via a rubric or general feedback box.
- A rubric that when used calculates grading and populates the pink attempt box (the grade can however still be manually altered). This most commonly may be out of 100 points, with weighted criteria in the rubric that equals 100%.
- A rubric for guidance in grading but without calculated marking criteria attached.
- No rubric to calculate / guide grading or provide additional feedback.
- No schema to provide a descriptive equivalent to a numerical grade.
Moderation and second marking is generally recorded outside of Blackboard.