The Gradebook > The Gradebook Center for Version 8.0
Overview
Almost entirely redesigned, and newly named, the Grade Center exhibits new capabilities and vast improvements over the previous Gradebook. Some of the new features or improvements include the following:
- A redesigned tool bar, titled the Action Bar, through which multiple functions are possible
- The ability to create and print Reports, such as final grades, to hand out toStudents or other interested parties
- Inline editing: the ability to enter grades directly through the Grade Center spreadsheet
- New grade calculations, Average grade and Minimum/Maximum grade, and improvements to the creation of Weighted grades and Total points grade
- Smart Views -- the ability to categorize Students into groupings based onselected criteria. These views can be displayed in the Grade Center.
- A multitude of ways to customize the display of the Grade Center
- The ability to create Grading Schema: multiple grading scales that match Assessment grades to chosen grade displays, such as text or percent grades
Grade Center main page
The Action Bar on the Grade Center main page contains multiple functions, including the following:
- Adding columns
- Managing Grading Periods
- Grading Schema
- Smart Views
- Emailing Students
- Creating Reports
- Viewing Grade History
Within the Grade Center spreadsheet, it is possible to enter results, such as scores, percentages, or other forms of grading, into the spreadsheet itself.
In the various Columns, cells, and rows, the Instructor can quickly perform multiple functions that formerly required multiple clicks and subsequent navigation to other pages.
Reports
Through the Grade Center, an Instructor may create a Report that displays various grade and Student information. A Report could be used, for example, as a final grade Report or a mid-term progress report. The Instructor can control what grades are displayed in the Report as well as what student information appears. A signature line and any comments can be added. Reports can then be printed from the screen and distributed.
Grade Calculations
In the Grade Center, an Instructor can calculate grades by combining multiple Columns to attain performance results, such as class averages, final grades that are based on a weighted scale, or total points, and so on. These include Weighted grade, Total points grade, Average grade, and Minimum/Maximum grade. Each of these functions allows the Instructor to choose the Columns included, such as all Columns from a Grading Period, all Columns, or selected Columns.
Smart Views
Instructors have the ability to customize the Grade Center to display a subset of Students based on selected criteria. Called Smart Views these customized displays can be saved and used again. Students can be sorted based on Course, Group, performance measurements, or other criteria. Once built and saved, Smart Views become a selectable list item on the Current View drop-down menu of the Grade Center page, enabling easy navigation from one view to another.
Grading Schema
Administrators and Instructors can create Grading Schema-- a diagram based on percentage ranges that matches scores to specific grade displays -- and then use it in grading. For example, a Student’s raw numeric score on a quiz that has 100 possible points is an 88. The Instructor creates and deploys a Grading Schematitled "Standard," in which a percentage of 87.5 to 89.5 equals a B+, this score results in a B+. Conversely, if the grade display option Letter is chosen, the B+ will display to the Student. The Instructor can also choose text as the display option in Grading Schema. Grading Schemas may be edited or added to an ongoing Course and grades will be updated to reflect the changes.
Documentation
Quick Tutorials
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Related FAQ's
Q: Can I undo an override?
You can undo an Override by Reverting a grade. The Revert function only works for grades that have been Overridden.
Q: How do I create a weighted column?
Weighting grades is done by adding a Weighted Grade Column. You can select some or all of the other columns to include in the weighting calculation. All new courses come with a Weighted Grade Column. This does not limit you to one Weighted Grade column. You can create several Weighted Grade Columns and use them in other Calculated Columns (like another Weighted Grade column).
Q: Can I drop a grade in the gradebook?
Yes. You can exclude a grade from all calculations by Exempting it. Exempted grades can be Reverted from the Grade Details page or from the Grade Center spreadsheet. You can drop a grade by using a Weighted Column to automatically drop the lowest grade out of a particular Category, such as the lowest grade on Weekly Quizzes. You must create Categories in order to drop grades automatically.
Q: Can I organize my grade columns into categories?
Yes. You can create Categories to organize the Grade Center and run reports on specific types of grades. Default categories include Assignment, Discussion, Survey, and Test. Grade Center items that are not assigned a Category upon creation are automatically assigned to No Category. Create Categories before creating Grade Center Items. return to top |
