Managing the Gradebook
(Quick Start Guide for Setting Up the Gradebook)

The Grades tool in D2L provides a means of managing and calculating student grades.  Because it is such a powerful tool, it offers numerous options for the user.  This Quick Start Guide offers a summary of how to set-up the most frequently used features.

Taking a few minutes to organize the grading categories and to customize your grading scheme in the Grade tool will be a time saver as you begin teaching your course.  The first step in this process would be to create your grade categories and this should be completed prior to linking your tests, quizzes, and assignments to the Grade tool.

Creating New Grade Categories

1. Click on Grades from the menu bar and then click on New Category icon.
2. Type a Name and a Short Name for your new category.  (ex: Discussions).
3. Select the Statistics options that you want your students to see.
4. Select your Grading preferences.
5. Insert a Description if you wish.
6. Save item.

Creating New Grade Items within Your New Category

1. Click on Create Child Item.
2. Type a Name and a Short Name for your new item.  (ex: Discussion 1 and Dis 1).
3. Select Grade Item Type from dropdown box.  (Your grades are usually numeric.)
4. Click Save.
5. Edit the Grade Item’s Properties that appear on the next screen and then save.

Linking Assignments to the Gradebook

1. Go to the Dropbox.
2. Click on Admin.
3. Click on Edit beside the item that you want to link to the Gradebook.
4. On the Properties page, you will see the name of the assignment.
5. Click the dropdown box beside Grade Item.  Select the appropriate Category if available.  If it does not appear, click on (Add Grade Item).
6. Type a Name and a Short Name for your new item.  (ex: Assignment 1 and Essay 1).
7. Beside Parent Category, click the dropdown menu and select the appropriate category.
8. Make additional selections in the remaining options and click Save.
9. You will return to the property page and, if there are no other changes, click Save.

Linking Quizzes to Gradebook

1. To access the Quiz tool, click on Assessments
2. Click on the name of the quiz that you wish to link to the gradebook.
3. Under the Properties tab, you will see the name of the Quiz.
4. Beside Grade Item,  click on {add grade item}.
5. Type a Name and a Short Name for your new quiz.  (ex: Quiz 1 and Quiz 1).
6. Beside Parent Category, click the dropdown menu and select the appropriate category. (ex: Quizzes)
7. Make your additional selections in the remaining options and click Save.
8. You are now back on the Properties page.  Click on the box beside Auto Export to Grades  so that the grades can be sent to the gradebook.
9. Click on the box beside Automatic Grade if you wish the quiz to be graded upon completion.
10. Click on Save Quiz.

Adding Grades to Gradebook

1. The items that you have linked to the gradebook such as Assignments and Quizzes will automatically be posted to the gradebook.
2. Columns that you have created such as discussion questions will need to be manually graded.
3. Click on the pencil icon beside the grade item that you have created.  (Dis 1)
4. Place students’ grades in blank beside their name.
5. Click Save after grades have been added.

Grade Setup – Display Options

Personal Display Options

This feature of D2L allows you to control the way that grades are displayed to you and to the student.  The following provide some explanation of the options along with a few recommendations.

• Show additional user details:  None recommended

• Show all of the additional grade details that you would like to view: 
• Select Grade Colors (if you want to color coded student grades./  ex: F is red)
• Select Points Grade (if you want to see the points that students earned on an assignment, assessment, etc./ ex 90/100)
• Select Percent (If you would like to see the percentage figures. / ex 90%
• Repeat user details every 10 grade items (recommended)
• Repeat final grade at start (optional)

      Course Display Options

      This feature controls some of the display options that students view.

• Show points to students (recommended)
• Show Final Grade calculation to students (not recommended until the end of the semester)
• Decimal places (0 to 2 recommended)
• Number of characters (15 recommended)
• Click Save when completed.

Grade Schemes

This feature defines how your grades are organized.

• Click on Grades, then Grades Setup and then Grade Scheme.
• Click on New Course Schemes
• Name your Scheme (ex:  ENGL 5040)
• Under symbol, type the letter grade starting with F.
• The first start number is filled in for you with zero.
• Under Assigned Value, fill in the number that indicates the range of your F grade. (ex. 59)
• Fill in the next two lines of blanks.
• Click Add Grade Ranges and place a 2 in the box to add two more lines.
• Continue in this pattern until you reach 100%
• Go back to Schemes List and click on the radio button beside the new schemes list and then click Save.

Grade Items to Display

This feature allows you to control which grade column that students are allowed to see.

• Click on Grades, then Grades Setup and then Display Options.
• If you wish students to see all of the grade columns, select the first option.
• If you would like students to see only selected columns, select the second option and then select the columns that you would like for them to view.

Grade Calculations

This feature allows you to define your grading system so that the Grade Manager will calculate the final grades.

• Click on Grades, then Grades Setup and then Grade Calculations.
• First select either the Weighted System if grades are assigned a percentage value of the final grade or the Points System if the final grade consists of a total of all points earned. (See description below.)
• In the Final Grade Release, select one of two options:
  
• Release Adjusted Final Grade – Select this option if you would like to have the opportunity to make adjustments to the final grade column prior to the student viewing it.  (A good choice if you grade on a curve or add bonus points to grade.)
  
• Release Calculated Final Grade – Select this option if you want students to see the exact grade that has been calculated for them.
  
• In the Final Grade Calculation, select one of two options:

• Include Non-Graded Items (If this item is checked, students will see a zero for all work that has not been completed including work that is not yet due.)  Recommended that you either revisit this option and check it at the end of the semester or keep grade columns hidden until after the due date.  Please note: If this column is never checked, you must manually insert zero grades for work that has not been completed or student grades will be averaged without the zeros. (ex: a student who has completed two weeks of course works could potentially receive an A for the course.)
  
• Automatically Keep Calculated Final Grade  (If this box is checked, final grade will automatically be kept updated.  It also may cause your gradebook to open more slowly because all of your grades will be calculated each time it opens.  Recommended that you wait until the end of the semester to select this box.)

Grade Options – Weighted

If you have decided to use the weighted option, you must identify the weight percentage of each category.

• Click on Grades and then on the name of the category. 
• In the Grading section, you can enter the percentage weight of the selected category.
• After identifying the weight of each category, click on Grades List.
• Then click on Edit All Grade Items.
• On this page you can enter the percentage weight of each item..  Remember that the percentage of all of the items within a category must total 100%.
• This page also provides editing options for each item in your gradebook.

Grade Options - Points

If you have selected this option, the Final Grade column simply adds all of your points.  To edit the point distribution, go to Edit All Grade Items.

Final Grade

This feature allows you to calculate the final grade.

• Go to Grades and then click on the icon beside Final Grade.
• You may see a small calculator beside the grade which indicates that the grades need to be recalculated. 
• Previously you selected either calculated grades or adjusted grades.  Click on the calculator at the top menu bar that corresponds with that selection. 
• If your choice was adjusted grades, then click Transfer Calculated Grades.
• You can manually make changes to final grade by entering the numbers and clicking save.

Please note that the purpose of this Final Grade column is to assist you with calculating the student’s grade.  At this time, it is not the column that ROCC will use for purposes of extracting final grades and distributing those grades to the campuses.