What is the Gradebook?
The Gradebook is an overview where all activities are displayed that have an assessment set up, such as assignments and quizzes, but also discussion topics where you want to assess contributions. You can filter by subgroups or classes in the Gradebook to get a comprehensive view of submitted work and given assessments.
From the gradebook, you can immediately check submitted work. You can also do this via Quick Eval and Assignments.
The Gradebook can be found under Grades in the course navbar.
What is a Grade Item?
Any item with an assessment that appears as a column in the Gradebook is called a Grade item. A grade item can be associated with an assignment, a quiz, or a discussion topic for which you want to give a grade.
You can link a Grade item to a category, which will group the columns in the Gradebook next to each other with the category title above them (such as the categories 'Papers' and 'Final Report' in the example above).
Additionally, you can create your own Grade items to calculate grades, for example.
It is useful to structure your Gradebook in a way that aligns with the assessments in Osiris, and therefore, first set up the Gradebook with Grade Items and categories. You can later link the Grade Items to an assignment, quiz, or discussion topic. However, it is also possible to first create assignments, quizzes, or discussion topics, which will automatically generate a Grade Item in the Gradebook.
Table of Contents
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Step 1: Choose Grading System
- Weighted
- Points
- Formula
- Step 2: Final Grade Released
- Step 3: Grade Calculations
- Step 4: Choose Default Grade Scheme
- Step 5: Managing View Display Options
- Step 6: Student View Display Options
- Step 7: Grade Setup Summary
To set up the gradebook for the course, click on Grades in the course's Navigation Bar. If there are no grade items yet, the setup wizard will open automatically. If this does not happen, click on Setup Wizard.
First, you will see the current settings of the gradebook. Scroll down and click Start.
Step 1: Choose Grading System
The Grading System is important for calculating a final grade in the course. For this purpose, a column is automatically created in the Gradebook. If you do not wish to use this feature (calculating a final grade for the course), you do not need to modify steps 1 through 3.
There are 3 different options to choose from: Weighted, Points, or Formula. Below, we explain the differences.
Weighted: Different course components have their own weight and together they determine the final course grade, expressed as a 100% score.
For example: two group assignments contribute together 20% to the final course grade (with Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 each contributing 50% to the assignment final grade). The final exam contributes 80%. The student's final grade is then a percentage out of 100%.
Points: Different course components have their own weight and together they determine the final course grade, expressed as a maximum number of points to be earned.
For example: two group assignments contribute together 40 points to the final course grade (with Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 each contributing 20 points to the assignment final grade). The final exam contributes 200 points. The student's final grade is then a score out of a total of 240 points.
Formula: Calculate a final course grade using a personalized formula and determine which course components do/do not count.
For example: if a student scores less than 60% on any given course component, they automatically fail the course: IF {MIN { [Item1.percentage], [Item2.percentage], Item3.percentage] } < 60, 0, 100}.
Within Hanze, the default Grading System is set to Formula. When using the Formula system, you are not obligated to actually add formulas.
Step 2: Final Grade Released
Here you can choose how the final grade will be released:
- Calculated Final Grade: This grade is calculated by the predefined grading model and is automatically updated when new course components are graded.
- Adjusted Final Grade: Choose this option if you want to manually generate/adjust a grade.
- Automatically release final grade: Check this option if you want the final grade to be automatically released after calculation. Disable the option if you want all students to be able to view the final grade at the same time. Note: If you select this option, always choose Calculated Final Grade, not Adjusted Final Grade, because only Calculated Final Grades are automatically updated.
Step 3: Grade Calculations
In Grade Calculations, you choose how incomplete course components are considered in the calculation of the Final Grade:
- Drop ungraded items: Choose this option if you want incomplete course components to be excluded from the final grade. This means that the final grade may decrease as more completed components are added, depending on the scores the student achieves.
- Treat ungraded items as 0: Choose this option if you want incomplete course components to be counted as 0 points in the final grade. This means that the final grade will increase with each completed component, regardless of the scores.
- Automatically keep final grade updated: Brightspace will automatically update the final grade as soon as you grade a new course component.
Step 4: Choose Default Grade Scheme
The term Grade Schemes refers to the different ways in which results can be displayed, such as through a percentage, letter grade, or pass/fail.
Here, you can choose a Grade Scheme that has already been created in Brightspace, or you can create your own Grade Scheme.
Step 5: Managing View Display Options
In step 5, you set the precision of the grade display to zero to five decimal places. By default, Brightspace displays the grade with two decimal places (which you, as the instructor, will see).
Step 6: Student View Display Options
In this step, you configure what students will see when they view their Grades.
1. Grade Details is related to the grade schemes from step 4. Here, you can check multiple options (at the same time):
- Points Grade (e.g., 10/10)
- Weighted Grade (e.g., 100%/100%)
- Grade scheme symbol (e.g., 100%, 10 or Excellent)
- Grade scheme color (color codes)
2. For Decimals Displayed, specify how many decimal places a student can see for their grade (minimum zero and maximum five).
3. For Characters Display, specify how many characters a student can see for textual feedback (maximum 50). In the list view, the text will be truncated if the maximum number of allowed characters is exceeded.
4. Check Display final grade calculation to users to give students insight into how their final grade is calculated.
Step 7: Grade Setup Summary
You will see an overview of the choices you made in steps 1 through 6. Check all the details and click on:
- Finish to complete the Setup Wizard.
- Go Back to adjust your input.
- Cancel to clear all input and return to the start screen of the Setup Wizard.