Use the Grades tool to check your grades on assignments and tests. You can see your individual grades and comments, as well as class averages and feedback. You can also view your final grade and the grade formula used to evaluate you once your instructor releases your grades.
As an instructor or course designer, you can determine how to set up your grade book to best reflect your approach to evaluation, including the grading system and grade scheme that is most appropriate for your course. You can select how grades display to students, how they update in the grade book, and how you want to deal with ungraded items. You can create grade items for projects, assignments, discussions, quizzes, etc. to include in your grade book, and even associate them with other tools (e.g. Dropbox, Quizzes, Discussions).
When your grades are published, they appear on your personal Grades page in the course. Depending on how your grades are set up, you might also be able to view comments and overall class performance statistics.
A grade book contains your grading system, grade calculations, grade scheme, grade items, and view and display options. Grade items in your grade book represent all the work that you want to evaluate users on in a course. You can evaluate specific tasks such as assignments, tests, and participation, and you can also create grade items and associate them with course objects such as Dropbox and Quizzes.
You must set up a grade book before you can use the Grades tool. As you plan your grade book, consider:
Note Making changes to a grade book's settings and calculation options after you begin tracking users' grades can significantly affect existing data.
Selecting a grading system is the first step in setting up your grade book.
The grading system determines how the grade items in your grade book contribute to users’ final grades. There are three options:
Choose the option that best matches how you plan to evaluate users.
The weighted system calculates grade items as a percentage of a final grade worth 100%. The Max. Points you assign to individual grade items can be any value, but their contribution towards the category they belong to and the final grade is the percentage value (weight) assigned to them.
Grade items in a category count as a percentage of that category, not of the final grade. Therefore, grade items in a category should combine to a weight of 100%.
For example, if you have a category worth 10% of the final grade with two equally weighted grade items, the weight of each grade item is 50%, (its contribution to the category), not 5% (its contribution to the final grade).
Since it's a category’s weight and not an individual grade item’s weight that counts toward the final grade, the final grade is inaccurate until all the items in the category are graded. Therefore, releasing calculated final grades to users before the end of the course might be misleading.
If your grade items do not add up to 100% you receive a warning message. You can ignore this message if you choose; a balanced grade book is not required. If the weights assigned to grade items do not sum to 100%, the tool adjusts the weight of each item. For example if you have three grade items with a weight of 25% each, each item is actually calculated as 33%. This is true for categories and the final grade.
Use the points system when you want the Max. Points assigned to a grade item to be equal to its contribution to the final grade. Final grades are calculated by adding a user’s score on all grade items together and dividing by the sum of the Max. Points values. The sum of the Max. Points values for all grade items does not need to equal 100.
With the points system you do not specify a category’s weight or total points. It is the Max. Points assigned to an individual grade item that counts toward the final grade.
Tip Make sure the Max. Points assigned to grade items reflect how much you want them to be worth. For example, don’t grade each of your 20 homework assignments out of 50 points and then your final exam out of 80 points.
Another option in the point system is to exclude an item from the final grade calculation. This enables you to evaluate a grade category, numeric grade item, selectbox grade item, or pass/fail grade item without including the grade in users’ calculated or adjusted final grades. The Exclude from Final Grade Calculation check box is available from the Grading section of the New/Edit Item page and the New/Edit Category page.
You can achieve similar functionality in the weighted system by setting the grade item or category’s weight to 0%.
Use the formula system when you want to calculate final grades using a custom formula that allows for conditions. The formula system is based on the points system, but allows you to set conditions around grade items to determine the final grade. For example, you could require that users receive at least 50% on their midterm and final exam to pass a course.
Note The formula system might not be available at your organization. If you do not have this option, you can release the adjusted final grade and calculate your custom formula manually, or you can contact your site administration about getting access to this functionality.
A grade scheme enables you to organize users’ performances on grade items into levels of achievement. A grade scheme can include any number of achievement levels. Each achievement level has its own range of acceptable grades and a symbol, such as a numeric value, letter, or text description, to represent it. You can create your own grade schemes or use schemes set up by your organization.
Grade scheme | Example |
---|---|
Letter | F, D, C, B, A, A+ |
Numeric | 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 |
Text | Below Expectations, Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations |
In the Grades tool, if a grade book is not set up or imported for your course, you will see the Grades Setup Wizard page when you first navigate to the tool. You can also click Setup Wizard to open it.
The Grades Setup Wizard guides you through multiple steps that contain set up options you must choose from to create your grade book.
Tip Many options in the Grades Setup Wizard have Get help on icons you can click to find additional explanations on what each option can do.
The grading system determines what kind of valuation system is applied to categories and grade items in your grade book.
Grading system | Description |
---|---|
Weighted |
Grade items and categories are calculated as a percentage of a final grade worth 100%. The Max. Points assigned to individual grade items can be any value, but their contribution towards the final grade is always their assigned percentage value. |
Points |
Grade items are calculated using a points system in which the points assigned to each grade item are totaled for the final grade. |
Formula |
Grade items are calculated using the points system, but a custom defined formula is used to set conditions around how grade items contribute to the final grade. |
See Grading systems [4].
