The Gradebook is the hub for all graded activities and points earned in a site. There are several Gradebook settings to configure, such as Grade Entry in points/percentages, Grade Release Rules, Categories and Weighting, and Grading Schema.
Go to Gradebook.
Select Gradebook from the site Tool Menu.
Select Settings.
Choose Grade Entry display.
- Select to expand the Grade Entry menu.
- Select the corresponding radio button:
- Points to enter all grades as points, or
- Percentages to enter all grades as percentages.
Choose Grade Release Rules display.
- Select to expand the Grade Release Rules menu.
- Select checkbox for Display released Gradebook items to students to allow students to view released items. Individual grade items can still be hidden when created or edited.
- Select checkbox for Display final course grade to students box to show students their final grade in the course as calculated in the Gradebook.
If Display final course grade to students is selected, choose from the checkbox options to display the final course grade as a Letter Grade, Percentage, and/or Points.
Choose Statistics display.
- Select to expand the Statistics menu.
- Select checkbox Display assignment statistics to students to allow students to view the distribution of grades for individual assignments.
- Select checkbox Display course grade statistics to students to allow students to view the distribution of overall course grades for the class.
Choose Categories and Weighting display.
- Expand to open the Categories & Weighting menu.
- Select No categories, Categories only, or Categories & Weighting.
- No categories offers simple grade calculation based strictly on the points or percentages of all Gradebook items, without any groupings, weighting, or dropping of items.
- Categories only groups similar Gradebook items, such as homework, exams, participation. This configuration has the option to drop grades within a category. If all items within a category have the same point value (e.g., all quizzes for , you can choose to drop the highest grade, keep the highest grade, or drop the lowest grade within the category
- Categories and Weighting groups and weighs items within categories. For example, if all homework assignments, added together, comprise 20% of the final course grade, projects make up 50% of the course grade, and exams are worth 30% of the final grade, this configuration groups the items and weighs them accordingly.
Note: If you use Categories, you must have at least one item in each category to enter grades. For example, if you have a Final Exam worth 30% of the final grade, you will need a Final Exam category AND a single Final Exam Gradebook item within that category.
Tip: If you would like to be able to drop grades, you should select either Categories only or Categories & Weighting.
Add Categories.
- Use radio button to select Categories only.
- Select button Add a category.
- Enter one category title per row in the Category column.
Add Weighting.
- Use radio button to select Categories & Weighting.
- Select button Add a category.
- Enter one category title per row in the Category column and enter its corresponding weight of the course grade in the % column.
Note: The percentage for all categories taken together must equal 100%.
Enable Drop Lowest and/or Keep Highest.
If you selected either Categories only or Categories & Weighting, the enable drop/keep options will appear. All items within a Category must use the same available points value in order to use the drop/keep options for that category.
- Select the check box next to each of the desired drop/keep options.
- Drop Highest: Automatically drops the highest score/s among items in a Category
- Drop Lowest: Automatically drops the lowest score/s among items in a Category
- Keep Highest: Automatically keeps the highest score/s among items in a Category
- In the Drop Highest, Drop Lowest, or Keep Highest columns, enter the number of items in each Category that you wish to drop or keep. In the example, the lowest item from the Exams Category will be dropped from grading, and the highest three items from the Discussions Category will be kept for grading.
Tip: Many instructors prefer to use Keep Highest as opposed to Drop Lowest, as it reflects a more accurate running total of student grades during the course of the term. Items that students have not yet completed are not dropped automatically, so one or more higher scores may be dropped until all items have been completed.
Enable Equal Weight.
Check Equal weight to add the Equal Weight column. Checking the Equal Weight box associated with a Category will cause items of different point values within the same Category to gain equal weighting. This allows you to use the drop/keep highest/lowest options for a category containing items of different points.
Create an Extra Credit Category.
To designate a category as extra credit, select the checkbox in the Extra Credit column associated with the category. Extra Credit items add to increase the student's total grade, but points do not detract from the overall grade if not completed. For more information on extra credit, see How does extra credit work?.
Tip: Both entire categories and individual Gradebook items can be designated as extra credit. However, you cannot have an extra credit item within an extra credit category.
Reorder Categories.
Drag and drop categories to change their order in the Gradebook. Select and hold the reorder icon associated with the category and drag to its new location.
Delete Categories
To delete a Category, select the associated Remove button.
Edit the Grading Schema.
- Choose the preferred Grade Type: Letter Grades, Letter Grades with +/-, Grade Points, or Pass / Not Pass.
- The default grading schema values are displayed. To customize the score threshold for any of the grade levels, enter the desired value into the fields provided. (Optional)
Save Changes.
To complete Gradebook setup, select the button Save Changes.