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Understanding Participation and Correctness Grading Options

The Team from Poll Everywhere
  • Updated

In this article:

    This guide provides a detailed overview of how to configure Participation and Correctness grading options when creating assignments in Poll Everywhere's Course Management. These settings directly affect how grades are calculated and synced with your Learning Management System (LMS).

    When Creating a New Assignment

    Instructors can configure grading settings after selecting activities to include in an assignment. You can choose either or both grading types:

    • Participation: Points for attempting activities

    • Correctness: Points for answering correctly

    Important: You must save grading settings before the Sync Grades button becomes available.

    Create Assignment.png

    Participation Settings

    Enable the Participation toggle to access these options:

    Setting Description
    Use a Percentage Participants earn a percentage score depending on how many questions they answered out of the total in the assignment.
    At least 1 of the questions in this assignment Award full credit if the student answers at least one activity. Ideal for low-bar participation credit.
    Participation points awarded Defines fixed points for participation. No partial credit. E.g., if set to 10, students get either 10 or 0.
    Points per activity answered Sets the value per answered activity. Can be combined with auto or manual max points.
    Auto-calculate total points available The total number of points is determined by the number of questions in the assignment, with 1 point awarded for each question answered.
    Set maximum points available Caps score regardless of the calculated total.
    Must be checked in when questions are submitted Only counts responses if students are marked present via Attendance Management.
    Ignore activities with zero responses Ignores polls with NO responses
     

    Correctness Settings

    Enable the Correctness toggle to access these options:

    Setting Description
    Use a Percentage Scores are capped at 100 points. The score reflects the percentage of activities answered correctly out of the total in the assignment.
      Defines the value awarded for each correct answer.
    Auto-calculate total points available Total points are based on the number of correct answers possible.
    Set maximum points available Manually sets the total possible score for the assignment.
    Must be checked in when questions are submitted Requires student to be checked in for their responses to count.
    Ignore activities with zero responses Skips grading on polls that received no responses.
     

    Using Both Participation and Correctness

    You may select both grading options:

    • LMS Output: Two columns will appear in your LMS gradebook (e.g., Canvas), one for Participation, one for Correctness.

    Best Practices

    • Always notify students via your syllabus or LMS announcement about the Poll Everywhere registration and grading process.

    • Enable Attendance Management if you require students to be present to earn points.

    • Use "Ignore activities with zero responses" to prevent grading penalties from unused polls.

    • Use clear naming conventions and folder structures to organize assignments.

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