Blackboard Learn Grade Center Checkups for Final Grades

The fall semester is winding down and it will soon be time to enter final grades for your courses. If you are using Blackboard Learn to record and/or calculate student grades, the CTLI is offering Blackboard Learn Grade Center checkup drop-in sessions to help you double check the Blackboard Learn Grade Center in your course sites. 

If you want to make sure the Grade Center is set up correctly to calculate a final grade, please feel free to stop by the CTLI offices in Danvers DB387 and Lynn LS313. Team members will be available Monday, December 9th through Thursday, December 12th from 9:00am to 3:00pm (please note that on Tuesday, December 10th, staff will be available until 2:00pm).

As a reference, here are the directions to set up the Blackboard Learn Grade Center to calculate a weighted grade. You can use these directions to also check to make sure the weighted grade column is calculating correctly.

Step 1: Create categories
a. Manage > Categories > Create Category (make sure you have one for each of the %s listed in your grade calculation statement)   

Step 2: Assign percentages in Weighted Total column
a. Click on chevron to the right of the Weighted Total column and select Edit Column Information
b. In the Select Columns section (middle of screen), under Categories to Select, select the categories to the left and send them over to the right
c. Once the categories are over to the right under Selected Categories, enter in the appropriate %s

Step 3: Ensure all columns are associated with appropriate categories
a. Manage > Column Organization (make sure all columns are in the correct categories)
b. On the Column Organization page, you can change any of the column categories by checking off the boxes to the left of the column name and selecting a new category in the Change Category to drop down menu

Here is a great article from Virginia Commonwealth University with some tips on troubleshooting weighted totals.

• Troubleshooting Weighted Totals, https://ts.vcu.edu/askit/teaching-and-learning/blackboard-elearning/courseorganization-management-/facultyleader/control-panel/grade-center/create-calculated-column/weighted-column/troubleshooting-weighted-totals/

If you are using the Total column to calculate a grade, you just want to make sure there is a column in the Grade Center for every gradable item that should be included in the grade. To see the number of points that the grade is calculating on, go to  Manage > Column Organization. You will see the Total column listed with the number of possible points over to the right. That number should match what you think the total points at mid-term should be.

Also, it is important to make sure a 0 has been entered into a column if a student did not complete an assignment or assessment. The default setting is to calculate the Weighted Total or Total columns as a running total which means that columns and categories without grades aren't included in the calculations.

If you are unable to stop by and would like us to look at your Grade Center, please feel free to send us an email at ctli@northshore.edu.