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Instructors > How To...

Grade Center: Manage Grades

Grades can be entered into the Grade Center automatically, manually, or by uploading. Learn to enter a grade manually, change a grade, add a comment to a grade, delete a grade, revert a grade, delete an attempt, drop a grade, and view a grade's history.

Automatically: Tests that are graded by the Blackboard system automatically record a grade in the corresponding Grade Center column. Automatically entered grades can be changed manually once in the Grade Center.

Manually: An instructor, grader, or TA enters or edits a grade directly in a spreadsheet cell or from the Grade Detail page.

Uploading: An instructor uploads grades from an Excel file. Data must be formatted specifically to upload correctly and be synched with existing Grade Center data. Read Upload Grades for details.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

• Enter a grade manually
• Enter grade for an assignment created with the Assignment Manager
• Enter grade for a test created with Test Manager that needs instructor’s manual grading
• Change a grade
• Add a comment to a grade
• Delete a grade
• Revert a grade
• Delete an attempt
• Drop a grade / exempt a grade from calculations
• View Grade History for a grade

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Enter a grade manually

To enter a grade directly in the spreadsheet:

1. Click inside a Grade Center cell.
2. Type a grade.
3. Press Enter.

OR

To enter a grade from the Grade Details page:

1. Point to the cell where a grade should be entered.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Click Override.
5. Type a grade in the Value box.
6. Type the feedback to a student in the Feedback to User box. The feedback can be accessed on a student’s My Grades page.
7. Type notes in the Grading Notes box. Only an instructor can view the grading notes.
8. Press the Save button.
9. The “Original grade has been overridden” message will be displayed.
10. Click OK at the bottom of the web page to return to the Grade Center spreadsheet.

Note:
The default Interactive View of the Grade Center allows inline grade editing.
If you cannot enter a grade directly in a spreadsheet cell, click the toggle button “Switch to Interactive View” in the upper-right corner of the spreadsheet.

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Enter grade for an assignment created with the Assignment Manager

When a student submits a file though View/Submit Assignment link, the Needs Grading icon (a white checkmark on the green background) is displayed in a corresponding grade cell in the Grade Center spreadsheet. View and grade the submitted file using the following steps:

1. Point the cursor to a grade cell in the Grade Center and click on the double arrow.
2. Select Grade Details in the drop-down menu.
3. Click the View Attempt button in the Action column.
4. Under Users’ Work, click and download the linked file.
5. Review the submitted file and student’s comments (if any).
6. Type the score in the Grade text box.
7. Type the feedback to a student in the Comments box.
8. If you provided comments in the submitted file, resave the reviewed with a different name and attach it for the student using the Browse button.
9. Type your comments in the Instructor Notes text box. The notes are not visible for students.
10. Click Submit.
11. Click OK at the bottom of the web page to return to the Grade Center spreadsheet.

Note:
The Grade History on the Grade Details page records the time when a student submitted a file.

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Enter grade for a test created with Test Manager
that needs instructor’s manual grading

When a student completes a test that contains essay and short-answer questions, an instructor needs to grade a test manually. Manual grading is indicated by Needs Grading icon (a white checkmark on the green background) displayed in a corresponding cell of the Grade Center spreadsheet.

To view and grade a test that requires instructor’s manual grading:

1. Point the cursor to the cell where a manual grade needs to be entered and click on the double arrow.
2. Select Grade Details in the drop-down menu.
3. Click the View Attempt button in the Action column. A student’s submitted answers will be displayed.
4. Type a score for each submitted answer that needs manual grading.
5. Type feedback to a student in a Feedback text box if necessary.
6. Click Submit.
7. Click OK at the bottom of the web page to return to the Grade Center spreadsheet.

Note:
The Grade History on the Grade Details page records the time when a student completed a test.

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Change a grade

To change/override a grade directly in the spreadsheet:

1. Click inside a Grade Center cell.
2. Type a grade.
3. Press Enter.

To change/override a grade from the Grade Detail page:

1. Move the cursor over a cell where a grade should be changed.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Click Override or Edit Override next to Current Grade.
5. Type a grade in the Current Grade text box.
6. Type the feedback to a student in the Feedback to User box.
7. Type notes in the Grading Notes box. Only an instructor can view the grading notes.
8. Press the Save button. The “Original grade has been overridden” message will be displayed.
9. Click OK at the bottom of the web page to return to the Grade Center spreadsheet.

