CREATING AND MANAGING GROUPS AND ASSIGNMENTS



|Mastering the Grade Center |

| |

|[pic] |

Blackboard Learning System™ - Release 8

© 2007 Blackboard Inc.

All rights reserved.

The content of this manual may not be reproduced or distributed without the express written consent of Blackboard Inc. Users acknowledge that the manual, and all copyright and other intellectual and proprietary rights therein, are and at all times shall remain the valuable property of Blackboard and its licensors, or their respective successors or assignees. Users agree to respect and not to alter, remove, or conceal any copyright, trademark, trade name, or other proprietary marking that may appear in the manual.

Blackboard, the Blackboard logo, Blackboard Academic Suite, and Blackboard Learning System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Blackboard Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Table of Contents

Workshop Overview 4

Roadmap 5

The Student Experience 6

Accessing My Grades 7

Viewing Grades 8

Viewing Feedback 10

Setting Up the Grade Center 11

Exploring the Grade Center Interface 12

Adding Gradable Items as Columns 14

Modifying Items 20

Removing Items 21

Changing Item Order 22

Modifying Display Options 23

Creating Smart Views 25

Working with Grades 27

Viewing Grade Details by Item or Student 28

Entering Grades 30

Overriding Grades 33

Viewing and Grading Tests 35

Resetting Test Attempts 37

Exempting a Grade 38

Customizing the Letter Grade Scheme 40

Setting Total 44

Weighting Grades 45

Workshop Wrap Up 51

Spotlight on Your Course 51

Resources 52

|[pic] |WORKSHOP OVERVIEW |

This workshop prepares you to fully leverage the functionality of the Grade Center tool.

You will first experience the student perspective by exploring the My Grades tool and becoming familiar with how grades will appear to your students.

Then, turning to the instructor perspective, you will learn to manage your online grading activities. Critical skills such as setting up Grade Center to suit your needs, customizing display and grading options, as well as grading test and assignment submissions will be covered. Along the way, you will examine practical issues related to evaluating and grading students in online courses.

|[pic] |WORKSHOP OVERVIEW |

| |roadmap |

|Exploring My Grades as a Student |Access My Grades: View assigned grades for submissions, total points |

| |possible, and weighted total |

| |Understand symbols: Learn what each symbol represents in My Grades |

| |View feedback: View instructor comments on student work before final |

| |submission and after the grade is assigned |

|Setting Up the Grade Center |Explore the Grade Center interface: Learn about the default columns, |

| |automatically created columns, and the symbols used |

| |Use Grade Center features: Learn about adding, modifying, and removing items,|

| |and how to change item order and grade display options |

| |Modify Grade Center display options: Choose to display students by name, |

| |usernames, or student IDs, and create smart views |

|Working with Grades |View grades: Choose to view grade details by item or student |

| |Enter grades: Learn how to grade student submissions. Use the functions in |

| |Grade Center to override recorded grades, return assignments with feedback, |

| |reset test attempts, and exempt grades. |

| |Customize the letter grading scheme: Convert scores to letter grades and |

| |customize the default scheme to match your institution’s grading scheme |

| |Calculate overall grade: Set the total and learn how to calculate grades for |

| |students based on weights assigned to Grade Center items or categories |

|[pic] |THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE |

First we’ll explore My Grades, the tool students use to access their grades. See how grades are presented to students and how they access feedback. The My Grades tool is similar in layout to Grade Center and uses many of the same symbols.

|[pic] |Learning Outcomes |

After completing this section, you will learn how students:

– access My Grades

– view grades

– understand the symbols in My Grades to follow the progress of submissions

– view feedback from the instructor

|[pic] |THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE |

| |accessing my grades |

|Students view their course grades from the My Grades|[pic] |[pic] |

|tool. Grades are available by default; however, |Figure 1.1 |Figure 1.2 |

|instructors may choose to make some grades | | |

|unavailable. | | |

|Students access My Grades from Course Tools. | | |

|[pic] |THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE |

| |viewing grades |

My Grades displays the following information, some determined by the instructor:

– name of the gradable item

– details of the gradable item

– due date of the gradable item

– date of last action by either student (e.g., submitted) or instructor (e.g., graded)

– grade (if not yet graded, a symbol shows the item’s status)

– maximum grade

– average grade

– weight of item or percentage of final grade

– instructor comments

In the Item Name column, you might also see rows displaying a total and weighted total. We will discuss those in more detail later.

