How one configures Blackboard assignments for formative assessments will vary depending on local needs. This guidance provides a generalised set of principles and steps that may need modification and adaptation, depending on the specific requirements of the assessment.
Creating the submission point:
Navigate to the Blackboard course.
Locate and select the Unit Assessment learning module, expanding its contents.
Select any of the dividing lines between items in the Unit Assessment learning module to open a pop-up menu.
Select Create to open the Create Item menu on the right side of the screen.
Select Assignment. This will create a new Blackboard Assignment in the Unit Assessment learning module.
Give the assignment a name.
Select the cog icon in the top right of the screen to open the Assignment Settings menu.
You should consider the following:
Does your course require a due date?
Are you marking this assignment as “Formative” to students?
Set the number of attempts as desired
Set the marking schema as required
Add a description
Once configured to your needs, select Save.
Managing visibility and Release Conditions
Select Hidden from students in the top right of the screen to open a dropdown menu.
If you want to make the assignment visible to students immediately, select Visible to students.
To set rules on when or how the assignment becomes available to students, select Release conditions.
Select the pencil icon to change the name of the rule.
Choose between All members to set a rule that affects all students on the course, or Specific members or groups to choose either individual students or groups of students.
Choose Date/time to add Access from and Access until dates and times.
Choose Performance to set prerequisite attainment in another assessment as the condition for students to access this assessment. For example, students must gain 50% or higher in “Practice Assignment” to access this assessment.
Multiple Release Conditions rules can be set if desired by selecting Add new rule. If you have finished configuring access, select Save.
Rubrics provide standardised grading criteria for assessments, often helping to provide transparency, consistency and clarity for students. They can be associated with assignments, journals and discussions in Blackboard. If it is linked to a submission point, students are always able to see the rubric and marking criteria it uses before submitting their work via the assignment submission point.
Whilst they offer many benefits for staff, including speeding up and making the marking process more consistent across a team of markers, they require some upfront investment in time from both academic and administrative staff.
All rubrics should be created with reference to school, faculty and institutional marking criteria. Refer to the University of Bristol marking criteria and/or to local guidelines for school and faculty-level marking criteria when creating your rubric.
Creating, editing, and copying rubrics
Rubrics can be created and edited via either an individual assessment or the Gradebook. They should be carefully checked for clarity and consistency before use and should adhere to guidance on marking criteria for your school, faculty, or the institution at large.
If you intend to use the rubric in just one assessment within a course, it is best to create it within that assessment.
If you intend to use the rubric in several assessments within the course, it is best to create and edit it via the Gradebook before linking it to any assessments.
Rubrics can only be edited before they have been used for marking. Once they have been used to mark work, you can only duplicate and edit the new version. No changes to a rubric applied to a submission point should be made after the assessment is available to students.
Once created, all rubrics can be accessed and edited via the Gradebook and may be applied to any assessment within a course.
Creating a rubric in an assessment:
Rubrics added to a visible submission point will be shared with students. No changes should be made after rubrics have been shared with students.
Go to the assignment in your course and select the assignment title.
Select on the cog icon in the top-right hand corner of the screen.
Scroll down to the Additional Tools section and select Add marking rubric.
To edit the contents of a cell, hover your mouse over it and select the pencil icon.
To add extra rows, hover over the column/row boundary line in the title row and select the purple plus icon that will appear
To delete a row/column, hover on the title and select the bin icon that will appear
When this is completed, select Save in the bottom right-hand corner
Adding an existing rubric to an assignment
Rubrics added to a visible submission point will be shared with students. No changes should be made after rubrics have been shared with students.
Find the assignment in your course and enter it by selecting the title.
Select the cog button in the top-right hand corner of the screen.
Scroll down to the Additional Tools section and select Add marking rubric.
Look for the name of the rubric: If you are using a points-based or points-range rubric, you should toggle the option to apply the points possible.
Select Add.
Select Save at the bottom of the settings page.
