When a module has more than one assignment, we often create weighted totals. For example, one assignment might count towards 70% of the final mark. The other assignment might count towards the remaining 30%. Blackboard can calculate this for you, saving you time and effort. Please note that Blackboard cannot round up or down figures.
We set weighted totals in the Grade Centre. There is already a column in the Grade Centre set aside for this, but we need to tell the system how to calculate the values.
Step One- Set Up Your Assignment
Before we can do anything, we need to set up the assignments. In most modules, there’s a space called Assessment and this is a great place to set up the assignments. This guide will take you through the process: https://eatsupport.tees.ac.uk/staff/knowledgebase/creating-an-assignment/
It is strongly recommended that you give each assignment you create a total of 100.
Step Two – Set Your Weightings
In the Control Panel, click once on Grade Centre and then once on Full Grade Centre. You will see all your students listed. You will also see all your assignments that you have set up. In most modules, there is already a column called Weighted Total. By default, this is hidden from the students, discussed in Step Four below.
To set up your weighted total, click the small grey circle to the immediate right of the Weighted Total name. A small menu will appear. Select Edit Column Information. Scroll down the page, making any adjustments to suit your needs. The most relevant part for this article is under Select Columns. This is where you can set your weightings.
You should see the assignments you created listed in the box titled Include in Weighted Grade. Click the ones you’d like to use, and then click the small arrow pointing right. This will move those assignments into the Selected Columns box.
With the assignments in the Selected Columns box, you can now enter the relevant scores. Please note Blackboard requires the weightings to add up to 100. This is shown in the Total Weight box.
Step Three – Running Total or Not
Once you’ve entered your scores, you can now decide if the Weighted Total is a Running Total.
If you set this to YES, the Weighted Total will only use assignments that have been graded.
If you set this to NO, the Weighted Total will use ALL assignments. It will use a value of zero for any assignment that has not been marked.
You can always edit the settings if the calculated score is not what you were expecting.
Step Four – Make It Visible
As a default, the column is not visible to the students. If you are still setting up the weighted totals, you can see there’s an option to Show This Column To Students. Check the radial button for Yes and click Submit. You might want to check the numbers before making it available to students. You can always adjust the settings of the column at a later date.
Grade Centre Reminder
Students don’t see the Grade Centre. They will access their results either in an area called My Grades or Results and Feedback (or from the Home tab). You can quickly check which columns are hidden from students in the Full Grade Centre. Any column that has a small grey circle with a red line through it is hidden from students. This includes the Weighted Total column.
If you want to make any area available to students, click the small grey circle to the immediate right of the column name. From the menu that appears, select Hide from Students (on/off). If you click this, the red line will disappear. Should you want to hide it from students, clicking it again will put the red line back.