[pic]

Figure 2

Symbols represent the status of Grade Center items.

|Symbol |Description |

|[pic] |Item is submitted and needs to be graded; or item is submitted, reviewed by instructor, and returned with |

| |feedback, but no grade. Tests that include essay questions will have this symbol when submitted. |

| - (dash) |No information |

|[pic] |Item is in progress |

|[pic] |Completed, such as an ungraded survey |

|[pic] |THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE |

| |viewing feedback |

The page that displays feedback varies depending on the item type. For assessments and assignments, the instructions and submission are displayed with the feedback.

[pic]

Figure 3

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

From Grade Center, you can enter and manage your students’ grades for assignments, tests, or projects. You can also calculate final grades, weight grades, and enter grades for activities completed outside of the Blackboard Learning System™.

In this section, you will become familiar with the Grade Center interface and features. You will also learn to set up and customize Grade Center so it is ready for grading-related activities.

|[pic] |Learning Outcomes |

After completing this section, you’ll be able to:

– add, remove, and modify gradable items in Grade Center

– change Grade Center column order

– modify Grade Center display options

– create smart views (tailored views of your needs) of Grade Center content

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |exploring the grade center interface |

Access Grade Center from the Control Panel under Assessment.

[pic]

Figure 1.1

The Grade Center resembles a table, containing rows and columns:

– each student record appears in a different row

– each gradable item appears in a different column

You can determine a student’s progress on a particular item by looking at the cell where student and item meet.

Student names are automatically added to Grade Center when students enroll in your course.

[pic]

Figure 1.2

Default Columns

The Grade Center contains the following default columns:

|Column |Description |

|Name |Displays student names |

|Total |Displays average mark students have earned in the course so far based only on graded items |

|Weighted Total |Displays students’ scores based on the weight assigned to an item ignoring ungraded items |

Automatically Created Columns

When the following gradable items are created in the Blackboard Learning System, corresponding columns are created automatically in Grade Center:

– assessments

– assignments

– gradable discussion forums

This allows you to enter and manage grades for these items without having to create the columns yourself.

Grade Center Symbols

Symbols represent the status of Grade Center items. Click the Icon Legend at any time in Grade Center for icon descriptions.

|Symbol |Description |

|- |Gradable item is not started |

|[pic] |Gradable item is in progress |

|[pic] |Gradable item is submitted and needs to be graded |

|[pic] |Grade Center error |

|[pic] |Gradable item is completed, but the grade or score is not displayed. Item may not need grading (anonymous |

| |survey). |

|[pic] |User is unavailable |

|[pic] |Column is not visible to users |

|[pic] |Grade was manually modified |

|[pic] |External grade that has been uploaded |

|[pic] |User is not required to complete gradable item |

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |adding gradable items as columns |

|If your students complete activities outside of the |To add grade columns |

|Blackboard Learning System, you can add those activities as | |

|Grade Center columns, enter grades for them, and include | |

|them when calculating final grades. | |

|When adding Grade Center columns, you can: | |

|add columns to a category | |

|select grade display options |In Grade Center, click Add Grade Column. |

|make columns available to students |Complete the item information and options (Figure 2.1). |

|include columns in final grade calculation |Click Submit. |

|We’ll take a closer look at these options on the next few | |

|pages. | |

[pic]Figure 2.1

Adding Gradable Items to a Category

On the same screen for adding a Grade Center column, there is an option to place the gradable item in a category. For example, you can put all homework assignments in the Assignment category.

