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GRADEBOOK:
Gradebook Enhancements, Fall 2006
Hide Average Score from Student View of Gradebook
Anonymous Grading for Exams or Papers
Entering Grades
Exporting Gradebook Data
Importing Gradebook Data
Assigning Letter Grades
Tip Sheet:
Grade Icons in Blackboard
Performance Dashboard
WARNINGS:
Using
Blackboard as your sole gradebook is not recommended. Solution: Export
your gradebook to a program such as MS Excel to have a copy
and to verify
the calculations.
When multiple instructors are entering grades at the same time in gradebook, one set of the grades may be lost. The Blackboard software does not resolve collisions such as this: it fails to merge multiple simultaneous updates to the gradebook. Instructors should thus be aware that they will need to coordinate their grade entry to avoid having two people entering grades at the same time.
Gradebook Enhancements, Fall 2006
Add Weighted Grade Items as the Semester Progresses
In the past the total for weighted grades had to equal 100% when weighting was initially set up, whereas now you can begin to set up weighting before you have figured out all 100% of your final weighted grade, and add additional items to the weighting as the semester progresses. The total, of course, can never exceed 100%.
Hide Average Score from Student View of Gradebook
A frequent request from instructors is that students not see their average score in the My Grades tool. To hide it, go to Gradebook > Gradebook Settings > Column Settings. Uncheck Display Average Grade and click Submit.
Preserve Record of Old Grade After Making a Change
Whether the grade is calculated through the assessment manager or assigned manually, you now have the option of overriding that grade while keeping a record of the original grade. Click the name of the item at the top of the gradebook column, then click Item Grade List. As the way the process is handled depends on whether the grade is calculated through the Blackboard Assessment tool or instructor-calculated, please be sure to read the instructions found at the top of the page.
For a Blackboard-calculated grade, the instructions are:
The Current Grade is the grade shown to the user if the item is available to users. Click on the Current Grade to show details and modify the grade for the particular user. The Calculated Grade is the grade automatically calculated by the system. The Override can be used to supply a new current grade value without deleting the calculated grade.
For an instructor-calculated grade, the instructions are:
The Current Grade is the grade shown to the user if the item is available to users. Click on the Current Grade to show details and modify the grade for the particular user. The Manual Grade is the grade entered by hand. The Override can be used to supply a new current grade value without deleting the manual grade.
Multiple Attempts
Assessments may now be set to allow unlimited attempts or a specific number of attempts. The Gradebook displays all of the attempts. The Gradebook item is scored based on grading option: last attempt, first attempt, highest score, lowest score, or average of scores. Additionally, an Override field has been included so that the instructor can override the score independent of any attempts.
Now that all attempts are visible in the Gradebook, the clearing options have been enhanced as well. The instructor may choose to clear (or delete) the last attempt, first attempt, highest attempt, lowest attempt, or all attempts within a specified date range. This action may be performed by item (for all students at once) or by user (for a specific user).
Entering Grades
Q:
How do I enter grades?
A:
Blackboard automatically put results in the Gradebook
from online quizzes or surveys that you have created in Blackboard.
You can also add entries from "non-online" assessments
such as papers or traditional exams. To add your own entries, go
to the Assessment section of the Control Panel, and click
on Gradebook. Choose Add Item to define a new entry in the
gradebook, complete the form and submit. Now click on the heading
in the gradbook that corresponds to the item you just created, which
will take you to the Item Options page. Select Item Grade
List. You now will be able to enter grades for the student -- though the columns you are presented with can be confusing. The Current Grade is the grade shown to the user if the item is available to users. Click on the Current Grade to show details and modify the grade for the particular user. The Manual Grade is the grade entered by hand. The Override can be used to supply a new current grade value without deleting the manual grade.
WARNING: When multiple instructors are entering grades at the same time in gradebook, one set of the grades may be lost. The Blackboard software does not resolve collisions such as this: it fails to merge multiple simultaneous updates to the gradebook. Instructors should thus be aware that they will need to coordinate their grade entry to avoid having two people entering grades at the same time.
In
the Check Your Grade area of Student Tools, a student can only see
his/her own grade statistics. When an instructor takes a quiz, that
attempt does not generate an entry in the gradebook. Therefore,
if an instructor or course builder clicks that button, he/she will
see the message that no records exist. This does not mean that no
records exist for the course, just not for that individual user.
Q: How can I exclude items from the weighted average that a student has not taken or I have not yet graded?
