Available Viewing Modes 

When reviewing a student’s Deep Dive essay, you can choose from four viewing modes. All formats are accessible directly from the submission page.

1. Page View (Default)

• Displays the essay as it would appear on an 8.5" x 11" page
• Useful for evaluating length, spacing, and structural layout
• Helps visualize how the essay transitions from one page to the next

2. Adaptive View

• A flexible, screen-responsive layout
• Ideal for reading and commenting in a digital environment
• Automatically adjusts to your browser size

To toggle between Page View and Adaptive View, simply click on the page icon located above the student’s submission.

3. Document Preview

• Provides a representation of how the essay will appear when printed
• Accurately displays formatting elements such as:
  • Title pages
  • Running heads
  • Page numbers
• Allows zooming and view adjustments for closer inspection

4. .docx Download

• Download the essay as a .docx file to be printed out or viewed in your word processor of choice
• Ensures full fidelity of all student-applied formatting

Inline Commenting Across Views

Providing feedback is seamless across both Page and Adaptive modes.

Inline Comments

• You can add inline comments in both Adaptive View and Page View. For more details on Inline Comments, see Commenting on Student Deep Dives Submissions
   
• Comments remain visible and linked to the same text regardless of which view you switch to
• Students will see your comments in their own viewing mode, ensuring clarity and consistency

Instructors cannot comment directly on the Document Preview or the .docx download. If specific feedback is necessary on these views, we suggest putting them in a general comment on the evaluation.

How to Grade a Deep Dive Submission

Not sure how to evaluate Deep Dives assignments in Packback? Here's a walkthrough of the full process, from finding a student's submission to releasing their grade.

Click the GIF below or use this link to view a video walkthrough of the grading process. 

1. Finding Assignment Submissions

Once you've launched a Deep Dives assignment and students have begun submitting, you can access these submissions by going to the page for the assignment and clicking the "Submissions" tab.

1. Access your course on Packback. On the left hand sidebar navigation, scroll and click Assignments under the "Packback Deep Dives" heading.
2. Click on the specific Assignment for which you'd like to begin grading submissions.
3. From the Assignment homepage, please click Submissions. You'll see a table with all of your students. For each student you can see their progress, when they submitted, their Uniqueness score, their AI Risk indicator, their grading status, and their current grade.
4. Use the filters at the top to narrow the list by submission status, section, or grading status.
5. When you're ready to grade a student's submission, click the Grade button next to their name.

2. Navigating the Evaluation Page

The evaluation page is split into two panels. On the left, you'll see the student's submission. On the right is your Evaluation Assistant, which is where you'll do all of your grading.

The submission panel (left)

This panel has two tabs:

• Deep Dive Submission — the essay itself. Use the icons above the essay to toggle between the interactive view and a formatted document preview.
• Works Cited or References — any sources the student added to their references section in Packback.

The Evaluation Assistant (right)

The Evaluation Assistant has three tabs:

• Evaluation — where you'll enter scores and feedback
• Comments — a running list of the inline comments you've left on the essay
• Insights — context to review before you grade

Insights tab

This is where you'll find a few key sources of context:

• Originality Fingerprint — shows the student's Uniqueness score and AI Risk indicator. Click Review next to either to dig into the details.
  • The Uniqueness report shows any matched text and its sources, so you can verify that quoted or paraphrased content is properly cited.
  • The AI Risk report shows whether the student's writing patterns suggest AI generated content. If the risk is medium or high, you'll also see a highlighter that shows which parts of the text have the greatest likelihood of being AI generated.
• Student comment — if the student left you a comment about their submission, you'll see it here. It's worth reading before you start grading!
• Writing Process Report — shows how the student spent their time in Packback. It provides a visual of how much time they spent in the Planning, Drafting, Revising, and Reflecting phases, along with the number of writing sessions, average session length, and number of feedback items viewed. This gives you useful context about a student's process, especially if the submission is stronger or weaker than expected.

Comments tab

This is where you can see the inline feedback that you left directly on the student's essay. To add a comment:

1. Go to the essay on the left, highlight the text you want to comment on, and select Add Comment.
2. Change the color of the highlight, if desired, and click Save. 

Your comment will appear in the Comments tab. All of your comments will be visible to the student when you release the evaluation. For more details on Inline Comments, see Commenting on Student Deep Dives Submissions

Evaluation tab

At the top of the panel, you'll see a summary card for this student: the assignment name, whether the submission was on time, the student's word count and number of references, and their submission date. You can adjust the On Time status manually if needed by clicking the pencil icon.

Two more sections can help you get oriented before you read the full submission:

• Alerts — if the student has potential grammar issues that were not addressed, you can view them here. These are issues the student chose to ignore or dismiss when they were writing in Packback.
• Guiding Questions — if you included Guiding Questions in your assignment prompt, click Review to see where in the essay it looks like the student tried to address each question. It's a great starting point before you read the full submission.

3. Entering Feedback and Grades

Scroll to the Instructor Evaluation section of the Evaluation tab. This is where you'll enter scores for each rubric criteria.

1. For each requirement that is enabled for the assignment — like Word Count, Research Quality, Formatting, Grammar, and Flow — Packback has already generated a suggested score based on the student's submission. You'll see this in the Packback Suggestion column.
2. Click See Why next to any suggestion to see exactly how Packback calculated that score. You'll see the components of that category, their weights, and the student's individual scores, so you know what's driving the suggested score. Expand a component to see more details and highlighted parts of the text.
3. Type your score into the Instructor Score field for each criteria. You'll see the running total update as you go. You're not required to use Packback's suggestions — they're a helpful starting point, not a replacement for your judgment. You are in control of the final grade each student receives!
4. If your assignment includes custom rubric criteria, you'll see that section below the Packback requirements. Select the appropriate performance level and use the Toggle Criteria dropdown to review the description for each level. You can customize the score if you want to give a value between levels, and you can leave a comment tied specifically to this criterion.
5. Once you've entered your scores, scroll down to the Instructor Feedback field. This is where you write overall feedback for the student — provide praise or constructive feedback on their Deep Dives assignment. They'll see this alongside their rubric scores when you release the evaluation.

4. Submitting Your Evaluation

If you'd like the student to revise

Check the Allow student to revise their work box under Revisions. The student will receive a revision request notification. When they resubmit, you can re-grade and update the score. You'll see a Previous button at the top of the evaluation page to compare the original and revised submissions.

Releasing and submitting

1. When you're ready to share your evaluation, click the Release button. The student will be notified by email and within the Packback app. They'll see their scores, your written feedback, and any inline comments you left. For more details on Inline Comments, see Commenting on Student Deep Dives Submissions
2. Click Submit when you're done!

After you submit

You'll be brought back to the Submissions tab where you can select another student to evaluate. For more details on your submission table, see Viewing and Managing Deep Dive Submissions
 

From here, you can also:

• Post grades to make them visible to all students
• Sync grades to your LMS
• Download a grading report

Still Have Questions?

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to our Support Team by filling out our Request Form.