Information Technology Services

End of Semester Activities

ITS suggests the following end-of-semester activities involving Blackboard:

1. Check Grade Center calculations: If using the Grade Center, manually calculate one or two of your student's grades to make sure that your Grade Center Total and/or Weighted Total column(s) has/have been set up to calculate correctly. The Mercer University Online Weighted Average Grade Calculator is a very useful tool for checking your Weighted Total calculations.
   
   ITS also offers the following clarifications and instructions regarding some of the "nuances" of the Grade Center.
   
   
   • Extra Credit and/or Attendance Demerit columns must be created with Points Possible set equal to zero. See these instructions for Extra Credit columns.
     • If you are weighting grades and including extra credit and/or attendance demerit columns, you'll want to create a new calculated column (Total) for the final grade. That new column would include the Weighted Total, Extra Credit, and the Attendance Demerit columns (Weighted Total + Extra Credit - Attendance Demerit = Calculated Total).
     • The only other way to apply extra credit or attendance demerits when using a weighted total is to assign the respective column to an existing category of assessments (e.g. Tests or Attendance) and then weight by category (not by column).
     • Any totals columns need to include assignments with more than zero points possible. Creating a total column just for extra credit assignments will not function properly unless other columns with more than zero points possible are included. 
   • Items without Grades: If the Total and/or Weighted Total column has been set to display the default, running total, you must manually enter a grade of zero for any item that was not submitted. Columns displaying a dash (item not submitted) are not included in the calculation of a running Total or running Weighted Total.
     In the following example, 4 quizzes are worth 25 points each. Both students did not complete the 4th quiz. If you do not put a 0 in the column for the Quiz 4, the running total adds up only the three quizzes that have scores and the student receives 100%. You must put a 0 in the Quiz 4 in order for the calculations to recognize 4 grades instead of only 3 grades.
     
     
   • Weighting Grades: If you are weighting grades, make sure that you have assigned the correct weight for each assessment either by column or by category. If using weight by category, make sure that each column has been assigned to the correct category. Weighting grades can be done with a mixture of categories and columns as long as the columns selected are not part of any of the categories included. See these instructions for more information about Weighting Grades.
   • Hidden Columns: Using "Hide Column" only hides that column from the instructor's view, not from the students' view. If you have hidden a column from yourself in your Grade Center, you must show it again to check the column settings to determine whether students can see it. See these instructions for more information about hiding and showing columns.
   • Assigning a Letter Grade: Faculty who wish to display for their students a column which shows their final letter grade will generally need to manually create a column for that purpose. Note that the Primary Display must be set to "Text" in order for you to be able to manually enter a letter grade of "A", "B", "C", "D", or "F". Do not choose "Letter" as your Primary Display for your Total or Weighted Total unless you have reviewed the "Letter" Grading Schema in Blackboard and it accurately reflects the way you assign letter grades.
2. Download a copy of your Grade Center at the end of the term for your records.
3. Make your course unavailable to students after grades have been submitted.
4. Download copies of Assignment and Turnitin Assignment student file submissions for your records.
5. Export course materials to keep a copy for importing into future courses.