Setting up a gradebook

1. Setting up a gradebook Miranda Edmonds, M.Ed. Senior Online Instructional Designer Center for eLearning

2. Training Objectives • By the end of this training, you will be able to: • Use the Setup Wizard in Blazeview D2L in order to set up a gradebook on a point or weighted system • Create categories in the gradebook • Create numericgrade items in the gradebook

3. Terms to know • Navigation bar (navbar): Provides navigation within D2L. • Weighted Gradebook: Grade items and categories are calculated as a percentage of the final grade worth 100%. • Points-Based Gradebook: Use the points system when you want the maximum points assigned to a grade item to be equal to its contribution to the final grade. • Grade Category: group related grade items into sections (Test, Quiz, Projects, etc) • Grade items: the individual assignments, quizzes, exams, projects, etc. that will be assessed (Test 1, Test 2, Quiz 1, Quiz 2, Project 1, Project 2)

4. Weighted gradebook example Category Grade items

5. Points-based gradebook example Category Grade items

6. Plan before setting up gradebook • How do you want to organize your gradebook? • What items do you want to assess? • What grading system do you plan to use (weighted or points)? • How do you plan to handle ungraded grade items? • How you want to calculate final grades?

7. How to access gradebook Go to Assessments on the navigation bar. Then, choose Grades.

8. Set Up Gradebook with Gradebook wizard • By default, you will be taken to Setup Wizard (since the gradebook for this course has not been set up). The Setup Wizard creates your overall gradebook settings. • Click the blue Start to begin the Setup Wizard. NOTE: The gradebook must be set up prior to using the Grades tool.

9. Step One: creating a grading system • Weighted: Grade items and categories are calculated as a percentage of the final grade worth 100%. • Grade items in a category count as a % of the category – not the final grade. • Grade items in a category should combine to a weight of 100%. • Example: If you have a category called Essays worth 30% of the final grade with TWO equally weighted grade items (Essay 1 and Essay 2), the weight for each item is 50% -- not 15% (its contribution to the final grade).

10. Step One: creating a grading system • Points: Use the points system when you want the maximum points assigned to a grade item to be equal to its contribution to the final grade. • With points, you do not have to specify a category’s weight or total points. It is the maximum points assigned to a grade item that counts toward the final grade.

11. Step One: creating a grading system • Choose either Weighted or Points for your gradebook system. • Formula is not recommended. • When you have made your selection, click on the blue Continue button.

12. Step Two: Final grade released Note: You must choose Calculated Final Grade OR Adjusted Final Grade. or Note: Automatically release final grade is optional but recommended. When you have made your selections, click the blue Continue button.

13. Step Three: Grade Calculations • Select how you want to calculate ungraded items and whether you want to keep students’ final grades up to date automatically (recommended). • Drop ungraded items: Items that do not have a grade inputted are not counted in the final grade. • You will manually enter 0 for incomplete grade items. • If you chose Automatically release final grade in the previous step, D2L recommends choosing Drop ungraded items so that the released grades better reflect the users’ current grades during the semester. • Treat ungraded items as 0: Items that do not have a grade inputted are counted as 0 in the final grade. • Select this option if you do not want to manually evaluate incomplete grade items. • Automatically keep final grade updated (optional but recommended): Final grades are automatically adjusted after changing a grade item or calculation option. • When you have made your selections, choose the blue Continue button.

14. Step Four: Choose Default Grade Scheme Grade scheme example: 90-100=A 80-89=B 70-79=C 60-69=D 0-59=F • We will apply the default scheme. Click the blue Continue button.

15. Step Five: managing view Display options • This is the number of decimal points that display for items in the instructors view of the gradebook. • Adjust the number of decimals (0 to 5). Default is 2. • Then, click on the blue Continue button.

16. Step Six: Student display options • This view could vary depending on whether you are using a Weighted or Points-Based gradebook. • This is the view from a points-based gradebook. • 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. Ex. 6/10 • Grade scheme symbol: Releasing the grade scheme symbol shows students the grade scheme level earned. Ex. A • Grade scheme color: Releasing the grade scheme color shows a student the color associated with grade scheme level earned. • Number of decimal places to display: Same as previous slide. Default is 2. • Number of characters to display for Text items: Minimum is 0 and Maximum is 50. Default is 15. • Display final grade calculations: Allows students to view how their final grade was calculated. Check the options you want.

