The Grades Tool: (Use this for files that you have already uploaded. )

An integral feature in your course is the grades tool. The Grades tool enables instructors to post grades associated users. Grade items can be assignments, projects, participation, tests and exams within a course. Before tackling the grades tool, make sure to have your course syllabus nearby for easy reference. A typical course syllabus should outline how you will evaluate users through out the term or semester.

To access the grades tool from your Course Home page:

Select the Grades link on the top navigation bar. The Manage Grades screen will then appear with nine icons: Grades List, New Item, New Category, Order, Delete, Import/Export, Grades Setup, Edit all Grade Items, and Help.

The grades tool will give you the ability to:

• Customize your grade setup through personal options, grade schemes and choosing an appropriate final grade calculation method
• Manage Grades - create, modify grade categories and items
• Import grades from, and export grades to, CSV files.

Entering The Grades Tool for The First Time

When entering the Grades tool for the first time, the system will present 2 warnings indicating:

• A grading system has not been selected. Please select on under Grades Setup within the Grades Calculation page.
• A Grade Scheme has not been selected. Please select one under Grades Setup within the Grade Schemes page.

NOTE: You will receive this warning upon entering the grades tool for the first time even if you have copied over your grades set up from another course, imported a course with grade items already set up, etc. As a rule of thumb, simply go into the grade set up and select a grade scheme and grading system. Once completed, your grade items will re-appear .

Grades list:

The Grades List page is the main page of your grade book.

Click on the name of the grade category or item in the gray row to edit its properties. Clicking on the Grade icon allows you to add/edit grade values to the categories or items. Clicking on the Statistics icon allows you to view the statistics.

Clicking on the users name allows you to enter/edit grade values, comments, final grades and other user functions on a user by user basis.

The eye icon beside a users name represents that the user can see their final grade. The calculator icon beside a users final grade represents that the final grade is no longer up to date and needs to be recalculated. You may also see a flag icon on Grades List page which represents that you have flagged the user.

View Options

Under the Grades View drop-down, you can select to show all users in your course or you can isolate the users by groups by selecting the groups in the drop-down.

Note: You must have previously created groups in the Classlist to use this option.

You can also change your Window Size from Automatic, Small, Medium, and Large.

Grades Setup:

Customizing your grades setup will enable you to modify your personal viewing options, create and select a grading scheme, and choose an appropriate course grading system for your course. It is important to take some time to review the options within grade setup to ensure the grades tool best suits your course needs.

Within Grade Setup, you will be presented with 4 icons - Display Options, Grade Items to Display, grade schemes, and grade calculation.

Display Options:

Within the display options icon of the grade set up, you will be able to customize and update your personal viewing options. Make note that by default, you will see participants names within your grades tool. If desired, you can add additional user information to your grades tool, by simply customizing your personal options within grade setup:

1. User Details - You can choose to include users email addresses, ID and username in your grades tool.
2. Show Additional Grade Details - Decide whether you would like additional grade details to appear
3. Repeat User Details - Specify the number of times to repeat user details between grade items
4. Repeat Final Grade At Start - Determines whether or not the final grade column is displayed as the first item in the Grades list.

Grade Items to Display :

The Grade Items to Display icon allows you to select which Grade Items are displayed in the Grades List. Check Display all Grade Items in the Grades List to Display all available grades.

Grade Schemes:

The Grade Schemes area will allow you to create a new course grade scheme or choose an existing grading scheme. It is located inside of Grades Setup.

• Creating a New Scheme
• Selecting a Grade Scheme
• Deleting a Grade Scheme

A grade scheme can exist across your entire organization, available to a single course, and be associated to a specific grade item.

1. To create a new grade scheme for your course, click on the New Course Scheme icon located at the top of the screen. Note: Course schemes created within your course, can only be used in your course.
2. Enter in a name for the scheme. E.g. COMP101 - Campbell.
3. Enter in a short name (optional). E.g. C1.
4. Enter in a symbol type in a symbol (E.g. E, D, C, B, A) in each symbol text box, a corresponding start percentage and color for each grade range.
5. To add more range options, click on the Add button on the bottom. To remove range options, click on the remove option .
6. You will be prompted to save your changes. Click on Save.
7. You will then need to go to the Item's properties and choose the New Scheme from the drop down list of available schemes and Save for it to take effect.

 

Grade Calculations:

The Grade Calculations area within the Grade Setup will allow you to choose an appropriate grading system and final grade calculation method.

There are currently two options for course grading systems Weighted and Points. To choose a grading system, select the circle beside the system you wish to use for your course.

Weighted System

Under the 'weighted' system, grade categories are assigned a weight as a percentage of the final grade, and grade items are assigned a weight as a percentage of their parent category (or of the final grade if they have no parent category). The grades tool will show warnings on the screen if the categories/items do not add up to 100%. You can choose to ignore these warnings and operate with your grades tool without a total weight of 100%, however the final grade calculation will calculate with the assumption of 100%.