You can choose the type of final grade calculation you want to release to students.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Calculated Final Grade |
The final grade calculated by the grade book. You cannot adjust the final grade without adjusting grade item scores. |
Adjusted Final Grade |
You can manually change the final grade calculation without affecting grade item scores. |
The grade calculations step provides additional choices for calculating users’ grades. Specifically, it lets you decide how you want to calculate ungraded items and whether you want to keep users’ final grades up to date automatically.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Drop ungraded items |
Grade items that you have not entered grades for are not counted towards users’ milestone grades and final grades. They are ignored in both calculation types. Assign a 0 for grade items you want to treat as incomplete or grade 0. |
Treat ungraded items as 0 |
Grade items that you have not entered grades for automatically count as 0 towards users’ final grades. Select this option if you leave grade items blank because no work was submitted and you do not want to manually evaluate incomplete grade items. Note If you add new items to the grade book later, users receive 0 until you update their scores. |
Automatically keep final grade updated |
If you select this check box, final grades are automatically adjusted after changing a grade item or a calculation option. If you do not select this option, you must manually go to grade book to perform final grade recalculations. Tip Do not select this check box if you need to reduce page reload time for a grade book that contains a large class size. |
Grade schemes define how grades are organized or labeled within a course or for a specific grade item. You can create grade schemes at the organization level and make them available to courses, or you can create grade schemes for use only at the course level.
Tip Select a grade scheme that matches how final grades are released to users by your institution. For example, if letter grades (e.g. A, B+, C-) are used at your institution, create or select an existing Letter grade scheme and apply it as the default grade scheme.
This step controls how you see grade calculation data.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Number of decimal places to display |
You can set the number of decimal places that display for items in your grade book. The default value is 2 and the maximum value is 5. (This option does not manage how many decimal places are displayed to students. See Student View Display Options for more information.) Note This option does not control how many decimals the Grades tool rounds to when calculating grades. The calculation logic is set by your organization’s site administrator. |
This step controls how grades appear to users. You can set whether they see their grades as straight values, percentages, or scheme levels, and whether they can see the calculation method (logic) behind their final grade.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Points grade |
This setting determines whether or not the Points grade value associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. E.g., 6/10. |
Weighted grade |
This setting determines whether or not the Weighted grade value associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. E.g., 3/5 (for a user who scored 60% on a grade item worth 50% of a category worth 10% of the final grade). Note This option is only available if you choose the Weighted grading system in Step 2. |
Grade scheme symbol |
Releasing the grade scheme symbol to a user shows them the scheme level they received on a grade item. E.g., “Good”, "A-" |
Grade scheme color |
Releasing the grade scheme color shows a user the color associated with the scheme level they received. E.g., . |
Number of decimal places to display |
Controls the number of decimal places users see in the grade book. The default value is 2 and the maximum value is 5. Note This option only changes how many decimals display; it does not control how many decimals the Grades tool rounds to when calculating grades. The calculation logic is set by your organization’s site administration. |
Number of characters to display for Text items |
Controls the number of characters users see for a text item. When setting this value you should try to find a balance between presenting enough information for users to recognize the Text item and keeping the item short enough that it displays nicely. The default value is 15 and the maximum value is 50. |
Display final grade calculation to users |
Displaying the final grade calculation to users allows them to view how their final grade was calculated. They can see which grade items contributed to their final grade and how much, which grade items were bonus grades, and whether their grade was adjusted. Note This option is only available in the weighted and points grading systems. |
The final step summarizes the choices you made while setting up your grade book. If you change your mind on any of the choices, click Go Back to return to the step and adjust it. Clicking Finish on this page completes the set up and takes you to a list of options for continuing work in the Grades tool:
Grade items in your grade book represent all the work that you want to evaluate users on in a course. Grade items can exist independently in your grade book, or you can associate them with course objects such as discussions, quizzes, and dropbox folders. Each grade item has its own entry in the grade book, which you assign a grade to for each user. Depending on the grade item type you want to create, grade items can be graded numerically or based on a grade scheme.
Use grade book categories to organize and group related grade items into sections. For example, you could have separate categories for Dropbox Submissions, Quizzes, Case Studies, Participation, Discussions, and so on. When grade items are grouped together in a category, you can distribute points equally across all grade items and drop the highest or lowest item in the group.
Option | Procedure |
---|---|
Allow users’ grades to exceed the maximum value for the category |
Select the Can Exceed check box. Weighted system example You create an “Assignments” category that contains two grade items: A1 and A2. Both assignments are worth 50% of the category and can exceed the weight specified. Frank Catcher receives 100% on A1 and 110% on A2. Frank receives 105% in the Assignments category. Points system example You create an “Assignments” category that contains two grade items: A1 and A2. Both assignments are out of 10 points and can exceed the maximum points specified. Frank Catcher receives 12/10 and 9/10 on the grade items. |
Exclude items in the category from the final grade calculations |
Select either:
|
Distribution of weights and points for grade items in the category |
For the weighted system select one of:
For the points or formula system:
|
Drop the highest or lowest grade item in a category |
Enter the number of items to drop in either:
Note Grades must be distributed evenly to use this option and you cannot drop bonus items. |
Change what users see for this category from your standard display settings |
Select or clear:
|
Grade users by assigning a value out of a specified total number of points.