Duplicating and deleting a rubric
To duplicate a rubric:
Go to the Gradebook tab and select the cog icon on the right-hand side.
Scroll down to the Course Rubrics section and select the “…” icon next to the relevant rubric.
Select Duplicate, change the name and press save.
To delete a rubric;
Go to the Gradebook tab and select the cog icon on the right-hand side.
Scroll down to the Course Rubrics section and select the “…” icon next to the relevant rubric.
Select Delete. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to permanently delete the rubric.
Grading with a rubric
This is general advice on marking with a rubric. Some variation may appear depending on the rubric type used. Please refer to our guide on different rubric types for more information.
Go into the Markable items tab of the Gradebook and select the assessment name.
On the submissions page, select the student whose work you wish to mark.
The rubric appears within the overall feedback tab on the right-hand side of the page. If you are unable to see it, select the overall feedback tab to open it as shown below. The rubric can be found underneath the Overall Feedback box.
Select a performance level for each criterion to select it. In the example below, Criterion 1 has Satisfactory selected.
Select the Show Descriptions toggle underneath the maximum score if you wish to have descriptions of each criterion showing.
Add feedback for each criterion by selecting the ‘Add feedback’ option next to the criterion name, which appears as a plus sign. All rubric scores and feedback will calculate and save automatically.
Add overall feedback by entering it in the box above the marking rubric and selecting Save changes.
The Digital Education Office has provided a guide on creating and marking rubrics in Blackboard. This supplementary guide provides details about the different types of rubrics you can create, including considerations for both markers and those creating rubrics.
Blackboard allows five different types of rubric to be created. This section details the different types of rubric available. It also lists some additional considerations and implications for marking with each.
Before creating a rubric, you should familiarise yourself with these types and decide on which is most suitable for your assessment and marking requirements.
Percentage rubrics
Considerations when making percentage-based rubrics
Percentage rubrics use percentages on two axes:
The Criteria Percentage is listed down the left-hand column for each criterion. These represent the weighting given to each criterion as they relate to the overall mark. Criteria percentages must be 100% in total (as they represent 100% of the mark), or else a warning message will appear, reading “The criteria total percentage must equal 100%”: To resolve this, you can either manually change your Criteria percentages so they total 100%, or else select Balance Criteria to automatically balance the criteria percentage across all criteria. Percentages must use whole numbers.
The levels within each criterion are expressed as a percentage in a cell within each row. These represent the degree of success a student has realised in each criterion. The percentages expressed across the row of levels should span the full range of 0 to 100% in most instances.Figure 1: The green highlighted column shows the Criterion percentage. The blue highlighted row shows the percentage across one set of levels.
Considerations when marking with percentage rubrics
When grading student work with a percentage rubric, the marker selects a percentage level in each marking criterion.
The example below shows an assignment where the “Satisfactory” has been selected for the first Criterion, awarding 20 points.
The overall grade is expressed as a percentage, calculated by the levels selected by the marker in each criterion. This mark can then be overridden by the marker, if desired, but this should be avoided.
Percentage-range rubrics
Considerations when making percentage-range rubrics
Percentage-range rubrics use percentages on two axis.
The Criteria Percentage, which is listed down the left-hand column for each criterion. These represent the weighting given to each criterion as they relate to the overall mark. Criteria percentages must be 100% in total (as they represent 100% of the mark), or else a warning message will appear, reading “The criteria total percentage must equal 100%”: To resolve this, you can either manually change your Criteria percentages so they total 100%, or else select Balance Criteria to automatically balance the criteria percentage across all criteria. Percentages must use whole numbers.
The levels within each criterion are expressed as a percentage range in a cell within each row. These represent the degree of success a student has realised in each criterion. The percentages expressed across the row of levels should span the full range of 0 to 100% in most instances. Ranges should be exclusive of each other. For example, if one range is “75% – 100%”, the next range’s floor should be no higher than 74%.Figure 2: The green highlighted column shows the Criterion percentage. The blue highlighted row shows the percentage range across one set of levels.
