Grade Columns

Any assignment, test, exam, or other graded work should have its own Grade Column in the Grade Center. In some cases, Blackboard adds Grade Columns automatically.  This will occur when:

• You distribute and collect assignments through the Create Assignment tool;
• You enable grading in tools like the Discussion Board, Blogs and Journals; or
• You create a Test or Survey.

Any work for which a Grade Column is not automatically created can be included in the Grade Center by manually creating a Grade Column.

Create a Grade Column

1. Navigate to the Grade Center.
2. Click the Create Column button.
3. On the Create Grade Column page, enter a Column Name for this graded item
   1. Students will see this column name on their MyGrades page, so try to keep column names brief and descriptive, for example, “Essay 1”.
4. You may choose to provide a Description of this graded item.
   1. Students will see this description in My Grades.
5. Ensure that Primary Display is set to Score.
6. Enter the Points Possible.
   1. This is the total mark that the assessment is out of; enter a numeric value such as 100.
   2. The weight of each graded item is determined by the Weighted Total column and does not need to be reflected in the Points Possible field.
7. Provide a Due Date.
   1. This information will be broadcast in the To Do module on the home page and in each student’s Notifications Dashboard.
8. Under Show This Column to Students, select No. This keeps the new column invisible to students.
   1. It is recommend that you only make this column visible once all marks have been entered and you are ready to broadcast them.
9. Click Submit. Your new column will appear at the end of the Grade Center.