NoteBonus items are not counted towards the maximum points for a category or final grade. If available, you must select the Can Exceed check box, and the Bonus check box to allow users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.
Grade users by assigning a grade scheme level that is equivalent to a percentage grade range. You cannot create selectbox grade items if you do not have at least one grade scheme for the course.
NoteBonus items are not counted towards the maximum points for a category or final grade. If available, you must select the Can Exceed check box, and the Bonus check box to allow users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.
Grade users using a simple pass/fail grade scheme.
NoteBonus items are not counted towards the maximum points for a category or final grade. If available, you must select the Can Exceed check box, and the Bonus check box to allow users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.
Formula grade items automatically grade users using a custom formula based on achievements in other grade items.
Display a user's cumulative achievement across multiple grade items with a calculated grade item.
Provide comments that are not counted towards users’ final grades.
You can change which grade items appear in your view of the grade book using Manage Columns.
To change which grade item details (e.g., weighted grade, grade scheme color) and user details (e.g., username, email) appear in your view of the grade book, see Setting grade book display options [48].
Release conditions enable you to associate a category or item with other items in Learning Environment. For example, you could require that users complete the last assignment in the category Unit 1 before the category Unit 2 appears in their grade book.
You can attach a grade item to individual course objects when editing their properties in the following tools:
Note Completing a quiz included in a SCORM package automatically generates a grade item in the grades list, populated with the quiz results. To manually create a grade item for a SCORM package, see Creating and editing a SCORM package [58].
Note The first range starts at 0 and ends at the next range’s Start %.
Note If you do not assign a value, the start percentage is used as the default.
NoteYou cannot edit some of the properties of a grade scheme if a selectbox grade item is using it.
Note You cannot delete a grade scheme that is in use.
On the Schemes page, click the Set As Default icon for the grade scheme you want to make the default.
Use the Enter Grades page to enter, import, and export grades for your users. This area displays your grade book organized by user by default. You can switch between the standard view of the grade book and a spreadsheet view that allows you to enter grades directly into the User List.
Note Customize your view of the grade book using Manage Columns. Select or clear the check boxes beside the items you want to appear, and click Save.
Tip Use the Search For and View By fields, or the Next Page icon to locate a user.
To | Do this |
---|---|
Flag user for future reference |
Click the Flag icon beside the user’s name. |
Preview the user’s grades |
Click Preview in the user's action menu. |
View the event log for the user’s grades |
Click Event Log in the user's action menu. |
Email the user |
Click Email user in the user's action menu. |
Change final grades |
See Calculating final grades [37]. |
To | Do this |
---|---|
Flag user for future reference |
Click the Flag icon beside their name. |
Email users |
Select the check boxes beside the users you want to email and click Email. |
Clear all grades in the category for selected users |
Select the check boxes beside the users whose grades you want to clear and click Clear. |
Clear all grades in the category for all users |
Click Clear All in the item's context menu. |
To | Do this |
---|---|
Flag users for future reference |
Click the Flag icon beside their name. |
Apply a common grade to all users |
|
Apply a common grade to selected users |
|
Evaluate grade items associated with a learning objective |
|
Email selected users |
Select the check boxes beside the users you want to email and click Email. |
Clear grades for selected users |
Select the check boxes beside the users you want to clear grades for and click Clear. |
Clear grades for all users |
Click Clear All in the grade item's context menu. |
View the Event Log for the grade item for a particular user |
Click the Event Log icon in the user’s row. |
View the Event Log for the grade item for all users |
Click Event Log in the item's context menu. |
You can associate quizzes, dropbox folders, and discussions with grade items and grade them directly from the Quizzes, Dropbox, and Discussions tools. You can create the grade item as you set up a quiz, dropbox folder, or discussion topic.
The maximum points value of a grade item overrides the final score value of an associated quiz, dropbox submission, and discussion topic. Select Can Exceed in your dropbox folder and discussion topic settings to allow the grade value of users' submissions to exceed the maximum points value set in the associated grade item.
Create Bonus questions in quizzes to allow user submissions to exceed the maximum points value set in the associated grade item.
Example If a quiz with a total points value of 10 is associated with a grade item with a maximum points value of 8, a perfect quiz score of 10/10 will display in the Grades tool as 8/8. If a quiz with a total points value of 8 and a bonus question worth 2 points is associated with a grade item with a maximum points value of 8, a perfect quiz score of 10/8 will display in the Grades tool as 10/8.
Note You can enter or update a grade from either the Grades tool or the tool the item is associated with. However, changes made in the Grades tool are not updated in the associated tool.
You can enter grades in another application and import them into Learning Environment using a CSV or TXT file. You can also create new grade items through an import file by adding a column to the file.
The import file must follow a standard format; use the Grades sample import file as a reference point. We recommend that you set up your grade book in Learning Environment even if you want to enter grades in a CSV or TXT file. You can then use the Export Grades option to create an appropriately structured file.