Example:
Assignments Category = 20% of final grade
Assignment 1 Item = (50% of Assignments)
Assignment 2 Item = (50% of Assignments)
Final Exam Item = 80% of final grade
_____________________________________________________
Final Grade = Out of 100%

 

Points System

Under the 'points' system, items are given a value in points. Categories are then calculated by the sum of the points of their child items. Therefore, the final grade becomes the total number of points of all the grade items.

Example:

Assignments Category = 40 points
Assignment 1 Item = 20 points
Assignment 2 Item = 20 points
Final Exam Item = 200 points
_____________________________________________________
Final Grade = Out of 240 points

There are two options when calculating the final grade for the course: Including Non-Graded Items in Final and Automatically Keep Final Grade Updated.

A. Include Non-Graded Items in Final determines that when you are calculating a users final grade, it will treat items with no grade entered as a grade of 0 for that item. If decide to leave this box unchecked, grade items without a grade will be ignored when the final grade is calculated.

Note: If this option is changed after the initial calculation, all final grades will become out of date and will require re-calculation.

B. Automatically Keep Final Grade Updated

After you have calculated the final grade and you make changes to the initial calculated items/users you will need to re-calculate the final grade unless you check this option. If this option is checked, the final grade is automatically re-calculated. This will ensure that all final grades are current. If you choose not to keep the final grade updated, you will have to manually update your grades by: clicking on the grades/points icon beside the Final Grade column, and selecting the calculator icon in the FINAL GRADE grade item.

Grade Setup is now complete!

You can now begin to add your categories and grade items. Click on the Grades List icon on the left hand side.

Manage Grades:

After the Grade Setup is completed, you may return to the main grades list screen to add categories and grade items. Some of the features we will be covering in this section are:

1. Create new categories
2. Create new items
3. Edit all grade items
4. Delete grade items
5. Import/Export grades

Deleting Schemes:

To delete a course grade scheme, From the Grades List,select the delete schemes icon, a new page will display. Check the boxes corresponding to the Categories and Items you wish to erase. Click the Delete Selected Button to delete these Categories and Items.

Note: You will not be able to delete a scheme if that scheme is in use. In order to delete a scheme that is in use, you must remove the scheme from the items utilizing it and then delete. You cannot delete organizational schemes.

Create New Category:

Categories allow you organize and group your grade items into sections. For example, you may choose to group all of your assignments together under a category labeled, "Assignments".

Categorizing grade items will keep your grade book organized. You should create categories for tests, papers, discussions, participation, etc.

To create a new category in your grade book, click on the New Category icon located in the middle of the screen. We can create new categories for points and weighted grading system options.

The category section has three tabs: Properties , Grades , and Statistics . Category Properties is the area used to create the category assets we will visit the features used in the other two tabs in the future sections Entering Grades by Categories and Statistics .

1. Enter the name of the category into the Name field, e.g. Assignments.
2. Enter a short name into the Short Name field (optional).
3. Display class average for this category to users will show the users a graphical representation of the class average on this category.
4. Display grade distribution for this category to users will show the users a grade distribution graph.
5. Enter the amount that this category contributes to the final grade in the Weight field. By checking the box beside Allow category grade to exceed weight , you are allowing the users to receive a higher weight in the category than the allotted weight.
6. Select the Save button to save your Category.

Note: The Grades and Statistics Tab will not appear until you save the Category.

Scenario: Assignments is the category and there are two assessment items, Assignment 1 and Assignment 2, both are worth 50% of the category and both items are allowed to exceed the weight allotted for the item. Student A receives 100% on Assignment 1 and 110% on Assignment 2. By checking Allow category grade to exceed weight , Student A will receive 110% on the assignment category. Not checking the box, the student receives 100% even though the assessment items are allowed to exceed the maximum weight.

1. The Description field allows you to display to the users information concerning the category. You can use HTML in the field by selecting the in HTML checkbox.
2. Click Save when finished.

Common Features:

All grade items require a Name entered for the grade item. You should also add a Short Name which is displayed on the Grades List page and in all areas involved in grading users. If you choose to enter in a Short Name, make sure you create one that is clear and concise.

NOTE: Creating a short name is extremely useful because it enables you to view your grades list more intuitively. If you do not add a short name, the column heading will insert the name from the "name field" specified above. Keep in mind, the longer the name, the longer the column which means more scrolling. A short name can minimize the scrolling.

Status will allow you to determine whether you want a grade item to appear to users.

Date Restriction allows you to release the grade item and grades entered to the users on a specific date, as well as remove the item after a specific end date.

Click on Save to save your changes. If you want to create another new grade item, click on Save & New.

Create a New Item :

You can create assessment items within a category or stand-alone within the grade book.
There are a couple of ways to access this area, clicking on the New Item icon on the top of the main grades page, or underneath a blank category, you can click on [Create Item] .

The new item section has three tabs: Properties , Grades , and Statistics . New Item Properties is the area used to create the item assets, we will visit the features used in the other two tabs in Entering Grades by Assessment Items and Statistics .

