Page Comparison

The myUMBC Check My Activity (CMA) feedback tool allows students to compare their own Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) activity to an anonymous summary of course peers. If instructors use the LMS grade book, students can also compare their own activity with peers earning the same, higher or lower grade on any assignment. Why might they want to do so? Since 2007, UMBC students earning a D or F have used the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) about 40% less than students earning a C or higher. More info.

To be clear, students' digital footprints in Blackboard are simply a proxy for their engagement in a class. Social science research has used proxies for concepts that are difficult to measure (e.g., well-being, socio-economic status, etc.). Also, while grades in a course are definitive in terms of student success through courses and semesters over time they can occur to late in a current term to be actionable by students – or even faculty, advisors and others who might wish to help them. As such, the CMA merely provides students with a dashboard of how their digital engagement in a tool used by most courses, instructors and other students compares to a class average. For more resources on how to improve one's engagement in a course, please see the Academic Support Center's "Student Resources."