Considerations when marking with percentage-range rubrics
Percentage-range rubrics often produce fractional grades (for example, “70.35%”) and may need some manual rounding before extraction to SITS or presentation to students.
The methodology for calculating, applying and sharing these rounded marks with students should be agreed before marking begins. This methodology should be shared with students for transparency, helping to improve student confidence in equity and consistency.
When grading student work with a Percentage-range rubric, the marker selects a range of values and then specifies the exact percentage within this range.
The example below shows an assignment where the “Satisfactory” range between 50% and 75% has been selected, with 60% entered as the exact percentage awarded.
The overall grade is expressed as a percentage, calculated by the criteria and ranges selected by the marker. This mark is often fractional when using this rubric type. This mark can then be overridden by the marker, if desired. The override function could be used as one method for applying and distributing rounded marks.
Points-based rubrics
Considerations when making a points-based rubric
It is only possible to use whole numbers for this rubric type. The maximum possible points should be less than or equal to 99,999.
The total points possible for each criterion is defined by the highest points value possible across the levels of that criterion.
The total points possible for the rubric overall is defined by the sum-total of all criterion.
Considerations when marking with a points-based rubric
When grading student work with a points-based rubric, a marker selects the number of points awarded in each criterion. The overall points awarded for the assignment equates to the sum total of points awarded for each criterion. This can be overridden by the marker, if desired, but it should never exceed the total number of points possible for the assignment.
Points-range rubrics
Considerations when making a points-range rubric
It is only possible to use whole numbers for this rubric type. The maximum possible points should be less than or equal to 99,999.
The points range is set from the lower to the higher range, left to right at each level.
Ranges should be exclusive of each other. For example, if one range is “7 – 10”, the next range’s floor should be no higher than 6.
The total points possible for each criterion is defined by the highest points value possible across the levels of that criterion.
The total points possible for the rubric is defined by the points possible across all criterion.
Considerations when marking with a points-range rubric
When grading student work with a points range rubric, a marker selects the range awarded in each criterion and then enters the specific number of points awarded at that level.
In the example below, the marker has selected the “Satisfactory” range of 21-30 points, specifying the exact points awarded as 28.
The overall points awarded for the assignment equates to the sum total of points awarded for each criterion. This can be overridden by the marker, if desired, but it should never exceed the total number of points possible for the assignment.
No points rubrics
Considerations when making a no points rubric
A no points rubric has no points associated with either the criterion or levels. They may also be referred to as “Mark Sheets” or “Feedback Tables”.
Considerations when marking with a no points rubric
When used in grading, markers select a level within each of the criterion, but this is purely indicative and doesn’t affect the overall grade directly. A singular overall mark is entered for the assignment.
The Journal functionality available in Blackboard can be used for formative activities as well as assessment. It can be particularly useful in fostering reflective learning. Before setting up your Journal activities, please take a look at the good practice recommendations below.
Design Journal Activities
Where possible, link the reflection to real situations
Reflection is ‘a mindful process of looking back at one’s experience and evaluating it to gain insights about the complexity of learning and about oneself as a learner’ (Dewey, 1910 as cited in Guo, 2021, p. 118). As argued by Kolb (1984), observation and experimentation are key sources of reflection. Real-life experiences, such as field trips, practical sessions, clinical experiences or work placements where students can encounter doubt, conflict, dilemma, uncertainty or confusion can provide a richer ground for authentic reflection (Finlay, 2008). Where linking reflection to practical aspects of the course is not possible, it’s worth considering how students can draw from their personal, past or current experiences.
Create effective journal prompts
Providing clear, detailed and specific prompts is essential to engage students in critical reflection (Guo, 2021), particularly in the early stages of learning where students may not be used to reflecting on their experiences. The prompts should address both the content (what should I reflect on?) and the process (how should I reflect on it?). To get students started you may want to introduce them to some of the reflective models such as Gibbs’s (1988) or Boud’s et al. (1985). Dr Dave Lawson and Dr Emily Bell who embedded reflective learning in the MSc Science Communication for a Better Planet programme asked students to choose and justify a reflective model themselves. This is an excellent way of introducing more autonomy into the activity design and prompting students to reflect on the process of reflection itself (see Embedding Reflection to Empower Students for the case study details).
