Grade Schemas
- Sturdy Knight
- Leytisha Jack
- Alex Gyder (Deactivated)
Grade Schemas
Grade 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.
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)
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 in the course navigation menu, then find and click the gear icon 
The first section of the Gradebook Settings is Grade Schemas. Click "Manage Grade Schemas" to open the settings.
By default, Blackboard will have the SU Letter grading schema already created and ready for use within your course. 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 " Add" button located 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.
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 with the Grade name "A" and "F" and the Grade Range % as "50%-100%" and "0%-50%" respectively.
The grading scale example above shows that you need five different rows in the table so 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.
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 rows "A" and "F" already exist within the table).
To edit the Grade Range %, simply click on the percentage number that you want to edit and an editable text box will appear.
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.
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:
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"
Click the gear icon in the upper right of the screen across from "Assignment Settings."
When the panel menu appears on the right side of your screen, scroll down to the "Grading and Submissions" section.
Under the "Grade using" option, click the drop down menu (defaulted to say "Points").
Choose the grade schema/display option that you would like to apply to the assignment.
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: