Creating grade items and grade book categories

1. Understanding grade items
2. Creating grade book categories
3. Creating numeric grade items
4. Creating selectbox grade items
5. Creating pass/fail grade items
6. Creating formula grade items
7. Creating calculated grade items
8. Creating text grade items

Understanding grade items

Grade items in your grade book represent all the work that you want to evaluate users on in a course. Grade items can exist independently in your grade book, or you can associate them with course objects such as discussions, quizzes, and dropbox folders. Each grade item has its own entry in the grade book, which you assign a grade to for each user. Depending on the grade item type you want to create, grade items can be graded numerically or based on a grade scheme.

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Creating grade book categories

Use grade book categories to organize and group related grade items into sections. For example, you could have separate categories for Dropbox Submissions, Quizzes, Case Studies, Participation, Discussions, and so on. When grade items are grouped together in a category, you can distribute points equally across all grade items and drop the highest or lowest item in the group.

Create grade book categories

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Category from the New button.
2. Enter a Name for the category.
3. If you want, enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
4. If you want, enter a Description of the category. Select the Allow users to view description check box if you want to make the category description available to users.
5. If you are using the weighted system, enter the total Weight or percentage that you want the category to contribute towards the final grade.
6. Set additional options as required and click Save and Close. To create another category, click Save and New.

Additional grade category options

Option	Procedure
Allow users grades to exceed the maximum value for the category	Select either: Allow category grade to exceed category weight in the weighted system. Can Exceed check box in the points system. Weighted system example You create an Assignments category that contains two grade items: A1 and A2. Both assignments are worth 50% of the category and can exceed the weight specified. Frank Catcher receives 100% on A1 and 110% on A2. Frank receives 105% in the Assignments category. Points system example You create an Assignments category that contains two grade items: A1 and A2. Both assignments are out of 10 points and can exceed the maximum points specified. Frank Catcher receives 12/10 and 9/10 on the grade items.
Exclude items in the category from the final grade calculations	Select either: 0% in the Weight field in the weighted system. Exclude from Final Grade Calculation check box in the points system.
Distribution of weights and points for grade items in the category	For the weighted system, select one of: Manually assign weight to items in the category Calculating and setting item weights enables you to control the weighting of individual items that belong to a weighted category. Distribute weights by points across all items in the category Uses the points of individual, non-bonus grade items to determine the relative weighting of each item out of 100%. Distribute weight evenly across all items Gives all grade items equal weighting in the weighted category regardless of the number of points the individual item is out of. For the points or formula system, select: Distribute points across all items then enter the Points per item.
Drop the highest or lowest grade item in a category	Select either: Distribute weight evenly across all items in the weighted system, then enter a Number of highest non-bonus items to drop for each user and Number of lowest non-bonus items to drop for each user. Distribute points across all items in the points system, then enter a Number of highest non-bonus items to drop for each user and Number of lowest non-bonus items to drop for each user. Note Grades must be distributed evenly to use this option and you cannot drop bonus items.
Change what users see for this category from your standard display settings	Select or clear: Display class average to users Display grade distribution to users Override display options for this item, then select or clear the additional options that display.

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Creating numeric grade items

Grade users by assigning a value out of a specified total number of points.

Create a numeric grade item

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Item from the New button.
2. Click Numeric.
3. Enter a Name for the grade item.
4. You can enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
5. If you want the grade item associated with a category, select a category from the Category drop-down list or click New Category.
6. Enter a Description of the grade item If you want to make the description available to users, select Allow users to view grade item description.
7. Enter the value you want the item graded out of in the Maximum Points field.
8. If you are using the weighted system, enter the Weight you want the grade item to contribute to the category. If the item does not belong to a category, the Weight you enter contributes to the final grade.
9. If you want users grades to exceed the total value of the item, select the Can Exceed check box.
10. Select the Bonus check box if you want the item counted as a bonus item.

    Note: Bonus items are not counted towards the maximum points for a category or final grade. If available, you must select the Can Exceed check box, and the Bonus check box to allow users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.

11. If you are using the points system, you can also choose the Exclude from Final Grade Calculation option. If you are using the weighted system you can accomplish the same results by setting the weight to 0%.
12. You can select a Grade Scheme to associate with the item.
13. You can can click Add Rubric to add a rubric, or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
14. Select Display Options.
15. Click Save and Close.

