GradeCenter © JClister Univeristy of Miami IAC Adapted by Educational Development Services / 2008 v1 Page 1 of 10

Grade Center: overviewManage overall student progress

efficiently and productively

• What is Grade Center? • Creating and printing reports • Accessing Grade Center • Grading Schema • Navigation within Grade Center • Assessment statistics • Changing Grade Center views • Further Help and Support

What is Grade Center? Grade Center is the new updated version of Gradebook for myBU myBU now provides Grade Center as a central repository for students’ information on their grades and the calculations and statistics behind the grades. Through Grade Center, the tutor can assess, grade and provide feedback to the students’ submitted assessments and activities. Without leaving Grade Center; you can now share grades with the students, send email to the students and report their progress to administrators and other fellow academics. Grades can also be downloaded into excel formats for ease of reference at a later stage. Benefits of the Grade Center

• Grade Center now provides different ways to analyse these grades based on a variety of student criteria. • Grade Center provides the ability to provide detail specific reports to students on their progress with the

choice of adding developmental and motivational feedback • The spreadsheet in the center of the Grade Center page is where grades are entered and calculated

ensuring ease of use for the academic. Overall the Grade Center evaluates course activities in a managed area with much ease and mutli-functionality.

Grade Center at first glance The Grade Center main welcome page contains a spreadsheet style grid with vertical columns and horizontal rows. The grid contains cells which can be amended at the main welcome page.

Grade items are displayed as columns, while each row represents a student. The cell would then be amended to enter each individual students grade. Students information will be automatically displayed in the Grade Center after enrolling on a course unit.

A student cannot be added or removed from the Grade Center Grade Center displays a students ‘Last Name’, ‘First Name’, ‘Username’, ‘StudentID’, ’Last Access’ and ‘Availability’ in the left hand columns. If there are any assignments or assessments in the content areas, these will automatically show up in the Grade Center.

Accessing Grade Center Select the relevant unit within myBU through the unit catalogue Ensure you are within the relevant unit

Select Control Panel on the left hand menu panel within your unit In the Control Panel area, under Assessment area, click the Grade Center link

Navigation within Grade Center Grade Center is easily navigational and the presence of the legend menu will indicate any necessary actions to complete. Changes can be made within each cell on the front welcome page and scores can be manually changed after reviewing an assignment. Keep an eye on approaching deadlines and send reminder emails to your students within the Grade Center

It is vital to remember that as an academic you must manually enter grades for items that were manually created or import those from a spreadsheet that was edited outside of myBU. The Grade Center focuses on the presence of a new ‘Action bar’ which enables users an increased scope of functionality.

Action bar

The ‘Action bar’ is a redesigned tool bar through which many work tasks are possible; • Add Grade Column: Enables users to manually add columns to the Grade Center. Click to add a column

that represents a gradable item in the course unit. • Add Calculated Column: Reveals a drop-down menu with options for creating columns in the Grade

Center whereby the values contained are calculated from the values in other columns. Calculated Columns perform functions such as weighting grades. A Calculated Column gathers data from multiple Grade Center columns and performs a calculation to attain performance results; such as an average class grade for a set of assignments.

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Action bar (cont…) It is also possible to have a Column Name and Grade Center Display Name – this feature allows a shorter name to display in the Grade Center for ease of reference.

• Manage: Customize the Grade Center by adding Categories, Smart Views, Grading Periods and Grading Schemas.

Displays Grade Center management options available

o Uploading data from an external source o Downloading data from the Grade Center in a delimited file format (Excel) o ‘Categories’ (classifications of columns of gradable items) o ‘Smart Views’ (custom made views). o ‘Grading Periods’ o ‘Grading Schemas’ o ‘Show/Hide Users’ (determines whether a students’ record is visible in the Grade Center). o ‘Organize Grade Center’ (allow instructors to change the order and visibility of columns as well as

assigning columns to Grading Periods and Categories) o ‘Show/Hide Users’ (allows instructors to hide or show users in the Grade Center views).

• E-mailing students: The column of checkboxes that begins each row can be used to select specific

students to send emails. An e-mail can be sent to selected students, all students, selected observers, or all observers directly from the Grade Center.

• Creating Reports: Generate reports on one or many students using Grade Center data. Students may

reflect on their progress and academics can also add appropriate feedback to these printable reports. • View Grade History: Displays a page where the grade history of any selected students is shown.

Display history of all grade changes in the course unit. • Sort Columns By: Sort the spreadsheet by: Categories, Creation Date, Display Name, Due Date, Layout

Position, and Points Possible. • Current view: Use Current View to switch back and forth between the Full Grade Center, Smart

Views, and Grading Periods.

Changing Grade Center views ‘Organize Grade Center’ (from the ‘Manage’ drop-down menu): • Allows instructors to change the order and visibility of columns as well as assign columns to Grading Periods

and categories. • Freeze or unfreeze columns. This can be altered by drag and dropping rows accordingly.

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Changing Grade Center views (cont…) If a column is frozen, when scrolling through the Grade Center view, that column will remain stationary. Columns listed under the option ‘Shown in All Grade Center Views’ will appear in all views no matter how far to the right you scroll. To make columns visible in ‘All Grade Center Views’:

1. Click Manage in the action bar of the Grade Center. 2. Select Organize Grade Center from the ‘Manage’ drop-down menu. 3. Select the Grade Center column (displayed on the screen as a row) to be moved by clicking and holding

any part of the row. 4. Drag and drop the row to the desired location. 5. Click ‘Submit’ to save changes.