Field | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
Username |
A unique name for identifying a user in Learning Environment. You must provide a Username or Org Defined ID (or both). |
Frank.Catcher |
Org Defined ID |
A unique number for identifying a user in Learning Environment. You must provide a Username or Org Defined ID (or both). |
20067930 |
|
Numeric and Pass/Fail grade items should be labeled the grade item name followed by “Points Grade”. Users’ grades should be the Points Grade they received. E.g., 44 points out of a possible 50 points. |
44 |
|
Selectbox grade items should be labeled the grade item name followed by “Grade Symbol”. Users’ grades should be a pre-existing grade scheme symbol. E.g., “Very Good”, “Merit”, or “3.5”. |
Very Good |
|
Text grade items should be labeled the grade item name followed by “Text Grade”. Users’ grades can be any text value. Text grade items do not count towards users’ final grades. |
Perfect Attendance! |
Adjusted Final Grade Numerator |
The total points a user achieved in a course. You can enter a user’s percentage grade (without the % sign) if you enter the denominator as 100. E.g., 84 points out of 100 points or 230 points out of 285 points. |
84 |
Adjusted Final Grade Denominator |
The total possible points available in a course. Enter 100 if you want to record users’ percentage grades. E.g., _ / 100 points available or _ / 285 points available. |
100 |
End-of-Line Indicator |
The last column must be labeled “End-of-Line Indicator” so the system knows when the next set of data begins. The end of each users’ line should be indicated with the pound key “#”. |
# |
7.x legacy grade items | ||
|
In the 7.x version of Learning Environment, Numeric and Pass/Fail grade items were labeled the grade item name followed by “Out Of Grade”. These grade items can still be imported. |
44 |
|
In the 7.x version of Learning Environment, Text and Selectbox grade items were labeled “ If a 7.x import file contains a Selectbox grade item, you must create a new grade item to replace it. |
Very Good |
Note Fields with errors are not imported.
Note Grade items that contain French characters do not display correctly in Microsoft Excel. Do not correct the characters in the CSV file if you want to import the file back into Learning Environment. Use Notepad if you want characters to display correctly.
Calculated grade items display users' cumulative achievement across multiple grade items and grade item categories. Milestone Grade Calculation uses the maximum cumulative weight or points of the completed grade items as the denominator to determine a calculated grade item's score.
A calculated grade item with Milestone Grade Calculation is a good method for providing a course interim grade calculation, and for analyzing how specific grade items contribute to an overall score.
Note You can only create calculated grade items that use a Milestone Grade Calculation if your grading system is set to Weighted. See Changing Calculation Options [60] for more information.
Example 1 A calculated grade item in a Weighted grading system with individual grade items and a weighted category. The Grade Calculations setting for ungraded items is set to Drop ungraded items. This example contains two ungraded grade items.
Grade items and categories (Weight 100) | Achievement | Milestone Grade Calculation |
---|---|---|
Grade Item A (Weight 20):
|
Grade Item A achieved weight:
(18/20) |
(Sum of achieved weight for Grade Items A, B, C, and Category 1) / (Sum of graded items' max possible weight): (18 + 8 + 20) / (20 + 20 + 20) = 46/60 (76.66%)
|
Grade Item B (Weight 20):
|
Grade Item B achieved weight:
(8/20) |
|
Grade Item C (Weight 20):
|
||
Category 1 (Weight 40):
|
Category 1 achieved weight:
0.5*(10/10) |
Example 2 A calculated grade item in a Weighted grading system with individual grade items and a weighted category. The Grade Calculations setting for ungraded items is set to Treat ungraded items as 0. This example is similar to Example 1 except it contains two grade items treated as 0.
Grade items and categories (Weight 100) | Achievement | Milestone Grade Calculation |
---|---|---|
Grade Item A (Weight 20):
|
Grade Item A achieved weight:
(18/20) |
(Sum of achieved weight for Grade Items A, B, C, and Category 1) / (Sum of graded items' max possible weight): (18 + 8 + 20) / (20 + 20 + 20 + 40) = 46/100 (46%)
|
Grade Item B (Weight 20):
|
Grade Item B achieved weight:
(8/20) |
|
Grade Item C (Weight 20):
|
||
Category 1 (Weight 40):
|
Category 1 achieved weight:
0.5*(10/10) |
Example 3 A calculated grade item in a Weighted grading system with weighted categories. The Grade Calculations setting for ungraded items is set to Drop ungraded items. This example contains one ungraded grade item.
Grade items and categories (Weight 100) | Achievement | Milestone Grade Calculation |
---|---|---|
Category 1 (Weight 40):
|
Category 1 achieved weight:
0.5*(20/20 + 8/20) |
(Sum of achieved weight for Category 1 and Category 2) / (Sum of graded items' max possible weight): (28 + 33.6) / (20 + 20 + +24 + 24 + 12) = 61.6/76 (81.05%) |
Category 2 (Weight 60):
|
Category 2 achieved weight:
0.4*(10/10) + 0.2*(8/10) |
Example 4 A calculated grade item in a Weighted grading system with weighted categories. The Grade Calculations setting for ungraded items is set to Treat ungraded items as 0. This example is similar to Example 3, except it contains one grade item treated as 0.
