How to Create a Blackboard Gradebook
CREATING A GRADEBOOK
     Whenever you create a test, survey, or learning unit assignment through the Assignments section of your course or create a test through the Test Manager and then deploy the test in the Assignments area of the course, the Blackboard software also creates an entry in the gradebook for that test, survey, or assignments. Then when students are enrolled in the course and take a test or survey or submit a learning unit assignment, their grades are recorded in the gradebook (for a survey only a completion is indicated). You can also create entries in the gradebook to enter a score for other student assessments, such as Discussion Board assignments. To create or modify a gradebok entry, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Control Panel and then the "Gradebook" link.

    Control Panel Gradebook Link

  2. The "Gradebook View Spreadsheet" will appear:

    Gradebook Spreadsheet View

    Once a student has taken a test, you can change a student's grade (if, for example, you decide that one of your questions actually could have two correct answers) by clicking a student's grade underneath the test title. You can then change the grade for a question and then submit the grade change by clicking the "Submit" button.

  3. For other types of learning activities or assessment instruments, such as discussion group activities or reports, you will have to create a gradebook entry if you want to record a grade for that activity or assessment. You do this by clicking the "Add Item" link at the top of the gradebook. When the "Add/Modify Gradebook Item" dialog box appears, you will then type a name for the gradebook item and then choose a type. Choosing a type is important if you want to weight the items in the gradebook. You must also decide if you want to enter a score, text, complete/incomplete, letter, or percentage. You will also enter the points that you will award for this item.

    Add/Modify Gradebook Item

  4. You will then click the "Submit" button. You will receive a report that the item has been modified. Click the "OK" button at the bottom of that screen to return to the "Item Options" page where you can make other modifications or click the "OK" button to return to the gradebook. You can then make other modifications to your gradebook or click the link back to the course at the top of the screen.

    Suggestion: Give some thought to the naming of entries to make them easy for you to view. Use short titles if you have more than 10 columns in your gradebook.

    Once students complete an assignment and you evaluate it, you can then open the Gradebook and click the name of an item to enter each student's grade or to modify a grade for a test that a student has already completed. To clear a grade or to modify a grade that you have already given, you will click "clear attempt" and then update and submit the new grade or the cleared attempt so the student can take the test again if you have given that option on the test.

  5. To change the name of a gradebook item or to change the point value from the one that you originally assigned when you created the entry, click the title of the spreadsheet item and choose one of the options to either enter or modify grades or to modify the item information such as title or number of points.

  6. If you like, you can also weight the grades by either category of grade or by item.

  7. At the end of a course, to keep a record of students' grades outside Blackboard, click the "Online Gradebook" link in the Control Panel. When you enter the Online Gradebook page, click the "Export Gradebook" link. To use this feature, you will need a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel installed on your computer. Follow the directions on the "Export Gradebook" page. When you have finished following those directions, open your spreadsheet program and click the "File/Open" command on the menu line at the top of the screen. You will have to change the "files of type" at the bottom of the "open file" dialog box from the Excel file to "all files" to open the ".csv" file that you exported. Then click "File/Save As" and change the file type to Excel spreadsheet and the name to "fall 2002 PSY 150 grades.xls" (if you are using Excel).