Gradebooks are split into Categories and Items. Grade items are listed beneath categories. Each item can be associated with a specific Quiz, Discussion, or Assignment. Once students complete the associated Quiz, Discussion or Assignment, their grade will populate into the grade item that is created within the gradebook. This tutorial demonstrates how to create a grade item in a course.

 

1.     Locate the course where you would like to create a grade item.

2.     Select Grades in the navigation bar.


3.     When the page refreshes, select the Manage Grades tab.


4.     Select New.


5.     From the drop-down menu, select Item.


6.     Then, select a grade item type. For this example we will use Numeric, which will grade users by value out of a specified total number of points. This is also the only Grade Item Type that can be associated with learning activities (assignments, discussions, and quizzes).


Additional grade items types include the following options. However, you will not able to associate any of these Grade Item Types to learning activities (assignments, discussions, and quizzes).

a.     Selectbox: Grades users by selecting the grade scheme level that best matches their achievement. For example, “Very Good” or “B+”.

b.     Pass/Fail: Grade users using a simple pass/fail scheme.

c.     Formula: Automatically grade users using a custom formula based on achievement on other grade items. For example, you can give users who received at least 50% of all participation grade items a perfect attendance bonus.

d.     Calculated: Calculate users’ cumulative achievement across multiple grade items. This could be used for a Midterm Grade.

e.     Text: Provide comments in the grade book that are not calculated in the final grade. For example, “Course Evaluation Completed.”


7.     Title the grade item based upon the title given in the syllabus in the Name field.


8.     Select the category that the grade item will be nested in from the category drop-down menu.


9.     Enter the points for the grade item in the Grading section.

a.     For a weighted grade system, if Manually Assign Weight to Items in the Category is selected at the category level, there will be an editable weight field. If another weight distribution option was selected at the category level, the weight field will not be editable.


10.  If extra credit or bonus points will be given, select the following options that apply.

a.     Can Exceed - Allows the maximum points to be exceeded. For example, a use case would be a grading curve.


b.     Bonus - Checking this option allows for the grade item to be solely a bonus grade item for extra points. The bonus points will be added to the final calculated grade.


11.  If you would like to have a different grade scheme for this grade item, select the Grade Scheme dropdown menu for available options. Current options include percentage and letter.


12.  If the grade item is a manual grade item and not connected to a learning activity (assignment, discussion, or quiz), then a rubric can be attached by selecting Add Rubric. Examples of manual grade items include in class participation or presentation. If the grade item is connected to a learning activity, we recommend adding the rubric to the assignment, discussion, or quiz settings.


13.  Under the Display Option Settings, there are options to override the view settings for both students and instructors for each grade item.

a.     Student View - We do not recommend overriding the view options within this section as students will be able to see other student data.


b.     Managing View - This option allows instructors to change how the students’ scores show in the ‘Enter Grades’ view for this individual grade item.


14.  Select Save and Close.