Providing high-quality written feedback is one of the most valuable and time-intensive parts of marking. AVA includes two AI-powered writing tools within Blackboard's Flexible Grading interface to help you draft and refine overall feedback more efficiently.

Both tools are found in the AI Writing Tools section of the Overall Feedback panel when grading in the Flexible Grading view.

Summarise rubric feedback

Once you have completed the marking rubric for a student's submission, AVA can generate a suggested overall feedback summary based on everything you have already filled in.

It draws on:

• The rubric criteria and selected performance levels
• The performance level descriptions
• Any criterion-level comments you have added
• Any text already in the Overall Feedback box

To use it, select the Summarise option in the Overall Feedback area after completing the rubric. AVA produces a draft summary, clearly labelled as AI-generated.

You can then:

• Accept it as a starting point for further editing
• Reject it to restore your original content
• Regenerate it to get a fresh version

This feature is available in the Flexible Grading view for any Blackboard assignment that has a completed rubric attached.

Rewrite feedback

The Rewrite tool helps polish rough feedback notes into clearer, more student-friendly language. If you have typed bullet points, shorthand comments, or draft sentences, AVA can rework them into more coherent, professional feedback.

To use Rewrite:

1. Enter at least 30 characters of your own feedback in the Overall Feedback area.
2. Select Rewrite. AVA generates a suggested revision, clearly labelled as AI-generated.
3. Accept the suggestion to continue editing or select Reject/Cancel to restore your original input.

You can run the Rewrite tool multiple times on the same text to iteratively refine it. Accepting a suggestion does not finalise the feedback - you can continue editing before saving.

A note on responsible use

Both tools are designed to support and amplify your voice as a tutor, not to replace your professional judgement.

Always review AI-generated feedback before it is released to students. Do not include personal or sensitive information in your feedback prompts.

If you encounter output that seems inaccurate, biased, or inappropriate, please report it via genai@westminster.ac.uk .

Further information

AVA - AI Virtual Assistant (Blackboard Help)