CE 6 Resources
Educational Technology Services

Gradebookgradebook

Description:
  • The Blackboard Grade Book enables the instructor to manage student grades effectively. If an instructor uses the quiz and assignment tool in Blackboard, these marks are automatically transferred to the Grade Book.
Who can do what?
  • ONLY instructors can access and edit gradebook items.
  • Students can view grades if released by instructor.
Tip:
  • The View All tab in the Grade Book is what “feeds” the My Grades tool. Therefore, if you change the order of columns in the Grades tab, but not in the View All tab, the student view of grades will not change. Change the order of columns in the View All tab to change the order in which grades are displayed to students.
How To's:
Demo:

How to Create and Edit Columns
  1. Introduction

    The Grade Book consists of five tabs that all contain the Last Name, First Name, User ID and Role columns. These five tabs are:
     
    • Grades: The Grades tab includes any grade related columns in the course. Items like assignments, quizzes, surveys, gradable discussions, midterm grades, final grades and numeric columns that the instructor creates will all appear in this view.
    • Members: Any column that the instructor creates to record information that is not grade related can be found in the members tab.
    • View All: All columns in the Grade Book are displayed in the View All tab.
    • Custom View: All columns in the Grade Book display in the Custom View tab.The instructor can then hide columns to make a custom view of the Grade Book.
    • SCORM Grades: The grade for any gradable SCORM module in the course will display in the SCORM Grades tab.
       
  2. Creating Columns

    When you create a column, it is automatically added to the View All and Custom View tabs. Grade-related columns are also added to the Grades tab; while non grade-related columns are also added to the Members tab. Alphanumeric, Letter Grade, Selection List, and Text Columns.

    To create an alphanumeric, letter grade, selection list, or text column in the Grade Book:
     
    • From the Teach tab, under Instructor Tools, click Grade Book.
    • Click Create Column, and from the ActionLinks menu, click one of: Alphanumeric, Letter grade, Selection list, or Text.
    • Enter the column label.
    • Select the alignment for the column’s content.
    • Select whether the column is Grade-related and, if so, whether you want the column released to students.
    • For letter grade columns, select the numeric or calculated column on which you want to base the letter grade column.
    • Click Save. Columns released to students appear in their My Grades tools.


    To create a grading form column in the Grade Book:
     

    • From the Teach tab, under Instructor Tools, click Grade Book.
    • Click Create Column, and from the ActionLinks menu, click Grading form.
    • Enter the column label.
    • Select the alignment for the column’s content.
    • Click Select Grading form, select the form, and click Select. The title of the grading form and the maximum value appears. You can click the title’s link to preview the grading form, or click the Remove icon to select a different grading form.
    • Select the number of decimal places for the grades.
    • Select whether the column is Grade-related and, if so, whether you want the column released to students.
    • Select the column statistics that you want to release to students: None, Average Only, or All.
    • Click Save.

    To create a calculated or numeric column:

    • From the Grade Book screen, click Create Column, and from the ActionLinks menu, click Calculated or Numeric.
    • Enter the column label.
    • Select the alignment and number of decimal places for the column values.
    • Enter the maximum value for the column.
    • Select whether the column is Grade-related and, if so, whether you want the column released to students.
    • Select the column statistics that you want to release to students: None, Average Only, or All.
    • Click Save.
    • Before you can use the selection list or calculated column, you must add more information to the column.
    • Select the number of decimal places.
    • Enter the maximum value.
    • Select the statistics to be released to students.
       
  3. Modifying Columns


Column Settings determine how information appears in the columns. Column Settings allow you to adjust attributes such as alignment, number of decimals, and whether the column is released for students to view.

From Column Settings, you can change:

  • the column label, unless it is a default column or a column created from within a tool.
  • the column type. The types available for selection depend on the original column type. For example, you can only change an alphanumeric column to numeric or text; calculated and selection list columns can only be changed to numeric, alphanumeric, or text, and you cannot change the column type for grading form columns.
  • alignment of the column – left, center, or right.
  • whether you want to release grades to students – Yes or No.
  • whether the column is a graded column, unless it is a default column, a column created from within a tool, or it already contains data.
  • the number of decimal places displayed in the column – 0, 1, 2, or 3.
  • the maximum value for the column.
  • the column statistics to be released to students – None, Average Only, or All.
  1. Editing Column Settings

From the Grade Book screen, click Grade Book Options and click Column Settings.

