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Grade Schemas

Excerpt

Grade

Schemas take the actual points scored from a Grade 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 in order to display a grade. (The Grade Center includes a copy of a default grading schema).

When a Grading Schema is employed, and depending on the grade display option, the Grade Center will translate the entry according to the Grading Schema and display the corresponding value.

Accessing Grade Schema Settings

Once

schemas control how assessment scores are displayed to students in the gradebook. This page shows how to create and edit schemas, and how to apply them to control how an assessment grade appears in the gradebook.

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Entering Grades

All graded assessments in Blackboard must have a numerical points value defined in the assessment settings. All grades entered into the gradebook are recorded in the format ([student score] / [assessment points value]). Both terms can go up to two decimal places, i.e. (9.25/10.00). By default, students will see grades displayed in this format, but instructors can apply a grade schema to translate the underlying (xx.xx/yy.yy) grade value into another format to reflect their course grading policies.

Default Schemas

The following grade schemas/display options are included in all SU Blackboard courses.

Percentage

This option will display the assessment grade as a percentage – for example a score of (9.25/10) will be displayed as 92.5%.

Complete/Incomplete

This option will display the assessment grade as one of two icons.

A grade will display as Incomplete, denoted by a circle with a horizontal dash in the middle, if it is either (a) blank (i.e. not graded yet) or (b) has an automatic zero because the due date passed with no submission from the student.

A grade will display as Complete, denoted by a circled check mark, for any other score value, including a grade of zero that is entered manually, (9.25/10), (5/10), a negative value, π*, etc.

* (please do not try to enter a grade value of π)

Incomplete and Complete Blackboard grade iconsImage Added

Warning

The Complete/Incomplete grade schema does not mean that an assessment is ungraded, or that it automatically receives full points for submission. The assessment grade is still recorded in the gradebook as a numerical value, and that numerical value, not the C/I status icon, determines how the assessment impacts the student’s overall grade.

To create an ungraded assessment with a C/I grade, you can set the points value to 0 in the assessment settings. A grade of (--/0), indicating that the student has not made a submission and/or the instructor has not posted a grade yet, will display as Incomplete, while a grade of (0/0) will display as Complete. Alternatively, you can simply disconnect the assessment from the overall grade calculation.

To create a graded C/I assessment where Complete is equivalent to “full points,” the assessment must be manually graded, or a manual override grade must be entered for any student who scores below full points on an auto-graded assessment.

SU Letter Grade

The “SU Letter” grade schema is included in all newly-created SU Blackboard courses. This schema represents a fairly standard percentage-to-letter-grade conversion table, but IS NOT an official university grading guide. There is no official university-wide letter grade calculation policy. Generally speaking, the process for determining students' overall final letter grade for a course is up to the individual instructor. If you need guidance on determining final letter grades at the end of term, reach out to your department.

The SU Letter grade schema is provided in all Blackboard courses as a default option for convenience. The schema converts the underlying score of (xx.xx/yy.yy) to a percentage and then to an A-F letter grade as shown in the table to the right.

Instructors can alter the grade ranges of the SU Letter grade schema or create their own custom grade schemas in the gradebook settings, as outlined in the next section.

Grade Name

Grade Range %

A

94% – 100%

A-

90% – 93.99%

B+

87% – 89.99%

B

83% – 86.99%

B-

80% – 82.99%

C+

77% – 79.99%

C

73% – 76.99%

C-

70% – 72.99%

D

60% – 69.99%

F

0% – 59.99%

Managing Grade Schemas

To create, edit, or delete grade schemas in your Blackboard course, open the Gradebook tab

of

in the course navigation menu

. Once in this tab, you will want to open the Gradebook settings by clicking the gear icon to the right of your screen underneath "Student Preview." This will open a sidebar menu panel. 

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, then find and click the gear icon settings gear iconImage Added in the upper right to access the Gradebook settings. 

The first section of the Gradebook Settings is

"

Grade Schemas.

" In this section, find the link that reads

Click "Manage Grade Schemas"

and click

to open the

Grade Schema

Managing Grade Schemas

Editing Existing Schemas

settings.

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Manage Grade Schemas in the gradebook settings menuImage Added

By default, Blackboard will have the SU Letter grading schema already created and ready for use within your course.