There are four default categories:

1. Assignment

2. Survey

3. Test

4. Discussion

Organizing by category allows you to conveniently perform other functions within Grade Center, such as filtering and weighting grades by category.

TIP: You can create your own category (Click Manage > Categories > Add Category).

[pic]

Figure 2.2

Selecting Grade Display Options

Next, choose how the grade will be displayed for the Grade Center item. The table below explains each option in more detail.

[pic]

Figure 2.3

|[pic|Display Option |[pic|Description |

|] | |] | |

|Complete/Incomplete |Displays a “checkmark” as long as the Grade Center item is submitted, regardless of the |

| |score achieved. |

|Letter |Displays a letter grade based on a percentage range defined in Grade Center. For example, a |

| |score of 21/30 equals 70% and may appear as a C. |

|Percentage |Displays a percentage calculated from the achieved score. For example, a score of 21/30 is |

| |displayed as 70%. |

|Score |Displays the achieved score. This is the default. |

|Text |Displays a text comment you enter manually. You can enter a maximum of 32 characters. |

Selecting Item Options

Finally, you have options for making the item available to users and including it in the final grade calculations.

[pic]

Figure 2.4

|[pic]|Option |[pic]|Description |

|Include this column in Grade Center calculations|Include a gradable item as part of the final grade calculation. The default is |

| |Yes. If you don’t want a gradable item to be included, select No. |

|Show this column in My Grades |Allow students to see their grade for a gradable item in the My Grades tool. The|

| |default is Yes. If you don’t want students to see their grade for a particular |

| |gradable item, select No. |

|Show Statistics for this column in My Grades |Allow students to see the class grade statistics for this gradable item. The |

| |default is No. If you do want students to see the statistics for a particular |

| |gradable item, select Yes. |

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |hands-on activity |

Create three columns in Grade Center based on the specific criteria outlined below.

|Group Participation |practice course |

|Assign to the Project category. | |

|Display the grade as a percentage. | |

|Make the grade available to students. | |

|Include Group Participation mark in the final grade calculation. | |

| | |

|Contact Info | |

|For email address or telephone number: | |

|Make it unavailable to students. | |

|Do not include in the final grade calculation. | |

| | |

|Homework | |

|Assign 1 point as the highest possible score. | |

|Display the grade as either Complete or Incomplete. | |

|Make the grade available to students. | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |modifying items |

|Modify a gradable item by changing its name, description, |To modify gradable items |

|points possible, or moving it to a different category. | |

|Note: If you change the name of an auto-created Grade Center| |

|column, such as an assignment, assessment, or gradable | |

|discussion forum, the new name applies only within Grade | |

|Center. If you want to change the column name so students | |

|can see it, you must edit the item where it was created. For|In Grade Center, move your cursor over the gradable item heading and click |

|example, to change an assignment name, you must go to the |the ActionLinks menu (Figure 3). |

|Content Area containing the assignment and edit the name |Click Modify Column. |

|there. The reverse is also true — if you change an item name|Modify the information and options. |

|in a Content Area, that change is not automatically applied |Click Submit. |

|in Grade Center. | |

[pic]

Figure 3

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |removing items |

|If there are certain gradable items you no longer need in |To remove items |

|Grade Center, you can remove their columns. You can remove: | |

|manually added columns | |

|gradable discussion forums | |

|You cannot remove default columns (Name, Total, and Weighted| |

|Total) or automatically generated columns for tests and | |

|assignments. Remove the test or assignment from the course |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the gradable item heading and click |

|to remove the column from the Grade Center. |the ActionLinks menu (Figure 4). |

| |Click Remove Column. |

| |Click OK. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 4

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |changing item order |

|Gradable items are added as columns from left to right in |To change item order |

|the order they were created, but you can change the order to| |

|suit your needs. For example, you can place items in | |

|chronological order according to your course schedule. | |

|You can sort the columns by: | |

|Categories | |

|Due Date |In Grade Center, click the ActionLinks menu beside Sort Columns By. |

|Creation Date |Select how you want the columns sorted (Figure 5). |

|Points Possible |Click OK. |

|Display Name | |

|My Grades displays items in the same order as Grade Center. | |

[pic]

