Grade Center Session Questions 1. What is the problem if they add to 100% visually but the weighted total column says it does not?" If the questions are about the 100% indicator under the modification of Weight Total then make sure you are at the latest version of Java and uninstall any earlier versions that are still installed. An earlier version of Java did cause the indicator to not add to 100%. Also once installed new version and uninstall old version of Java make sure you clear out your cache including your java cache especially with Internet Explorer. You can contact us at blackboardsupport@troy.edu and let us verify that working correctly. 2. Did you say that the weighted average column should be in the grade book? The Weighted total column does not necessarily need to be listed in the gradebook; it is up to the individual instructor. These can be used at the Instructor s discretion to create any calculation that may facilitate the Instructor s organization, measurement or vigilance of a Course. Also, it is up to the instructor to make the Weighted total column available to be viewed by the students or not. 3. Can you set a due date and day when the "0" goes in?" No, Zero has to be entered manually. 4. I would like to get some more info on the LockDown Browser as well. I have students who are "saving" exams, and cutting and pasting from the web, which I didn't think they were able to do." Information on the Respondus LockDown Browser is available under the Licensed Software section of the Faculty Resources page. This page is under a tab on the top of your screen after you sign into Blackboard. LockDown Browser does just as it says. It locks the students computer during an exam and doesn t allow them to browse, copy, save or do anything other than take the exam. It does require both you and the student to download a small program to their computer. Respondus has a User s Guide, movie demo and assistance on preparing an exam.
5. "When you create something in gradebook, does it create it as an assignment as well? No, adding a column to the grade center will not automatically create an assignment. However, adding a graded assignment, a graded discussion board, a survey or an assessment will generate columns in the Grade Center. 6. What are the options when a tablet show and no points are recorded? The icon of a tablet with a pencil ( ) is the icon for Attempt in Progress. If it shows but no points are recorded it means one of two things. First the student may currently be taking the exam, but has not submitted it yet. Second, the student tried taking the exam but didn t submit it for some reason. These reasons include power failure, server problems, server time out (from the student s ISP if the student is on dial-up), Blackboard problems or the student looked at the exam and will come back later to take it. You can reset the exam. This would erase any partial work the student has done and will force the student to start over. If you have been contacted by the student and asked to reset the exam, this is your best option. If there is a possibility the student is currently taking the exam; do not reset it because it will erase any work they have completed. The choice is yours and depends on the situation. 7. In "Organize grade" you can hide columns, but can you click all and delete extra columns. It is not possible to select multiple columns and delete them all at once. However, you can delete as long as there is no grade information in the column. Click on the Chevron (Double down arrow heads) on the left side of the title cell. One of your choices is remove column. Clicking on that will give you a permission box where you click Yes to remove the column. 8. Why are there so many default totals in the gradebook? Can we get rid of it?" You might have multiple total and weighted total columns listed in your Grade Center if you have copied them from the previous term. To get rid of the duplicated columns, simply right click on the Chevron (double down arrow head) on the left side of the tile cell, and select remove column.
9. Extra Credit? I have not found a way to add it without skewing the totals. You can add the column to the grade book but be sure to check not to include it in the Gradebook total/averages. About the skewing of the grade total, this can also be due to you not having the grade category set to be extra credit. If you have an assignment you want as extra credit, you must first create an Extra Credit category. Create a "Extra Credit" Column 1. Control Panel 2. Grade Center 3. Select on Manage 4. Click on Categories 5. Click Add Categories 6. Type "Extra Credit" in Name 7. Click Submit The easiest way to use extra credit is to use the "Total Points" method of grade calculation (as opposed to weighted grades), and to add a separate column to the grade center (you may want to make its category "extra credit") and set the points possible to 1. Make sure to select that this column should participate in grade center calculations any additional points provided to the student in this column will then be added into the total results. Adding Extra Credit Column for it to be calculated in with the Total Points 1. Control Panel 2. Grade Center 3. Click Add Grade Column 4. Type Column Name 5. Primary Display set to Score 6. Category set to Extra Credit 7. Point Possible set to 1 8. Include this column in Grade Center calculations set to Yes 9. Show this column in My Grades set to Yes Extra credit cannot be done as easily with weighted grades since the weights must add up to 100%. Grade weighting is based on the achieved points divided by the possible points to achieve a normalized grade (a percentage) before multiplying by the column's weight. The easiest workaround then is to create a column worth 1 point, and set its overall course weight to 1%. You may want to grant this one point to everyone for goodwill, or make it an attendance point that everyone gets unless they miss too
