Merging courses is an effective way of dealing with separate courses with the same content so you don’t have to upload materials to two or more different courses.
This process makes one course the Primary (previously parent), whilst the other course(s) becomes Secondary (previously child). There’s no limit on how many secondary courses you can make but there can only be one primary.
Examples from Aberystwyth
Many members of staff are currently using the merge course facility across the institution. Some examples are:
Modules are taught the same content but there’s a module available for different years.
Modules that bring together different degree schemes and have different module IDs, e.g. dissertation modules.
Essentially, any module/course that shares the same content is ideal for Merging courses.
What do students see?
Students will see the name of the course that they are enrolled on (even if it’s the secondary course) when they log into Blackboard but they will see all the content placed in the primary course. Instructors will not be able to place content in the secondary course.
Things to consider
Now, before the start of term and whilst course content is being built, is the perfect time for linking your courses. Whilst the linking of courses does save time in the loading of materials, here are some points to consider:
All content can be viewed as soon as the courses are merged (as long as students are enrolled on the course). In addition to PowerPoints and lecture materials, this also includes Announcements and other interactive tools on your primary course.
Historical student interactions on a secondary course (such as using blogs or posting in discussion boards) won’t be available once the courses have been merged.
Any submission points created on a secondary module before the merge takes place will no longer be able to be viewed. We would advise creating these again in the primary course.
How do I control content so that it is only viewable to a module cohort?
Whilst all content is automatically visible once the courses are merged, you can use groups and adaptive release if you only want the content to be visible to a specific module cohort. This might be useful, for example, if you have merged a 2nd year and 3rd year course but your students on the different courses have separate assignments. You can use groups – 1 for the 2nd year students and one for 3rd year students and limit who can see the assignment information and submission point. See our guidance on Creating Groups and Release Conditions.
Merging Courses and the Grade Book
Once the merging takes place, all students will appear in the Grade Book of the primary course. It is possible to filter the gradebook using Merged Modules so that you only see the information for students on the relevant modules.
Click the filter button highlighted below and choose from the dropdown for merged courses:
If you’d like further information on this process or have any questions, please contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.
In just over a week’s time, the August Blackboard update will be released. This includes an overhaul of the Gradebook. Please see below for further information.
The monthly August Blackboard release has a new user interface for the Gradebook.
Given the nature of this update, we have a separate blogpost dedicated to it.
If you have any questions about the updated Gradebook or grading, please contact the Digital Education Team (elearning@aber.ac.uk).
Every course has the Gradebook, which is used to manage all aspects of the administration of marks. It can be accessed via the top menu of Blackboard courses.
As part of this update, the following processes are not changing:
Grades, calculations, and overall grade configuration
Grade schemas and grading settings
Course-level accommodations
The List View
All existing grades and submission history
The component marks transfer process also remains unchanged.
Change 1: Default view
The default view of the Gradebook is now the grid view
You can swap between the grid view and the list view by clicking between the views:
Change 2: To do list
The Gradebook Overview is now called the To Do List which is available in grid and list views:
From here, you can see what work there is to mark and post:
A reminder that marks need to be posted in order to be included in the marks transfer.
Change 3: Entering Grades
The ways to enter grades into columns has changed.
Click on the pencil icon to change and enter the grade:
You can then post the marks from this screen by clicking on the post icon:
You can also leave feedback from this view by clicking on the mark
If you want to mark and leave feedback on all Blackboard marked items, click on this icon:
This will then open the assignment mark screen.
Change 4: Updating and editing columns
Editing columns now take place via the list view.
Change 5: Filtering by merged module
It is possible to filter the gradebook using Merged Modules so that you only see the information for students on the relevant modules.
Click the filter button highlighted below and choose from the dropdown for merged courses:
Change 6: File upload and download gradebook
The functionality for downloading and uploading to the gradebook has moved.
Click on the settings cog:
Choose Download marks or Upload marks depending on what you want to do.
Change 7: Checking the visibility of a column
The visibility status of columns can no longer be seen in the grid view.
To check the visibility of the column, navigate to the list view:
You can amend the visibility of the column by clicking on the ….
We are now working to update our guidance to reflect the changes in the Gradebook.
If you need any further information or have any questions, please contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.
To support students who are resitting in August we are asking all module coordinators to add the new Resit ready item into the Assessment and Feedback area in Blackboard courses.
Resit ready contains resources to support students who are resitting coursework or exams in the supplementary exam period. Once it has been added to courses, colleagues can add then any module or department specific information into the Assessment and Feedback area.
