Summary
Instructions for creating regular, weighted, and weighted total Gradebook columns in a Blackboard Ultra course.
Body
Issue/Question
How do I create a regular or weighted total Gradebook column in a Blackboard Ultra course?
Environment
Resolution
- Open Gradebook.
- In Gradable Items or Grades, hover between columns, and select to place column.
- Select Add Item.
- Title column.
- If desired, choose hidden from students dropdown to make column visible to students.
- Configure due date & time.
- Select Points dropdown to choose different grade type (letter, percentage, complete/incomplete, attendance points).
- Select Grade category dropdown to categorize column.
- Enter description, if desired.
- Click Save.
- Select Add Total Calculation.
- Enter calculation title.
- Enter description and select grade schema dropdown: Points, Percentage, Letter, or Complete/Incomplete.
- Optional: To display the calculation column on student Grades pages, select Visible to students. Students will see calculated grades, but no descriptions or formulas.
- Select Weighted calculation type.
- Choose to weigh gradable items Proportionally or Equally.
- Proportionally: Takes raw scores of included columns & categories, divides result by total possible points to obtain a percentage for each item in the weighted column. The resulting percentages retain the proportional weight of each item (i.e items with larger point values have more effect on the calculated grade).
- Equally: Converts any selected columns and categories which have different point values to percentages. These percentages are averaged to obtain an equal value for each item included in the weighted column.
- Click to expand grade categories. You may:
- Unlock an item/category to edit weighting. The calculation will automatically balance all unlocked items to ensure overall calculation equals 100%.
- Exclude an item from overall grade calculation. This removes item points from total number of points available in the course. Item/category turns gray to indicate exclusion from the calculation.
- Unlink item from its category. This is useful if you want to include item in calculation separately from the rest of the category.
- Select Edit calculation rules to drop scores or use only highest/lowest score.
- Click Save.