Creating Achievements

This guide will demonstrate how to create an Achievement for students.

Accessing Course Achievements

Image of the control panel with the course tools section expanded to show the list of options available.

Under the Control Panel:

  1. Click on Course Tools to expand this section.
  2. Select Achievements from the list of options.

There are three types of achievements in Blackboard:

  • Course Completion: The certificate reward is required. An additional badge is optional.
  • Milestone: The reward can only be a badge.
  • Custom: The reward can be a badge, certificate, or both.

The steps below will detail how to create an achievement.

Creating an Achievement

Image of the Achievements window with an arrow pointing to the Create Achievement button with instructions stating to hover over create achievement.  Below the create achievement button is a list with the following options: Course Completion, Milestone and Custom

You will now see a screen labeled Achievements.  On this screen, hover over the Create Achievement button and select Course Completion, Milestone, or Custom.

Entering Achievement Information

Image of the Create Achievement page with the following annotations: 1.Create Achievement: Enter a name for the achievement in the field provided and use the color selector to the right of the name entry field to select a color for the achievement link2.Achievement Location: Click on the Browse button to open a new window to select where in the course to place the achievement link.3.Visible to students before receiving: Select Yes to allow students to see the achievement prior to meeting the criteria for completing the achievement.4.Description: Enter a description for the achievement in the text box provided.5.To move onto the next step, click the Define Triggers button at the bottom of the page.

Creating an achievement is a three-step process. The steps involved are:

  1. Entering the Achievement Information.
  2. Defining the Achievement Triggers.
  3. Selecting the Reward for completing the Achievement.

For the first step, you will now see a screen labeled Create Achievement:

  1. Create Achievement: Enter a name for the achievement in the field provided and use the color selector to the right of the name entry field to select a color for the achievement link.
  2. Achievement Location: Click on the Browse button to open a new window to select where in the course to place the achievement link.
  3. Achievement Type: This selection is predetermined in the previous step. If you selected to create a custom achievement type, you would be given a field for naming the achievement.
  4. Visible to students before receiving: Select Yes to allow students to see the achievement prior to meeting the criteria for completing the achievement.
  5. Description: Enter a description for the achievement in the text box provided.
  6. To move onto the next step, click the Define Triggers button at the bottom of the page.

Defining Triggers

Image of the Define Triggers step with the following annotations: 1.Rule Name: Enter a name for the rule here.2.Date: If you wish students to work on completing the achievement after a specific date, enter that date here. If you wish students to be able to work on the achievement at any point, leave this section blank.3.Membership: Username: If you wish to make the achievement applicable to specific users, click the Browse button to search for the users you wish to assign.  If you do not wish to assign users, skip this section.4.Membership: Groups: If you wish to make the achievement applicable to specific groups of students, select the groups in the left column, and click the > button to move the selected groups to the Selected Groups column on the right.5.Grade: Select a Grade Center Column: To base the achievement on the grade of a specific item, select the column from the Grade Center.6.Select Condition: Select the desired grade criteria for the selected grade column. Select either the radio button to indicate if the user has attempted the item, or select the option to enter a score or percentage range.7.Click the Add button to add the selected criteria to the achievement trigger. To add an additional graded item, repeat steps 5 and 6, and click Add for each rule.8.Review Status: To base the achievement trigger based on item(s) students have marked as reviewed, click Browse to select an item, and then click Add to add the item9.To create an additional rule, click the Add Another Rule link at the top of the page.10.To move onto the next step, click Select Reward at either the top or the bottom of the page.

The next screen will allow you to specify the criteria students must perform in order to complete the achievement:

  1. Rule Name: Enter a name for the rule.
  2. Date: If you wish students to work on completing the achievement after a specific date, enter that date here. If you wish students to be able to work on the achievement at any point, leave this section blank.
  3. Membership: Username: If you wish to make the achievement applicable to specific users, click the Browse button to search for the users you wish to assign.
  4. Membership: Groups: If you wish to make the achievement applicable to specific groups of students, select the groups in the left column, and click the > button to move the selected groups to the Selected Groups column on the right.
  5. Grade: Select a Grade Center Column: To base the achievement on the grade of a specific item, select the column from the Grade Center.
  6. Select Condition: Select the desired grade criteria for the selected grade column. Select either the radio button to indicate if the user has attempted the item, or select the option to enter a score or percentage range.
  7. Click the Add button to add the selected criteria to the achievement trigger. To add an additional graded item, repeat steps 5 and 6, and click Add for each rule.
  8. Review Status: To base the achievement trigger on item(s) students have marked as reviewed, click Browse to select an item, and then click Add to add the item
  9. To create an additional rule, click the Add Another Rule link at the top of the page.
  10. To move onto the next step, click Select Reward at either the top or the bottom of the page.

Selecting the Reward

Image of the Select Reward screen with the following annotations: 1.Issuer Name: Enter the name of the certificate issuer here.2.Expiration Date: Use the date selector to select a date in which the certificat will expire, or specify the number of days for which the certificate is valid.3.Certificate: Select the desired certificate image to use for the certificate. To view the certificate, click the Preview Certificate button.4.Badge Image: To add a badge image for the achievement, select the desired image from the badge image library.5.To use a custom image for the badge, click on the Browse My Computer button to attach an image file.6.When finished, click Save and Exit to create the course completion achievement.

The last step is to select a reward for completing the achievement. The reward requires a certificate or a badge image for the achievement.

  1. Issuer Name: Enter the name of the certificate issuer here.
  2. Expiration Date: Use the date selector to select a date in which the certificate will expire, or specify the number of days for which the certificate is valid.
  3. Certificate: Select the desired certificate image. To view the certificate, click the Preview Certificate button.
  4. Badge Image: To add a badge image for the achievement, select the desired image from the badge image library.
  5. To use a custom image for the badge, click on the Browse My Computer button to attach an image file.
  6. When finished, click Save and Exit to create the course completion achievement.

Note: For the Milestone Achievement, only the badges will be an option on this page. Certificates are not an option for Milestone Achievements.