If you need to edit or delete a particular Grade Name or Grade Range %, click the three dots to the right of the table row that you want to make changes to and you will see "Edit" and "Delete" options appear for that row. 

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In turn, if you would like to add a row to the grade schema, hover your mouse in between the two rows that you want to add an item and a highlighted line and plus sign will appear. Click the plus sign to add a row and type the "Grade Name" and "Grade Range %". Whether editing, deleting, or adding rows, always be sure to click the black Save button located in the bottom right hand corner. 

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Adding New Grade Schemas

You can edit the SU Letter schema or create a new custom grade schema by following the steps below.

To create a new grade schema,

 

click the "(plus) Add" button located

underneath the "Grade Schemas" title menu of the page. This will open a pop-up menu to type a title for the schema. Once you have typed your preferred title, click the black "Add" button on the pop up menu to save

in the upper left. When the pop up menu appears, enter a title for your new grade schema. Click "Add" to confirm your title and create a table for the new grade schema. 

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In order to edit this new schema, you will follow the same "Edit," "Delete," and "Add" functions that are listed in the above section, "Editing Existing Schemas." Let's create this new

GIF showing the process to add a new grade schema tableImage Added

Editing a Grade Schema

Once you have opened or created the grade schema template you wish to work on, you can now edit the table to fit your needs.

Let's create an example schema to adhere to the following grading scale:

A = 90%-100%

B = 80%-90%

C = 70%-80%

D = 60%-70%

F = 0%-60%

When you create a new Grade Schema, the table that is created will only have two

rows and the rows are defaulted

rows  with the Grade name "A" and "F" and the

grade

Grade Range % as "50%-100%" and "0%-50%" respectively.

Our

The grading scale example above shows that

we

you need five different rows in

our

the table so

we

you will need to add three rows, hovering the mouse between the two existing rows until the plus sign appears and clicking the plus sign three times to create three new blank rows.

 The system will automatically generate potential Grade Range % that evenly distribute remaining percentages between the existing rows, but the Grade Name will stay empty until we title them. Because the system defaulted to Grade Range % that do not match the grading scale I need, I will need to edit both of the columns. To do this, I will first need to title the new rows with a "Grade Name." The rows will be titled

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GIF displaying the process of adding three rows to the grade schema tableImage Added

Once the rows are added, type the needed "Grade Name" for each respective row.

In our current example, we will name these rows "B," "C," and "D

,

" (as

we already have grades

rows "A" and "F"

in

already exist within the table

. Once these rows are titled, I will now see three dots to the right of each row that will give me the ability to

).

To edit the Grade Range %

. Additionally

,

I can

simply click on the

percent or name that I

percentage number that you want to

change

edit and

the

an editable text box will appear

in editing form. 

.

Please note that only the lower bound percent of the grade range can be edited. The upper bounds will automatically adjust to reflect your changes, as shown in the screen grab to the right. 

When all edits are made, click the black "Save" button in the lower right hand corner. 

GIF showing the process of editing each grade range value in a grade schema tableImage Added

Applying Grade Schema to a Graded Item

Once a grade schema has been created in the gradebook settings, it is available to be used and applied to any graded items in your course. To apply a grade schema, follow these steps: 

  1. Select the item - this can be done either by opening the item in the Course Content area or clicking on the column header in the gradebook and selecting "Edit"

  2. Click the gear icon in the upper right of the screen across from "Assignment Settings."

  3. When the panel menu appears on the right side of your screen, scroll down to the "Grading and Submissions" section.

  4. Under the "Grade using" option, click the drop down menu (defaulted to say "Points").

  5. Choose the grade schema/display option that you would like to apply to the assignment.

  6. Click the black "Save" button in the lower right hand corner. 

Grade schemas can also be applied to calculation columns, including the Overall Grade column. For more information, see the Answers page on the Overall Grade. 

Here is a video walk through of how to apply grade schema to gradable items in your Blackboard course: 

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/p/2707131/sp/270713100/embedIframeJs/uiconf_id/45992501/partner_id/2707131?iframeembed=true&playerId=kplayer&entry_id=1_grsd1tp3&flashvars%5BstreamerType%5D=auto