Gradebook 2

From e-Learning Documentation

Revision as of 15:49, 16 December 2010

Last updated: 12-16-2010

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. But, 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:

• allow for grading using letter grades
• 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”
• allow you to insert a zero in all columns until grades are entered.
• allow you to drop (excuse) a grade for an individual student.
  • This keeps the Final Letter Grade calculations accurate even though not all data has been entered yet. If you do not choose this option, the Final Letter Grade calculations will not be accurate until all data is in and zeros have been entered into empty columns. It is recommended that you NOT display the Final Letter Grade to students until the end of the semester if you do not choose this option.

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.

NOTE: The reason Gradebook 2 will not let you enter more than the most possible points is that Gradebook 2 will calculate extra credit, where Gradebook will not. If you had an exam worth 100 points, but there was a bonus question worth 5 points, you would set up a column for the exam worth 100 points and an extra credit column worth 5 points.

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. The Final letter grade will be based on a percentage of the total points.

Option 2) Create weighted columns and grade using percentages. 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 10 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. There are a few things you need to consider before you decide to you letter grades in Gradebook 2:

• You can only use Gradebook 2. You cannot enter letter grades in Gradebook and you could create erratic information if you attempt to enter letter grades in Gradebook.
• You must use all letter grades. You cannot mix letter grades with numeric grades.
• You will not be able to give automatically graded assessments using the Tests & Quizzes or Assessments tools as those tools only give numeric grades.
• You must create columns for Assignments in Gradebook 2 prior to creating the Assignment, rather than having the Assignment tool send a column to the Gradebook. In Assignments, only numeric grades can be sent to the Gradebook. You will enter the grades in Gradebook 2, rather than in the Assignment.
• You must use letter grades from the beginning of the semester. You cannot change to letter grades from numeric and you cannot change numeric to letter grades.

The letter grades are based on this scale and cannot be changed:

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 "Set Up Gradebook" 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

• Organize by: Select "No Categories"

NOTE: You could utilize the "Categories" option if you want to drop lowest score(s) or if you just want to use the Categories for organizing your columns.

• Grade Using: Select "Points"
• Display to Students: 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.
• Name: Enter a name for the column.
• Points: Enter the most possible points for this column.
• Due date: 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.

• Include in grade: This box is checked by default. Only uncheck the box if you do not want the data in this column to be part of the calculations.
• Extra credit: Check this box 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.
• Release scores: Check this box if you want scores to be released to students.
• Give ungraded no credit: If you check this box, there will be a 0 in every box until a score is entered. This keeps the letter grade calculation accurate throughout the semester.
• Click Add

Repeat the above steps as many times as needed to create your gradebook columns.

Set Up Gradebook 2 for Option 2

NOTE: This option might best be set up in Gradebook rather than Gradebook 2. If you use this method, there are no advantages to using Gradebook 2 and the terminology used in Gradebook is more precise. Gradebook 2 will work using this method, but keep in mind that the terminology can be confusing.

• Organize by: Select “No Categories”
• Grade Using: Select "Percentages"
• Display to Students: 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 the columns. Be aware that since you are grading using percentages, every column will be worth 100 "points" (percent).

• Click File at the top of the blue box and choose “New Item.” The “New Item” screen will appear in the right pane.
• Name: Enter the name of the column
• Points: Enter the number that reflect what percentage of the total grade this column is to receive.
  • This is where the terminology is not clear in Gradebook 2. If you are using percentages, of course every column is worth 100. What it really wants to know is the percentage of the total grade.
• Due date: 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.

• Include in grade: check the box if you want the data in this column to be part of the calculations.
• Extra credit: check this box 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.
• Release scores: check this box if you want students to see these scores.
• Give ungraded no credit: if you check this box every student will receive a "0" until a grade is entered. This keeps the letter grade calculation accurate throughout the semester.
• Repeat these steps until you have columns whose weight equals 100%.