1. Enter the name of the item into the Name field, e.g. Assignment 1.
2. Enter a short name, e.g. A 1, into the Short Name field (optional). The Short Name is displayed on the Grades List page and in all areas involved in grading users.
3. If this item is used in a category that you have created, choose the category from the drop-down. If this assessment item does not belong to a category, leave the Parent Category as None.
4. Status allows you to determine if the assessment item is Visible or Not Visible. Example of use: the assessment item is Discussion Participation and you don't want the users to see their grades, change the drop-down to Not Visible.
5. Display class average for this item to users will show the users a graphical representation of the class average on this item.
6. Display grade distribution for item category to users will show the users a grade distribution graph.
7. Out of is the maximum score you can achieve on this item. Example of use: you have created a quiz that has 33 multiple choice questions worth 1 mark each, the quiz is out of 33. The corresponding grade item is Out of 33.
8. Weight is the percentage value that the item contributes towards the parent. Note: if you are using assessment categories, this is the percentage value towards the category weight. If the item is not in a category, then this is the value counted towards the final grade.
9. Allow grade to exceed weighted allows the user to receive higher grade on the item. Example of use: Student A receives 11/10 on the item. The item has a weight value of 10%, with the exceed weight checkbox checked. The student would receive 11% counting towards their final grade. If the checkbox is not selected, the student would receive 10%.
10. Bonus items contribute the points towards the final grade.
11. The Description field allows you to display to the users information concerning the category. You can use HTML in the field by selecting the in HTML checkbox.
12. Click Save when finished.

Item Types

Numeric (Weighted System):

If you have chosen to create a new numeric grade item:

1. Choose a Parent Category from the drop-down. If the grade item should not belong to a category, select None from the drop-down. For example:

2. Check any Statistics you want to display to students:

• Display class average for this item to everyone will show a graphical representation of the class average on this item in the item statistics page.
• Display grade distribution for this item to everyone will show a grade distribution graph for this item in the item statistics page.

3. Type the number of points that the grade item is worth in the Out Of text box.

4. Check Allow grade to exceed points if you want to allow students to receive a grade higher than the number of points specified in the Points field. For example, if you want to allow for bonus grades on this grade item.

NOTE: If you allow students to receive bonus grades on grade items that are within a grade category, they will not be able to get more than 100% for that category unless you also check Allow category grade to exceed total points in the grade category properties. Refer to the Creating a New Category Using the Points System section, above for details on allowing points to exceed the category total.

5. Check the Bonus checkbox if you want to make the grade item a bonus item. Bonus points are not added to the total possible points for the course, but any points earned for bonus grade items will be added to the points earned by a user.

6. Set any date restrictions, if applicable, as described in the Common Grade Item Features section.

7. Select a Grade Scheme from the drop-down. of available schemes. This allows you to choose which scheme the grade item uses. By default, the item will use the Default Course Scheme (refer to the Grade Schemes section for details on grade schemes), but you can choose a different scheme from the drop-down. For example, if your default scheme uses percentages but the current grade item is simply a pass or fail, you can create a grade scheme that has only two ranges (pass or fail) and select that scheme here.

8. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.

9. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.

10. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Checkbox (Weighted System):

The checkbox grade item is generally used for assignments that are pass-or-fail. When grading a checkbox grade item, you simply check the box to assign a student full points for the grade item, or leave the box unchecked to assign zero points for the grade item.

If you have chosen to create a checkbox grade item:

1. Refer to the Checkbox Grade Item instructions under Creating New Grade Items Using the Points System for details on setting up this grade item type.
2. Options for this item that are unique to the Weighted system include specifying how much the grade item is worth within its parent category in the Weight field. If the grade item has no parent category, the Weight will represent how much the grade item is worth towards the final grade. (This field replaces the Points field that appears when using the Points system.)

Select box (Weighted System):

The select box grade item allows you to assign grades to students by selecting one of the ranges from your Grade Scheme. The grade ranges from your grade scheme will be listed in a drop-down. when you go to grade this type of grade item.

If the point value of a grade item is 10 and your grade scheme includes the grade ranges Poor=0, Good=60, Great=80, etc., if you assign a grade of Good, the student receives 6/10. Assigning Great would give the student 8/10.

NOTE: When you create a select box grade item, the iLearn system will automatically insert a "None" option in the select box, along with the grade ranges from your grade scheme. The "None" option in the drop-down. allows you to clear a student's grade if necessary.

If you have chosen to create a select box grade item:

1. Choose a Parent Category from the drop-down. If the grade item should not belong to a category, select None from the drop-down.

2. Check any Statistics you want to display to students:

• Display class average for this item to everyone will show a graphical representation of the class average on this item in the item statistics page.
• Display grade distribution for this item to everyone will show a grade distribution graph for this item in the item statistics page.

3. Type the number of points that the grade item is worth in the Points text box.

4. Check the Bonus checkbox if you want to make the grade item a bonus item. Bonus points are not added to the total possible points for the course, but any points earned for bonus grade items will be added to the points earned by a user.

5. Select a Grade Scheme from the drop-down. of available schemes.

6. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.

7. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.

8. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Options for this item that are unique to the Weighted system include:

Specify how much the grade item is worth within its parent category in the Weight field. If the grade item has no parent category, the Weight will represent how much the grade item is worth towards the final grade. (This field replaces the Points field that appears when using the Points system.)

Text (Weighted System):

Text grade items can be used when you wish to provide comments to students regarding an assignment, but do not wish to assign any points for the assignment. For example, you may require that students provide a proposal for a larger assignment. The proposal is required, but students do not receive any points for it. You could then create a text grade item to provide feedback on students' proposals without assigning any points to the grade item.

NOTE: Text grade items cannot belong to a grade category.

If you have chosen to create a text grade item:

1. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.

2. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.

3. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Calculated (Weighted System):

The calculated grade item is generally used to provide students with their mid-term grades. When you create a calculated grade item, you specify which grade items it will include, and it will then automatically calculate the total of the specified items.

NOTE: Calculated grade items cannot belong to a grade category.
NOTE: You must create all of the grade items that you want to include before you create a calculated grade item.

If you have chosen to create a calculated grade item:

1. Click Select All to include all of your grade items,

OR,

Check the boxes beside the grade items you want to include.

2. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Numeric (Points System) :

A grade item has a value of 10 points, and Student A receives 11/10 on the grade item. If the "exceed points" checkbox has been checked the student receives 11 points counting towards their final grade. If the checkbox is not selected, the student would only receive 10 points.

The numeric grade item type will give students a number-value for their grade; for example, 8 out of 10 points.

If you have chosen to create a new numeric grade item:

1. Choose a Parent Category from the drop-down. If the grade item should not belong to a category, select None from the drop-down. For example:

2. Check any Statistics you want to display to students:

• Display class average for this item to everyone will show a graphical representation of the class average on this item in the item statistics page.
• Display grade distribution for this item to everyone will show a grade distribution graph for this item in the item statistics page.

3. Type the number of points that the grade item is worth in the Points text box.

4. Check Allow grade to exceed points if you want to allow students to receive a grade higher than the number of points specified in the Points field. For example, if you want to allow for bonus grades on this grade item.

NOTE: If you allow students to receive bonus grades on grade items that are within a grade category, they will not be able to get more than 100% for that category unless you also check Allow category grade to exceed total points in the grade category properties. Refer to the Creating a New Category Using the Points System section, above for details on allowing points to exceed the category total.

5. Check the Bonus checkbox if you want to make the grade item a bonus item. Bonus points are not added to the total possible points for the course, but any points earned for bonus grade items will be added to the points earned by a user.

6. Set any date restrictions, if applicable, as described in the Common Grade Item Features section.

7. Select a Grade Scheme from the drop-down. of available schemes. This allows you to choose which scheme the grade item uses. By default, the item will use the Default Course Scheme (refer to the Grade Schemes section for details on grade schemes), but you can choose a different scheme from the drop-down. For example, if your default scheme uses percentages but the current grade item is simply a pass or fail, you can create a grade scheme that has only two ranges (pass or fail) and select that scheme here.

8. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.

9. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.

10. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Checkbox (Points System):

The checkbox grade item is generally used for assignments that are pass-or-fail. When grading a checkbox grade item, you simply check the box to assign a student full points for the grade item, or leave the box unchecked to assign zero points for the grade item.

If you have chosen to create a checkbox grade item:

1. Choose a Parent Category from the drop-down. If the grade item should not belong to a category, select None from the drop-down.

2. Check any Statistics you want to display to students:

• Display class average for this item to everyone will show a graphical representation of the class average on this item in the item statistics page.
• Display grade distribution for this item to everyone will show a grade distribution graph for this item in the item statistics page.

3. Type the number of points that the grade item is worth in the Points text box.

4. Check the Bonus checkbox if you want to make the grade item a bonus item. Bonus points are not added to the total possible points for the course, but any points earned for bonus grade items will be added to the points earned by a user.

5. Select a Grade Scheme from the drop-down. of available schemes.

6. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.

7. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.

8. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Select box (Points System):

If the point value of a grade item is 10 and your grade scheme includes the grade ranges Poor=0, Good=60, Great=80, etc., if you assign a grade of Good, the student receives 6/10. Assigning Great would give the student 8/10.

NOTE: When you create a select box grade item, the iLearn system will automatically insert a "None" option in the select box, along with the grade ranges from your grade scheme. The "None" option in the drop-down. allows you to clear a student's grade if necessary.

The select box grade item allows you to assign grades to students by selecting one of the ranges from your Grade Scheme. The grade ranges from your grade scheme will be listed in a drop-down. when you go to grade this type of grade item.

If you have chosen to create a select box grade item:

1. Choose a Parent Category from the drop-down. If the grade item should not belong to a category, select None from the drop-down.

2. Check any Statistics you want to display to students:

• Display class average for this item to everyone will show a graphical representation of the class average on this item in the item statistics page.
• Display grade distribution for this item to everyone will show a grade distribution graph for this item in the item statistics page.