Note:
When grades are changed, the new data are automatically factored in to existing weighted, total points, or calculated grade columns, updating the information immediately.
Grades that have been modified are denoted in the Grade Center by a triangular icon.
Every time a grade or feedback item is changed, an entry is made into the Grade History.

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Add a comment to a grade

It is necessary to have a grade entered before adding comments. To enter a comment, follow these steps:

1. Move the cursor over a cell where a grade should be changed.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Add Comment.
4. Type text into the Feedback to User text box to share with the student.
5. Type text into the Instructor Notes text box for reference. Instructor notes are available for other users such as Teaching Assistants and Graders who have access to the Grade Center.
6. Click Submit.

To add a comment within the Grade Details page, follow these steps:

1. In the Grade Center, move the cursor over an entered grade.
2. Click the double arrow, and then select Grade Detail from the menu.
3. In the Current Grade area, click Edit Override. Text boxes will appear for the Instructor Notes and Feedback to User.
4. Enter text and click Save. The “Original grade has been overridden” message will be displayed.
5. Click OK at the bottom of the web page to return to the Grade Center spreadsheet.

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Delete a grade

To delete a grade directly in the spreadsheet:

1. Click inside a cell in the Grade Center spreadsheet.
2. Press Backspace or Delete.
3. Press the Enter key.
4. Press OK to null the Grade Value. Grades that are set to NULL display a dash ( - ).

To delete a grade From the Grade Details Page:

1. Point to the cell where a grade should be deleted.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Press the Clear Attempt button in the Details table.
5. Press OK.

Note:
Deleting a grade changes the Grade Value to Null (-) and deletes the grade and all associated comments and attempts.
The Grade History (enabled by default) keeps the records of all deleted grades.

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Revert a grade

To revert a grade:

1. Point to the cell where a grade should be reverted.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Click Revert to revert the grade to its previous state. A warning message appears asking the user to confirm the action.
5. Click OK.

Note:
Grades that have been changed/overridden can be reverted to clear a previously entered override and then display the appropriate attempt grade if one exists.

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Delete an Attempt

To delete an individual attempt on a test:

1. Point to a cell.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Click Clear Attempt on the Grade Details page to erase an attempt.

Note:
When you delete the current attempt, previous attempts are unaffected, and the latest attempt becomes the Current Grade. This is useful if a Student began a test and was interrupted and unable to complete it. Clearing the attempt allows the Student to take the test again without having the interruption count.

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Drop a grade / exempt a grade from calculations

To exempt a grade from the spreadsheet:

1. Point to the cell where a grade should be excluded from calculations.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Exempt Grade.
4. A blue square icon will be displayed in the cell to indicate grade exemption.

To exempt a grade from the Grade Details page:

1. Point to the cell where a grade should be exempted.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Click Edit Override or Edit Attempt.
5. Check the Exempt student from this item box.
6. Click Save.

To revert an exempt grade to be included in grade calculations:

1. Point to the cell where a grade should be reverted.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. Click Edit Override.
5. Deselect the box next to “Exempt user from this item.”
6. Click Save.

To drop a grade automatically:

1. Create a category and assign this category to the graded items from which a grade will be dropped.
2. Create a Calculated Weighted Column to automatically drop any number of lowest or highest grades in the category.

Note:
Exempted items are excluded from any statistical or total grade calculations.
Exempted grades can be reverted from the Grade Details page or from the Grade Center spreadsheet.
You can set a grade to be dropped automatically by using a Weighted Column to automatically drop the lowest grade out of a particular category, such as the lowest grade on weekly quizzes.

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View Grade History for a grade

To view Grade History for all grades:

1. Click on the Grade History button in the Grade Center action bar (gray bar above the spreadsheet). A record of all course grade changes will be displayed in a table. The log includes the date of a grade change, the name of the graded assessment, the first and last name of the person who modified the grade, the first and last name of the student, the changes to the grade, when the graded attempt was submitted, and instructor feedback and grading notes.
2. At the bottom of the page, a list of Grade History records is displayed.
3. Next to Display Entries from Past, select All in the drop-down menu to show all entries.

To view Grade History for a grade:

1. Click inside a cell with a grade.
2. Click the double arrow in the grade cell to display the drop-down menu.
3. Select Grade Details.
4. The record of grade changes is displayed in the Grade History table.
5. Click the View Complete History button to access records that didn’t fit into the table. The button is not displayed if all records are shown in the table.

Note:
The Grade History page acts like a log file that records all of the changes that occur to grades within a course.

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