Grade Center

The Grade Center is more than just a way to record students' grades. It is a dynamic and interactive tool, allowing faculty to record data, calculate grades, and monitor student progress. In the Grade Center, faculty can provide and manage students' grades for a variety of assessments, including assignments, tests, discussion board posts, journals, blogs, and wikis. Faculty can also create grade columns for any activities or requirements that require grading but do not require submission through Blackboard, such as special projects, participation, or attendance.

• Create Column – Creates a column that represents a gradable item in the course.
• Create Calculated Column – Calculated columns combine data from multiple columns to attain performance results; choose from average, minimum/maximum, total or weighted.
• Manage – Customize and manage the Grade Center, including grading schemas, categories, smart views, and column organization.
• Column Menu – Provides access to a column’s settings, including Quick Column Information, Edit Column Information, Column Statistics, Set as an External Grade, Show/Hide to Users, Hide Column.
• Icon Legend – As activity gets added and recorded into the Grade Center, refer to the Icon Legend for assistance.
• Work Offline – Download the Grade Center into an Excel spreadsheet for working offline. The spreadsheet can be uploaded back to the Grade Center after grades have been recorded.

The Manage menu, accessed from the action bar in the full Grade Center, provides centralized access to a variety of settings, functions, and features.

A few of the key options are featured here

• Grading Periods—Grading Periods are used to sort Grade Center Columns into sections based on due date. These sections help manage the Grade Center by associating columns together so that viewing and reporting can be done based on a Grading Period instead of the entire Grade Center.
• Grading Schemas—Grading schemas take the actual points scored from a graded item and compare it to the total points possible for that item to derive a percentage. This percentage is mapped to a range of scores to display a grade. The Grade Center includes a copy of a default grading schema.
• Grading Color Codes—Grading Color Codes apply background and text color to items in the Grade Center that meet specified criteria. Colors and criteria are defined by the instructor.
• Categories—A Grade Center Category is a classification of Grade Center Columns. Categories are used to organize and view Grade Center data and can be used when creating Calculated Columns to perform operations on all Grade Columns in a Category, such as weighting or dropping grades.
• Smart Views—Smart Views are focused views of the Grade Center. Any number of Smart Views can be created based on a variety of criteria, including Grading Periods, Categories, Performance, or Group membership.
• Column Organization—The Column Organization page lets you control how different Grade Center views are displayed. Rows in these tables represent Columns in the Grade Center views. Graded items can be reordered, hidden/shown, or grouped into a category from this page.

Each Grade Center column also has its own menu, allowing access to column settings, functions and features. These menu options include: Quick Column Information, Edit Column Information, Column Statistics, Set as External Grade, Show/Hide to Users, Sort Ascending or Descending, and Hide Column.

Ultra Course view allows for quick searches and rapid filter options. Additional capabilities are planned for inclusion in Ultra Courses. See link below for more details.

Grade Center Search and Filter

Grade Center Columns represent gradable items such as assignments, tests, quizzes, and discussion board threads.

1. On the action bar, click Create Column
2. Provide a Column Name
3. Provide a Grade Center Display Name (optional)
4. Select the other options as appropriate*
5. Click Submit

*Note: If you have created an Assignment, Test, or other graded assessment, the corresponding column will automatically be created.

Columns can be hidden from student view and restored for student viewing.

1. Click the round drop down arrow in the column heading to be hidden from students
2. Select Hide from Students (on/off)
3. The column heading will now display a circle with a red line, indicating that the column is hidden from students.
4. To show the column to students, repeat steps 1 and 2

Note: Student users do not have access to the Grade Center; columns are viewable to them via the My Grades tool link located on the Course Menu.

After a column has been created, the settings can be easily accessed and edited.

1. Click the round drop down arrow in the column heading to be edited
2. Select Edit Column Information
3. Provide or change the Grade Center Display Name
4. Determine Primary Display for grading (Score, Text, Percentage, Letter, or Complete/Incomplete)
5. Determine Secondary Display (Optional)
6. Select a pre-created Category (Optional)
7. Provide a value for the Points Possible
8. Provide a Due Date (Optional)
9. Determine the column’s Options (default settings are recommended)
10. Click Submit

A column that is included in the total computation and has a maximum score of 0. Extra-credit points are then assigned as needed.

1. On the action bar, click Create Column
2. Provide a Column Name
3. Select the other options as needed (Primary and Secondary grade display, and Category)
4. Enter 0 in the Points Possible field
5. Leave default to Yes to Include this Column in Grade Center Calculations
6. Click Submit

Note: Extra-credit points will need to be manually entered in the Grade Center column.

A calculated column that generates a grade based on selected columns and categories, and their respective percentages.

1. On the action bar, click Create Calculated Column
2. Select Weighted Column
3. Provide Column Name
4. Select Primary and Secondary grading displays
5. Select Columns and/or Categories to be included
6. Enter the weight percentage for each component (must add up to 100%)
7. Determine columns Options
8. Click Submit

Hide a column to focus on specific data. When columns are hidden, the data is retained. Columns can be restored to view after they have been hidden

Hiding a Column

1. Click the round drop down arrow for the column you want to hide
2. Select Hide from Instructor

Unhiding a Column

1. On the action bar, click Manage
2. Select Column Organization
3. Select the box next to the column name to be shown
4. At the top of the page, click Show/Hide
5. Select Show Selected Columns
6. Click Submit

Focused views based on a variety of criteria, including categories and student performance. Smart Views are automatically created for each section in a Master Course.

