Blackboard’s instructor help site: https://help.blackboard.com/Learn/Instructor/Grade/Navigate_Grading
Google “How do I do XYZ in Blackboard’s Grade Center” and you’ll find resources from many other colleges. However, not all of them will be up to date, and some will not be on our version of Blackboard nor with the tools we have deployed. Use with caution.
CNM Learn is Blackboard Learn 9.1 version Q4-2016 CU3 (as of September 2017) We do not use the Ultra Experience. We have the Original Course View.
Chrome, Firefox and Safari usually work well. Updating to the latest version is a good policy. Internet Explorer/Edge can be problematic. Always have more than one updated browser, and in case of trouble, try an alternate browser first.
A basic troubleshooting technique if something goes wrong or appears wrong is to clear your browser’s cache. While still in your browser, do one of these:
On a PC: click the Control, Shift, and Delete keys together. Accept the defaults. Select “Clear Browsing Data” or whatever similar text appears.
On a Mac: click Command, Shift and Delete keys together. Accept the defaults. Select “Clear Browsing Data” or whatever similar text appears. For more elegant ways to do this, try this site How to Empty Cache in Safari…
The “gold standard” is to use a desktop or laptop, with a standard browser (but never Internet Explorer or Edge.) This will give the best experience. You may also use a browser to access Blackboard on your tablet or phone, which may be helpful for grading discussion postings, etc.
In Safari on an iPad, you may have success navigating by using the Screen Reader Mode, available by clicking the down-arrow just to the right of the words Grade Center: Full Grade Center.
Another option is the Blackboard Grader app on an iPad 2 or higher. It is not as powerful as a desktop/laptop browser but may be more accessible than a standard browser on a small device.
The default setting on a Mac seems to be to hide scroll bars. To show them, click the Apple icon in the upper left, then choose System Preferences > General > Show Scroll Bars: Always.
Another option, on tablets, is to choose Screen Reader mode at the top of the Full Grade Center. This will allow you to tab through the grade center.
Grade Center is the instructor’s tool for recording and calculating grades. Full Grade Center shows all students and all columns except those hidden from the Instructor’s view.
My Grades is the students’ tool to see their grades on Blackboard. Do not delete the menu link to this tool.
Instructors should periodically use the Student Preview mode to see how their course’s grades appear to students. This will reveal any duplicated columns, unused columns, etc. that should be removed to prevent confusion.
Any feedback comments you leave in the Feedback to Learner textbox will be indicated by a “speech bubble” icon.
Rubrics linked to a grade will produce a View Rubric link if students are allowed to see the rubric.
Clicking on the name of a test, and in the next window on the numerals of the test grade will show all feedback allowed for tests.
Clicking on the name of an assignment will show the submitted/graded assignment to the student.
In the drop-down menu for any column, there are two “hide” options. One is a toggle, “Hide from Students (on/off).” Hide from Students may also be set in the options for a graded assignment or test. The other is “Hide from Instructor view.”
Grade center items hidden from students are marked with a gray circle with a red slash before the column’s name.
Grade center items hidden from instructors are not visible in the normal grade center views. To see, and if desired un-hide them, use Manage > Column Organization. The Manage button is a large icon above the main grade center spreadsheet. Hidden columns will be light gray and in italics
To reveal a hidden column, select its left-margin checkbox. Use the tool button (located above and below the spreadsheet) “Show/Hide” > Show Selected Columns. Then Submit.
In Full Grade Center, choose Manage > Column Organization. There, all your columns will appear in one window. Use the four-pointed-arrow in the left margin to slide columns up or down the list, as you wish. Items at the top will be at the far left of your grade center spreadsheet.
Clicking the header on each grade center column will sort it. Click again, and it will reverse-sort. This is useful to find students who have not completed an assignment, for example: sort the column to bring all blank or 0 values to the top of the list.
To re-establish an alphabetical list by student, click the student name or username column header.