Grade items and categories (Weight 100) | Achievement | Milestone Grade Calculation |
---|---|---|
Category 1 (Weight 40):
|
Category 1 achieved weight:
0.5*(20/20 + 8/20) |
(Sum of achieved weight for Category 1 and Category 2) / (Sum of graded items' max possible weight): (28 + 33.6) / (40 + 60) = 61.6/100 (61.6%) |
Category 2 (Weight 60):
|
Category 2 achieved weight:
0.4*(10/10) + 0.2*(8/10) |
Event logs maintain a record of changes made to your grade book. The logs can be useful when auditing a grade book, managing teaching assistants, and discussing grades with users.
On the Manage Grades page, click Event Log from the action menu of the category or grade item you wish to view.
The User Progress tool enables you to view statistics on a specific user’s use of Learning Environment. Click User Progress on the navbar to navigate to the Class Progress page. If the Grades Progress Indicator does not display, click Settings to change which progress indicators display. To view grades for individual users, click on the user's name to navigate to their individual User Progress page. For more information, see User Progress [61].
Use the Formula Editor to define a formula that calculates a grade item’s value based on other grade items. When you create a formula, you specify which grade items you want included in the formula and the relationships between them. An example of a simple formula is one that calculates the sum of a number of grade items. A more complicated formula is one that drops the minimum or maximum value from a set of grade items.
Note If the Formula Editor is turned off at your organization, contact your site administration about getting access to this functionality.
The Formula Editor is available on the New Item page and Edit Item page for Formula items, and the Edit Calculated Final Grade page and Edit Adjusted Final Grade page for the Formula grading system.
The Formula Area is where the formula text is displayed. The equals sign (=) at the start of the formula cannot be deleted. A cursor shows your position in the formula. Click in the formula area to position the cursor.
The cursor placement icons are used to move the cursor forwards and backwards in the formula. You can also move the cursor by clicking on the new location with your mouse. There are four options:
Use the Grade Item drop-down list to view what grade items you can insert as a parameter in your formula. You can insert Numeric, Pass/Fail, Selectbox, and Formula type grade items. You cannot reference the formula grade item you are defining (this avoids a circular reference) or a final grade.
Use the Grade Item Value drop-down list to view the values associated with the grade item you want to use in the formula. There are three options:
Click Insert to insert the selected grade parameter in the formula.
The Function drop-down list contains a list of functions that you can use in your calculation formula:
The right area of the Formula editor contains a number of operators and a numeric key pad to build your formula. These operators are usually used in conjunction with at least one grade item.
The Backspace and Clear options let you delete parts of your formula to make changes.
The Cancel button exits the Formula Editor without saving your changes.
The Insert button validates your formula and applies it to the grade book item or final grade you are working on. If your formula is invalid, you receive an error message and your cursor moves to the point in the formula that caused the error. The error type displays in red above the formula. See Grades Formula Editor validation errors for a list of potential errors.
The Validate option checks if your formula conforms to standard formula grammar. If your formula is valid, a confirmation message displays. If your formula is invalid, you receive an error message and your cursor moves to the point in the formula that caused the error. The error type displays in red above the formula. See Grades Formula Editor validation errors for a list of potential errors.
The Preview option lets you check how your formula will calculate grades for the first ten users in your user list. Click Close when you are finished viewing the grades. If your formula is invalid, you cannot preview grades.
Error | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
Unexpected [token_type] e.g., Unexpected operator |
The formula contains a function component in an unexpected location |
= 5=/1 = (5+1)2 |
Unbalanced parentheses |
The formula contains an opening or closing bracket without a corresponding bracket |
= 5+1) |
Missing end of function |
The formula contains an unclosed function |
= SUM{[Item1.Points], [Item2.Points] |
Unexpected function end |
The formula contains a closing bracket for a function that does not relate to a function |
= [Item1.Points]/2} |
Invalid number of operator parameters |
The formula contains an invalid number of operator parameters |
= [Item1.Points] + |
Invalid number of function parameters |
The formula contains an invalid number of function parameters |
= SUM{} = IF{[Item1.Points]<2,5} |
Numeric value expected |
A Boolean statement or operator was entered in place of a numeric value |
= IF{5<2,1 OR 1,4} = SUM{1 = 2,3,4} |
Boolean value expected |
A Boolean statement was not entered for a condition |
= IF {MIN{4,5},100,0} = NOT{4} |
Invalid terminal |
The formula contains an incorrectly used terminal |
= [Item1.Points] + 3.2.5 |
Scenario 1: Give users who achieved over 75% on all grade items in a category 100% for the category.
= IF {MIN{[Week1.Percent],[Week2.Percent],[Week3.Percent]} < 75, 0, 100}
Scenario 2: Drop the lowest two grades in a set of three grades
= SUM{[G1.PointsReceived],[G2.Points Received], [G3Points Received]} - MIN{[G1.PointsReceived],[G2.Points Received]} - IF{MIN{[G2.Points Received], [G3Points Received]} = MIN{[G1.PointsReceived],[G2.Points Received]}, MIN{[G1.PointsReceived],[G3.Points Received]}, MIN {[G2.PointsReceived],[G3.Points Received]}}
Scenario 3: Fail users who receive less than 60% on either their midterm or final exam.
