Grade Book
From FerrisConnect KnowledgeBase
The Grade Book allows the instructor to provide feedback to students about their performance within the course, or regarding specific assignments or assessments. Grades are stored in columns which can be summarized using formulas within calculated columns, allowing students to see their standing in the course at any given time. Although the instructor may manage grades for all enrollees from the grade book, students will see only their own grades when they click on this tool.
Contents |
Learning outcomes
When finished with this section the learner will be able to...
- explain the tabs in the Grade Book tool
- create custom columns for storing or calculating data
- modify column settings
- make grades available to students
- export grades to MS Excel
Grade Book Tabs
There are five tabs in the Grade Book
- the Grades tab displays basic member information along with the default columns and any grade-related columns the instructor creates
- the Members tab displays member information including and columns the instructor creates for additional non-grade related member information
- the View All tab displays all member information and columns within the grade book
- the Custom tab allows the instructor to slect which columns are viewable and the order in which they are displayed
- the SCORM Grades tab is for viewing grades and activity related to SCORM compliant content such as StudyMate activities.
Creating New Columns
Columns can be created in the Grade Book to collect various types of information, such as alphanumeric, numeric grades, text entries, letter grades, and calculated grades. To create new columns navigate to the Grade Book within the Instructor Tools under the Teach tab. Click on the "Create Column" button. Select the grade type of choice (note: numeric columns must be used if they will be added later to a calculated column, or if a letter grade is to be assigned based on a numeric grade). Whether a column is to be graded and/or released to students can be established at this point (the default is to display the grade).
Activity - Create a Numeric Column Click on "Grade Book" under Instructor Tools in the Teach tab. Select the "Create Column" button, and the Numeric column type. Label the column "Research Project", and set the Maximum value to 25. Both the "grade-related" and "release column" check-boxes should be checked.
Modifying Columns
Grade Book columns may be modified by clicking on the "Grade Book Options" button in the Grade Book tool. The alignment of column data, whether the grade is released to students, number of decimals, maximum value and column title may be modified.
Activity - Modify Numeric Column Click on the "Grade Book Options" button, and select "Column Settings". Locate the numeric column created in the previous activity and change the maximum point value to 50 - click "save". Also, change the "Release to Student" status for the Midterm and Final columns to "No".
Export Grade Book to Desktop
The grade book can be exported to a spreadsheet file and then downloaded to the instructor's computer. In the teach tab, select the grade book in the instructor tools menu. Click on the "Export to Spreadsheet" button. You may choose to include all columns or if columns are "hidden" only those which are visible. File options include comma, or tab-delimited. If commas are used in any on your fields, it is advisable to use the tab-delimited option. Click on the "Export" button, and "Save".
Activity - Export Grade Book to your Desktop Following the above instructions, export your Grade Book to your computer desktop. Open the file with MS Excel and "save as" an Excel worksheet. Send the worksheet to your facilitator as a file attachment using the FerrisConnect Mail Tool.
