Gradebook 2

From e-Learning Documentation

Revision as of 18:36, 23 September 2010

Overview

There are two Gradebook applications in Sakai - Gradebook is the original tool and Gradebook 2 is a later addition offering a few more options. The two tools are integrated in such a way that any changes you make in one Gradebook will show up in the other. You do not need to choose one tool and get rid of the other. You may keep both tools and utilize the best parts of each. You will want to hide one of the tools from the students, though, just to minimize confusion. Gradebook 2 will do everything Gradebook will do and will also:

• drop the lowest score(s) in a category
• allow for weighting specific columns within a category
• calculate extra credit
• allow the reordering of columns and categories by “drag and drop”

Gradebook 2 will not:

• allow more points than is possible to be entered in a column
  • because of this, you cannot remove the A+ option in Gradebook 2, but if you do it in Gradebook, the change will be reflected in Gradebook 2.

Calculation Options

There are four main ways that you can set up Gradebook 2 calculations:

Option 1) Create columns and enter points. The Gradebook will add all columns to give you a total number of points for the course.

Option 2) Create weighted columns and grade using percentages. The Gradebook will calculate the final grade for you. This would be used if you have single items that make up a certain percentage of the grade. For example, the course project is 40% of the grade, the mid-term exam is 25% of the grade and the final exam is 35% of the grade.

Option 3) Create weighted categories, place columns within the categories and enter points. This would be used if you have several items under one category. For example, you assign 15 quizzes during the semester and the total of those quizzes will make up 15% of the grade. There are 5 assignments and the total of those assignments will make up 30% of the grade, etc.

Option 4) Grade using Letter Grades. Every column must be graded by a Letter Grade and the final grade will be an average of the Letter Grades.

Within a category:

• Gradebook 2 will drop lowest score(s)
• columns can be weighted within a category - for example, of the 5 assignments example used above, you can set up the category so that Assignment 5 gets more weight than does the first 4.

NOTE: When you choose the weighted categories option, in the student's view of Gradebook 2, they will see the categories and the weight of each category.

Set Up Calculation Options

• Within the course where you want to set up Gradebook 2, click on Gradebook 2 in the left menu.

Gradebook 2 interface is a double-paned view. The left pane will list your categories and columns while the right column is for editing. If this is the first time you’ve opened Gradebook 2, the Gradebook Settings screen will be opened for you in the right pane. Any other time, click Edit at the top of the blue box and choose “Gradebook Settings.” The “Set Up Gradebook” screen will appear in the right pane.

• Your Gradebook will have a long string of letters and numbers in the box called “Name.” This is the unique identifier of your course. You may change the name to something more understandable - such as “ABC1234 Gradebook.”

Set Up Gradebook 2 for Option 1

• Set “Organize by:” to “No Categories”
• Set “Grade Using” to “Points”
• In the “Display to Students” box, check the box(es) next to the items you want to be displayed to the students. You can come back and change this at any time.
• Click Save/Close

Now you need to add columns for your data:

• Click File at the top of the blue box and choose “New Item.” The “New Item” screen will appear in the right pane.
• Enter the name of the column and points possible
• Due date is optional - it will appear to the students’ in their view of Gradebook 2
• Source: Since you are creating this column in the Gradebook , that is set as the source and cannot be changed.

NOTE: The Source denotes where the column was created and where grades can be entered. This column is being added in the Gradebook and so must have the grades entered in the Gradebook. If you had created an Assignment that automatically created a column in the Gradebook for you, the source for that column would be "Assignments." Grades could only be entered through the Assignments tool, not through the Gradebook. The same is true if the column was created through Tests & Quizzes or Assessments.

• Check the box beside “Include in grade:” if you want the data in this column to be part of the Gradebook calculations.
• Check the box beside “Extra credit:” if you want the data in this column to be added to the total number of points after the calculations are complete. This means that students are not penalized if they do not get these points.

Set Up Gradebook 2 for Option 2

• Set “Organize by:” to “No Categories”
• Set “Grade Using” to “Percentages”
• In the “Display to Students” box, check the box(es) next to the items you want to be displayed to the students. You can come back and change this at any time.
• Click Save/Close

Gradebook2: Input Student Grades, Import from Scantron, Import and Export Using Excel Gradebook2: Change the Letter Grade Scale