3. Type the number of points that the grade item is worth in the Points text box.

4. Check the Bonus checkbox if you want to make the grade item a bonus item. Bonus points are not added to the total possible points for the course, but any points earned for bonus grade items will be added to the points earned by a user.

5. Select a Grade Scheme from the drop-down. of available schemes.

6. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.

7. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.

8. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Text (Points System):

Text grade items can be used when you wish to provide comments to students regarding an assignment, but do not wish to assign any points for the assignment. For example, you may require that students provide a proposal for a larger assignment. The proposal is required, but students do not receive any points for it. You could then create a text grade item to provide feedback on students' proposals without assigning any points to the grade item.

NOTE: Text grade items cannot belong to a grade category.

If you have chosen to create a text grade item:

1. The grade item will use the display options that you defined in the Grades Setup area, but you can override settings by checking Override default display items for this Grade Item and checking the boxes next to the types of information you want to display to students for this item.
2. Type a Description and select the ON radio button to enable it. The description will be displayed to students when they view their grades on the Grades page.
   &New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Calculated (Points System):

The calculated grade item is generally used to provide students with their mid-term grades. When you create a calculated grade item, you specify which grade items it will include, and it will then automatically calculate the total of the specified items.

NOTE : Calculated grade items cannot belong to a grade category. You must create all of the grade items that you want to include before you create a calculated grade item.

If you have chosen to create a calculated grade item:

1. Click Select All to include all of your grade items,

OR,

Check the boxes beside the grade items you want to include.

2. Click Save to complete your grade item, or click Save & New to save your item and continue creating new grade items.

Re-Order Grade Items/Categories :

1. To change the order of a grade category or grade item, from the Grades List, click on the reorder grades icon .
2. Select the grade item or category you would like to move and click on the up/down arrow key. The arrow keys will enable you to move up or down until the correct order is reached. Note: When re-ordering categories, grade items that are associated with those categories will be moved as well. Categories associated with grade items are inseparable.
3. Click Save.

Delete Grade Items/Categories:

Delete Grades allows you to delete grade Categories and Items. If you have tied a grade book item to a quiz or a dropbox folder, you will not be able to delete it until you have removed the quiz or dropbox connection to the Grade Item. You must go to that tool and remove the connection at the individual Quiz or Dropbox Properties screen. Deleting any grade item will permanently delete any grades entered into the system for that Item.

1. On the main Grades page, click the giant Trash Can Icon at the top of the screen.
2. Check the box beside the Category or grade Item (deleting a Category will also delete all Items in the Category)
3. Click the Delete Checked button.

Viewing Options:

On the Grades List page, you can view your grade items for all users or grades by course sections or groups. This is very useful when you have a large number of students in a course, or if you need to assign group grades for group assignments, etc.

To sort your grades by section or group:

1. Click Grades in your course NavBar to access the Grades List page.

2. Select the Groups or Sections from the View By drop-down. Another Groups or Sections drop-down. displays, depending on your selection.

3. Choose the appropriate group or section from the new drop-down., or choose All Groups or All Sections.

Viewing grades by group or section also allows you to assign grades by group or section. For example, if you are currently viewing only Group 1 in the Grades List page, if you click the grade icon for a grade item, you will only be able to assign grades to students in Group 1. If you wish to assign grades to other groups, you must return to the Grades List page and choose the appropriate view from the View By drop-down.

NOTE: You must have previously created groups in the Classlist in order to view grades by group. Refer to the Classlist section in Unit 6 for details on setting up groups

You can also search for students by typing a search term (e.g. last name, first name, etc.) into the Search for field and clicking Search.

To define how many students are listed on a page, chose the appropriate number from the Paging drop-down. This can be extremely useful when you have a large class size and would like to view a number of students in a more organized fashion.

Statistics Options :

There are 3 ways to view statistics in the grade book:

• By grade item
• By category
• By final grade

You can access the statistics by:

1. Clicking on any grade item display name within any column and then selecting the statistics icon.
   Click on any category heading within a column and then selecting the statistics icon.
   Clicking on the final grade column heading and then selecting the statistics icon .

The statistics icon will display the number of submitted grades, class average, minimum and maximum, standard deviation, median, grade distribution, grade frequency (based on your grade scheme), and individual user statistics.

By Category :

1. From main Grades List page, select the Grades icon beside a category name or click on the category name and then select the Grades icon. The Edit Grade Category page displays. All grade items within the category are displayed in columns across the page.

2. Enter student grades for each of the grade items:

a. If you are grading a Numeric grade item, enter a grade value for each student in the Out Of Grade column.
b. If you are grading a Select box grade item, select the appropriate grade rage from the Select box Grade drop-down. for each student. Each grade range will be associated with a grade percentage, which will be displayed in the % column.
c. If you are grading a Checkbox grade item, check the box in the Out Of Grade column for students who have successfully completed the grade item. This is an all or nothing grade item type: students will either receive full points for the item (if the box is checked) or no points at all (if the box is unchecked).

3. Click the Comments icons next to each grade item to enter individualized feedback. A pop-up will display, allowing you to enter Public (visible to the student) or Private (visible only to you) Comments.