A:
1. Open the Gradebook.
2. Click Running Total or Running Weighted Total. After setting one to ignore or include ungraded items, be
sure to set the other one.
3. Click Item Information.
4. Select Yes or No for Exempt items that have not been graded.
5. Click Submit.
Example Calculation using Ignore Ungraded Items
The example below shows how ignoring ungraded items will affect the reported progress for one
user throughout a course. Keep in mind:
- The final grade is made up of four quizzes, two tests, one paper, and one final exam.
- The final grade is determined by totaling the scores of all Gradebook items and weighting
them by type. Quizzes are worth a total of 20 percent. Tests are worth 20 percent. The
paper is worth 30 percent and the final is worth 30 percent.
- The Gradebook is set to display scores as percentages.
- In the tables below, grades are listed in chronological order and percentages are rounded
to the nearest whole number.
Exporting Gradebook Data
Q:How
do I export my gradebook information (Download Grades) so I can
save it to a spreadsheet?
A:
Follow these steps:
1)
Go to the Assessment section of your Control Panel and choose
Gradebook.
2)
From the options listed on the View Spreadsheet page, choose Download
Grades.
3)
Select delimiter type ("comma" suggested for best results)
4)
What you do next depends on your browser and operating system:
If you are using Internet Explorer on a PC, click Download, then select Save from the dialog box. Select a location, give the file a name and save.
With other browsers on PCs, right click on the Download button and select
Save target As...
from the dropdown list. Select a location, give the file a name and save.
With Internet Explorer on Macs, Control + click on the Download button and select Save target As... from the dropdown list. Select a location, give the file a name and save.
With Safari on Macs, Control + click on the Download button and select
Download Link to Disk from the dropdown list. Select a location, give the file a name and save.
An issue that could be a problem for some instructors is the file-format in the gradebook export. The comma and tab delimited formats are unicode files. For users of gnumeric and other spreadsheet software, it may be necessary to know what specific unicode encoding is used. The encoding is Unicode UTF-16, little-endian. Excel and Openoffice are both able to infer the file type. Gnumeric and kspread (and perhaps others) are not. Below
are instructions for gnumeric users:
1. Engage the file open dialog. File -> Open
2. Select the file "gb_export.csv" (for comma-delimited), or "gb_export.xls" (for tab-delimited) -- or whatever the filename is. *DO NOT* click the "Open" button yet.
3. Replace the File type: "Automatically detected" with "Comma or tab separated values (CSV/TSV)"
4. Select the Character encoding -> Unicode -> UTF-16LE
5. Now click the "Open" button.
NB: If you plan to use this file to upload grades to Blackboard, after you open it in Excel, do not save it as an Excel spreadsheet. Save it as a CVS file.
Importing Gradebook Data
Q:
I recorded my grades in Excel and now want to import them into
my Blackboard gradebook so the students can access them. Is this
possible?
A:
It is possible, but first you should download
the existing Blackboard gradebook and modify the data in an
MS Excel spreadsheet. This will help ensure that students listed
in the uploaded file match those in the gradebook. It is not advised
that Instructors create a new Gradebook from scratch then upload
it. Remember, students cannot be added via this upload file. Also,
only one column may be imported to the gradebook at a time. Once you open the saved file in Excel to enter grades, be sure not to save it as an Excel spreadsheet. Save it ONLY as a CVS file, or you will not be able to use it to upload grades into Blackboard.
1)
Select Gradebook in the Control Panel.
2) Click Upload Gradebook.
3) Click Browse and select the file to upload to the Gradebook.
4)
Click Submit.
The
Choose Column to Import page will appear. On this page the
Instructor may specify which item s/he would like to upload
to the Gradebook (only one column may be added at a time). When
a Gradebook is uploaded the existing grades are not automatically
written over or lost. In the succeeding Web pages the Instructor
chooses which information is uploaded and written over. Instructors
select which items in a Gradebook file they would like to upload
to the Blackboard Learning System from the Choose Column to
Import
page. Instructors may choose to overwrite an existing item (this
will not automatically overwrite Students' grades) or create a
new
Gradebook item.
5)
Under Choose Imported Item, select the column in the file
that should be uploaded to the Gradebook.
If
a Gradebook item in Choose Import Item is uploaded to an
existing item, the only data that is uploaded and changed is the
Gradebook item name. The Instructor selects which Students' grades
should be uploaded and written over on the Choose Column to Import:
Students page.