Note: Once the display order of the columns has been changed, all new columns added to the Grade Center are added at the end of the display order, unless associated to a particular Grading Period.

Smart Views Smart Views are specific bespoke views of the Grade Center based on a variety of criteria. Once created and saved, Smart Views become an item on the Current View drop-down menu of the Grade Center page. Any Smart View can be saved as the default view of the Grade Center. There are four different types of Smart View:

Once built and saved, Smart Views become a selectable list item; enabling easy navigation from one view to another. The current default view can be changed at any time.

Select Manage from the action bar in the Grade Center to add Smart Views

Accessibility The Grade Center has two different views; Interactive and Non-interactive. The Interactive view is the default setting. Click on the icon in the action bar as shown in the diagrams below.

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Accessibility (cont…) The ‘Non-Interactive’ view displays the Grade Center data in a simple grid. There is no inline editing and users are not able to freeze columns. This makes it easier to navigate by keystroke and to accommodate screen readers. When the Grade Center is first accessed by users with screen readers, users are given an option to enter a ‘Non-Interactive’ view before progressing any further.

Both views can move the cursor from column to column using the tab key

Adaptive releases The Adaptive Release item is a useful shortcut to identify the unit materials that a student is currently able to view. This feature is helpful when student may feedback that they are unable to view certain items necessary for a unit assessment / activity. To check the Adaptive Release screen; select the Username column; select the cell of the student relating to the query. Click on the contextual drop down sub-menu within the cell and select Adaptive Release. A static window with the Adaptive release details. To change settings; unit materials /activities will need modifying under each item within the Control Panel.

Grading Periods

Grading Periods are time segments that can help manage the Grade Center. Grading Periods can be defined as Terms, Semesters, Quarters, or Years, and can have date ranges that further define them. Instructors can filter the Grade Center by Grading Period to display only the relevant columns in the segment. Grading Periods can also be used to;

• View the performance of students in a certain Grading Period, • Create a Report that displays the performance for a Grading Period • Calculate a Grade column for a Grading Period.

To add a Grading Period; select Manage on the action bar, select Grading Periods and Add Grading Period

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Creating and printing reports Through the Grade Center, reports displaying various grade and student information can be created. The unit leader can control what grades are displayed in the report as well as what student information appears. To access this: Click on Reports on the action bar and define the report data necessary.

• Reports can be customized in a variety of ways, including Report header and footer information. • Reports can also include a signature line, date, and course information.

Reports can be distributed to students with personalized comments.

Reports print the data for one student per page. The below example highlights such possible options.

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Adding comments to Grades

Feedback can be provided to students on individual grades. This is effective in keeping communication proactive between the student and academic. Click on the Add Comment link within the cell sub-menu and enter appropriate comments.

The text entered will display in the My Grades section of students course unit. Click Submit when completed.

User Statistics Clicking on the contextual menu in the First Name, Last Name, Student ID, Last Access or Availability column brings up options to view individual student statistics

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Grading Schema A Grading Schema is a table based on percentage ranges that matches scores to specific grades. Access to Grading Schemas is via the Manage link within the Grade Center

Grading Schemas may vary between units and are entirely objective to the area of study. Within the Add Grading Schema screen select, refer to the Schema Mapping (section 2) area. Select the arrow navigational buttons under Insert Rows to expand the Grading Schema

A copy of the system default grading schema is included in all units. Academics also have the ability to create additional grading schemas to reflect the multiple ways in which they may need to grade throughout their unit(s)

Consider when Grading

Schemas would be appropriate.

New students may find this welcome when interpreting University

standards of marking.

For example; for a student undertaking BA (hones); what mark would be a 2:1 or

class as a ‘distinction’?

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Assessment statistics The Grade Center provides academics the opportunity to gain valuable performance information via the statistical reporting tool. The Grade Center can show various statistical information related to columns and students. Column Statistics displays statistics for a grade Item, such as average, median, and standard deviation. The Assessment statistics feature allows academics within all units to keep track of scores, attempts and correct answers Select the assessment / activity column for review within the Grade Center. Choose the drop down button to reveal extended menu options Select Attempt Statistics Details will be provided regarding average score and a detailed breakdown of answers. Consider what analysis you require from the statistics. Seek some understanding into overall learning outcomes What are the reasons behind failed attempts? What questions are not answered correctly? ………and why?

In the picture below; sample statistical results are displayed. Academics can check here that instructions or questions set have been clear. If there is a need to override a grade within the Grade Center revert back to the main screen to complete changes in the ‘Interactive’ view option. Alternatively; the provision of the Grade History can also ensure that changes completed by unit leaders are monitored; so check within this area if there are doubts on past historic changes.

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Viewing past changes in the Grade History The Grade History feature allows you to view when and why and by whom a grade has been assigned or changed. It provides the added benefit of ensuring consistency when changes have been applied and who was responsible for the changes. To access the Grade History; select this through the action bar on the main screen. Changes can be cleared, disabled and downloaded into an excel spreadsheet

Further help and support

Visit Educational Development Services (EDS) For further information or to book a Training session

http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/eds

Email the team eds@bournemouth.ac.uk

Visit Blackboard Quick Tutorials: http://www.blackboard.com/products/quicktutorials.htm

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