= IF {MIN{[Midterm.Percent],[Final.Percent]} < 60, 0, SUM {[A1.Percent],[A2.Percent],[G1.Percent],[G2.Percent],[Midterm.Percent],[Final.Percent]}}
Click Grades on the navbar, then click Enter Grades.
The Final Grades page lists the calculated final grade for each user in your grade book. You should ensure these grades are accurate. Final grades might be inaccurate if:
Do one of the following:
The Enter Grades page also contains an area to enter final adjusted grades for users. You can use adjusted final grades to apply a bell curve or to raise the final grade of a user who was sick. Whether the adjusted final grade is released to users depends on the Final Grade Released option you chose when setting up your grade book.
Do one of the following:
Once you have ensured that users’ grades are accurate, you can release them.
You offer a number of online training courses that use similar content, but adjust the course content depending on your users’ interests and skill levels. You set up specific courses by importing course content from a master course. You do not want to change the weight of each grade item to make every course grade book balance, so you use the points system and keep each grade item’s Max. Points the same. You grade basic tasks out of 5, intermediate tasks out of 10, and advanced tasks out of 15. You give users who receive at least 70% on all grade items 10 bonus points. You allow users to exceed the maximum points for a grade item, but not the final grade. Because you often allow some users to skip advanced tasks, you drop ungraded items from the final grade calculation.
You set up grade items with the following properties:
Project 1 |
Project 2 | Project 3 | Project 4 | Project 5 | Project 6 | Bonus | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max. points |
5 |
5 |
10 |
10 |
15 |
15 |
10 |
Can Exceed |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Bonus |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
You assign the following grades for the user Frank Catcher:
Project 1 |
Project 2 | Project 3 | Project 4 | Project 5 | Project 6 | Bonus | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max. points |
6 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
15 |
-- |
10 |
You release the calculated final grade to Frank. It is calculated as follows:
Grade item | Calculation |
---|---|
Project 1 |
= 6/5*100 = 120% |
Project 2 |
= 8/5*100 = 160% |
Project 3 |
= 9/10*100 = 90% |
Project 4 |
= 8/10*100 = 80% |
Project 5 |
= 15/15*100 = 100% |
Project 6 |
= Dropped Note Dropped grade items are not included in calculations; grades are calculated as if the item does not exist. |
Bonus |
= 10/10*100 = 100% Note Bonus points are added on top of the final grade; they are not included in the Points Received/Max. Points calculation. |
Calculated Final Grade |
= (6+8+9+8+15)/(5+5+10+10+15)*100+10 = 46/45*100+10 = 112.22% = 100% |
You are teaching an introductory science course in which users are graded on four labs, their participation in discussion topics, and a final examination. You allow users to drop their lowest grade on a lab. You also provide bonus grades to users who act as moderators for discussion topics. If a user does not submit a lab, you leave it ungraded and treat ungraded items as a grade of 0.
You set up grade items and a Labs category with the following properties:
Labs | Lab 1 | Lab 2 | Lab 3 | Lab 4 | Discussions | Moderator | Exam | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Labs | Labs | Labs | Labs | Labs | None | None | None |
Max. points | n/a | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 100 |
Weight | 50% | 50% for the category | ||||||
25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | |||||
Bonus | n/a | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Drop lowest | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
You assign the following grades for the user Frank Catcher:
Labs | Lab 1 | Lab 2 | Lab 3 | Lab 4 | Discussions | Moderator | Exam | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frank Catcher | n/a | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 71 |
You release the calculated final grade to Frank. It is calculated as follows:
Grade item | Calculation |
---|---|
Lab 1 |
= Dropped Note Dropped grade items are not included in calculations; grades are calculated as if the item does not exist. |
Lab 2 |
= 8/10*25/(25+25+25)*100 = 26.67% towards the category = 26.67*.5 = 13.33% towards the final grade Note Lab 1 is worth 33.33% of the Labs category even though it is assigned a weight of 25%. This is because the lowest lab grade is dropped and there are only three labs contributing to the category. |
Lab 3 |
= 0/10*25/(25+25+25)*100 = 0% towards the category = 0*.5 = 0% towards the final grade See the note for Lab 1. |
Lab 4 |
= 7/10*25/(25+25+25)*100 = 23.33% towards the category = 23.33*.5 = 11.67% towards the final grade See the note for Lab 1. |
Discussions |
= 8/10*10 = 8% towards the final grade |
Moderator |
= 3/5*5 = 3% on top of the final grade Note Bonus items are added to the final grade after other calculations. Do not include a bonus item’s weight in your total when balancing your grade book. |
Exam |
= 70/100*40 = 28% towards the final grade |
Calculated Final Grade |
= 13.33+11.67+8+3+28 = 64% |
To | Do this |
---|---|
View grades by group or section |
Select “Groups” or “Sections” from the View By drop-down list. |
Clear adjusted final grades |
Do one of the following:
|
Leave general feedback for all users |
|
Leave feedback for a specific user |
Click the Enter Comments icon for the user. Note Final grade comments are not released to users until you release the final grade. |
Email users about their final grades |
Select the users you want to email and click Email. |
Enter a common adjusted grade for multiple users |
|
Change the number of users displayed per page |
Select a value from the per page drop-down list. |
View the Final Grades Event Log |
Click Event Log from the Final Grades context menu. |
View a user’s Event Log |
Click the Event Log icon for the user. |
View statistics for a grade item or a user’s final grades |
On the Manage Grades page, click View Statistics from the menu beside the item or category you want to see statistics for. |
You can edit the name of the calculated or adjusted final grade, change whether users’ grades can exceed the max points or weight for the final grade, apply a grade scheme to the final grade, associate an activity with the final grade, or change what grade options display in the grade book for the final grade.