In the July update, we want to draw your attention to the following Blackboard enhancements:
Add supplemental content to Learning Object Repository folders and learning modules
Add descriptions to Discussions and Journals
Run a Rubric Evaluation Report for graded activities
Control AI Conversation duration with time limits
Find your favourite courses faster with Course Switcher
Add supplemental content to Learning Object Repository folders and learning modules
Instructors can now add their own content to folders and learning modules pulled from the LOR. Before, these were locked—you could view them but couldn’t add anything. Now, you can add in your own course-specific materials while the original LOR content stays locked and still updates across courses. Your additions work like normal course content, so you can edit, update, or remove them anytime without affecting other courses. LOR content will always stay at the top, and anything you add appears underneath—it can’t be moved around within the original LOR materials.
Image 1: The Course Content page will show a learning module added from the LOR, with an instructor document at the bottom. LOR-owned items have the label “This item is managed by your institution.”
Add descriptions to Discussions and Journals
Discussions and Journals now have a Description field, just like other course content, which makes everything on the Course Content page more consistent and easier to scan. Instructors can use this optional field to give quick context or set expectations before students start an activity, while keeping the actual prompt focused on the task or question. The prompt itself no longer shows on the main content page. For students, this means they’ll see a clear, simple overview of what each Discussion or Journal is about before opening it, making it easier to understand what’s coming next.
Image 2: Instructors can add a description in the Description field for a Discussion.
Run a Rubric Evaluation Report for graded activities
Instructors can now run a Rubric Evaluation Report straight from the gradebook for any graded activity that uses a rubric. It pulls together data from all student submissions, giving a quick, clear view of how students are doing against each criterion.
To use it, open the gradebook, find a column with a rubric, and launch the report from the menu in either Grid or Gradable Items view. You can download it as a PDF or CSV.
Marks need to already have been posted in order to view the report. If there aren’t enough posted grading data yet, you’ll see a message letting you know.
The report includes an overview of the assignment, overall average scores, a visual breakdown comparing possible vs achieved points, and a detailed table showing how students performed across criteria, including stats like average, median, and standard deviation.
Control AI Conversation duration with time limits
Instructors can now control how long AI Conversations last by adding time limits, making things a bit more structured and easier to manage. There are two different ways to do this, depending on what you want to time — the whole activity or just the conversation part.
An AI Conversation has two parts: the chat itself and a reflection question that follows. You can either set a time limit for the entire assessment (which includes both parts) or just for the conversation. The full assessment timer already existed — if time runs out, it either auto-submits or gives students extra time, depending on your settings. The new option is a conversation-only timer, which stops the chat after a set time but does not limit students’ time on the reflection question afterward.
You can’t use both timers at once — it’s one or the other. If you turn one on, the other is automatically disabled.
Within the conversation constraints, you’ll also now see two controls: a message limit (how many replies students can send) and the new time limit. You can use either, both, or neither. Just note: once a student starts, the time limit is locked in.
Image 3: You can now set a time limit for either a student’s AI conversation, or their written reflection after the chat.
For students, a visible countdown helps them keep track of time. Where it shows up depends on the timer you picked — either inside the chat or at the top of the whole assessment. If only the conversation is timed, they can still complete the reflection question without time pressure.
Image 4: Depending on the instructor’s settings, the timer is shown when students are completing their chat or during their reflection.
Overall, this makes expectations clearer, supports accessibility needs, and gives instructors more flexibility when designing AI-based activities.
Find your favourite courses faster with Course Switcher
Finding your favourite courses is now easier with the updated Course Switcher. You can now see all your favourited courses right there, so there’s no need to keep jumping back to the Courses page. This builds on recent updates like search and recent courses, making it quicker to move around.
There’s a new Favourites tab that automatically shows what courses you have chosen as your favourites on the main Courses page. It sits alongside Recent and Search, so everything’s in one place. Overall, it’s a simpler, faster way to jump between courses and stay focused without the extra clicks.
Image 5: The Course Switcher now has a Favourites tab, allowing you to add a personalized list of frequently used courses..
If you use Blackboard Assignment for your assessment, you may be interested in our latest update. Staff can now use the functionality of Blackboard Assignment whiles also getting a Similarity Report from Turnitin.
This is particularly useful for multi-part assignments and assignment files that are too big to use Turnitin. Like other elements of Blackboard, Assignment is available in Welsh for both staff and students. It also means that you get the benefits of Blackboard Assignment (such as an electronic receipt for students) as well as being able to use the same Similarity Report as other colleagues.
If you already make use of Blackboard Assignment, then we encourage you to try out the new Turnitin feature. Our Guide contains all the information to help you get started. Submission and marking stay the same, but you get the additional Similarity Report alongside your marking.
