Trending
Return to Information Technology
Info Tech News
You are at:»»Bb Mailbag: Using Letter Grades & Grading Schemas

Bb Mailbag: Using Letter Grades & Grading Schemas

0
By on Academic Technology, Bb Mailbag, Teach

Welcome to the Blackboard Mailbag, where we feature a commonly asked question that has been hitting our mailbox recently: blackboard@fordham.edu. You’ll find an archive of all of the previous questions and answers on our fordham.edu/blackboard website. 

Note:  Features may change with future updates. 

Using Letter Grades & Grading Schemas

Grading schemas are a powerful tool that allows instructors to customize how grades are displayed in the Gradebook and on assessment submission pages. By using grading schemas, you can ensure that students see their grades in a format that aligns with your course objectives and institutional policies.

What Are Grading Schemas?

A grading schema translates the points a student earns on an assessment into a meaningful grade representation. This can be a letter grade (A, B, C), percentage, pass/fail, or complete/incomplete status. The schema works by mapping a student’s percentage score to a predefined range, ensuring clarity in grade interpretation.

Default Grading Schemas

Fordham Blackboard Grade Center includes a default template of a grading schema. If your school or course uses a different schema, you can change it. 

  • Points: Displays the raw score based on the total points possible.
  • Percentage: Converts the points earned into a percentage.
  • Complete/Incomplete: Indicates whether a student has completed an assessment without displaying a numerical grade.
  • Letter: Converts the percentage into a letter grade according to a predefined scale.

Managing Grading Schemas

You can manage grading schemas directly from the Gradebook by selecting the Settings button and accessing the Manage Grade Schemas panel. This allows you to:

  • View existing schemas.
  • Customize grading scales.
  • Create new grading schemas for specific assessments.
  • Modify default schemas to fit your course’s grading structure.

Navigate to your Blackboard Ultra course.

Click Gradebook in the top menu.

Mouse cursor selecting the "Gradebook" option on the top bar of the Blackboard course homepage

Click Settings

Mouse cursor selecting the gear, or settings, icon in the top right of the Blackboard Gradebook page

Red arrow pointing to the button labelled "Manage Grade Schemas"

Instructors can select from these grading schemas when setting up assessments, ensuring that the chosen format best suits the evaluation criteria of their course.

An example of a grade schema, in which each letter grade is mapped to a certain percentage score

Important Considerations

  • Any changes to grading schemas apply only to the course in which they were made.
  • Instructors can rename the default grading schema and adjust grade ranges, but these modifications will not impact other courses.
  • If a grading input is invalid, the system will revert to the previous grade to maintain accuracy.

Best Practices

Set up your schemas BEFORE the start of the semester.

The best way to record grades using letter grades is ALWAYS to input a numeric score or percentage and let Blackboard generate the letter grade. That way, all students have the exact grade value they earned.

Working with Multiple Grading Schemas

Courses can have up to 100 grading schemas, offering flexibility in evaluating assessments. This is particularly useful for courses with varied assessment types, such as:

  • Assignments are graded on a letter scale.
  • Quizzes scored as pass/fail.
  • Participation was evaluated using a complete/incomplete schema.

Customizing Grading Schemas

When creating a new grading schema:

  1. Add a New Schema: Enter a unique name for the schema.
  2. Define Grade Ranges: By default, new schemas include two rows. Adjust these rows to define specific grading criteria.
  3. Customize as Needed:
    • Insert additional rows to refine grading distinctions.
    • Set upper values above 100% (e.g., allowing an A+ for exceptional performance).
    • Ensure that the schema remains valid by keeping at least two grade ranges.
  4. Modify Existing Schemas: Copy, edit, or delete unused schemas to maintain clarity in your grading system.

Grading Schemas and Course Copies

When copying items or entire courses, grading schemas remain intact. This ensures consistency across courses and assessments. However, any changes to grading schemas in a copied course will not affect the original course.

Gradebook Calculations and Grading Schemas

Grading schemas are crucial in grade book calculations because they determine how grades are presented. The system:

  1. Converts student scores into percentages.
  2. Maps percentages to a predefined grading scale.
  3. Displays the final grade in the selected format (e.g., letter grade, percentage, or pass/fail).

Conclusion

Using grading schemas effectively helps streamline grading, improve transparency, and ensure consistency in student evaluations. By understanding and customizing these schemas, instructors can create a grading system that best supports their course objectives and student success.

For more information about Bb Grading Schemas please see the Instructor guide for this topic.

For additional FAQs and resources about Blackboard, visit fordham.edu/blackboard, attend one of our workshops, sign up to meet with us on our EdTech Consultation Calendar via Zoom, or reach out to us with your availability and we will work with you to accommodate small groups and one-on-one sessions.

Have feedback or suggestions on features?  Blackboard’s parent company Anthology hosts The Idea Exchange.  This is a place specifically for Blackboard to track and manage enhancement requests. It allows for things like upvoting ideas and sharing development plans and statuses. You will need to create an account to access the Idea Exchange.

Comments are closed.