4. Click Clear All Grades if you wish to remove all previously entered grade values.

By Item:

To assign grades for a single grade item to multiple students:

1. Select the Grades/Points icon beside the applicable grade item, or open the grade item (by clicking on its name) and then click Grades.

2. You can enter general comments for the grade item in the Overall Comments text field. Overall comments will be displayed to all users enrolled in your course. EXAMPLE: Overall, I was very impressed with the group presentations!

3. Depending on the type of item you are grading, you will see different options:

a. If you are grading a Numeric grade item, enter a grade value for each student in the Out Of Grade column.
b. If you are grading a Select box grade item, select the appropriate grade rage from the Select box Grade drop-down. for each student. Each grade range will be associated with a grade percentage, which will be displayed in the % column.
c. If you are grading a Checkbox grade item, check the box in the Out Of Grade column for students who have successfully completed the grade item. This is an all or nothing grade item type: students will either receive full points for the item (if the box is checked) or no points at all (if the box is unchecked).

4. Click on the Event Log icon to see all recorded events concerning this user and grade item.

5. Click the Comments icon next to a students name to enter individualized feedback. The Grade Comments page displays, where you can type Public Comments for the student to view along with their grades. You can also type Private Comments that will not be visible to the student.

6. There are also icons on the top of the page that allow you to perform various functions:

a. Click Recalculate All Grades to recalculate the grades for this grade item.
b. Click Clear All Grades to remove all previously entered grade this grade item.
c. Click Enter Grade for All to enter the same grade value for all users.

7. Click Save when you are finished grading the item.

By User:

There are 4 ways to enter user grades into the grades tool:

• By user
• By item
• by category
• Calculating final grade.

1. Click the Grades link in your course NavBar to access the Grades List page.

2. Click on a user's name in the left-hand column of the page. The User Grades page displays, containing all of the grade items for your course.

a. If you do not see the user you wish to assign grades for, ensure the correct group/section is selected in the View By drop-down., or try doing a search for the user.

3. Type any comments for the user in the Public Comments text box. The text in this box will be displayed to the student in his/her Grades page.

4. Type any Private Comments in the corresponding text box. These comments will not be visible to the student.

5. Check the Flag checkbox to identify the user for future reference. Students cannot see flags.

6. Click the calculator icon) next to the Calculated Grade field to calculate the student's final grade.

7. To override the student's final calculated grade, type a new grade in the Adjusted Grade field.

8. Assign or edit any of the grades for the user.

9. If you want to release the student's final grade, check the Release box. Leave the box unchecked if you do not want to release the student's final grade. (Releasing a grades means you are allowing students to view their grades.)

10. For each grade item, enter the grade item properties into the provided field (i.e. the "Out of" values, point values, text entries, etc.). You will be shown the associated Weighted Grade or the Points Grade below.

11. If you wish to add comments for a particular grade item, click Click here to add comments to add comments that the student can see, and/or click Click here to add private comments to add comments that are not visible to the student.

12. Click Save when you have finished updating the student's grades.

Calculating Final Grades:

You can calculate Final Grades by individual students or by the entire class (you can filter/sort the entire class by Users, Sections, or Groups on the main Grades page by using the "view by" drop down menu).

The properties of the Final Grade Item are changed by clicking on the “Final Grade ” column heading on the main Grades List page. The Properties allow you to change the:

• Display Name - "Name"
• Release Statistics to students - "display the final class average to everyone" and "display final grade distribution to everyone"
• Allow the Semester Grade to exceed 100% - "Allow calculated and adjusted final grades to exceed the total weight"
• Change the cutoffs for what an A, B, C, D and E are - "Grading Scheme dropdown menu

These next three properties do not have an affect on the Students' View.

• Deciding whether or not to show you and your TA's the Calculated Grade (the grade that is determined by all the Weights, Scores and checkboxes you have already filled out in building the Items and Categories) - " display calculated final grade in the grades list"

There are three parts to students' Final Grades. You need to tell iLearn to Recalculate the Calculated grade, Transfer Calculated Grades to Adjusted Grades and Release the Final Grade to students.

To adjust a single student click on his/her name in the main Grades page. A screen like the one below will show up. Click the top calculator icon to Recalculate Calculated Grades. Then click the icon with two calculators on it to Transfer Calculated Grades to Adjusted Grades. Then check the checkbox to Release Final Grade. lastly remember to Save. If you want to manually change an 89.7% to 90.1% then type a new number into the Adjusted Grade and click Save. Please note: Once you manually overwrite a single students grade you can never again Transfer Calculated Grades to Adjusted Grades for the whole class because it will overwrite the student you manually changed.

You can also adjust a single student on the same screen that you adjust all students in the course. Click the pencil icon next to the Final Grade column title. Click Recalculated Calculated Grades for the entire class then scroll down to the one student and click the double calculator icon next to his/her name in the transfer column. You can manually type in a score in the Adjusted Grade to push an 89.7% to a 90.1%. Remember to check the box to the right of the student's name to Release the grade and then Save your changes.