Provide adequate scaffolding
In addition to effective prompts, you could also use other strategies to further scaffold student reflection. In their case study on Embedding Reflection to Empower Students, Dr Dave Lawson and Dr Emily Bell introduced reflective writing workshops in the early stages of the unit, focusing on the pedagogy of reflection, emphasising its importance and covering various reflective models. The reflection in their programme was embedded both in formative and summative assessment which enabled students to practice and develop their reflective skills. Lastly, they provided clear marking criteria which covered both the reflection’s content and format (see Embedding Reflection to Empower Students for the case study details).
Create a Journal
Click on the purple plus button anywhere in the course and choose Create.
Scroll down and click on Journal under Participation and Engagement.
Add the journal’s name and a prompt and click Save.
Journals include an AI generation feature which can be accessed by clicking on the Auto-Generate Journal button in the top-right corner. This feature can be used to generate some initial ideas but the prompts and outputs will need to be edited and refined as their quality may vary. Once you click the Auto-Generate Journal button, you will see a set of options. Click on Select course items to choose content from the course you would like to be used as a source for the prompt generation.
Check any AI-generated content for bias, accuracy and appropriateness in your course’s context.
Configure Journal’s settings
Change journal settings by clicking on the cog icon on the right. You can choose to:
Grade Journal (off by default) – if turned on, this will open up further settings related to grading.
Allow users to edit and delete entries (on by default)
Allow users to edit and delete comments (on by default)
Once you are done, click Save.
Make the Journal available to students by using the visibility dropdown to the right of the journal.
Adding Entries
To add an entry, students need to:
Click on the Journal.
Add their entry and click Post.
If this option is enabled, students can also edit and delete their entries.
View Journals
All Journals are visible only to the instructors and the students who added them.
A purple bubble will appear next to the Journal when new entries are available.
Click on the Journal and go to the Participation tab to see who added an entry. You can set the Student Status to Entry Made to see students who submitted to their Journal.
Click on the student’s name to see their Journal entries. The New label will appear next to entries you haven’t seen. If this option is enabled, you can add comments under the student’s entries.
Lin Guo (2022) How should reflection be supported in higher education? — A meta-analysis of reflection interventions, Reflective Practice, 23:1, 118-146, https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1995856
The Universal Design for Learning Framework aims to optimise learning by acknowledging the diversity of needs and preferences of learners.
The core principles of UDL are designing for multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression. These are broken down into subcategories, considerations and suggestions.
Below you can find one suggestion for each principle, along with an example of how this could be implemented in a Blackboard course.
The WHY of learning – multiple means of engagement
Example: ‘Offer feedback that emphasizes effort, improvement, and achieving a goal rather than on relative performance.’ (Consideration 8.5).
The WHAT of learning – multiple means of representation
Example: ‘Present key concepts beyond representation via text (e.g., an expository text or a math equation) with another or multiple formats (e.g., an illustration, dance/movement, diagram, table, model, video, comic strip, storyboard, photograph, animation, or physical or virtual manipulative).’ (Consideration 2.5).
You can build complex resources with text, images, embedded videos and activities as well as quick knowledge check quizzes in Blackboard Documents.
The HOW of learning – multiple means of action and expression
Example: ‘The use of accessible materials and assistive and accessible technologies and tools strengthens opportunities for every learner to experience access, participation, and progress in the learning process.’Consideration 4.2).
It’s worth looking at the UDL guidelines when you are designing or reviewing your course or learning activities, to ensure a good learning experience for students.