Figure 5

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |modifying display options |

|You can set the Grade Center to show one or a combination |To modify display options |

|of: | |

|student names: (Last, First) or (First, Last) | |

|usernames | |

|student IDs | |

|You can also modify categories and grading periods. | |

| |From Grade Center, click the Manage ActionLInks menu and choose Organize |

| |Grade Center (Figure 6.1). |

| |Select a name and choose to hide or show it. |

| |Arrange the items in any order you want by dragging each row to the new |

| |location. (Figure 6.2). |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 6.1

[pic]

Figure 6.2

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |creating smart views |

|You can create tailored views in Grade Center to suit your needs. |To create a smart view |

|These smart views can be created to view the progress of: | |

|a group | |

|students based on performance on a particular item | |

|individual students | |

|a query based on student attributes (for example, name or | |

|performance on an item) |From Grade Center, click the Manage ActionLinks menu and choose |

| |Smart Views (Figure 7.1). |

| |Click Add Smart View. |

| |Select the type of view (Figure 7.2). |

| |Fill in the criteria. |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

|[pic] |[pic] Figure 7.2 |

|Figure 7.1 | |

Using a Smart View

Select the Smart View as the current view to use it.

[pic]

Figure 7.3

|[pic] |SETTING UP THE GRADE CENTER |

| |hands-on activity |

|Practice Course Task |practice course |

|Move the last item in Grade Center so it becomes the first item. | |

|Remove the Homework item you added earlier. | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

Now you’ll learn to enter and override grades in Grade Center. You’ll see how to view and grade assessments and assignments, as well as enter grades for projects created outside of the Blackboard Learning System.

|[pic] |Learning Outcomes |

After completing this section, you’ll be able to:

– view grade details by item or student

– enter grades

– override grades recorded in Grade Center

– view and grade tests

– reset test attempts

– exempt a grade

– customize the letter grade scheme

– set the total and weight grades

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |viewing grade details by item or student |

|You may want to see how a particular student is doing in your |To view grades for an item |

|course or you may want to see how all students are doing on an | |

|assignment. From the Grade Center table, you can quickly determine| |

|how your students are doing. | |

|You can also view more in-depth information from the Grade Details| |

|page in Grade Center. | |

| |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the first cell in the |

| |column of the item you want to view and click the ActionLinks menu|

| |(Figure 1.1). |

| |Click Grade Details. The Grade Details screen will appear. |

| |Select the User arrows to scroll through each student’s details |

| |for this item (Figure 1.2). |

| | |

| | |

| |To view grades for a student |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the first cell in the row |

| |of the student you want to view and click the ActionLinks menu. |

| |Click Grade Details. |

| |Select the Column arrows to scroll through each gradable item for |

| |a student (Figure 1.2). |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 1.1

[pic]

Figure 1.2

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |entering grades |

|You can enter grades for any items you manually mark, such as |To grade an assignment |

|essays, group projects, or assignments and assessments not | |

|automatically marked by the Blackboard Learning System. | |

|The grading screen (Figure 2.3) is divided into four parts: | |

|1. Assignment Information: Review the instructions and any files | |

|you provided for the assignment. | |

|2. User’s Work: View the student’s submission and comments. |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the cell of the student and|

|3. Feedback to User: Enter a grade, feedback, and files for the |item you want to grade and click the ActionLinks menu (Figure |

|student. |2.1). |

|4. Instructor Notes: Enter notes and files for yourself. |Click Grade Details. |

| |Click View Attempt (Figure 2.2). |

| |Review the assignment. |

| |Enter a grade and any comments (Figure 2.3). |

| |Click Submit. You are returned to the Grade Details screen. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 2.1

[pic]

Figure 2.2

[pic]

Figure 2.3

When you finish the grading process, Attempts and Grade History are updated on the Grade Details page (Figure 2.4) and the column in Grade Center displays the grade you entered (Figure 2.5). However, if you return submissions with feedback only, the exclamation mark remains in the column.