Set Up Gradebook 2 for Option 3

• Set “Organize by:” to “Weighted 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 your categories and columns:

• Name: Give a name to this category.
•  % Grade: Enter the percentage of the overall grade that this category receives
• Drop lowest: Enter a number to drop the lowest score(s) within this category.
• Include in Grade: The box is checked by default - leave it checked.
• Extra Credit: Since this category is a percentage of the total grade, it will not be extra credit so you should not check the box. If you do want to add a category for extra credit, you will make a separate category for that. In the "percentage of grade" box, you need to enter what percentage of the grade the total number of extra credit points are. For example, if your total points is 100 and you offer 2 extra points, you enter "2" in the "percent of grade" box. If your course is worth 400 points and you offer 10 extra points, you enter "2.5" in the "percent of grade" box.
• Weight items equally: You must check this box if you are dropping lowest score(s). Even if you are not dropping lowest score(s), check the box if every item in this category will carry the same weight within the category. If you do not check the box, when you create your columns, you will have the option to set each column with a weight within the category.
• Release scores: Check the box if you want the scores in all the columns in the category to be released to students.
• Click Add. Repeat these steps to add as many categories as you need to total 100%.

To create columns:

• Click File at the top of the blue box and choose “New Item.” The “New Item” screen will appear in the right pane.
• Name: Enter a name for the column.
• Category: Select the appropriate category from the drop-down menu.
• Points: Enter the most possible points for this column.
• Due date: 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.

• Include in grade: This box is checked by default. Only uncheck the box if you do not want the data in this column to be part of the calculations.
• Extra credit: Check this box 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.
• Release scores: Check this box if you want scores to be released to students.
• Give ungraded no credit: If you check this box, there will be a 0 in every box until a score is entered. This keeps the letter grade calculation accurate throughout the semester.
• Click Add
• Repeat this process until you have all your columns created.

Set Up Gradebook 2 for Option 4

Other than the fact that you are using letters rather than points, setting up the categories and columns are exactly like options 1 & 3 above. When you create a new column, it will ask for "Points." Just ignore this box. Other than that, follow the instructions above to set up Gradebook 2 for letter grades.

Customize Gradebook 2 Appearance

The left pane contains all categories and columns. By default, they will be displayed in alphabetical order. Columns and categories can be rearranged by clicking the item and then dragging it to the place in the list where you want it to be. If you drag a category, all columns within that category will move also.

The right pane is used for editing settings, categories and columns. When you do not have an editing screen open in the right pane, it displays student data. By default, you will see the Students' names, displayed last name first, the Course Grade and the Grade Override column in the right pane. You can choose which columns to display when you click the Attributes & Grades tab at the top of the left pane. Check the box next to the item(s) you want to see in the right pane, or uncheck the box next to the item(s) you do not want to see.

• Display ID = gatorlink username
• Display Name = student name, first name first
• Last Name, First = student name, last name first
• Email = gatorlink email address
• Section = section #
• Course Grade = displays the calculated letter grade and shows the percentage that the letter grade is based on in parentheses - B+(89.7%)
• Grade Override = this column allows you to override the calculated letter grade.
• Letter Grade = displays the calculated letter grade without the percentage - B+
• Calculated Grade = displays the calculated percentage without the letter grade - 89.7%

Click the Gradebook tab at the top of the left pane to return to the list of categories and columns.

You may also choose to display any or all of the gradebook columns you have created in the right pane. Check the box beside any column you want to see in the right window pane. With this system, you may choose to only display the column you are currently working with to minimize the need to scroll.

Gradebook2: Input Student Grades, Import from Scantron, Import and Export Using Excel

Manually inputting Student Grades

Inputting student grades in Gradebook 2 is just like entering into an Excel spreadsheet. From the left pane:

• check the box next to the column(s) into which you want to input grades.
  • The column(s) will show next to the list of student names in the right pane.
• click in the column beside the student's name and type in the grade.

Grades are automatically saved. The green triangle in the upper left corner of the box designates a grade that was manually entered.

Add a Comment and View Grade History

If you right click on a grade, a window opens that allows you to select to

• Add a comment: Add a comment to the student pertaining to his/her grade. Type your comment and click Submit.
• Edit a comment: (only if a comment already exists) - Make edits to a previously posted comment * View Grade History - See any changes that have been make to this grade. Includes the name of the person who made the change.

