Discussions (Instruction)

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PATH: Anywhere assignments are accessed, such as Instruction > Grade Book > Add > For Students > Discussion

PATH: Instruction > Discussions

Two kinds of discussions are available in Instruction, scored discussions that are aligned to an assignment and discussions that are not scored and are aligned to a resource. Discussions are created in conjunction with an assignment or resource.

Screenshot of a discussion with a response from a student. Discussions can be aligned to an assignment and scored or unscored. 

Creating Discussions

PATH: Anywhere assignments are accessed, such as Instruction > Grade Book > Add > Add a Task > Discussion

Discussions are created in conjunction with an assignment or resource. Discussions aligned to assignments are scored and display in the grade book; discussions aligned to resources are not scored. Use the Grading toggle to change a discussion from assignment (scored) to resource (not scored).

Create an assignment with a discussion by clicking Screenshot of the Add split button.  and then clicking Discussion in the Add a Task section OR clicking the arrow next to Screenshot of the Add split button.  and picking Discussion. Toggle the Grading section off to make the curriculum item a resource.

Enter details for the assignment or resource as described in the Assignments & Resources article. 

Screenshot highlighting the discussion button in the Add a Task section of an assignment and initial post written in the Description field.  Deliver a discussion through an assignment or resource.

  • If an assignment or resource has a discussion enabled, the Title becomes the Name of the discussion and the Description serves as the discussion prompt. 
  • Discussions are limited to a single section. If multiple sections are selected in the Scheduling Alignment area of the assignment, separate discussions are created for each section.
  • Teachers have the option to Allow students to edit their responses. Previous versions of edited posts are not available in the discussions tool. This option can be turned on or off at any time. 
  • Students respond to discussions using Campus Student.

Viewing Responses

View responses to a discussion by opening the assignment or resource to which it is attached. To view a list of discussions for a section, clickScreenshot of discussions icon.in the Teaching Center, or filter the Curriculum list to show only curriculum with Discussions. Click on the assignment or resource with a discussion.

From this view, the students' responses display below the Summary. You can create a post yourself or print the discussion, or reply to a specific post, score it, or flag it.

You can also edit the curriculum, such as section settings and grading information, although the discussion itself cannot be modified once students have responded.


Screenshot of a discussions with responses. 

When viewing the discussions: 

  • The Summary of the discussion serves as the initial post.
  • Make a new post by clicking Create a Post
  • Generate a printable version of the discussion.
  • Reply to students.
  • Score the posts (for assignments).
  • Flag student content and resolve flags. See the Flagged Posts section for more information.
  • If a discussion doesn't have student responses yet, it can be Archived to hide it from the teacher's discussion list.

Scoring Discussions

Click the Screenshot of the Score button.  button below a post to open the Submission scoring screen in the context of that student. Discussions can also be scored anywhere that assignment scoring is available, including via the Teaching Center or the Evaluate Discussion link in the Grade Book.


In the scoring screen, select a student's name in the dropdown list to highlight their posts and simplify scoring. The first student in the class is highlighted by default. Enter scores and flags in the header of the scoring screen, and switch between students to change the highlight. See the Scoring Submissions article for more information about this screen.

Screenshot of a discussion in the scoring screen, with responses by the selected student called out.  Select a student in the dropdown list to highlight their posts. (Click to enlarge)

Flagged Posts

Inappropriate posts can be flagged by the teacher or by another student. Discussions with a flagged post are indicated by a Screenshot of a flag icon. . A notification is also sent to teachers when a post has been flagged.

Three-part screenshot highlighting a flagged discussion in the list, the button to resolve a flag, and the resolve flag popup.

Resolve flags on post by removing the flag or archiving the post. 

Flagged posts display highlighted in red. Click to view the reason the post was flagged and resolve it.

  • Remove Flag removes the flag from the post and leaves it in the discussion.
  • Archive Post removes the post from the discussion. All replies to that post are also archived.
  • Close returns to the discussion without resolving the flag.

Previous Version

Discussions (Instruction) [.2231 - .2327]