[pic]

Figure 2.4

[pic]

Figure 2.5

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |overriding grades |

|You can override grades that were either manually or automatically|To override a student’s grade |

|recorded in Grade Center. | |

|The grade is updated in the student’s My Grades tool. | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the cell of the student and|

| |item you want to grade and click the ActionLinks menu. |

| |Click Grade Details. |

| |Click Override (Figure 3.1). |

| |Enter the grade and any feedback or notes (Figure 3.2). |

| |Click Save. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 3.1

[pic]

Figure 3.2

When you override a grade, the original grade remains recorded in the Grade History of the Grade Details page.

[pic]

Figure 3.3

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |hands-on activity |

|Enter Multiple Grades |practice course |

|You have reviewed a group’s project and want to enter their grades. For the Group Project, enter a grade of 88 for the following students:| |

|Practice Students 01, 02, 03, and 04. | |

| | |

|Review & Grade Assignment | |

|For the Moon Viewing assignment, review Practice Student 10’s submission and then: | |

|enter a grade. | |

|enter feedback for the student. | |

| | |

|Override a Grade | |

|Through Group Project peer review, it has come to your attention that one member of the group missed many meetings. | |

|Since you had five points set aside for participation, override Practice Student 02’s grade to 83. | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |viewing and grading tests |

|In Grade Center, there is a column for every assessment you |To view and grade test answers |

|create. | |

|Within the column, some types of questions, such as true/false | |

|and multiple choice are graded automatically, while others must | |

|be graded manually. | |

|You might also need to adjust a grade for an automatically graded| |

|question. For example, if a student successfully defends an |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the cell of the student and |

|answer selection, you can override the question’s grade. |item you want to grade and click the ActionLinks menu (Figure 4.1). |

| |Click Grade Details. |

| |Click View Attempt (Figure 4.2). |

| |Review the student’s answers and enter scores. |

| |If desired, enter feedback for the student (Figure 4.3). |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 4.1

[pic]

Figure 4.2

The Modify Grade page displays information about the student and the test.

[pic]

Figure 4.3

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |resetting test attempts |

|Occasionally you may want to allow a student to retake a test. For|To reset attempts |

|example, if the student encountered technical problems while | |

|taking the test and wasn’t able to complete it, you may want to | |

|clear his grade and allow him to retake the test. | |

|[pic] | |

|Figure 5.1 | |

|[pic] |In Grade Center, locate the student’s test score, move your cursor |

|Figure 5.2 |over the current grade, and click the ActionLinks menu (Figure 5.1). |

| |Click Grade Details (Figure 5.2). |

| |Click Clear Attempt (Figure 5.3). |

| |Click OK. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 5.3

The test attempt has been cleared.

|[pic] |[pic] |

|Figure 5.4 |Figure 5.5 |

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |exempting a grade |

|Occasionally you may want to reward student performance with an |To exempt a grade |

|exemption on an exam or assignment. Exemptions not only mean that | |

|students are not required to complete an assignment or assessment.| |

|It also means the exempted assignment or assessment will not be | |

|included in the total score calculation. | |

| | |

| |In Grade Center, locate the student and column you want to exempt. |

| |Click the ActionLinks menu and choose Exempt Grade (Figure 6.1). |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 6.1

When you finish exempting a grade, it shows in Grade Center as grayed out.