Scaffolding has been widely applied as an effective educational strategy and has been shown to have a large and statistically significant effect on learning outcomes in online environments (Doo, Bonk, & Heo, 2020). As described by Jumaat and Tasir (2014, p.74): ‘In education, scaffolding has teachers instructing students in the early stages of learning, and gradually lessening their supports as the students gain mastery (Palinscar, 1986). This reduces difficulty of complex learning and at the same time, let the students focus on constructing knowledge and higher-order demands like thinking critically (Way & Rowe, 2008).’.
Scaffolding categories
It may be helpful to think about scaffolding through the four categories distinguished by Hannafin, Land, and Oliver (1999):
Conceptual scaffolding
Helping the student to identify essential themes and related knowledge.
Example: When facilitating online discussion, instead of asking one broad question, you can provide prompts guiding students in formulating a comprehensive response. See the Blackboard Discussions guide.
Meta-cognitive scaffolding
Helping the student to monitor and reflect on the learning process.
Example: Organise learning materials into smaller sections which build on each other. Make sure the progress tracking is turned on and explain to students how to use it to monitor their advancement through the content.
Strategic scaffolding
Provides the student with alternative ways of completing a task.
Example: Where possible, you may want to give students a choice of format in completing assessments and activities. Instead of writing an essay, could they meet the intended learning outcomes by creating a podcast, a video or a poster?
Procedural scaffolding
Helping the student to use resources and tools for learning, such as providing an orientation to system functions and features.
Example: You could consider creating a video tour of your unit introducing students to its structure, explaining what they can find in each section and how you expect them to use this space. You can use the Mosaic app to record and share it in your unit.
Turn on the Student Preview and imagine you are entering your Blackboard unit for the first time as a student. What is your experience like? How scaffolded is it? Is there anything that could help you at each step?
References
Doo, M. Y., Bonk, C., & Heo, H. (2020). A Meta-Analysis of Scaffolding Effects in Online Learning in Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(3), 60–80. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i3.4638
Hannafin, Michael & Land, Susan & Oliver, Kevin. (1999). Open Learning Environments: Foundations, methods, and models. In Reigeluth, C., M. (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models (Volume II). A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory (pp. 115-140). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Jumaat, Nurul & Tasir, Zaidatun. (2014). Instructional Scaffolding in Online Learning Environment: A Meta-analysis. Proceedings of the IEEE. 74-77. https://doi.org/10.1109/LaTiCE.2014.22
The Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most comprehensive and empirically supported theories of motivation. Past research indicated that SDT predicts a variety of learning outcomes, including performance, persistence, and course satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 1985). The SDT-based strategies may apply to a variety of educational settings including online learning environments (Kuan-Chung & Syh-Jong, 2010).
In line with the SDT, when students’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met, they are more likely to internalise their motivation to learn and be more engaged in their studies. Below are some examples of how each of the components could be fostered in your Blackboard courses.
Autonomy
‘I prompt students to research a certain idea to bring back to our synchronous class time. I have found that making students responsible for finding content that guides the discussion makes them highly invested.‘ (Forbes, 2020)
Use a Form or Discussion to ask students what they are hoping to get out of the module.
Make your asynchronous activities flexible e.g. if you ask students to write a blog post, let them choose the topic.
Where possible, offer multiple formats for completing assessments and activities.
Competence
’A central notion is that students will only engage and personally value activities they can actually understand and master.‘ (Niemiec & Ryan, p. 139)
Provide students with a meaningful rationale for each learning activity.
Use Blackboard functions such as progress tracking and release conditions to reinforce the perception of progression and avoid overwhelming students with a large number of activities presented to them at once.
Keep your unit structure simple, easy to navigate and consistent.
Explain how to navigate your module and give students a suggested timeframe for completing activities.
Set clear expectations on how you will be communicating with students and how you expect them to communicate with you.
Provide them with formative feedback which can be applied to their summative assessments.
Relatedness
‘Research has shown one of the greatest challenges for learning institutions and instructors when designing and implementing online courses is to provide a sense of community with constructive feedback and provide open forthcoming communications‘ (Boiling, et al., 2011, p. 123)
Use Blackboard tools which facilitate collaboration such as Discussions.
Use examples that your students can relate to.
