Currently, discussion posts only allow a final deadline for all submissions - any required posts and replies are considered "on time" if they meet that final deadline.
It would be very helpful to be able to set a separate deadline for initial posts, then have the final deadline for replies.
This would mean that:
- Students could be encouraged to submit their first post early in a discussion, to promote better conversation across the discussion period
- For faculty using automatic grading, points for initial posts could be awarded dependent on that post being submitted on time (before the earlier deadline)
Many faculty already set a separate deadline for initial posts to ensure a good-quality discussion, but unfortunately they have to manually check whether the first post occurred before a specific date and add or deduct points case-by-case. It would be much easier to set the initial deadline in the system and see whether initial posts are marked as late in regards to that initial deadline; even better if automatic grading could be set to award points for the initial post only if it is submitted by the initial deadline.
Is this a feature that could be added? Thanks!