many classes, or some such (otherwise it will be impossible to achieve 100% for people that haven't done extra work, which would go against the "extra" credit concept). To grant extra credit now, simply give people points beyond that one point that the column should be worth. Each extra credit point awarded in this way will be a full percent extra in the overall course grade. Adding Extra Credit Column for it to be calculated in with the Weighted Total 1. Control Panel 2. Grade Center 3. Click Add Grade Column 4. Type Column Name 5. Primary Display set to Score 6. Category set to Extra Credit 7. Point Possible set to 1 8. Include this column in Grade Center calculations set to Yes 9. Show this column in My Grades set to Yes Adding Extra Credit to Weighted Total 1. Control Panel 2. Grade Center 3. Type Column Name 4. Primary Display set to Percentage 5. Add the Extra Credit to the Selected Column and give it 1%. 6. Fill out your other Weighted Grades 7. Click Submit. However, there is potential for the Possible Points might be skewed. 10. How do you account for extra credit in the 100% for weighted items?" If you have an assignment you want as extra credit, you must first create an Extra Credit category. Create a "Extra Credit" Column 8. Control Panel 9. Grade Center 10. Select on Manage 11. Click on Categories 12. Click Add Categories
13. Type "Extra Credit" in Name 14. Click Submit The easiest way to use extra credit is to use the "Total Points" method of grade calculation (as opposed to weighted grades), and to add a separate column to the grade center (you may want to make its category "extra credit") and set the points possible to 1. Make sure to select that this column should participate in grade center calculations any additional points provided to the student in this column will then be added into the total results. Adding Extra Credit Column for it to be calculated in with the Total Points 10. Control Panel 11. Grade Center 12. Click Add Grade Column 13. Type Column Name 14. Primary Display set to Score 15. Category set to Extra Credit 16. Point Possible set to 1 17. Include this column in Grade Center calculations set to Yes 18. Show this column in My Grades set to Yes Extra credit cannot be done as easily with weighted grades since the weights must add up to 100%. Grade weighting is based on the achieved points divided by the possible points to achieve a normalized grade (a percentage) before multiplying by the column's weight. The easiest workaround then is to create a column worth 1 point, and set its overall course weight to 1%. You may want to grant this one point to everyone for goodwill, or make it an attendance point that everyone gets unless they miss too many classes, or some such (otherwise it will be impossible to achieve 100% for people that haven't done extra work, which would go against the "extra" credit concept). To grant extra credit now, simply give people points beyond that one point that the column should be worth. Each extra credit point awarded in this way will be a full percent extra in the overall course grade. Adding Extra Credit Column for it to be calculated in with the Weighted Total 10. Control Panel 11. Grade Center 12. Click Add Grade Column 13. Type Column Name 14. Primary Display set to Score 15. Category set to Extra Credit 16. Point Possible set to 1 17. Include this column in Grade Center calculations set to Yes
18. Show this column in My Grades set to Yes Adding Extra Credit to Weighted Total 8. Control Panel 9. Grade Center 10. Type Column Name 11. Primary Display set to Percentage 12. Add the Extra Credit to the Selected Column and give it 1%. 13. Fill out your other Weighted Grades 14. Click Submit. However, there is potential for the Possible Points might be skewed. 11. I have set up my weighted totals as you have shown us - but still is not accurate when I check it by hand. If I assign a total points possible as 60 instead of 100 on a certain assignment - could that throw off the weighted total?" Good question. I ran into this problem last term and am not sure it has been resolved. After checking all the settings in the gradebook and averaging manually, Bb was still off severely. Not sure it has been resolved. I still have a "ticket" out on my last gradebook waiting for an answer. 12. Why the totals and percentages are not always correct? As a general rule Blackboard should calculate the points and weighted total correctly. However, there are instances where problems arise. When a problem with the weighted total presents itself an instructor should contact the Blackboard Support Staff with detail information. What about uploading/downloading grade center to excel?" To download data from the Grade Center, follow these steps: Click Manage in the Action Bar of the Grade Center. Select Download from the Action Link menu. Using the radio buttons, select the data to download Select the file delimiter, Comma or Tab. Comma delimited files contain data surrounded by quotation marks (quote character) and have the file extension.csv. Comma delimited files will not open directly in Microsoft Excel. Tab delimited files do not contain quote characters and have the file extension.xls. Tab delimited files will open directly in Microsoft Excel. Select whether to Include Hidden Information in the downloaded data. Hidden information includes columns and students that have been hidden from the view being downloaded.