Link asynchronous online activities to live sessions.
Create a short introduction welcome video to the unit.
Be an active member of your unit’s online community, e.g., if you set up a Discussion, contribute to it.
How is autonomy, competence and relatedness fostered in your teaching? Could you implement any of the suggestions above?
References
Boling, E.C., Hough, M., Krinsky, H., Saleem, H., & Stevens, M. (2012). Cutting the distance in distance education: Perspectives on what promotes positive, online learning experiences. The Internet and Higher Education. 15(2), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.11.006
Kuan-Chung, C. & Syh-Jong, J. (2010). Motivation in online learning: Testing a model of self-determination theory. Computers in Human Behavior. 26(4), 741-752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.01.011
Niemiec, C.P. & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the classroom. Applying self-determination theory to educational practice. Theory and Research in Education. 7(2), 133-144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878509104318
This guidance provides a simplified alternative to the offline workflow, enabling you to provide short, typed feedback and marks to students via document upload. This approach is:
Best suited to in-person assessments, review of practice, offline submissions, or other workflows where it is not necessary to download materials submitted to Blackboard for offline review.
Only suitable where inline feedback (comments on submitted documents) and complex formatting for overall feedback is not required.
Cannot be used in conjunction with a Blackboard rubric.
Provide feedback
Navigate to the Gradebook on the course.
Select Download Gradebook from the top-right corner of the screen. This will open a panel of options on the right of the screen.
In the panel:
Select Full Gradebook.
Select the assessment you wish to upload marks and feedback for. Note: you can only download one assessment at a time for this purpose.
Toggle Include feedback for the selected item to on.
Select Comma Separated Values (.csv) from the File Type options.
Select My Device from the Save Location options.
Select Download.
Open the downloaded file in Excel, or save in a shared location if it needs to be accessed by multiple markers.
Enter students’ marks in the column bearing the name of the assessment.
Type feedback into the column named Feedback to Learner.
If you wish to add notes not visible to the learner, you can add these in the Marking Notes column.
When the spreadsheet is completed, return to the course’s Gradebook.
Select Upload Gradebook from the top-right corner of the screen. This will open a panel of options on the right of the screen.
In the panel, either:
drag-and-drop your file from your computer into the drop-box provided, or
select Upload local file and locate the file from your computer’s File Explorer.
Wait for the upload to complete.
Select Upload.
Both feedback and grades will be added to the column in the Gradebook. There can be a short delay for larger volumes of data.
To realise anonymity, provide a separate spreadsheet to markers with only the Student ID, Grade and Feedback to Learner columns. Do not edit the original spreadsheet columns as this can impact document upload.
Alternatively, provide the original spreadsheet and hide the relevant columns in Excel.
Blackboard Ultra provides several different calculation columns for calculating marks in the Gradebook. Which column you need depends on the action you wish to undertake and the type of assessment you have set in eVision. In most instances, this would be a “BB Other” assessment type.
To add a column:
Enter the Marks view of the Gradebook.
Hover your mouse cursor between two columns where you would like to create the new column.
Click the + icon that appears.
Select either Add Calculation or Add Total Calculation from the list that appears.
Add a title for the column.
The calculation columns available are:
Total Calculation: This enables you to add the results of assessments together. You can do this either as:
Weighted total, where each assessment receives a % attribution that adds up to 100% overall.
Points total, where the number of points available in each assessment are combined to make a total.
Calculation: This allows you to conduct calculations that are more bespoke, comparable to some of the functions you may otherwise carry out in a spreadsheet. However, the functionality is limited, and more complex needs may still require off-line work. For instructions on how to download an upload files you can amend in Excel, please see the section on Offline Calculations.
Choose which column to use
In most instances, the Total Calculation column will provide the functionality required to manage combined assessments (where several tasks add together or where only some scores from a set are counted towards a total, such as a “best of x out of Y” model).