6)
From Choose Existing Item, select the column in the Gradebook
where the name of the uploaded Gradebook item should appear. If
the information should appear in a new column in the Gradebook select
Create New Gradebook Item. If Create New Gradebook Item
is selected the Modify Gradebook Item will appear.
7)
Click Submit.
The
Choose Column to Import: Students
page will appear. Instructors choose which Student information is
uploaded from the Gradebook file. Only those Students' grades that
are selected on this page will be uploaded to the destination file.
8)
On the Choose Column
to Import: Students page, either:
- Use the checkboxes
next to the Students' names to upload information from the file
for one or more Students.
- Click Select All
to add information for all of the Students in the file to
the Gradebook. All of the check boxes next to the Student names
will be selected.
- Click Select None
to clear the checkboxes next to all of the Student names. All
of the check boxes next to the Student names will be removed.
- Click Select Inverse
to select the opposite Students then those whose checkboxes are
selected. The checkboxes for those Students who had been selected
will be cleared and those Students who had not been selected will
be chosen.
9)
Click Submit.
Assigning Letter Grades
Q:
Can I put letter grades
in my online gradebook?
A:
Yes, but if you wish to calculate averages or weighted averages, you must assign the item points, enter the grades as percentages and then choose "Display as letter." To determine the percentages to enter, from the gradebook select Gradebook Settings, then Manage Display Options. You can either accept the default values or enter your own.
Note: To avoid any omissions, the upper limit of a range must be equal to the lower limit of the range directly above. Thus, a range of 80 to 90 includes all grades up to, but not including 90. The highest range does, however, include 100%.
The
version of Blackboard we upgraded to in the summer of 2003 allows
you not only to use letter grades,
but
to
select
a range of numeric grades to be associated with a letter grade,
or to create new Grade Displays, such as Pass/Fail.
Follow
these steps to open the Create/Modify Grade Display Options page:
Select
Gradebook on the Course Control Panel.
Click
Gradebook Settings.
Click
Manage Grade Display Options.
Select
Add Display Option. You will see a screen that looks like
this:
Note: Grade Display Options are case sensitive.
An “A” and “a” will not represent the same thing
in the Gradebook.
Name
Name: Enter the name of the new Grade Display Option.
Add
Symbols and Values
System-graded items with a grade of: Enter the numeric values
of the range for each grade. The system will automatically treat
the numbers within each range the same.
Manually-graded
items entered as: Enter the symbol the Instructor will use to
manually enter grades. Each symbol will correspond to the range
in the System-graded items.
Will
be calculated as: Enter a single numeric value for each symbol
in the Manually-graded items column. The number in this row will
be used in Gradebook calculations, such as for the final grade and
grade weight.
Add
button: Click Add to add a row in the Add Symbols and Values
Section.
Remove
button: Click Remove to remove a row in the Add Symbols and
Values section.
Submit.
The
following example demonstrates how a Pass/Fail option looks when
created on the Create/Modify Grade Display Options page:
Performance Dashboard
Q: Is there a way I can get a more inclusive picture of my students work and activity in Blackboard?
A:The Performance Dashboard tool provides a window into all types of user activity in a course or organization. All users enrolled in the course are listed, with pertinent information about that user’s progress and activity in the course.
The Performance Dashboard is accessed through the Assessment area of the Control Panel. This page displays the following information:
- Last Name
- First Name
- Username
- Role
- Date / time of last login
- Days since last login
- Review Status - Only displayed if this tool is enabled. Displays how many items have been reviewed / number of items with Review Status enabled. A detailed view of items may be opened in a new window.
- Adaptive Release - Only displayed if this tool is enabled. An overview of the Student path may be opened in a new window.
- View Grades - Only displayed if the Gradebook is enabled. Provides links to the Gradebook: User Grade List page for that user.
- Users can click Print to open the page in a new window in a printer-friendly format. All applicable columns are may be sorted.
Understanding the Review Status indicator
The numbers provided in the Review Status column of the Performance Dashboard indicate the number of items that the Student has marked as Reviewed. Using Adaptive Release rules in a course creates multiple tracks for Students to progress through. This allows for the possibility that each Student will have a different requirement for marking certain items in a course as Reviewed. At any time in a course, items in a Student's track may or may not be visible to them. The Performance Dashboard provides an at-this-moment view of the item availability and the Student's progress on reviewing items.
The Review Status indicator links to a list of the items that the course user sees as Reviewed and
Mark Reviewed in the course.
The Review Status column is only visible if Review Status has been enabled for the course.