Select the location for the download. Files downloaded to My Computer will default to the Desktop. Files downloaded to the Content System need to be saved in a folder in the Content System. Click Browse to select the folder. Click Submit to finish the download. Uploading a File to the Grade Center: To upload a file to the Grade Center, follow these steps: Click Manage in the Action Bar of the Grade Center. Select Upload from the Action Link menu. Browse for the file. Files can be uploaded from a local computer or if available, from the Content System. Select the Delimiter Type, Comma, Tab, or Auto. Auto will attempt to automatically detect the delimiter used in the selected file. Click Submit to upload the selected file. Review the list of data from the file to be uploaded. Use the check boxes to deselect any data to be excluded from the upload. Using this method, it is possible to upload only the desired columns of data from the file. Review the Data Preview Column to ensure the correct data is being uploaded. Data that appears incorrect can denote an improperly formatted file. The Data Preview will only show a sample of the data in each column in the file. Large files take significant time to process and a warning message will be displayed for any files that need extra time to process. To avoid long processing times, break up large files into separate uploads. Click Submit to confirm and upload the file. Note: Any file uploaded that contains Incomplete for a grade entry will be set to null, with no grade or text displayed. Any file uploaded that contains Complete for a grade entry will be set to an Override Grade of the maximum points possible (100% for a Grade Item) in a column that has the Primary Display of Complete/Incomplete. Any file uploaded that contains a numeric entry will be a numeric entry. 13. I missed the part where you told us how to drag a column to move it.i am unable to do that!" Go to the grade center in your blackboard course, choose manage from the menu and click on Manage Grade Center. You should be able to move a column by dragging the gray box next to its name and moving it to the preferred location. 14. Can I add extra credit within tests? Select Test Manager in the Assessment area of the Control Panel. Click Add Test. Complete the Add Test page and select Submit. Select Creation Settings. Specify extra credit option for questions (Select this option to make extra credit available for questions included in this Assessment. If selected, an extra credit option appears when each question is created. This option allows the Instructor to make the questions an extra credit questions as opposed to a regular question. If this option is selected points are added to the score if the question is answered correctly; no points are taken away if the questions are answered incorrectly.)
15. How do you get a student to retake a test when a tablet appears and the syllabus allows one take of the test" Click on the Chevron (double down arrow head) to the left of the student s cell showing the tablet and pencil icon ( ) and you can then reset the exam for the student to retake the exam. This starts it again from the beginning. The question of whether you feel you should restart it for them is a personal call. There can be valid reasons for an exam restart. You need to make the call. 16. In the old version you could bring up a screen to enter several grades for one student. Can you still do this?" Yes you can do this in the new grade center. You must use Smart Views and set up a Focus View. The instructions below are from the online Blackboard manual. Add a Focus Smart View: Smart Views of Grade Center data can be based on a simple selection of Students and columns of Gradable Items. To build a Focus Smart View, follow these steps: 1- Click Manage in the Action Bar of the Grade Center. 2- Select Smart Views from the Action Link menu. 3- Click Add Smart View. 4- Enter a Name for the Smart View. This is a required field and will appear in the Current View drop-down menu on the Grade Center page. It will also appear as a link to the Smart View on the Manage Smart Views page. 5- Enter a Description of the Smart View. The description will appear on the Manage Smart Views page. 6- Select the Search Type Focus by selecting the corresponding radio button. 7- Use the radio button to Select Criteria for All Students or Selected Students. If Selected Students is picked, hold the Control Key down and click the Students to include from the selection box. 8- Select the Filter Results by picking which Columns to Display in Results from the drop-down menu. The following choices are possible: a- All columns b- None c- All Grade Center columns which are visible to Students d- All Columns which are NOT visible to Students e- Selected columns only, then select the desired columns from the list of columns. f- Selected Categories only, the select the desired Categories from the list of Categories. g- Selected Grading Periods only, then select desired Grading Periods from the list of Grading periods. 9- To include hidden columns, select the check box to include hidden information 10- Click Submit to save the Smart View