A Calculation column can also be used to achieve the same results and may provide the functionality needed to conduct calculations previously managed outside of Blackboard. However, the interface and functionality is limited, and some calculations will still need to be managed outside of Blackboard (such as rounding to the nearest integer). Instructions on how to download and upload a file from Blackboard you can amend in Excel, please see the section on Offline Calculations.
Assessment types in eVision to use with columns
To extract marks from a calculated column to eVision, you will need to use the BB Other assessment type in eVision and then ‘map’ the calculation column and the one provided by eVision together.
Total Calculation Columns
Description and use cases
A Total Calculation Column lets you add several marks from other columns together, creating an overall mark.
You can:
Give different assignments different weighting. For example, if you have three assignments, you could weight one at 50%, one at 30% and one at 20%. Any combination is possible provided the overall percentage adds to 100%, including adding up to two decimal places.
Apply a Marking Schema. For example, you could include several assessments added up to a total and then apply a “Pass/Fail” marking schema, changing the display of the mark to students in the Gradebook to either a “pass” or “fail” moniker.
Drop Scores. Set the number of highest or lowest scores to exempt from the calculation. For example, if you wish to discount the three lowest scores out of five total assignment results. This is commonly referred to as a “best x out of y” or “best of” approach to marking.
This type of column is most useful when:
You want to only consider or value the best or worst grade on several assessments.
You want to add together multiple assessment activities into one, overarching grade.
You wish to ignore X number of the highest or lowest grades for Y number of assessments.
You need the final grade for the assessment to be expressed as a percentage out of 100.
Key considerations:
You may still need to round grades to the nearest integer: When you combine several grades together into an overall percentage, some grades may be expressed as a decimal fraction (for example, 70.5%). University policy requires that such grades are rounded to the nearest integer before being returned to students. Currently, this rounding still cannot be achieved in Blackboard.
General setup
If you have not already put all assignments, tests or other Gradebook Items related to this calculation into a shared category, you should do this first:
Navigate to the Marks view of the Gradebook.
Click on the cog icon in the top-right of the screen. The Gradebook Settings menu will open on the right of the screen.
Scroll down the menu and then select Add New Category under the Mark Categories header.
Enter a name for your category and press return on your keyboard. You will be adding all of the assignments you want to total to this category, so give it an easily recognisable name. For example, you may want to name it after the overall assessment.
Select the pink cross to close the menu.
In the Marks view, find each Assessment you want to add to the calculation and:
Click on the header to open the drop-down menu:
Select Edit.
For assignments or tests, select the cog icon.
Scroll down until you see the Marking & Submissions header.
Change the Mark category to the category you have just created.
For items (columns created directly in the Gradebook not attached to an assignment, test or submission point), change the Mark category to the category you have just created.
Repeat this for each item or assessment you wish to add to the calculation.
In the Marks view of the Gradebook, hover your mouse cursor between two columns where you would like to create the new Total Calculation column.
Click the “+” icon that appears.
Select Add Total Calculation from the list that appears.
Add a title for the column.
Select either Points or Weighted.
Selecting Points will calculate a points-based total where the maximum score is equal to the total of all points available in all items.
Selecting Weighted will create a total calculation that treats the results of each individual assessment as a weighted %. The total value must then add up to 100%. If you choose Weighted you must then select between:
Proportionally: where the weight given to an individual assessment is defined by their relative points value to other assessments you add. For example, if one assessment has 10 points available and the other 90 points, the first assessment will be weighted at 10% and the latter at 90%.
Equally: where the weight given to each assessment is equally distributed irrespective of each assessment’s individual points value. For example, if you have two assessments in your calculation, one with 10 points available and the other with 90, they will both be weighted at 50% each.
Total Calculation Columns initially consider all gradable items in your course. You need to exclude all but the one category you have created for this calculation. Working down the list of categories, select the exempt icon on all categories except for the one you want to work with. The exempt icon on deselected items will turn purple.
If you are simply looking to add a selection of assessments together into an overall percentage-based score, you can now Select Save. Alternatively, you can also:
Add additional categories and adjust their individual weighting (on Weighted Total columns). If you need to manually set the weighting of a or all items, add the item to its own category and leave both selected. You can add as many categories as you wish and adjust the weighting of each by typing your preferred weight into the text box.