We’d also be interested in your feedback – during the year, we’ll contact you for feedback on using this new Turnitin integration.
In the June update, we want to draw your attention to the following Blackboard enhancements:
Grading with rubric
Student engagement with announcements
Changes to grading with rubric
To improve rubric usability, instructors can now edit the rubric grade directly. Changes to the rubric component grades will also update the overall grade immediately.
Image 1: Improved rubric usability when adding or adjusting grades.
In the past, instructors would have been blocked from changing the overall grade via the rubric. Now, the locking mechanism that previously prevented instructors from using the rubric to override a grade has been removed. Otherwise, grades entered into the rubric grade components will update the overall grade immediately.
The update also includes some changes in wording, such as updating the rubric score box label from “Submission” to “Rubric Score”, in order to improve consistency with the Flexible Grading page.
Student engagement with announcements
Instructors can now check which announcements a student has read or not read on the new ‘Announcements’ tab of the Student Overview page.
To access this feature, instructors should go to the ‘Class register’ under the ‘Details & Actions’ items on the right-hand side of a course landing page. After selecting a student, a log of whether or not a student has accessed an announcement will be visible for instructors under the new ‘Announcements’ tab of the Student Overview page.
Image 2: The Announcements tab on the Student Overview page shows when an Announcement was posted and when it was read.
If you have any enhancements to request from Blackboard, please get in touch with us via elearning@aber.ac.uk.
All courses for 2026-27 have been created and are available to staff in Blackboard.
All AU Blackboard course sites use an agreed template with areas for core information along with agreed content for university-level policies.
The course template is agreed by the Quality and Standards Committee annually. Module Coordinators have responsibility for the organisation of materials in their courses. Staff should not delete template content.
In the May update, we want to draw your attention to the following Blackboard enhancements:
Changes to managing groups
Graded discussions and flexible grading
Tests and questions
Content and release conditions
Course searching
Changes to managing groups
Instructors now start by choosing how they want to structure groups—before managing individual members. The options include:
manual assignment
automatic assignment
self‑enrollment
import
Image 1: Instructors now start by creating a group set by choosing how they want to structure groups—before managing individual members.
Automatic enrollment with clearer controls
Instructors can automatically assign students to groups by specifying the number of members per group. Blackboard creates the required number of groups and assigns students randomly in a single step, reducing setup time for large courses.
Image 2: Instructors can now automatically assign students to groups by specifying the number of members per group.
More flexible ways to assign students
Instructors can assign and unassign students using multiple methods:
Assign students directly from the unassigned list
Assign selected students to a specific group
Add or remove members from within a group
This flexibility reduces repetitive actions and makes it easier to focus on populating one group at a time or balancing membership across groups.
Sorting for group members and groups
Instructors can now sort:
Students by first name or last name (A–Z or Z–A)
Student ID
Groups by group name
Groups by number of members
Image 3. Instructors can now sort group members by first or last name, student ID and sort groups by group name or number of members.
Performance and reliability improvements
Managing groups in large courses is now significantly faster. Save operations that previously took several minutes—especially in courses with thousands of students—now complete in seconds. When a group is being saved, an instructor can close out the page and be assured that it is continuing to save in the background, allowing instructors to continue working without interruption.
Additionally, the previous maximum limits of 5,000 students and 1,000 groups are removed.
These improvements reduce frustration and improve confidence when managing groups at scale.
Second due date for Discussions visible in Gradebook
The second discussion due date now appears in the following pages in Gradebook:
Overview
Gradable Items
Under Due Date on the Discussion item on each Gradebook page, the item’s second, final due date is displayed. Next to that date is a circle icon with a lower case i inside. Hover over or tab to this icon, and a pop-up bubble displays details of both due dates. For example: This discussion has 2 due dates: Due date 1: 5/1/26, 12:00 PM Due date 2: 5/8/26, 12:00 PM
Image 1: The second discussion due date now appears on the Overview and Gradable Items pages in Gradebook.
Instructors benefit from clearer communication of discussion expectations, reducing the need to clarify deadlines and helping ensure students understand how and when their contributions are graded.
Carry group filter into Flexible Grading
The group filter selected in the Gradebook grid view now carries over into Flexible Grading. Instructors who filter by a group in the Gradebook will find only the students from that group when they enter Flexible Grading, and the active group filter is displayed within the Flexible Grading view. This update reduces the need to re-filter after switching views and keeps instructors focused on the most relevant students for their current grading task.