17. Can we change the width of the columns, all - or individually?- How about resizing the columns". You can adjust the name, order, and visibility of the columns but not the width or the size of the column. 18. I have many students complaining of being locked out of exam. I have to reset. Is this a browser issue? Students can be locked out of an exam for several reasons. These include the exam has not been made available; the student is trying to take the exam either before the exam is available or after it has closed; the student has opened the exam for some reason and then closed and tried to reopen it to take it; or there may be a technical reason. Generally there is not a browser problem with the exams. However, IE 8 has not been certified for use with Blackboard at this time. Problems may arise with individual computers, timeout problems with dial up ISPs, network problems, Blackboard problems or other problems. Another note to take in account is the growing usage of Wireless, Wifi, and 3G networks which relies on having a good signal strength for communication. If trying to take an exam on Wireless network there is a high probability of getting locked out if signal is lost. 19. I've had assignment totals add up to 100% in the weighted column but the weighted column total does not indicate 100% when I go back later to check on it. Thoughts? If the questions are about the 100% indicator under the modification of Weight Total then make sure you are at the latest version of Java and uninstall any earlier versions that are still installed. An earlier version of Java did cause the indicator to not add to 100%. Also once installed new version and uninstall old version of Java make sure you clear out your cache including your java cache especially with Internet Explorer. You can contact us at blackboardsupport@troy.edu and let us verify that working correctly. 20. Some of my students had problems receiving attachments when I sent it with the comments in gradebook. Is there a problem sending it this way? Not that we know of. Note that there are several locations to send email from within the course. If you can provide the steps to the precise area you trying to email from we can research it. One note is Blackboard is just relaying the email message to TROY Email system. Blackboard may not put any limits on email, example the size of attachments; however TROY Email system does limit size of
attachments that it will allow through. If student are forwarding their TROY Email, then whatever email system they are using also may put limits as well. 21. Can you get to a screen where you seen the grades slots for only one student? Use the smart view feature. 1. Grade Center under Control Panel 2. Click on Chevron next to Manage 3. Click on Smart Views 4. Click on Add Smart View 5. Type in the Name 6. Select Focus 7. Set Select Criteria to Select Users 8. Select the student 9. Set Filter Results to All Columns 10. Click Submit 11. Click Ok 12. Select the new Smart View you created by selecting the Chevron next to Current View: 22. In the running total do you have to give zeros for assignments not completed or will it automatically? In the Weighted Total and Total you have the Calculate as running total option. Option set to Yes: All items that have grades or attempts will be calculated. It with no grade will not be calculated in. Option set to No: Any items that have no grade will automatically be calculated in with a value of Zero 23. What is the best way for students to view their feedback? The best way is for the student to go to their grade center click on the grade of the exam to review. 1. From student view click on Course Tools 2. Click on My Grades 3. Locate the Exam/Quiz/Assignment 4. Click on the Grade.
24. Right, but I usually set it for review later (after it closes, post due date), in that case I don't know where they go to see it...click on the grade, or the actual test link again. The best way is for the student to go to their grade center click on the grade of the exam to review. 1. From student view click on Course Tools 2. Click on My Grades 3. Locate the Exam/Quiz/Assignment 4. Click on the Grade. 25. When I download the grade to my excel, it's very confusing. Any suggestions? Downloaded files to excel from the Gradecenter only keeps the names of students, actual grades and column titles intact. The information that is downloaded should be exactly like the information in Gradecenter. If some information appears wrong, the instructor should contact the Blackboard Support Staff for more assistance 26. When you want the students to be able to review an exam, don't they access it from their gradebook? I've never actually seen their entry point The best way is for the student to go to their grade center click on the grade of the exam to review. 1. From student view click on Course Tools 2. Click on My Grades 3. Locate the Exam/Quiz/Assignment 4. Click on the Grade. 27. Is there a way to print or save the test statistics page? Print Screen will work. 28. What are the options when a tablet show and no points are recorded? The icon of a tablet with a pencil ( ) is the icon for Attempt in Progress. If it shows but no points are recorded it means one of two things. First the student may currently be taking the exam, but has not submitted it yet. Second, the student tried taking the exam but didn t submit it for some reason. These reasons include power failure, server problems, server time out (from the student s ISP if the student is on dial-up), Blackboard problems or the student looked at the exam and will come back later to take it. You can reset the exam. This would erase any partial work the student has done and will force the student to start over. If you
have been contacted by the student and asked to reset the exam, this is your best option. If there is a possibility the student is currently taking the exam; do not reset it because it will erase any work they have completed. The choice is yours and depends on the situation. 29. Is there a blackboard dummy account that we can use to actually see the students view in the blackboard course? There is a test account that can be created and enrolled into an instructors account. However, to take advantage of this offer the instructor should contact either Alicia Harkless at aharkless@troy.edu or Mandy Mauldin at mmaulding@troy.edu.