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In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create grade columns,
enter grades, and manage grade distribution in blackboard’s Grade Center.
Let’s start with a scenario to illustrate this process.
Lets say I’m teaching a class and I want to set up my class assignments
in Grade Center. I’ll assign two papers, a presentation and
about seven homework assignments. I want the grade to be distributed among these
assignments like this. I’ll start by
navigating to the grade center and then creating a grade column for each assignment.
To access the grade center, start from your class page and go
to the control panel on the left side of your screen. Then select “Grade Center”
and “Full Grade Center” from the drop down menu.
To add a column, click on “Create Column”
On the Create Grade Column page, I’ll enter the name of my assignment
(Paper 1) and select how many points are possible on the assignment.
The points I enter here don’t represent the assignment’s weight towards
the final grade. I’ll set Paper 1 to be worth 30% of the final grade.
If I say there are 50 points possible, and a student
gets 25 points, they would earn only 15% of the grade, half
of what the assignment is worth. One you’ve entered the
column title and points possible, click submit.
You can create other columns with the same method.
I went ahead and set up the rest. So now that the columns are created,
I’ll group all of the homework columns into a category.
Categories are useful for grouping multiple assignments that receive
a single weight (or percentage) towards the final grade.
To create a category, mouse over the manage button.
and select categories from the drop down menu.
You’ll see a list of existing categories. These are predefined
by blackboard. They’re automatically assigned when using other blackboard features
like Quizzes and Turn it in assignments. You can’t delete these but you
can manipulate them.
Click the create category button to make one of your own.
Enter a name for the category, and add a description if necessary.
I’ll call this one “Homework.” When finished, click Submit.
Now that I’ve created the Homework category, I have to assign my
Homework grade columns to the Homework category.
To assign columns to a category, go to the “Manage” drop down menu and select
column organization. On the bottom half of this page
you can see the names of your columns, and the categories to which they belong.
To change the category for a column, select the columns that you want to
change, and select “Change Category to…”
You’ll see a drop down menu with the categories you’ve created.
I’ll assign all of the homework columns to the homework
category. when you’re done, click submit.
Now that the assignments are created, and homework is grouped into a category,
I’ll use a weighted column to assign a grade weight to each of my assignment columns
and to my homework category. Once I’ve done this,
the grade center will automatically calculate grades as planned.
To manage grade weights, go to “Create Calculated Column” and click on
“Weighted Column.” Give a name to the weighted column like
“Final Grade.” Then make sure that the setting “Calculate as Running Total”
is set to “No” and that “Primary Display” is set as “Percentage.”
Now scroll down to the Select Columns area.
Select each assignment you want to weigh individually
and click the arrow in the center of the table to add the column to the weighting area.
I’ll add Paper 1, Paper 2, and Presentation 1
from the columns box. I won’t add any of the individual homework columns.
Instead, I’ll add the homework category so I can assign a weight to homework
1 through 7 as a group.
Now I’ll go back to my table and give each assignment its proper weight.
Paper 1 is worth thirty percent, Paper 2 is worth
twenty percent, Presentation 1 twenty percent,
and thirty percent for the homework category.
I can also drop grades from a category.
I’ll let my imaginary student’s drop a low homework grade.
They’ve been working hard. When you’re finished assigning weights,
click “Submit.”
Now your grading scheme is set up and you can enter grades as needed.
To edit and enter grades in your columns,
go to the Grade Center spreadsheet and find the cell you want to edit.
Click on the cell and enter your grade into the box. Then hit the return
or enter key on your keyboard to submit the grade.
when the grade appears in the cell after saving, you’ve successfully entered a grade.
If you need to go back and edit a column, click on the double arrow to the right
of the desired column. Click on “Edit Column” in the drop down menu
and make the changes that you’d like. To delete a column,
go to the double arrow and select “Delete Column” from the drop down menu.
A window will appear for confirmation. Click “Ok” to delete the column.
If you have any questions, or would like additional assistance using
Grade Center, contact the Faculty Resource Center at (512)
464-8804