For the final grade you release to users, you can specify whether users can see the class average or grade distribution for the final grade, and set release conditions for when the final grade is visible.
Use the Objectives tab to associate an activity with the final grade.
Editing the Max. Points, Weight, Bonus, or Can Exceed fields for a grade item that already has grades entered for it can drastically change users’ recorded achievement. Make sure you consider how grades are affected before you make changes and review and adjust users’ grades afterwards.
Examples
It is possible to evaluate and record grades for grade items that you don't want included in users' final grades. For example, you could evaluate practice assignments or course participation even though they are not included in users' final grades so that users get ongoing feedback and support.
Do one of the following:
Note These options are only available for the final grade you release to users. This might be either the final calculated or final adjusted grade depending on the setup options you selected for your course.
Release conditions allow you to associate the final grade with other objects in Learning Environment. For example, you could require that users submit a class evaluation before they see their final grade.
Note This option is only available for the final grade you release to users. This might be either the Final Calculated or Final Adjusted grade depending on the setup options you selected for your course.
Final grade statistics lets you view details about a class, group, or section’s overall grades for a course. Statistics include the average, median, mode, standard deviation for a population, minimum grade, maximum grade, and a graph showing the distribution of grades. You can also view users’ individual final grades.
Do one of the following:
Category statistics lets you view details about a class, group, or section’s overall performance in a category of grade items. Statistics include the average, median, mode, standard deviation for a population, minimum grade, maximum grade, and a graph showing the distribution of grades. You can also view users’ individual grades in the category.
On the Manage Grades page, click View Statistics from the action menu beside the category you want to view statistics for.
If your grade book contains a lot of users or grade items, you might find that it loads slowly. Consider the following tips to improve performance.
Note These options are only available for the final grade you release to users. This might be either the final calculated or final adjusted grade depending on the setup options you selected for your course.
The Personal Display Options page lets you set what information you want to display in your grade book. Setting these options helps you set up a grade book that has the information you need and is easy to navigate and read.
Click Settings in the Grades tool.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Managing View Display Options | |
Username |
Displays users’ usernames in the grade book. |
Org Defined ID |
Displays Org Defined IDs in the grade book. |
|
Displays users’ email addresses in the grade book. (This option can take up a lot of screen space when viewing the grade book.) |
Points grade |
Displays the points a user earned on a grade item and the total points the item was out of. E.g., 6/10 |
Weighted grade |
Displays how much a users’ grade is worth towards the final grade. E.g., 3/5 (for a user who scored 60% on a grade item worth 50% of a category worth 10% of the final grade). Note This option is only available in the weighted system. |
Grade scheme symbol |
Displays the grade scheme symbol for the scheme level a user earned on a grade item. This can be a numeric or text value. E.g., “Very Good” |
Grade scheme color |
Displays the grade scheme color for the grade scheme level a user achieved on a grade item. |
Number of characters to display for Text items |
Sets the maximum characters to display in the grade book for a Text item before truncating it. Try to find a balance between using a lot of space in the grade book and having enough text to understand the item. The value must be an integer between 0 and 50. |
Number of columns before user details repeat |
Sets how many columns are displayed before user information is repeated. This option makes it easier to work with long grade books. The value must be an integer between 0 and 99. |
Number of users before column header repeats |
Sets how often the column header is repeated in the user list. The value must be an integer between 0 and 50. If 0 is entered, the column header is not repeated. |
Repeat calculated final grade at the start of the user list |
Sets whether you see a user’s final calculated grade at the start of the grade book next to the user’s name, as well as after all the grade items. |
Repeat adjusted final grade at the start of the user list |
Sets whether you see a user’s adjusted final grade at the start of the grade book next to the user’s name, as well as after all the grade items. |
Start Page | |
Default Grades area |
Sets which page displays by default when you open the Grades tool. |
The Org Unit Display Options page lets you set what information to display to all course users.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Managing View Display Options | |
Number of decimal places to display |
You can set the number of decimal places users will see for items in their grade book. The default value is 2 and the maximum value is 5. Note This option only changes how many decimals are displayed; it does not control how many decimals the Grades tool rounds to when calculating grades. |
Student View Display Options | |
Points grade |
This setting determines whether or not the Points grade value associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. Releasing the points grade to users shows them the value a grade item was marked out of and their score. E.g., 6/10. |
Weighted grade |
This setting determines whether or not the Weighted grade value associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. Releasing the weighted grade to users shows them the weight of a grade item in relation to the final grade. E.g., 3/5 (for a user who scored 60% on a grade item worth 50% of a category worth 10% of the final grade). Note This option is only available for the weighted grading system. |
Grade scheme symbol |
This setting determines whether or not the grade scheme symbol associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. Releasing the grade scheme symbol to users shows them the scheme level they received on a grade item. E.g., “Good”. |
Grade scheme color |
This setting determines whether or not the Grade scheme color associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. Releasing the grade scheme color shows users the color associated with the scheme level they received. E.g., . |
Number of decimal places to display |
Controls the number of decimal places a user sees in the grade book. The default value is 2 and the maximum value is 5. NoteThis option only changes how many decimals are displayed; it does not control how many decimals the Grades tool rounds to when calculating grades. |
Number of characters to display for Text items |
Controls the number of characters displayed to users for a text item before the text is truncated. Try and find a balance between presenting enough information for users to recognize the text item and keeping the item short enough that it displays nicely. The default value is 15 and the maximum value is 50. |
