Courses: Grade setup

Overview

Use the Grade Setup area to manage grading settings for your course, including:

• Grading categories

• Grading scales and rubrics

• Weighting

• Final grade settings

• Some settings may be restricted for the enterprise version. Contact your System Administrator for assistance.

• Grade Setup is not supported in courses containing more than 10,000 members.

Grading categories

Grading Categories help organize graded items in a course. At least one is required to use the Gradebook. You can create unlimited categories, such as Classwork, Homework, or Quizzes, and assign weights as needed.

Add a category

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Categories, click Add.

3. Enter the category information.
   Use Drop lowest to automatically drop the lowest n grades within that category from each student's overall score in the course.

4. Click Create.

Click the star icon for the category to set it as the default.

Delete a category

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Categories, hover over the category and click X.

3. If materials are attached, assign them to another category before proceeding.

4. Click Delete.

Weight categories

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Categories, select Weight Categories.

3. Enter proportional values to adjust the weight for each category.

• Changing category weights affects all grading periods in the course.

• If one weighted category has no associated graded materials, then the category's weight is evenly distributed across the other categories.

Edit categories

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Categories, select a category.

3. Update the information.

4. Click Save Changes.

Manage grading periods and final weights

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Grading Periods & Final Weights, click Edit.

3. Select from existing grading periods.

   • If no grading periods are available to select, enter details to add a new one.

   • Contact a system administrator if you can't add grading periods to your course.

4. Click Save.

Final and midterm materials can be assigned weights and accessed in the Final/Midterm Material Grades filter in the Gradebook.

Adjust final grade settings

Use Final Grade Settings to customize how final grades are calculated and displayed to students. To adjust these settings:

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Final Grade Setup, choose a Gradebook Scale:

   • Select Numeric to display the final grade as a percentage.

   • Select A+/- to display the final grade as a letter.

   • Select a custom grading.

3. Optionally, select Round Period/Final Grades.

4. Click Save Changes.

From Final Grade Settings, access additional settings, including Control Grading Columns in Gradebook and Visibility Settings.

Grading scales and rubrics

Create custom grading scales and rubrics to grade materials or set final grades. Scales convert alphanumeric values to percentages, while rubrics assess assignments based on multiple criteria.

• Numeric and A+/- scales cannot be removed.

• Click the star icon to set it as the default scale for newly-created materials.

Add a percentage-based scale

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Scales, select Add and choose Scale.

3. Enter the grading scale details.

   • Select Only show letter grade to hide percentage scores from students. Points earned for individual graded materials will still be displayed to students.

     • When not selected, percentage scores for categories, grading periods, and overall grades are displayed to students.

     • Students can review the numeric points achieved out of the total points possible for individual graded materials, whether or not this option is selected.

   • Enter a Letter Grade to be displayed to students in their grade reports.

   • Enter the Letter Conversion percentage for Gradebook assignments.

   • Select Use Average, to auto-calculate the average value within the set range.

4. Click Save Changes.

Add a points-based scale

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. From Scales, select Add and choose Scale.

3. From Based on, select Points.

4. Enter the scale details.

5. Click Save Changes.

Add a rubric

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. Select Rubric, Add, and then choose Rubric.

3. Enter the rubric details.

   • Click Criteria or Learning Objective to add more rows.

   • Hover over a cell and click the + icon to add another column.

   • Click the X to remove a row or column.

   • Click the double bars and drag and drop a row to reorder.

   • The Total Pts for the rubric automatically adjust as you add rows and columns.

4. Alternatively, click the Alignments link from the Criteria section to create a rubric using learning objectives or standards.

5. Click Create.

Copy settings

Copy grading settings to other courses you manage.

1. Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.

2. Click Copy Settings.

3. Select the settings to copy. Grading Periods and Final Grade Settings cannot be copied.
   Select the courses to which you want to copy the grade settings. You can only copy to courses for which you are a course admin.

4. Click Copy.