Washburn University Instructor

How to setup a grade book

Access the Grades tool by selecting Course Tools > Grades.
Select Manage Grades.
Select New > Item.
Choose the Grade Item Type of grade item you wish to create:
- Numeric is the recommended type, unless you have a specific goal in mind for another type.
Assign a Name to the item, and Maximum Points.

Selecting Can Exceed allows the grade item to exceed the designated maximum points.
Selecting Bonus makes it so only points received will count toward the final score, and not its maximum points or weight.
Select the Grade Scheme for your Grade Item:
- Your institution will have a Default Scheme, but other options are available.
Select Save and Close.

Grade Categories allow you to organize your grade book, and offer useful features:

If a category already exists in your grade book, you can assign grade items to it.
If you are using a Weighted grade book:
- The grades inside the category contribute to the category's weight
  - In this example, the Category Tests is worth 40% of the Final Grade:
    - Both Test # 1 and Test # 2 have a weight of 50, as shown in the rightmost column
      - This makes them each worth 20% of the Final Grade (50% of 40)
- The grade category can be set to have its weight automatically distributed between all it's items so they all automatically add up to 100. To do this, select Distribute weight evenly across all items.
  - In this case:
    - A category with 2 items will automatically assign a weight of 50 to each item
    - A category with 6 items will automatically assign a weight of 16.666 to each item
  - Additionally, this option allows you to have the category drop a certain number of lowest or highest items.
    - The dropped items will be ignored when calculating the user's Final Grade.
If you are using a Points Grade Book, the category allows you to automatically assign the same max points to all the items within it. For example, you can set the Points per item so that all items within the category are worth 30 points.

Additionally, this option allows you to have the category drop a certain number of lowest or highest items.

This can occur when using a weighted Grade Book if the Grade Items in a Category do not add to 100:

Check the weight of all the categories in your grade book, along with the weight of items not in a category
- Items that are in a category have their names indented.
- The total weight of all items within a category should add up to 100.
In the above image, Test # 1 and Test # 2 only add up to 50. This matches the message shown at the top of the page, 'Tests' sums to 50%, not 100%. Verify the total weight of all items in the category is 100%.
1. To solve this issue, change the weight of the tests so that their weights add up to 100.
2. The weight of all categories and grade items must also add up to 100.
In the example used, the total weight is 110. Discussions have a weight of 20, Assignments have a weight of 50, and Tests have a weight of 40. This matches the message shown at the top of the page, 'Final Calculated Grade' sums to 110%, not 100%. Verify the total weight of all the top level categories and items is 100%.
1. To fix this issue, remove 10 points from the weight of one of the Grade Categories (by editing the category) so that the total weight is 100. Note: Bonus items do not count towards the sum for a category.
If the problem persists, please select the CHAT WITH AN EXPERT button in the bottom right of this page.

Creating a new Bonus item:

Follow the steps in How to create a grade item?
At the bottom of the Properties page for the new Grade item, Check Bonus.

Modifying an existing item: