When to Use?
The following tips will assist faculty with using the gradebook in Blackboard Ultra more efficiently. Follow up with your eLearning Liaison if you have more questions.
Procedure
When you create an assignment there is a settings option that allows you to “Post assessment grades automatically.” When you click this option Blackboard will automatically post a student’s grade when the assessment is graded. The feature covers automatically and manually graded assignments, and tests with auto-graded question types. Keep the setting turned off, this is the default, if you want to manually control grade publication.
In the Gradebook. you also have the option of posting all grades at once. In the list view navigate to the assignment and click the “Post grades” button and then select “Post All Grades.”
In the grid view click on the assignment column’s header and select “Post” from the dropdown menu and then select “Post All Grades.”
Sorting Assignment Submissions
Instructors have the ability to sort assignment submissions in a number of ways. These include submission date (newest to oldest), submission dates (oldest to newest), last name, first name, and student ID.
When an instructor chooses to allow multiple attempts, there is now a way to see which attempt(s) display as Needs Grading.
From the ‘Attempts to grade’ menu. The options are:
- First attempt
- Last attempt (default)
- All attempts
Example: An assessment allows 3 attempts; a student made 3 submissions
From the Final grade calculation menu, the options are:
- Average
- Highest (default)
- Lowest
Attempts to grade setting
Final grade calculation setting
Updated Submissions page with the Needs Grading filter applied; in this example, the instructor elected to grade the last attempt, which is now also displayed
The attempt selector is now nearer to the attempt grade pill. This allows instructors to switch between a student's attempts during grading.
Image 1. Instructors view displaying the relocated attempt selector next to the attempt grade pill
The grading interface now displays a single grade pill. This provides a more intuitive grading workflow. The single grade pill also prevents accidental grade overrides.
Image 2. Instructors view displaying a single grade pill as well as the submission receipt for the displayed attempt
Overriding the final grade is now an explicit grading option. The three-dot menu next to the attempt grade pill now includes an Override Final Grade option. When selected, an Override label appears above the grade pill. Here the instructor can adjust the final grade for the submission.
Image 3. Instructors view displaying the new override grade workflow
Image 4. Instructors view displaying a graded submission where a grade override has been applied
The submission receipt for the selected attempt now displays beneath the attempt selector.
Improved Attempt Display
Multiple-attempt assessments result in more submissions, which can increase the complexity of grading.
In the past, when an instructor selected a student in the list the most recent attempt displayed. Now, the attempt selected for display is based on the grading status and attempt aggregation model selected.
Attempt aggregation model options
| Attempt Aggregation Model |
Grading Status and Attempt Displayed |
| Average of all attempts |
If all attempts are graded, the most recently submitted attempt displays.
If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent, ungraded attempt displays.
|
| First attempt with a grade |
If all attempts are graded, the first submitted attempt displays.
If ungraded attempts exist, the oldest ungraded attempt displays.
|
| Attempt with highest grade |
If all attempts are graded, the attempt with the highest grade displays.
If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent, ungraded attempt displays.
|
| Last attempt with a grade |
If all attempts are graded, the most recently submitted attempt displays.
If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent ungraded attempt displays.
|
| Attempt with lowest grade |
If all attempts are graded, the attempt with lowest grade displays.
If ungraded attempts exist, the most recent ungraded attempt displays.
|
There are several ways to override a student’s grade. If the following method does not work for your grading workflow then we can look for an alternative method. You can perform this task directly in the Gradebook by navigating to the assignment column and selecting the student’s grading cell.
There you can change the student’s current grade/score by entering a new value and clicking “Post” or pressing the Enter key.
If you then open the student’s submission for review you will see the option to “Undo” the override.
Instructors can give feedback for overridden tests, assignment grades, and automatic zeros. This option appears in the Gradebook grid view, and the Submissions list after the override or automatic zero is entered.
Feedback from the grid view
Feedback from the submission list
Additionally, instructors can now upload feedback for students as part of the offline grading process. In the past, only uploaded grades were visible to students.
Students can view override feedback after grades are posted.
We also improved students' access to the feedback. Now, feedback for all attempts on a test or assignment is visible in a panel.
If you add a “Due Date” to an assignment’s setting and then manually grade all of the submissions after the due date has passed the Gradebook will automatically display the “Not submitted (late)” notification for each student.
In order to remove the notification, you must click on the student’s name and then enter a submission date/time that is prior to the due date.
The student’s attempt will then be updated and the late notification will be removed.
You can arrange the Gradebook in your Ultra course at any time. You have the ability to change the order of items, move items to match the order on the Course Content page or the order you want students to complete the work. In the gradebook list view, press the Move icon in the row of the item you want to move.
Drag the item to the new location and release. The order you choose also appears in the grid view and on students' Grades pages.
You can also easily add calculations to your course gradebook. A calculation is a formula that produces a numerical result used to view or assign grades, usually based on other graded items. You can create your own formulas and use common arithmetic operations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and use group operators (parentheses). The weighted column can be hidden from student view until you’re ready to display it.
Calculate Grades - Ultra Course View
The TOTAL operation in Blackboard Learn Ultra effectively calculates a running total. This means that grade columns that haven’t been attempted yet are ignored when calculating the total or overall grade for the course. As a result, an instructor should turn off the “Automatic Zeroes” operation to ensure that zeroes are not added to a grading cell if they want to exempt a student from a particular assignment.
A. Open the Gradebook.
B. Click on the Settings icon.
C. Uncheck the “Automatic Zeroes” option.
D. In the pop-up window choose the appropriate option that you want, and then select “Confirm.”