Excuse (Drop) a Grade for an Individual Student

In the right window pane where your students are listed:

• Click the hyperlinked name of the student
• A smaller box opens within the right pane that contains the student information and then the scores listed below that. There are three tabs at the top of the list of scores. Click on Excuses
• Check the box beside any grade you want to drop for this student.
• Click Close

Import from Scantron

NOTE: Because Gradebook 2 does not allow you to enter more than the most possible points in a column, if your scantron file has any grades greater than the most possible, the file will not import. You will need to import your file through Gradebook.

When you take your bubble sheets to Turlington B-213 for scanning, you will be asked to fill out paperwork. Make sure you check the box stating that you are using e-Learning. This will make sure your results include the gatorlink usernames of your students. You also need to take a flash drive or a floppy disk for the files you will receive.

You will receive two .txt files from the scanning office. One file contains the students' gatorlink username and grade. It will be called "UploadExam1." The other is called "NoMatchExam1" and contains any grades that do not match a UFID entered on the bubble sheets. This could happen if a student entered his/her UFID incorrectly on the bubble sheet. You will need to manually enter these grades after you finish the import of the UploadExam1 file.

The file must first be converted to a .csv file which is the only type of file that can be imported into the e-Learning in Gradebook 2. To convert the file:

• Open MS Excel
• Click the "Office Button" icon
• Click Open. A box will open where you can locate the file.
• At the bottom of this box, beside the heading "Files of type:" choose "All Files" from the drop-down menu.
• Locate the file and double-click it. A box opens.
• Click Next
• On the next screen under the heading "Delimiters," uncheck the box labeled "Tab" and check the box labeled "Comma."
• Click Next
• Click Finish. Your data is displayed in Excel
• You see two columns - one contains the gatorlink username and the other the score. In the heading of the gatorlink username column, change "User ID" to "Student ID"
• If you have already created a column in Gradebook 2 to receive these scores, change the heading of the column to match perfectly the heading in the gradebook.

NOTE: If you do not already have a column created, the process will create a new column for your data. The default points possible for this column will be 100 points. If your points possible is more than 100 points, the process will not work because Gradebook 2 will not allow the entry of more than the possible number of points. Create a column with the correct points possible before you import. If your points possible is less than 100, that will be no problem. You can change the points possible after the import.

The file must now be saved as a .csv file.

• Click the "Office Button" icon
• Double-click on Save As. A box will open where you can save to a location on your computer.
• At the bottom of this box, beside the heading "Save as type:" choose CSV (Comma delimited) from the drop-down menu.
• Click Save.
• A box will open alerting you that .csv format will not preserve some formatting. Click Yes.
• Close the file. Even though you have already saved it, you will again get a "Do you want to save the changes box." Click No.

You are now ready to import this file into Gradebook 2.

• Click Tools at the upper left of the blue box
• Click Import
• On the next screen, click Browse beside the "File:" box.
• Locate the file on your computer and double-click on it.
• Click Next
• You will see the "Preview Data" screen which shows the information you are importing. Verify that this is accurate and click Next.
• Click Done
• If you created a new column with this import, it will not be released to the students. Double-click the name of the column in the left pane to release and adjust any settings that need to be changed.

Import and Export Using Excel in Gradebook 2

Exporting your gradebook is an important part of the end-of-semester process. You can save this spreadsheet to your computer, or burn it to a CD or DVD for long-term storage. This serves as a back-up of this important data.

Export from Gradebook 2

• Click Tools at the upper left of the blue box
• Click Export
• Select:
  • Only Grades as CSV - this option exports all student IDs (gatorlink username), Name, all columns including a comments column for each grade column, and the Course Grade. You will choose this option if you want to import scores and/or comments back into Gradebook 2. The file is already in the proper format for importing back into Gradebook 2.
  • Only Grades as Excel 97/2000/XP - this option exports the same information as above, but opens it in Excel which allows you to add calculations and other formatting not available in .csv format. If you want to import data from this spreadsheet, you will have to save it as .csv before importing. Be aware that numeric values are the only data that can be imported into Gradebook 2 unless you are grading with letter grades. In that case, only the standard letter grades with +/- can be imported.
  • Grades & Structure as CSV - this option exports all grades and also states the information about how the gradebook was set up - such as weighted categories, dropped scores, etc. in .csv format.
  • Grades and Structure as Excel 97/2000/XP - this option exports the same as above, but in Excel format.
• The file is saved to your computer.