17. Step Six: Student display options Check the options you want. • This view could vary depending on whether you are using a Weighted or Points-Based gradebook. • This is the view from a weighted gradebook. • With a weighted gradebook, you have the addition of Weighted grade under Grade Details. • This setting determines whether or not the Weighted grade value associated with a grade item is displayed in the student view of grades. Ex. 3/5 (for a student who scored 60% on a grade item worth 50% of a category worth 10% of the final grade).

18. Step Seven: Grades Setup Summary • This screen will vary depending on the selections you made in Steps 1-6. • This is the summary of the choices you made while setting up your gradebook. • Clicking on the blue Finish button completes the set up and takes you to a list of options for continuing work in the grades tool. NOTE: You are not committed to these selections forever and ever. If you decide against a selection, you can always change the selection later.

19. Grade categories & Grade items Once you have set up the overall gradebook, you are ready to add grade categories and grade items to your gradebook. • Click on Assessments in the navbar. • On the dropdown menu, choose Grades. • In order to create grade categories and grade items, click on Manage Grades.

20. Grade categories & Grade items • Grade categories organize related grade items into sections (such as homework, quizzes, exams, etc). The benefit of creating categories is that your gradebook is organized and easier to view, you can distribute points or weight evenly across grade items and drop the highest/lowest item in the group. • In order to create a grade category: • Click on the blue New button. • Select Category.

21. Weighted Gradebook Points-Based Gradebook Give a Name to your category. Give a short name to your category (this displays in the gradebook). Weight: Enter the total weight or percentage that you want the category to contribute towards the final grade. If you would like for the category to be excluded from final grade calculations, enter 0 for weight. Example (if you check box): You create a quiz category with two grade items: Q1 & Q2. Both assignments are out of 10 points and can exceed the maximum points. A student receives 12/10 and 9/10 on the grade items. Example (if you allow): You create a “quiz” category with two grade items: Q1 & Q2. Both are worth 50% of the category and can exceed the weight specified. A student receives 100% on Q1 and 110% on Q2. The student earns 105% in the Assignments category. If checked, the category will not be calculated in final grades. If you click Distribute points across all items, each grade item will have the same point value. If you leave this unclicked, you can manually enter point values under grade items. This is most frequently used. Dropping grade items: Enter the number of highest/lowest grades you would like dropped for each student. NOTE: Grades must be distributed evenly to use this option. Click Save and Close if you are finished creating categories; click Save and New if you would like to create another category.

22. Grade Categories & Grade Items • A grade item is the actual assignment that you will be grading. In order to grade your students in D2L, you must have grade items. • In order to create a grade item: • Click on the blue New button. • Select Item.

23. Creating Categories & Grade Items • There are many grade items to choose from. • Numeric is the default – and it is the grade item type most commonly used. Numeric grade items grades students by assigning value out of a specified total number of points. • Click on Numeric.

24. Creating Numeric Grade items – Weighted Enter the value you want the grade item graded out of in the Maximum Points field (10, 100, etc). If you are using the weighted system, enter the Weight you want the grade item to contribute to its category. If you pre-selected Distribute weight evenly across all items when creating the category, this value will be filled in for you. Click Can Exceed if student grades can exceed the total value of the grade item. Click on Save and Close Give a Name for the grade item. This name will appear under Manage Grades (ex. Quiz 2). Give a Short Name (optional) for the grade item. This name will appear under Enter Grades in the gradebook (ex. Q2). Under Category, select the category name you’d like to associate with the grade item (optional). Under Description, you can write a short description of the grade item (optional).

25. Creating Numeric Grade items – Points-Based Enter the value you want the grade item graded out of in the Maximum Points field (10, 100, etc). Click Can Exceed if student grades can exceed the total value of the grade item. Choose Exclude from Final Grade Calculation if you want the grade item to appear in the gradebook (but excluded from final grade calculation). Click on Save and Close. Give a Name for the grade item. This name will appear under Manage Grades (ex. Quiz 2). Give a Short Name (optional) for the grade item. This name will appear under Enter Grades in the gradebook (ex. Q2). Under Category, select the category name you’d like to associate with the grade item (optional). Under Description, you can write a short description of the grade item (optional).