Exclude specific items within a category. you can exclude specific items from the within a category from the calculation. To do this, click the ˅ symbol at the right-hand end of your category to expand all of the items you have added and then select the exclude symbol next to the item you want to exclude.
Unlink items from a category (to set specific weighting to each). To do this, click the ˅ symbol at the right-hand end of your category to expand all of the items you have added and then select the unlink symbol next to the item you want to remove from the category. You can then adjust the weighting of that specific item by typing the weight you want to assign to it in to the text box. Note: the total for all items and categories must add up to 100% overall.
Drop worst or best scores (to create a ‘best of’ or ‘worst of’ mark). To do this, select Edit calculation rules on the category you want to adjust to open a panel of further options on the left-hand side of the screen and toggling the Enable option to on. From here, you can either:
Use only the highest or lowest scores from all of the added items, assessments or tests, or
Drop scores to set a specific number of highest or lowest scores to drop from the calculation.
Calculation Columns
In the Marks view of the Gradebook, hover your mouse cursor between two columns where you would like to create the new Total Calculation column.
Click the “+” icon that appears.
Select Add Calculation from the list that appears.
Add a title for the column.
Under Select a grade schema, select between:
Points
Percentage
Letter
Complete/Incomplete
You can then construct a calculation by adding and arranging functions, variables and operators as required.
Functions and Variables:
Average: generates the average from any number of selected graded items, categories or other calculations.
Total: generates a total from any number of selected graded items, categories or other calculations.
Minimum: returns the minimum grade for a selection of graded items, categories or other calculations.
Maximum: returns the maximum grade for a selection of graded items, categories or other calculations.
Variable: allows the addition of individual graded items or calculations. The maximum points for a graded item must be greater than zero.
Operators:
Add
Subtract
Divide
Multiply
Open Parenthesis
Close Parenthesis
Value: allows you to enter a numeric value to any calculation.
Once you have completed the calculation, select Validate to ensure it is working as required.
Select Save.
Offline Calculations
In some instances, it may be necessary or desirable to download information from Blackboard, conduct calculations offline in Excel, and then reupload amended information to Blackboard.
Preparations
If you need to extract grades you have amended in an Excel file to eVision, you should use either a BB Other or Marks Only assessment type.
If you are using a BB Other assessment type, you will need to add an additional Blackboard column where grades manipulated in Excel can then be re-uploaded to Blackboard. This column should then be mapped to the BB Other column for marks extraction. You cannot upload marks directly to a BB Other column.
You can upload marks directly to a Marks Only assessment type column, so you can use this column in downloaded spreadsheets as a location for final calculations.
Downloading from the Gradebook
Navigate to the Marks view of the Gradebook.
Select the Download icon in the top-right corner to open an options menu.
Select Full Gradebook.
Either highlight specific items or assessments by selecting them from the Record Details list, or else select Select All Items.
Set the File Type to Comma Separated Values (.csv).
Select Download.
When the file has downloaded and been opened, you may be prompted by Excell to update or convert the file type. Select Don’t Convert to avoid making changes to the document that will prevent uploading it back to Blackboard.
When working with downloaded Blackboard Gradebooks, care should be taken to not affect existing grades you do not want to change. Similarly, changes in formatting can prevent the file from being reuploaded.
Uploading to the Gradebook
Once you have completed offline calculations, save your file in a sensible location, sustaining the .csv file format.
Navigate to the Marks view of the Gradebook.
Select the Upload icon in the top-right corner to open an options menu.
Either drag and drop your file, or else select Upload Local File to browse your computer or a shared location.
Once a file is located, an upload progress indicator will appear. When it is complete, click Upload. You will be returned to the Gradebook and a “Upload Complete!” message will appear at the bottom of the screen.
You should check uploaded marks are correct before then releasing them to students or uploading them to eVision.