Grading Periods are actually a K-12 tool and have little use at CNM. You’re fine just leaving everything “Not in a Grading Period.”
Blackboard creates columns for any work submitted to/graded in Blackboard, including Tests, Assignments, Blogs, Wikis, Journals, and Discussions. Do not create duplicates of these.
In the Full Grade Center, choose Create Column button at the left. The only values you must enter are the Column Name, and the Points Possible for the item. There are several other options available as you set up the column—please contact [email protected] for assistance.
It’s a best practice to delete duplicated or unused/unnecessary grade center columns.In the column’s action menu, click on Delete.
Safeguards: You cannot delete columns that are attached to work assigned and to be graded in Blackboard, such as assignments, tests, graded Discussions, etc. Caveat: any hand-entry or calculated column can be deleted, even if it contains grades.
Sometimes the copy process adds additional Weighted Total and Total columns. Don’t just hide them: delete them.
A grade column headed with a green checkmark cannot be deleted because it has been declared as the External Grade. This setting has no current function at CNM. If you wish to delete the column, set any other column as External Grade by using its column menu. Once the green checkmark is moved from a column, the column may be deleted (unless it is attached to work assigned and graded in Blackboard.)
First look for the Green Checkmark and see that answer in this FAQ. Next, diligently search for the assignment/test/etc. that may be attached to a column. Delete the graded work and the column will disappear, or will now allow you to delete it. It’s a best practice not to “store” unused assignments or tests in a Blackboard course. Save materials that you might use in the future in appropriate files on your own computer.
In the Full Grade Center and many other windows, an Icon Legend button is located at the lower right corner of the spreadsheet area.
To view the Grade History, click the down arrow in a particular student grade spreadsheet cell and choose View Grade Details.
In that window are several tabs: Attempts, Manual Override, Column Details, and Grade History. Click Grade History, which will show the last 2-3 actions. Look in the lower left corner for View Complete History and click that to see additional information.
Yes! Blackboard’s default calculated column is a Total Column of all points for all grade columns. This can be expressed as a point total, or as a percentage of possible points. For the percentage display, the possible points may be all course points, or all points for work graded so far.
An Average Column takes all grades as percentages and averages them, equally weighted.
A Weighted Column allows Bb to calculate typical course grades such as “Quizzes 30%, Homework 35%, Midterm 15%, Final Exam 20%.” This is a very powerful tool, but we recommend consultation with the DL staff when you first set this up, as there are many potential pitfalls.
For special purposes, there is a Minimum/Maximum Column tool; again, please ask for DL assistance in these cases.
When using a calculated Weighted Column, you may have Bb drop one or more grades in any category you are using. Please contact DL for assistance when you first set this up.
If you base your course grade on total points earned, this is simple to do. Use Create Column, name it Extra Credit (or something else appropriate) and make it worth 0 (zero) points. Bb will allow you to give values greater than that, so the column truly is extra credit. For assistance, or for other situations than a simple Total column, please contact DL for assistance.
The default setting here, “Yes”, requires you to input grades of 0 (zero) for any missed work. Otherwise Bb will ignore that column in calculating a student’s grade.
The alternate setting, “No”, automatically considers all grades to be 0 (zero) until/unless another grade is entered by students completing work or instructors hand-entering grades.
Setting “Text” allows you to enter letter grades or words into the grade cell.
Setting “Letter” allows Bb to convert students’ grades to a letter value. The default Letter is not useful at CNM, as it includes + and – grades. This can be edited from Manage > Grading Schemas. Please ask DL for assistance if you wish to use this tool.
First, use Manage > Grading Schemas and create or edit a scheme to match your course’s grade structure. Remember to consider rounding—must students earn 90% for an A, or should 89.5% be rounded to an A? Also, make the category for A include values up to about 110%, in case you decide to use extra credit.
Next, in an appropriate column, set the primary display to this edited grading schema and submit. Grades in that column should be showing now as appropriate letter values.