[pic]

Figure 6.2

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |hands-on activity |

|Grade Test |practice course |

|For the Unit 1 Quiz: | |

|Grade question 4 for Practice Student 02. | |

| | |

|Reset Test Attempt | |

|For the Unit 4 Quiz: | |

|Clear attempt for Practice Student 04. | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |customizing the letter grade scheme |

|If you choose to display students’ scores as letter grades, |To customize the letter grade scheme |

|the Grade Center letter grade scheme is used to convert the | |

|scores to letter grades. The default letter grade scheme | |

|consists of letter grades from A+ to F and their | |

|corresponding percentage ranges. | |

|You can use the default grade scheme or customize it. For | |

|example, you can customize the default scheme to match your |From Grade Center, click the Manage Action Links menu and choose Grading |

|institution’s grading scheme. |Schemas (Figure 7.1). |

|To customize the letter grade scheme, you do the following: |Click Modify beside the Letter option (Figure 7.2). |

|Enter percentage ranges that convert scores to letter |From the Modify Grading Schema page (Figure 7.3): |

|grades. These ranges are used when items are automatically |Remove any letter grades you don’t need. |

|graded. |Enter percentage range for each letter grade (Figure 7.4). |

|Enter percentages that correspond to letter grades. These |Enter a value for each letter grade that can be used when calculating Total |

|percentages are used when calculating the Total columns. |columns (Figure 7.5). |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 7.1

[pic]

Figure 7.2

[pic]

Figure 7.3

Entering the Percentage Range of Letter Grades (for Automatically Graded Items)

If tests are automatically graded and scores are to be displayed as letter grades, you need to specify percentage ranges that convert the scores to letter grades. For example, scores between 90% and 100% appear as an A in Grade Center and My Grades.

When entering a range, you must enter an upper limit of a range that is equal to the lower limit of the range above it. For example, if 80% to 89.9% is worth a B, you enter 80% to 90% in Grade Center. A score of 89.9% is displayed as a B, but a score of 90% is displayed as an A.

Note: The highest range includes 100%.

[pic]

Figure 7.4

Entering the Percentage Values of Letter Grades (for Manually Graded Items)

If you are manually marking items using letter grades, you need to assign a percentage for each letter grade. These percentages are used to calculate the total score. For example, if you award an A for a quiz, that A must equal a percentage, such as 95%, which is used in calculating the total score.

TIP: You can use the middle value or median in a range when you assign a percentage to a letter grade. For example, if the B range is 80% to 90%, you enter 85% as the percentage to be used when calculating the total score.

[pic]

Figure 7.5

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |hands-on activity |

|Customize the letter grade scheme as follows: |practice course |

|(Hint: You must remove some letter grades.) | |

|85% to 100% will be equal to A | |

|70% to 85% will be equal to B | |

|55% to 70% will be equal to C | |

|0% to 55% will be equal to F | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |setting total |

|Total and Weighted Total are two default columns in Grade |To set the total |

|Center. Both are used to calculate and present student | |

|grades. | |

|As default, Total and Weighted Total are calculated as | |

|running totals and all columns are included. Calculations | |

|for the running totals are based only on the items that have| |

|been graded. They are often a more accurate reflection of a |In Grade Center, move your cursor over the column heading, Total, and click |

|student’s progress than totals. |the ActionLinks menu (Figure 8.1). |

| |Click Modify Column. |

| |Click Selected Grade Columns, Calculated Columns and Categories. |

| |Select a column or category you want included in the total and click the |

| |arrow beside it (Figure 8.2). |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 8.1

[pic]

Figure 8.2

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |weighting grades |

|You can calculate grades for students based on weights assigned to |To weight grades by column |

|Grade Center columns. | |

|There are two ways to weight grades: | |

|weight by column. | |

|weight by category. Each item in a category is worth the same, | |

|regardless of total points. | |

| |From Grade Center, click the ActionLinks menu of the Weighted Total|

| |Column (Figure 9.1). |

| |Click Modify Column. |

| |Select a column included in the weighted total and click the arrow |

| |beside it (Figure 9.2). |

| |Enter the percentage for each item. |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

| | |

| |To weight grades by category |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |From Grade Center, click the ActionLinks menu of the Weighted Total|

| |Column. |

| |Click Modify Column. |

| |Select category you want included in the weighted total and click |

| |the arrow beside it (Figure 9.3). |

| |Enter the percentage for each item. |

| |Select Weight Columns Equally. |

| |Click Submit. |

| | |

[pic]

Figure 9.1

Weighting Grades by Column

You can weight grades by individual Grade Center columns, such as an assignment, quiz, or exam.