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Creating selectbox grade items

Grade users by assigning a grade scheme level that is equivalent to a percentage grade range. You cannot create selectbox grade items if you do not have at least one grade scheme for the course.

Create a selectbox grade item

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Item from the New button.
2. Click Selectbox.
3. Enter a Name for the grade item.
4. You can enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
5. If you want the grade item associated with a category, select a category from the Category drop-down list or click New Category.
6. Enter a Description of the grade item. If you want to make the description available to users, select Allow users to view grade item description.
7. Enter the value you want the item to contribute towards the final grade in the Weight field for the weighted system or the Maximum Points field for the points or formula system.
8. Select the Bonus check box if you want the item counted as a bonus item.

   Note: Bonus items are not counted towards the maximum points for a category or final grade. If available, you must select the Can Exceed check box, and the Bonus check box to allow users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.

9. If you are using the points system, you may also choose the Exclude from Final Grade Calculation option, if applicable. If you are using the weighted system you can accomplish the same results by setting the weight to 0%.
10. Select a Grade Scheme to associate with the item.
11. You can click Add Rubric to add a rubric, or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
12. Select Display Options.
13. Click Save and Close.

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Creating pass/fail grade items

Grade users using a simple pass/fail grade scheme.

Create a pass/fail grade item

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Item from the New button.
2. Click Pass/Fail.
3. Enter a Name for the grade item.
4. You can enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
5. If you want the grade item associated with a category, select a category from the Category drop-down list or click New Category.
6. Enter a Description of the grade item. If you want to make the description available to users, select Allow users to view grade item description.
7. Enter the value you want the item to contribute towards the final grade in the Weight field for the weighted system or the Maximum Points field for the points or formula system.
8. Select the Bonus check box if you want the item counted as a bonus item.

   Note: Bonus items are not counted towards the maximum points for a category or final grade. If available, you must select the Can Exceed check box, and the Bonus check box to allow users' grades to exceed the maximum points specified.

9. If you are using the points system, you may also choose the Exclude from Final Grade Calculation option, if applicable. If you are using the weighted system you can accomplish the same results by setting the weight to 0%.
10. Select a Grade Scheme to associate with the item.
11. You can click Add Rubric to add a rubric, or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
12. Select Display Options.
13. Click Save and Close.

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Creating formula grade items

Formula grade items automatically grade users using a custom formula based on achievements in other grade items.

Create a formula grade item

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Item from the New button.
2. Select Formula.
3. Enter a Name for the grade item.
4. You an enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
5. Enter a Description of the grade item. If you want to make the description available to users, select Allow users to view grade item description.
6. Enter the value you want the item graded out of in the Maximum Points field.
7. Click Edit Using the Formula Editor to define a calculation formula. See Cobra Learning - Creating a formula in the Grades Formula Editor for more information.
8. If you want users to be able to receive a grade higher than the Maximum Points specified, select Can Exceed.
9. Select a Grade Scheme to associate with the item.
10. You can click Add Rubric to add a rubric, or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
11. Select Display Options.
12. Click Save and Close.

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Creating calculated grade items

Display a user's cumulative achievement across multiple grade items with a calculated grade item.

Create a calculated grade item

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Item from the New button.
2. Select Calculated.
3. Enter a Name for the grade item.
4. You can enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
5. Enter a Description of the grade item. If you want to make the description available to users, select Allow users to view grade item description.
6. If you want users grades to be able to exceed the total value of the item, select Can Exceed.
7. Select a Grade Scheme to associate with the item.
8. In the Calculation section, select the check boxes beside the items you want to include in the calculation. Clicking a category selects all grade items in the category. Clicking the check box at the top or bottom of the list selects all items.
9. Select a Milestone Grade Calculation or Final Grade Calculation method (these options are not available in a Points grading system).
10. You can click Add Rubric to add a rubric, or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
11. Select Display Options.
12. Click Save and Close.

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Creating text grade items

Provide comments that are not counted towards users final grades.

Create a text grade item

1. On the Manage Grades page, click Item from the New button.
2. Select Text.
3. Enter a Name for the grade item.
4. You can enter a Short Name to display in the grade book.
5. Enter a Description of the grade item. If you want to make the description available to users, select Allow users to view grade item description.
6. You can click Add Rubric to add a rubric, or click the Create Rubric in New Window link to create a new rubric.
7. Select Display Options.
8. Click Save and Close.

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