Calculating Final Grades for All Users

Note: IF you have selected to automatically keep final grade update in the Grades Setup - Grade Calculations area, the final grade page will already be kept up to date. Also the final grades area is also dependant on what you have setup as the Final Grade properties (Allow score to Exceed point total and Grade Scheme that is in use by the Final Grade - you can have a different scheme for each Item in the Grade book).

From the main grades list page, select the Grades icon () beside the column heading “Final Grade” or “What ever you renamed it in the properties of the Item” to enter and modify final grades for all users.

A small calculator icon may appear in the Calculated Grade column besides a user. This means that the calculated grade is no longer up to date for that user. Press this icon to update this user's final grade. Press the Recalculate Calculated Grades icon to recalculate the final grades for all users on the page. Then select the Transfer Calculated Grades to Adjusted Grades icon. To make the final Adjusted grade visible to users select the icon. Lastly click Save . If the students span across more than one page you will need to do these three steps and Save for each screen of users. If there is a large number of pages then you can go to Grades Setup, Grade Items to Display and only choose the Final Grade. Then go to the main Grades list page and set the number of users to see per page to 100. You must first hide most of your columns before viewing this many students or you will see a lot of error messages.

You can also enter Final Comments and Final Private Comments by selecting the Comments icon for any individual user. The Final Comments will be available to the User and the Private comments will not.

Hitting the Clear all Adjusted grades will clear all the adjusted grades entered.

iLearn Grades are not connected to the Bursar's Office. To submit your grades to the Bursar's office you must contact them directly and use bubble sheets.

Importing/Exporting Grades :

The iLearn gradebook can be Imported and Exported as a CSV (comma separated value) text file which can be edited with Microsoft Excel.

The first row defines the Column Headings (Item names in iLearn). You must build your Grade book in iLearn before running an import into it. (Some instructors have tried building it in Excel and then importing it, thinking that iLearn could read the Excel file and create all the Item's and Categories from the file, iLearn cannot do this).

It is recommended that you Export your iLearn Grade book and use that file to build your Excel calculations as this will save you a lot of time and frustration. When you are ready to re-import it you should Save it under a new name (letters and numbers only) and delete any extra columns.

You can Import Export any Item that is a Numeric or Text Type.

Importing a CSV File – Anything that is imported will Overwrite and delete anything that is already in the Grade book.

To import a CSV file, Select the Import/Export Icon on the Grades List

1. Browse your computer
2. Retrieve the saved CSV file. Make sure it is the correct file.
   
3. Select one of the following import options:

Preview Import - Selecting the preview import icon will allow you to preview the file before importing into the grade book. The preview will check your CSV file to ensure the format is correct. It will also identify formatting errors.

NOTE: the preview will present you with a paged view.

Express Import - Selecting the express import icon will import the file directly into the grade book without previewing.

Note: The express import does not check for errors. It is recommended that you only choose express import if you have a good understanding of CSV files and are sure your CSV file has been constructed correctly.

Exporting Grades to a CSV file

Grade items and final grades can be exported into a CSV (comma separated values) format.

1. To export grades, click on the Import/Export icon and select Export.
   Scroll down to the bottom of the page and make sure to check off the grade items you would like to include in the export file.

   To reduce the chance of grade book corruption, we recommend that you select only Username and Last name along with the grade value options under the export options.

2. After clicking export, iLearn will prompt you to download the CSV file to your computer, it can take several seconds to generate the file so please be patient. Select Save and save the CSV to a folder where you will remember. This file can be opened and edited with Microsoft Excel. The edited CSV can be imported back to iLearn using the import function.
   
   
   

The Exam Grade has two separate scores

Some TA's want to enter the Midterm Exam Grade in a single column while other TA's want to show students how they did on each part individually.

If you have already entered some test scores DO NOT DELETE anything. Just create the New Category and then Re-assign the Items to the new category by changing the Item's Parent Category inside the Item's Preferences.

Midterm Category “Brown”		Calculated Mid Term
MTP1	MPT2

The trick:

• Check the Box labeled “Allow grade to exceed weight" in all three places: Category, the First Item and the Second Item.
• Split the Weight of each Item the way you want (50 – 50 or 60 – 40 or 70 – 30). You can still score each section of of any amount you want, but the Weight will determine how much that part is worth.
• The Calculated Item has to be outside the Category.
• None of the Bonus boxes need to be checked in any of the properties in any of the three places. (This will also let the Semester grade calculate correctly)
• We recommend putting in a description of what students are seeing in the first Grade Item's Overall Comments, which is available when you enter student scores. This will put the text on the screen where as the Descriptions only appear as click able links to students.

Tracking Attendance

There is no easy way to track absences in iLearn, but there are a few work arounds that can be used to keep track of students' absences. (None of them can handle the calculation that if the Number is greater than three, subtract two points from the Semester Grade for each number greater than three. Example the number is a five at the end of the semester then four points should be subtracted from the semester grade.)