Link to Adaptive Release
The Adaptive Release indicator in the Performance Dashboard for each user opens the Course Map, showing every possible item in the course. Icons beside each item in the Course Map indicate the visibility of an item to that course user, and the review status of any items with a review requirement, if applicable.
ADAPTIVE RELEASE AND REVIEW StaTUS ICONS:
Visible - this item is visible to that course user.
Invisible - this item is not visible to that course user.
Reviewed - this item has been marked as Reviewed by the course user.
Mark Reviewed - this item is displayed as Mark Reviewed to the course user.
The Adaptive Release column is only visible if Adaptive Release has been enabled for the course.
Anonymous Grading for Exams or Papers
Q: How do I grade papers submitted through the Blackboard Assignment system anonymously?
A: If you're interested in truly anonymous grading for your midterms or papers (v. simply folding back the first page), you can ask students to write only their Princeton ID numbers (the ones from the front of their PU ID card) on whatever they submit. It's easy to set this up, with a little help from Blackboard.
NOTE: One strategy you may not try is to ask students to put their Social Security Number (or any part of it) on their course materials. That's a violation of both Federal law and University policy. There are only two tricks to doing this, but you have to deal with both of them.
First trick: How do you make sure students know their ID numbers?
- For a paper, you can assume they have access to the ID #, but you have to make sure they give you the ID # from the front of the card, not the Library barcode # from the back. Some clear instructions will usually suffice (if a student has lost his/her card, s/he can get the ID# from the PU "Search" web page -- if you're on campus, you can look up anyone's ID using the Princeton Home Page's 'people search')
- For an exam, you cannot assume that they will bring their IDs to class (even if you ask them to). It's best to print out the list of names and PU IDs from Blackboard, and have it handy for them as they check out of the exam. It's a good idea to ask them to double-check the ID# they write, to avoid typos.
Second trick: How do you find out what each student's PU ID is?
Asking students to write the ID #s down for you themselves is potentially confusing and error-prone. Instead, if you download the "Gradebook" from your Blackboard course web site, it contains student names and PU ID numbers in a format you can pull up in Excel. The instructions for doing this are immediately below. (don't be alarmed by the number of steps below -- it takes about 2 minutes, max)
Option 1: Basic
- Go into your course, and choose "Control Panel >> Gradebook". If the 'Gradebook' option is not a link, you don't have instructor-level access to the course: contact your course administrator (or blackboard@princeton.edu if you're the course administrator).
- Choose "Download Grades" and Next
- Choose "Delimiter type: Comma" and Next
- Right-click on the "Download" button and choose "Save As" (or "Save link as", depending on your browser). Give the file a sensible name and the csv (comma-separated value) suffix, and save it somewhere you can find it again.
- Open Excel, and open the file you just saved in Excel (hint: you may have to choose the "Files of type: all files" option in the File >> Open dialog box in Excel in order to see the file).
- Delete all but the first column of data (if you want grades, save the file a second time -- this is just for the names and ID numbers, and you don't want to accidentally print student grades along with it)
- Save the file with only the student name and ID information still included.
- Print the file as needed.
Option 2: Fancy The basic approach works fine, but you can't sort the names by PU ID, which makes re-assigning grades to students more painful. If you're even a little comfy with finding and replacing text, you can fix the gradebook file so that the names and IDs display in separate columns, so you can sort the resulting Excel file by either name or ID. To do this, insert the following steps between steps 4 and 5, above
- Open the file you just saved, in Notepad (Start >> Run >> Notepad.exe)
- On the Notepad menus, Choose Edit >> Replace
- In the "Find What" box, type | (it's a vertical bar, often found either at the top-left of the keyboard or directly above the return/enter key -- you generally have to press <shift> to get it)
- In the "Replace With" box, type "," (a comma surrounded by double-quotes -- it's very important that you INCLUDE the double-quotes in what you type)
- Click "Replace All"
- Re-Save the file (you can save it under a different name if you're afraid you did something wrong)
Now, when you open the file in Excel, the names and IDs will be in columns 1 and 2, respectively. In this case, delete everything in Columns 3 and beyond, and you have your file.
- If you see something strange in the ID column (e.g., "3.2 x E7" or a series of crosshatches #######), it means the column isn't wide enough for the numbers -- just widen the columns until the numbers display correctly.
- If some numbers seem 'short', it's because Excel doesn't display leading zeros by default. To fix this, first
select the column or all the cells, then choose Format >> Cells... >> Number, then choose "Text" format in the dialog box, to display the number exactly as it should appear.
August 20, 2008
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