  • To rename a column, click the column’s ActionLinks icon and, from the menu that appears, click Rename. Columns that are automatically created cannot be renamed.
  • To change the Type, Decimals, Maximum Value, or Release Statistics setting, click the linked value. A pop-up screen appears, allowing you to select or enter a new value.
  • To change the Alignment, click your new selection of L (left), C (center), or R (right).
  • To change the Released to Student or Grade Column setting, click the Yes/No toggle.
  • To apply the same setting change to multiple columns, select the check box above the columns. Do one of the following:
  • Select the desired Alignment, Decimals, or Grade option by selecting from the drop-down list and clicking the Go icon.
  • Apply the desired Released to Student option by clicking Release or Do Not Release.

You can modify the appearance of the Grade Book columns to suit your preferences. You can:

  • freeze and unfreeze columns.

Freezing columns means keeping the Last Name and First Name columns fixed on the
screen while you scroll horizontally. It allows you to see the user names that correspond
to the column data when viewing a Grade Book tab with numerous columns. You can
unfreeze columns if this isn’t necessary.

  • reorder all of the columns, except Last Name and First Name.

You can determine the left-to-right order of columns in the Grade Book. The order of
columns is set per Grade Book tab. By default, the columns that appear first, from left to
right, are the Last Name, First Name, User ID, and Role columns. Columns you create
appear from left to right, in the order that they were created.

  • sort columns.

You can sort columns in the reverse order in which they are currently sorted. For
example, by default, the Last Name column is sorted alphabetically. To sort in reverse
alphabetic order, sort that column.
To sort a column, locate the column you want to sort and from the View Options for
This Column menu, click Sort Column.

  • hide or show columns, except Last Name and First Name.

You can determine which columns display in each tab. You cannot hide the Last Name
or First Name column. To hide one column at a time, locate the column you want to hide, and from the View

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How to Enter and Manage Grades
  1. Entering Grades

    In Grade Book, you can enter grades directly into columns that are not automatically filled in by the tool. For example, if you have a column for overall participation, you enter these grades directly into the Grade Book column. You can enter grades individually or for multiple students. You can also override any grade using the same basic steps.
To enter or override a grade:
  • Locate the student and then the corresponding grade.
  • Beside Change To, enter the value.
  • If you want to include a comment to be saved in the Grade Book’s Audit History, enter it in the Comment text box.
  • Click Save.
You can also use the PeopleLinks icon to enter or override grades for an individual student.

To enter a grade using PeopleLinks:
  • From any of the Grade Book tabs, click the View PeopleLink Options for this User icon.
  • Click Edit Member.
  • In the Edit Member screen, which displays all gradable columns, enter the grade for the appropriate column.
  • If you want to include a comment to be saved in the Grade Book’s Audit History, enter it in the Comment text box.
Entering Grades for Multiple Students

To enter grades for multiple students:
  • Locate the column and from its View Options for This Column menu, click Edit Values.
  • For each student, enter the grade in the Change to text box.
  • If you want to include a comment to be saved in the Grade Book’s Audit History, enter it in the Comment text box.
  • Click Save.
Managing Grades In addition to entering and overriding grades, you can perform other grade management tasks from the Grades tab, including:
  • releasing grades to students.
If the My Grades tool has been added to the Course Menu, students can access their grades. You determine which grades students can see by releasing the associated columns in Grade Book. You can only release grade-related columns. To release grades:
From the Grade Book screen, click Grade Book Options and, from the menu that appears, click Column Settings. Do one of the following:
  • To release a single column, click the No link under Released to Students. It changes to Yes.
  • To release several columns, select the check box above each column and click Release.
  • viewing column statistics.
You can view the following columns statistics from the Grades, View All, or Custom View tabs. To view column statistics:
  • From the Grade Book screen, locate the column that you want to view statistics for and, from its View Options for This Column menu, click Column Statistics.
    Click OK.
  • viewing audit history.

You can view a history of all changes to grades. The Audit History displays the date and time of the change and indicates which user made the change. To view the audit history for a single student:
  • Locate the student and from the View PeopleLink Options for This User menu, click Edit Member.
  • Next to the student’s name, click View Audit History. The Grade Audit History pop-up screen appears, displaying all changes made to this student’s grades.
  • Click Done.
  • To view the audit history for all students, click Grade Book Options and click View Audit History

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