Understanding Gradebook
This section discusses:
Prerequisites.
Common elements.
Gradebook functions and users.
Before instructors and students can use the self-service Gradebook, a power user must:
Understand the way that the system calculates grades in the Gradebook.
Create assignment categories on the Gradebook Category page.
Assignment categories are high-level groups of assignments that an instructor might track (for example, homework, extra credit, quizzes, tests, midterms, finals, and so on). Instructors cannot set up assignment categories through the self-service application, although they can access the page through PeopleSoft Campus Portal or through regular database access if you grant them security. Traditionally, administrators, not instructors, set up assignment categories.
Ensure that each instructor has appropriate grade roster access for the Gradebook classes.
This table explains the three levels of access:
Grade Roster Access
Add and Delete Class Assignments
Modify Class Assignments
Enter
Grades
Update Grades to Grade Roster
Set Grade Roster To
Grade
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Ready for Review
Approve
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Approved
Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Approved
Ensure that each instructor and student who needs to use Gradebook has the appropriate security access.
Ensure that the instructors have activated the Gradebook information for their classes (by accessing the Class Assignments component and saving it) so that students who are enrolled in a class can access the Gradebook data.
(Optional) Define your institution's Gradebook File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server and URL address so that if an instructor wants to export grades to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, the system has a temporary place for the file.
(Optional) Set up class assignment defaults at the course catalog level on the Course Assignments - Assignments page, the Course Assignments - Category Weight page, and the Course Assignments - Grading Scale page.
Course assignment defaults are especially advantageous for classes that are always taught with the same curriculum because you set up the assignments once at the catalog level, and the system supplies the values to the class level when an instructor first accesses the Gradebook for his or her class. You can also use this component to specify assignments, such as a final examination, that are required by the institution.
|
Field or Control |
Definition |
|---|---|
| Assessed |
Select to specify that the assignment can be graded. Any assignment can be assessed, whether or not it is set to Required. If you clear this check box, no grade input field appears on the Class Gradebook page or the Grade by Assignment page. |
| Description |
Enter the description for the assignment, assignment category, or location. |
| Grade |
Select a grade for each mark. Grade values are entered in your system as translate values and assigned to grade bases on the Grading Scheme Table page. |
| Mark |
Select the minimum percentage for the grade that is earned. The system uses this value to calculate the final grade (which the instructor can override). Students must have a percentage that is equal to or greater than a specific mark to receive the corresponding grade. One grade value should have a blank mark value (such as a Fail grade). No duplicate marks are allowed. |
| Maximum Points |
Enter the maximum points for the assignment. This value is used in all weighted average calculations. The student's grade for an assignment is Grade/Maximum Points. |
| Required |
Select to specify that this assignment is not optional but is required of all students unless it is overridden on a student-by-student basis. If you clear this check box, students are not penalized if they do not have a grade for this assignment. Instructors can use this check box to differentiate between required and optional, extra-credit assignments. Note: If a category has no required assignment, the category, including extra-credit assignments, is not calculated in the grade |
| Required by Institution |
Select to specify that this assignment is an institutional requirement for the course. Assignments that have this check box selected appear by default on the class Assignments page and cannot be deleted by the instructor. The system limits instructor changes. |
| Short Description |
Enter a short description of the assignment or assignment category. |
| Weight% (weight percentage) |
Enter a weight percentage value for each assignment category. The total of all weight percentage values for a component must equal 100. This value determines how each assignment category contributes to the midterm and final (current) grades. If the total percentage is not 100, an error message appears. |
| Weight in Points |
Enter the weight in points for the assignment. For example, if a quiz contributes its full points (on a one-to-one basis) toward the cumulative grade, enter the same value as the maximum points value. If the quiz counts double, double the maximum points value and enter the result as the weight in points value. The system populates this field with the value from the Maximum Points field. |
Gradebook is a collaborative, self-service application for instructors and students.
Instructors can use this application to set up class assignments and due dates, enter grades for individual assignments, submit midterm grades for deficiency reporting, communicate with students, and submit final grades.
Students can use this application to check their current assignments, view their grades, review personal comments from their instructor, and view their midterm and final grades.
Users can take advantage of Gradebook in these ways:
Staff members can create assignment categories.
Staff members can define Gradebook URLs.
(Optional) Staff members can create course catalog assignment default values.
Instructors can create class assignments.
Instructors can enter, import, and update grades.
Instructors can export grades to a local drive.
Students can review class assignments and grades.