One way is with a Text Item that will allow you to manually input the number of absences and the dates. Then at the end of the semester you can manually adjust the Adjusted Score Column in the Semester Grade to Reflect these absences

To create a new Text Item

1. From the Grades page, select the New Item icon.
2. A dialogue box will appear giving you the option to name the item and to select its type. Name the item absences or anything you wish and choose Text as the type. (a box might show up asking if you want to permanently name this item, select ok)
   
   
3. You will now be taken to a page that allows you to edit the items properties. You can add restrictions such as Status and Start and End Dates.
   
   
4. Under the display options check the box that says "Override default display options" and put the number 50 in the text box that is labeled “Number of characters to show for text type items in the Grades List”
   
   
5. Select Save. The new Text based grade item will now be added to your grade book.

Tracking Absences

1. To record an absence, access the grade book.
2. Select the Text based item you created to track absences (should be called absences).
3. Select the Grades Icon at the top of that Column.
4. Locate the student with the absence.
5. In the Text Grade Box for the student, you can now enter the date of the absence or the number of absences (ex: 3/20/06 or 2 absences etc.)
   
6. Select Save.
7. You will now have a system for recording absences in your class that is reported directly to the grade book and is seen by students.
   

An alternative to the Text Item is to Create a Numeric Item and give it an Weight of maybe 5 and an Out Of score of 5. Then you can track the number of absences in the Numeric box and use the Individual Comments box to write down the days involved. However, you may need to use iLearn's Import/Export capability and Microsoft Excel to calculate the semester grade.

Entering Negative Scores

It is possible to give negative point scores to students in the grade book. However if you want to have an Item worth zero points, but is required and if the student fails to turn it in then they should loose points, use a Text item and then re-adjust the score in the Adjusted Grade column of the Semester Grade by hand.

To give a negative score

1. Access the Grades main page.
2. Select the Grades icon
   
   
3. Locate the user that you wish to give the negative score and input the value with a negative sign in front of it (ex: -15). The Percentage score should now adjust to reflect a negative point score.
   
   
   
4. If you would like to give a negative score that is larger than the total value of the assignment (ex: -55 but the assignment is out of 50), you must adjust the properties of the assignment by selecting the Properties icon and checking the box that says “Allow grade to exceed weight ”
   
   
   
5. Select Save to save your work.

If students fail one part then they fail the entire course

The Semester Grade Calculation cannot do this, but you can display the totals for each part of a course. Once you have built all the Categories and Items for the Grade book you can follow these steps to display totals for just part of the overall gradebook.

1. From the Main Grade Page click the New Item Icon.
2. Give it a name and then choose Calculated from the Type box.
   
   
3. Then scroll to the bottom of the next screen and choose all the Items you want to be included in this First part and click Save
   

Repeat these three steps for each part of the grade book you want to display a grade for. Use the Re-Order feature to adjust where these new columns appear.

Curving an Item or the Semester Grade

It is possible to add a curve to your class by creating a new grade scheme, you can set letter grades and their percentages to your specifications.

Create a Grade Scheme and Apply it to your class

1. From the grades page, select the Grades Setup icon.
2. Click the Grade Schemes icon.
3. Click the New Course Scheme icon.
4. Name your course scheme and fill in the applicable ranges for your grades and their percentages.
5. Click the Add button to add more lines if necessary. Select Remove next to the line if you need to remove a single line.
6. Change the color of the grade type to show grades in different ranges. (example: A grade shows up as green, B shows up as blue…etc.)

7. Click Save
8. A line bar will appear at the bottom showing the grade ranges for your new scheme.

9. Return to the Grade Schemes page
10. Click the Schemes List icon
11. Towards the bottom of the page, there will be a section called Course Schemes , locate the course scheme you created and click the button next to it.

1. Hit Save and your new grade scheme will be applied to the entire course and all Grade Items in it. If you only want it to be applied to a single Item then go to the Item's Properties and choose the New Scheme from the Drop Down menu and click Save.

Entering Comments for all students

Entering a Comment for all students can be done through the grade book tool.

1. From the grade book, select the item in which you wish to add comments by clicking the pencil icon .
2. A new page will load up, there will be an Overall Comments box. Here you can input any relevant information that you want ALL users to see.
3. Input the text and hit Save .
   
4. All users will now see this comment when accessing the particular item from the grade book or course page.

Entering a Grade for all Group members

To enter a grade for all group members requires some special steps that must be followed correctly.

1. Create groups with the Manage Groups and Sections tool in the Classlist tool.
2. To enter grades for a particular group, click the Grades link from the NavBar to enter the main grades page. If you want to add grades for “Group 1” you must change the View By drop down box to groups and change the Groups dropdown box to Group 1. The students that comprise Group 1 will now be listed at the bottom of the page.

3. Select the Grades Icon next to the Item Name you want to adjust.
4. Select the Enter Grade For All icon at the top of the page.
5. A new window will popup and this grade will be applied to all the students in the group by selecting OK .

Handing in Grades to the Bursar's Office

Currently there is no electronic means of submitting grades to the Bursar's Office. Please contact the Bursar's Office to obtain bubble sheets for final grade submissions.