Provide answer-level feedback for multiple choice and multiple answer questions
Instructors can now add feedback for each answer option in multiple choice and multiple answer questions. This helps students understand why each choice is correct or incorrect after an attempt is submitted.
Instructors can now add feedback for each answer option in multiple choice and multiple answer questions. This helps students understand why each choice is correct or incorrect after an attempt is submitted.
Instructors
When creating or editing a multiple choice or multiple answer question, instructors can turn on Option Feedback, which prompts Feedback textboxes to appear beneath each answer option. Instructors can enter the answer options and feedback for any of the options.
Image 1: Instructors can enter answer-level feedback.
Turning on Option Feedback disables Automated Feedback option. The Automated Feedback option lets instructors provide feedback for the correct answer and for incorrect answers. Answer-level feedback also allows for automatic feedback, which instructors can configure in the Assessment results section of Assessment Settings.
For answer-level feedback to display for students, enable Show correct answers in the Assessment results section of Assessment Settings.
Students
After submitting an attempt, students receive feedback for each answer option they selected if the instructor has left feedback on that answer option. This helps students understand their performance at a more detailed level and supports learning from incorrect choices.
Lock answer options in a fixed position for multiple choice and multiple answer questions
When creating or editing a multiple choice or multiple answer question, instructors can designate specific answer options as locked. To lock an option in place, select Randomise answers in the Assessment Settings, then select the lock icon next to the answer option. Locked options remain in their set position during randomisation while all other options shuffle as expected.
Instructors can remove a lock any time while editing the question. Locking designations can also be updated as part of a regrading flow.
Image 1: Instructors can select the lock icon next to the answer option to lock that option in place. To trigger the lock icons, select Randomise answers in the Assessment Settings.
Visualize release conditions inherited by items in learning modules and folders
Instructors can now view release conditions inherited from a parent learning module or folder directly within the release conditions panel of individual items. Inherited conditions appear in a read-only format, giving instructors a clear picture of all conditions that apply to an item, including those set directly on the item and those cascading from a parent container.
This update also ensures that discussions hidden within a learning module are no longer accessible from the Discussions tab. Discussions now respect the release conditions applied at the learning module level.
Instructors
When instructors open the Release Conditions panel for an item inside a learning module or folder, a read-only summary of any conditions inherited from the parent container appears alongside any conditions applied directly to the item. This helps instructors understand the full set of access rules in place and determine whether additional conditions are needed.
Image 1: Read-only summary of conditions inherited from the parent container and conditions applied directly to the item appear in the Release Conditions panel.
Improved screen reader experience in Document view mode
Screen reader users now have a cleaner, more focused experience when navigating documents in view mode. Unnecessary row and column announcements have been removed to allow access to primary content in the correct order, left to right, across rows, columns, and blocks. Edit mode behavior is unchanged.
Improved search and navigation in Course Switcher
We’ve enhanced the Course Switcher in Blackboard Ultra Course View to make it faster and easier to move between courses. Users can now search for a course directly from the Course Switcher and navigate to it without first returning to the Courses page.
This update builds on the existing quick access to recent courses and helps reduce navigation friction when working across multiple courses.
Instructors and Students
The Course Switcher now includes a search box that allows users to quickly find and open any course they have access to. Instead of browsing the full Courses page, users can open the Course Switcher, search by course name or course ID and navigate directly to the selected course.
This enhancement complements existing options in the Course Switcher:
Quick access to the four most recent courses
A View All link that opens the full Courses page
By combining search with recent‑course access, the Course Switcher provides a centralised and efficient way to move between courses—helping users stay focused on their tasks rather than managing navigation.
Image 1: Course Switcher now has a Search courses capability allowing users to search for courses by course name or course ID.
If you have any enhancements to request from Blackboard, please get in touch with us via elearning@aber.ac.uk.
As we start to move to the assignment period for semester 2, we start to look at creating courses ready for 2026-27.
We will create courses for 2026-27 on Monday 3 June 2026.
The courses will be available to staff as soon as we create them.
Students will not be enrolled on the courses until they complete registration in September.
As with previous years, there will be one standard template for all courses at Aberystwyth. The language of the template depends on the language of delivery in AStRA. If the course is delivered 100% through the medium of Welsh, then a Welsh template will be used. For 1-99% through the medium of Welsh, a bilingual template will be used. If the course is registered to be delivered 0% through the medium of Welsh, then an English template is used.
Our Blackboard Required Minimum Presence, E-submission, and Lecture Capture policies are in the stages of being finalised.
We will communicate these in due course.
If you have any questions about course creation, please don’t hesitate to contact us on elearning@aber.ac.uk.