1. On the action bar, click Manage
2. Select Smart Views
3. On the following page, click Create Smart View
4. Provide a Name
5. Provide a Description (Optional)
6. Select to Add as a Favorite (if selected, this will create a shortcut in the Control Panel menu)
7. Select Type of View
8. Select Criteria to be included in the Smart View
9. Filter Results (columns to display in the results)
10. Click Submit

Grades can be entered or changed (overridden) manually from the Grade Center or the Grade Details page.

To Enter or change a Grade from the Grade Center

1. Point to and click the desired cell
2. Type the new or corrected value
3. Press Enter on the keyboard

To change a grade from the Grade Details page

1. Point to the desired cell, click the round drop down arrow and select View Grade Details
2. Select Edit Grade and type the new value in the Current Grade Value box and add any feedback to user
3. Click Save

Assign a grade and provide comments or feedback to the student for the current assignment attempt.

1. In the Grade Center, ungraded Assignments are marked with a yellow exclamation point
2. Click the round drop down arrow in the cell for the assignment to be graded and select the Attempt
3. If the submission was a compatible file type (.doc, .docx, .pdf, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, and .xlsx) the file will be displayed in the browser. Click Comment in the toolbar to add annotations to the submission
4. If the submission cannot be displayed inline, download and open the file
5. In the Grade Current Attempt area, enter a Grade in the Attempt field and provide feedback to learner
6. Click Submit to advance to the next submission for this Assignment

1. Open a student submission for grading
2. Click anywhere within the file and drag to select a passage of text
3. Select either Highlight Text or Add Comment to Highlighted Text
4. If adding a comment, type your comment and click the Post button

Point-Based Comments can be added anywhere within a compatible file and are identified to students by blue conversation bubbles

1. Open a student submission for grading
2. Click the Point Annotation Mode icon in the toolbar (the conversation bubble)
3. Click anywhere in the file where you would like to place a comment
4. Type your comment and click the Post button

Submission for any type of assessment can be edited or erased, allowing the student a chance to resubmit. The new submission becomes the grade.

1. Point to the desired cell for the grade to be changed, click the round drop down arrow and select View Grade Details
2. Click Clear Attempt (a pop-up message will appear asking for confirmation)
3. The page will refresh, and the submitted assessment will be permanently deleted
4. Notify student to resubmit the assessment

Note: Clearing a student’s submission cannot be undone

With Inline Grading, you can view, comment, and grade student-submitted assignment files without leaving the Grade Assignment page. When you view a document submitted in an assignment, that document is converted to a format that is viewable inside the web browser. Supported document types that can be displayed are Word (DOC, DOCX), PowerPoint (PPT, PPTX), Excel (XLS, XLSX), PDF (PDF), and many media types, including WAV, MP3, MOV, MP4, HTML, CSS, JPG, PNG, and more. Formatting and embedded images of the original document are preserved in the conversion. Some file types (DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, PDF, AI, BMP, DCM, EPS, GIF, PNG, PS, PSD, SVS, TGA, TIF, and TIFF) can also have annotations and comments added.

Add Comments

• Select the Point Annotation icon in the toolbar to type comments in any place on the document. Comments are identified by a blue conversation bubble.
• Highlight Text Click and drag to highlight text, then choose to highlight or highlight and add a comment.

Inline Grading Sidebar

• Grade the submission from the inline grading sidebar.
• View the assignment details, grading rubric, and each attempt.
• Provide an overall grade and feedback.

Accessing the Grade Assignment Page

• To take advantage of the inline grading feature, simply navigate to your students’ submissions in the Needs Grading area, or in the Full Grade Center.

The inline grading sidebar to the right allows faculty to grade the assignment and add feedback for students without leaving the page.

• To add an overall grade to the assignment, enter the grade in the attempt box. This will be the student’s current grade.
• If a rubric was enabled for the Assignment, open the rubric to record the student’s achievement on each criteria. Blackboard will calculate an attempt grade based on the rubric.
• Provide feedback for students with general comments in the text box in the lower right corner.
• After you have finished annotating and grading a submission, click the submit button in the lower right corner.
• Students will be able to view their grade, your comments and your feedback in My Grades.

Full or partial data can be downloaded and saved on a local computer and later uploaded for final recording.

1. Located in the far right side of the full Grade Center, click Work Offline
2. Select Download
3. Select Data to Download (Full Grade Center, Selected Columns, or User Information)
4. Select Comma or Tab Delimiter Type (Tab Delimited is recommended for use in MS Excel)
5. Select a Download Location on your local computer
6. Click Submit

Upload grades from external sources such as an Excel file. Data should be formatted correctly to upload correctly and be synched with existing Grade Center data.

1. Located in the far right side of the full Grade Center, click Work Offline and select Upload
2. Browse for the file on your computer
3. Select the Delimiter type (Comma, Tab, or Auto)
4. Click Submit
5. Review the list of data from the file to be uploaded on the Upload Grades Confirmation page
6. Click Submit to confirm and upload the file

Note: When uploading grades, first download the Grade Center, and edit the file with the data to be uploaded. This will help ensure that the data in the upload file is formatted correctly