Manage Grades
The Manage Grades tab provides the best look at a course site’s overall grading breakdown and includes options for creating new Grade Items and Categories, and adjusting or removing existing ones.
The Grades Setup Wizard will appear as the initial view in a new and empty course site. This is useful for first time users but is simply a walkthrough of the options in Manage Grades and Settings.
Grade management and More Actions
Grade Items and Categories can be created through the New option, while More Actions provides further options which includes the import tools Reorder and Delete.
Each Item or Category can be edited via its dropdown menu [2], and multiple items can be selected on the left and then altered through Bulk Edit [1].
The Manage Grades screen displays any associated assessment items [3] (which can be linked when editing the assessment tool itself) along with the point values [4] (which will include a Weight if the Weighted option has been enabled in Settings).
Create a new Grade Category
Go the to Manage Grades tab in the Grades tool.
Select New.
From the drop-down menu, choose New Category.
Specify the desired details of the new grade category.
Decide how to distribute weight across all items in the category. For example, when distributing points evenly across all items, “Midterm 1” would be 50% of the category, and “Midterm 2” would be another 50%, to total 100% for that category.
Select the display options students can see.
Set any specific restrictions:
Hide from users: Hide restrictions from learners.
Has Start Date: Set a Start Date for the grade category.
Has End Date: Set an End Date for the grade category.
Display In Calendar: Display Start and End Dates in the course Calendar.
Release Conditions: Attach Existing conditions or Create and Attach conditions.
Select Save and Close if finished, or Save and New to continue making another new category.
Adding Items to a Category
When creating a new item, under the Properties tab use the drop-down under Category to choose which category that item will belong to. Remember to click Save or Save and Close when finished.
If adding an existing item, click the chevron beside the intended item and click Edit. Then under the Properties tab, use the drop-down under Category to choose which category that item will belong to. Remember to click Save or Save and Close when finished.
Create a new Grade Item
Go the to Manage Grades tab in the Grades tool.
Select New.
From the drop-down menu, choose New Item.
On the New Item page, choose a Grade Item Type from the following:
Numeric: Grade users by assigning a value out of a specified total number of points. This is by far the most commonly used option.
Selectbox: Grade users by selecting the grade scheme level that best matches their achievement. Selectbox type grade items cannot be created until at least one org grade scheme has been created.
Pass/Fail: Grade users using a simple pass or fail scheme.
Formula: Automatically grade users using a custom formula based on their achievement for other grade items.
Calculated: Calculate users' cumulative achievement across multiple grade items.
Text: Provide comments in the grade book that are not calculated in the final grade.
Numeric and Selectbox are the only grade items that will support associations (such as Assignment or Quizzes) for grading and actively contribute to grade book calculations.
In the Properties tab, enter the details for the grade item.
Fill in the mandatory fields, including the name, point value and weight.
Associate the grade item to a grade category. For example, if the grade item is “Midterm 1”, and if a category called “Midterms” is already set up, associate it with the category
Assign a weight to the category. For example, the category of “Midterms” could be 50%. Note: If associating the item to a category, the weight will automatically populate itself.
The fields in Properties will vary based on the chosen Grade Item Type. To learn more about a particular field in Properties, click the question mark icon beside the field.
In the Restrictions tab, enter the following information:
Hide from users: Hide restrictions from learners.
Has Start Date: Set a Start Date for the grade item.
Has End Date: Set an End Date for the grade item.
Display In Calendar: Display Start and End Dates in the course Calendar.
Release Conditions: Attach Existing conditions or Create and Attach conditions.
There is an option of choosing whether a grade item can exceed the point value allotted, or is a bonus item. For more on that topic, see our bonus items, extra credit, and can exceed article.
There is an option to add a rubric and to modify the display options students are allowed to see.
Click Save and Close.
Standalone, manual, or participation Grade Items
Grade Items can be configured to not be associated with any Brightspace tools (online assignment, quizzes, etc.) for manual grade entry. Simply create the Grade Item and then use its dropdown menu to find the Enter Grades option, which provides a page to enter scores and provide text feedback.
Associating an Assessment with an Item
Assessments like quizzes and assignments cannot be linked from the Grades area. Although the instructor can create a grade item for this assessment, it must be linked from the assessment itself (i.e.. by editing the assignment) with the exception of Rubrics. Read more about associating a grade to an Assignment, Quiz, or Discussion.
Rubrics with existing/new grade item
Rubrics can only be associated with grade items through grade item properties. Grade Items cannot be created from the Rubrics tool.
Go the to Manage Grades tab in the Grades tool.
Select New.
From the drop-down menu, choose New Item.
On the New Item page, choose a Grade Item Type.
On the Properties tab scroll down to Rubrics.
Add an existing rubric.
Create a new rubric in a pop-up window to then attach.
Click Add selected once the desired rubric is chosen.
Save and Close.
Please contact CPI at edtech@brocku.ca with any questions or comments about the contents of this site.