Display how final grade was calculated to users |
This setting determines whether users can see how their final grade was calculated in the student view of Grades. |
Allow users to add their grades to their ePortfolio |
This setting determines whether users with the appropriate permissions can import their grades to their ePortfolio as course artifacts. |
The Calculation Options page lets you set or change the type of grading system you use to calculate users’ grades, whether you want to release the calculated final grade or an adjusted final grade, and how you want to calculate ungraded items.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Grading System | |
Weighted |
Categories and grade items are calculated as a percentage of a final grade worth 100%. The Max. Points assigned to individual grade items can be any value, but their contribution towards the final grade is always their assigned weight. See Grading systems [4] for more information. |
Points |
Grade items are calculated using their Max. Points value, rather than a percentage. Users’ scores on grade items are totaled and then divided by the total points available. |
Formula |
Grade items are calculated using the points system, but a formula is used to set conditions around how grade items contribute to the final grade. |
Final Grade Released | |
Calculated Final Grade |
The grade achieved by users based on the grading formula setup in the grade book. You cannot adjust it without editing individual grade items and recalculating the total. |
Adjusted Final Grade |
A final grade that can be adjusted or modified before being released to users. |
Grade Calculations | |
Treat ungraded items as 0 |
Ungraded items count as a 0 towards users’ final grades. |
Drop ungraded items |
Ungraded items are removed from the final grade calculation. They do not count towards the users’ grade. |
Automatically keep final grades updated |
Determines whether the calculated final grade updates every time a change is made or only when a user manually recalculates the grade. |
Links:
[1] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/accessing-grades
[2] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/viewing-grades
[3] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/understanding-grade-book
[4] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/selecting-grading-system
[5] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/selecting-grade-scheme
[6] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/grades-setup-wizard
[7] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/understanding-grade-items
[8] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-grade-book-categories
[9] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-numeric-grade-items
[10] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-selectbox-grade-items
[11] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-passfail-grade-items
[12] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-formula-grade-items
[13] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-calculated-grade-items
[14] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-text-grade-items
[15] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/editing-grade-items-categories
[16] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/hiding-showing-grade-items-grade-book
[17] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/reordering-grade-items-categories
[18] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-availability-grade-items-categories
[19] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-release-conditions-grade-items-categories
[20] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/deleting-grade-items-categories
[21] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/restoring-deleted-grade-items-categories
[22] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/associating-grade-items-course-objects
[23] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/associating-grade-items-categories-learning-objective
[24] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/accessing-grades-schemes
[25] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-grade-schemes
[26] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/editing-grade-schemes
[27] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/copying-grade-schemes
[28] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/deleting-grade-schemes
[29] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-default-grade-scheme
[30] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/entering-grades
[31] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/importing-exporting-grades
[32] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/using-milestone-grade-calculation-for-calculated-grade-items
[33] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/accessing-grades-event-log
[34] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/tracking-grades-with-user-progress
[35] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-formula-in-grades-formula-editor
[36] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/accessing-final-grades-page
[37] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/calculating-final-grades
[38] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/additional-options-on-final-grades-page
[39] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/editing-calculated-or-adjusted-final-grade
[40] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/excluding-grade-items-from-final-grade
[41] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/releasing-final-grades
[42] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-final-grade-display-options-for-users
[43] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-display-options-for-grade-book
[44] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-release-conditions-for-final-grade
[45] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/viewing-grade-statistics
[46] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/optimizing-grades-settings-large-courses
[47] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-grade-item-category-display-options
[48] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/setting-grade-book-display-options
[49] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/changing-personal-display-options
[50] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/changing-org-unit-display-options
[51] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/changing-calculation-options
[52] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/taxonomy/term/3
[53] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/taxonomy/term/2
[54] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/../managing_users_grades/creating_formula_grades_formula_editor.htm
[55] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-quizzes#understanding_quiz_properties
[56] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-dropbox-folders
[57] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/configuring-topic-for-assessment
[58] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/creating-editing-scorm-package
[59] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/node/859
[60] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/node/394#calculation_options
[61] http://staging.docs.d2l/en/user-progress