Instructions for Setting up Grade Center in Blackboard The following instructions provide a step-by-step method for setting up your Blackboard Grade Center. While this method is not necessarily ideal for all courses, it is universal in that it should work for all courses. Therefore, if you are already comfortable with using Blackboard Grade Center in a different method, keep doing what you are doing. These instructions are meant to provide those who are unfamiliar with or confused by Grade Center with a streamlined method to get started. Step 1: Determine how your final grade will be calculated Before you can do anything in Blackboard, you should know how the final grade will be calculated in your course. Specifically, this means listing what percentage of the final grade various assignments or categories are worth. The following are a few examples of how different courses may be evaluated. Homework Quizzes Tests Project EXAMPLE 1 EXAMPLE 2 Unit 1 Unit 2 50% Unit 3 20% Unit 4 20% 30% 35% Homework Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Final Exam EXAMPLE 3 EXAMPLE 4 Grammar Quizzes Outlines Rough Drafts Peer Reviews Final Drafts 30% Presentation Discussion Board 5% 5% 50% Oftentimes, you do not have complete control over your grade calculation, as it is decided by a department or College-wide committee. If you are uncertain of the grade calculation for your course, check with your department chair or course leader. Before moving on to the next step, make sure to have your grade calculation somewhere in front of you, and be sure that all of the items add up to 100%.
Step 2: Create categories in Grade Center The next step is to create categories in your Blackboard Grade Center that reflect the same categories from the list you determined in step 1. 1. Access Grade Center by logging in to your Blackboard Course, clicking the Grade Center link on the left-hand menu, and then clicking Full Grade Center. 2. Hover over the Manage button and select the Categories option from the drop-down menu. A screen will open up, and you will see a list of pre-determined categories. You can ignore these, as we will create new categories to avoid any possible confusion. 3. Click Create Category 4. You will be asked to give the category a name. Type the letters aa and then type the name of one of your categories from the grade calculation list you determined in Step 1. These extra letters aa ensure that you won t confuse your categories with any of the other ones that might already exist in your course. 5. Once you have given your category a name, click the Submit button. 6. Repeat these steps to create new categories until you have created one category for each of those listed in your grade calculation list determined in Step 1. 7. Once you have added all of your categories, click the OK button at the bottom of the screen, returning you to the Grade Center.
Step 3: Create a Weighted Column in Grade Center Now that we ve got your categories set up, we ll create what is called a Weighted Column to automatically calculate your students average grades. 1. From the Grade Center, hover your mouse over the Create Calculated Column button and click on Weighted Column from the drop-down menu. 2. A new screen will open up on which you can enter information for the weighted column. Give it a recognizable name, such as Weighted Average or Current Grade. 3. Once you have named your column, scroll down until you see a list of columns and categories to select. Find one of the categories that you created for this course (remember, they start with aa ), and click on it. Then, click on the grey arrow to include this category in your Weighted Column calculations. You will see the category move over to the right side of the screen.
4. Continue to select your categories and click the grey arrow until you have included all the categories for this course. 5. Next, enter the values for each category according to the list you determined in Step 1. It is also recommended to select the option to weight columns Proportionally, as this will allow you to include assignments of different point values within one category. For example, if you have a Homework category, you might have some homework assignments worth 5 points, some worth 10, and so on. By selecting the Proportionally option, each of these assignments will be weighted according to the number of points you assign. Otherwise, they will all be treated equally when calculating the average. 6. Ensure that your Total Weight adds up to 100%. Then, scroll down and click the Submit button, returning you to the Grade Center.
Step 4: Create assignment columns in Grade Center Now that you have created a Weighted Column to calculate grades automatically for you, it s time to create a columns to enter grades for individual assignments. The instructions below detail how to add a column for one assignment. If you know all of your assignments right now, you could create all of the columns in one sitting. If some assignments are unknown to you right now (such as pop quizzes or homework), you can add them to the Grade Center as you assign them in class. 1. From the Grade Center, click the Create Column button. 2. Give the column a name that will be identifiable to you and your students, such as Homework 1, Quiz 1, or Reflection Essay. 3. Scroll down and select the appropriate category for this assignment from the drop down box. Be certain to select one of the categories that you created specifically for this course (remember, you started them with aa ). IMPORTANT: If you don t select a category then this assignment will not be included in the average grade calculation. 4. Set the points possible. This is the maximum score that students can get on the assignment. 5. Scroll down and click the Submit button, returning you to the Grade Center where you can view your newly created assignment. 6. Repeat these steps for every assignment that you want to add to the Grade Center. Congratulations! You ve set up your Grade Center. Now, as you grade assignments, all you have to do is go back to your Grade Center and enter the grades. Each student s average grade will be calculated automatically.
A note on Blackboard Assignments, Discussion Boards, Tests, etc. Blackboard provides a number of tools, such as assignments, discussion boards, and tests that will automatically create columns in your Grade Center. If you use these features, you must be sure to assign the associated Grade Center columns a proper category. Otherwise, they will not be included in your average grade calculation.