Each column is given a different weight regardless of the category to which it belongs. For example, if there are four assignments, each assignment can be worth a different percentage of the final grade.

[pic]

Figure 9.2

Weighting Grades by Category

If you organize Grade Center columns in categories, you can assign a weight to an entire category containing those columns.

[pic]

Figure 9.3

In the following example, each category (Quizzes, Assignments, Group Project, and Final Project) is worth 25%. All columns in a category are weighted equally. For example, each assignment in the Assignments category is worth 12.5% of the total percentage.

|[pic|Column |[pic|Category |[pic|Weight |

|] | |] | |] | |

| |Quiz 2 | | | | |

| |Quiz 3 | | | | |

| |Assignment 1 | |Assignments | |25% |

| |Group Participation | |Group Project | |25% |

| |Group Presentation | | | | |

| |Project Draft 1 | |Final Project | |25% |

Examples:

|[pi|Option |[pic|Description |

|c] | |] | |

| | |

|Total |A running total is based only on items that have been graded. The running total is the average |

|Calculated as a running total (Default) |mark students have earned in the course so far. |

| |In this example, the running total shows Mike has earned 20 of 20 points possible (100%) on |

| |tests taken so far. |

| |Example: |

| | Name |

| |TIP: Running total should use a % or letter grade. This will indicate student performance on |

| |completed items only. |

| | |

|Total |In this case, the total is calculated on graded and ungraded items. The total is the raw score |

|Calculate based on all items |students have earned in the course so far. |

| |In this example, the total is calculated by dividing the number of points earned (20) by the |

| |points possible for all tests (40). |

| |Example |

| |Name |

| | |

|Weighted Total |The running weighted total uses graded items only. It is the average grade students have earned|

|Calculate as running weighted total |in the course so far, taking into account the weight that has been assigned each item. |

|(Default) |For example, quizzes in the table below have a weight of 15% divided between the number of |

| |quizzes the instructor assigns (so one quiz has a weight of 5%) The instructor has planned |

| |three quizzes. At this point, Mike has only completed two quizzes, and one test worth 85%. |

| |Example |

| | |

| |Quiz 1 |

| |Quiz 2 |

| |Quiz 3 |

| |Test 1 |

| |Weighted Running Total |

| | |

| |Grade |

| |4/10 |

| |10/10 |

| |-/10 |

| |10/10 |

| |------ |

| | |

| |Weight |

| |.05 |

| |.05 |

| |.05 |

| |.85 |

| |.95 |

| | |

| |Grade x Weight |

| |.02 |

| | |

| |.05 |

| | |

| |------ |

| | |

| |.85 |

| | |

| |.92/.95=97% |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Weighted Total |The weighted total is based on both ungraded and graded items, taking into account the weight |

|Calculate based on all items |assigned to each item. |

| |In this example, Weighting by Item was used to calculate Mike’s grade in the course so far. |

| | |

| |Quiz 1 |

| |Quiz 2 |

| |Quiz 3 |

| |Test 1 |

| |Weighted Total |

| | |

| |Grade |

| |4/10 |

| |10/10 |

| |-/10 |

| |10/10 |

| |------ |

| | |

| |Weight |

| |.05 |

| |.05 |

| |.05 |

| |.85 |

| |------ |

| | |

| |Grade x Weight |

| |.02 |

| | |

| |.05 |

| | |

| |0 |

| | |

| |.85 |

| | |

| |.92=92% |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |WORKING WITH GRADES |