Import from Gradebook 2

NOTE: If you are working with a file you exported from Gradebook 2, it will include a column with the student UFID in it, even though you do not see that column in Gradebook 2. That column has been inserted so that when you export your grades at the end of the semester for import into Grade-A-Gator, you will have the UFID. But if you are going to re-import this spreadsheet back into Gradebook 2, you will need to delete the UFID column. That column will not import.

• Click Tools at the upper left of the blue box
• Click Import
• On the next screen, click Browse beside the "File:" box.
• Locate the file on your computer and double-click on it.
• Click Next
• You will see the "Preview Data" screen which shows the information you are importing. Verify that this is accurate and click Next.
• Click Done
• If you created a new column with this import, it will not be released to the students. Double-click the name of the column in the left pane to release and adjust any settings that need to be changed.

Gradebook 2: Change the Letter Grade Scale

It is recommended that you change the Letter Grade Scale in Gradebook. Gradebook 2 does not allow for the entry of more than the most possible points and so it is not possible to override the A+ option. Once you make the changes in Gradebook, Gradebook 2 will reflect that information.

Prepare Grades for Submission to Grade-A-Gator

If any of the Course Grades have three asterisks beside them, for example, "B (87.2%)***" that means that all data is not available for that grade. If a student doesn't have a grade in at least one column, you will see the three asterisks. You will need to add zeros to the empty cells:

1. Double-click on the name of the column in the left pane.
2. In the right pane, check the box beside "Give ungraded no credit."
3. Click Save
4. Continue until all columns have zeros inserted. Click Save/Close

You have the option to override any grade. If there is a final grade that you want to change before exporting the grades, you may do that. In the Gradebook 2 left pane:

1. Click the "Attributes and Grades" tab
2. Make sure the check box is checked beside "Course Grade" and "Grade Override."
3. In the right pane, those columns appear beside the student names. In the Grade Override column, enter the grade you want to give the student(s). In the "Course Grade" column, the calculate percentage will change to say "override."

NOTE: You cannot use this process to change an "F" to an "E" or an "I" as those are not valid grades in the system. You can only change the letter grade to another valid letter grade; A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F.

You are now ready to download the grades. NOTE: This tutorial is being edited to address the lack of section numbers. We will be issuing a corrected tutorial within hours. 12162010, 10am.

1. At the top of the Gradebook 2 screen, click Tools > Export > Only Grades > as Excel 97/2000/XP (.xls)
2. The file will be downloaded to your computer. Open the file. Delete all the columns except "Student ID," "UFID," "Student Name," and "Course Grade." To remove the calculated percentage from the letter grade column (these instructions are for Office 2007):
   1. Select Ctrl-F and enter (* in the Find field. Leave the Replace field blank.
   2. Click Replace All. Every student's course grade will have the percentage removed.
   3. In the new column, change any grade of "F" to an "I" or an "E."

We will now add the Section Number. The first column in your spreadsheet is the Student ID (gatorlink username) which is not needed.

1. Click in the cell that contains the first student's gatorlink username, and change it to the section number.
2. Click the lower right corner of that cell and drag it down the column to replace all the gatorlink usernames with the Section Number.

We will now add a column to contain the Credit Hours.

1. Insert a column between the Student Name and the Course Grade.
2. In the first cell of this column, enter the Credit Hours.
3. Click the lower right corner of that cell and drag it down the column to enter the Credit Hours in all the cells.

1. Remove the headings from the first row of the spreadsheet. Columns should be in this order:
   1. Section
   2. UFID
   3. Last Name, First Name
   4. Credit Hours
   5. Grades
2. Save the file as a .csv file and proceed with upload to Grade-A-Gator.

Please contact the Office of the University Registrar at (352) 392-1374 if you have questions about the format of the file or the submission process.