| |hands-on activity |

|Test your knowledge: |practice course |

|Display the scores in the Total column as letter grades. | |

|If the department’s policy is to show students their average percentage as the semester progresses, how should you display their grades? | |

| | |

|Weight grades by category using the following scheme: | |

|Essay 35% | |

|Homework 10% | |

|Exam 50% | |

|Attendance 5% | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|[pic] |WORKSHOP WRAP UP |

| |spotlight on YOUR course |

Now that you have experienced the online Grade Center, it is time to think about determining the grading criteria for your course. Here are some things to consider:

|[pic] |Considerations |

| |Review your institution’s policies about grading, exam procedures, submitting final grades, and student attendance. For |

| |example, do you know your institution’s: |

| |deadline for submitting final grades? |

| |policy on students who miss classes or exams? |

| |procedure for students who want to challenge their grade? |

| |Determine your course objectives and what you want your students to learn. Then tailor your grading standards to your |

| |objectives so students will focus on what is most important for them to learn. |

| |Decide which course activities (assignments, projects, exams, group work, participation, and attendance) will be graded and |

| |how they will be weighted. |

| |Find out if your department has a specific grading scheme (raw scores, percentages, or letter grades) you must use. |

After you have determined your grading criteria and set up Grade Center, make sure you communicate grading criteria clearly to your students.

– Do you give explanations of each assignment, project, and activity, and include clearly defined grading criteria for each?

– Are you clear about which activities are weighted more than others?

– Which assignments and projects count toward the final grade?

– How are you grading attendance and participation?

– If students are graded as a group, do they know how you will determine the grade? Will each student in the group receive the same grade?

– Are you prepared to give students detailed feedback after they submit assignments and projects so they know how they can improve?

|[pic] |WORKSHOP WRAP UP |

| |resources |

|[pic|Faculty Support Page |

|] | |

|For documentation, exemplary course awards, and more visit: |[pic] |

| | |

|[pic|Training page |

|] | |

|For online and regional training opportunities, visit: |[pic] |

| | |

|[pic|User Groups Page |

|] | |

|To ask questions, share ideas and discover best practices, visit: |[pic] |

| | |

[pic]

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* Click View Attempt

* Click Clear Attempt to allow a student to retake a test

* Enter the grade and any feedback you’d like to give to the student

* Select the student’s submission and choose Grade Details

* Use the ActionLinks menu to remove the flag from the cell, if desired

* Enter the new grade

* Rows contain student records

* Click Modify

* Cells for individual student status on a specific item

* Submission

* Click the ActionLinks menu

* To access My Grades, click Course Tools

* Enter a brief, but descriptive name. This becomes the column name in Grade Center.

* Set a date for the item. This date can be used with the Early Warning System to generate an alert if a test or assignment is not submitted by the due date.

* Columns for gradable items and totals

* See the grade for an item, the total number of points possible, and instructor comments

* If a test requires grading, an exclamation mark appears in the Grade Center column

* Click View Attempt to review test answers and grade questions that require manual grading

* Use the arrows to move through students (user) and items (column)

* Click the arrow to move the column over

* Select columns on the left to add them to the weighted total

* Click Override

* The grade you enter appears in the column. Click it to access the grading details again.

* Click to remove the column from the calculated total

* Enter the grade

* Click the grade to view feedback

*

* “No” means the item will NOT be included in calculating the Total Column

* You can choose to show or hide a column, modify a category, or modify a grading period from the Grade Center Organizer

* Select a gradable item and move it to where you want it

* Here the student has received a grade, comments, and a file from the instructor

* Submitted assignment

* For the instructor’s eyes only

* Enter comments for the student about the grade

* Or do not enter a grade and ONLY enter feedback so the student can resubmit the work based on the instructor’s suggestions

* This grade is exempt

* After clearing the attempt, the Grade Center column is cleared

* The orange flag (modified indicator) shows the grade has been manually modified

* To clear the attempt, move your cursor over the score to obtain the ActionLInks menu

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