Grading
| #Enter Grades | #Approving Grades | #Dashboard | #Grade History | #Changing Grades | #Makeup Grades | #Graphs |
Entering Grades by Students and Assignments
There are two ways to enter grades in the Gradebook: by students and by assignments.
- Entering grades by students: This procedure uses the Grade Summary/Student page, which lists all assignments grades for one student. In addition to entering a grade, you can also send an email or post a comment to the student.
- Entering grades by assignment: This procedure uses the Grade Summary/Assignment page, which lists all student for one assignment. This page is particularly useful for entering several grades for he same assignment. You can also approve grades on this page.
DIRECTIONS to ENTER a GRADE:
- Click Gradebook in the Navigation Bar.
- To grade either:
- (IMAGE OF STUDENT/Summ page) By Students: Click "Students" in the Gradebook Navigation Bar and choose the student whose assignments you want to grade
- (IMAGE OF ASSIGN/SUMM page) By Assignments: Click "Assignments" in the Gradebook Navigation Bar and choose the assignment you want to grade all students for
- Enter the grade (s) in the Points column.
- Click (Image-UPDATE) to save the grades.
Stellar highlights any grades that need to be updated; you can click the "update" button to update grades.Note
- If an 'X' is entered into a grade field, that grade is ignored and is not counted towards the final grade.
- Grades can be 'cleared' by removing the grade and hitting update.
- Null grades cannot be approved
- Null grades are treated as "not yet entered" in the dashboard and will cause any assignment that contains one to appear in the first column of the dashboard.
- Null grades will appear as "cleared' in the grade history.
- In order for students to view their approved grades the Student Display box must be checked in the Configure part of the Gradebook.
Approving Grades
Students will not see their grades if they have not been approved. Like entering a grade, approving a grade can be done by student or assignment (see above for more details). To Approve a grade click the APPROVE button (PIC) next to the grade. You can also approve more than one grade by clicking on the "APPROVE ALL" button (PIC). Once a grade is approved, it appears in the student's Grade Report.
Dashboard
The Dashboard is the home page for the Gradebook. The Dashboard displays the UNFINISHED, UNAPPROVED, and RELEASED SCORES so Instructors can easily review pending or completed assignments.
NEEDS GRADING - Details what assignments/exams need to have grades assigned, or have grades that are overdue. If there are unfinished or overdue scores, the assignment title and the date the grade is due is listed. Click the assignment/exam title to jump to the grading table where you can enter and approve grades.
NEEDS APPROVING - Shows a list of assignments/exams that have grades entered but not yet approved. Click the assignment/exam title to jump to the grading table where you can approve grades that are ready to be finalized.
ALL DONE - Shows a list of assignments/exams that have been graded and approved. Click the assignment/exam title to jump to the grading table where you can view all released grades.
Enter Grades by Importing Excel Spreadsheet
Another way you can change and approve grades is by importing a spreadsheet. This way of changing and approving grades will allow you to update Stellar grades as well as keep a copy of the grades on your own desktop.
DIRECTIONS to ENTER GRADES through SPREADSHEETS:
- Click on the Gradebook link in the navigation bar
- Click on the assignments link in the Gradebook navigation bar
- Click the (PCITURE) to export your grades into an excel spreadsheet.
- Make changes to the grades in the spreadsheet. To approve an individual's grade, go to the "Approved" column for that student and change the value from FALSE (unapproved) to TRUE (approved). Make sure you save the changes made to your spreadsheet.
- When you have completed approving grades, click (PICTURE).
Stellar will display an attachment section - Select your updated spreadsheet.
- Click (IMAGE)
Stellar displays changes made in the grades and asks if these updates are correct. - Click (IMAGE)
Any grades you have approved should automatically have the Grade Status of "Grade Approved"
Grade History
The History pop-up tells you: the grade given, the Date and Time it was entered, the Action done to the homework: Create (new but not approved), Change (modified but not approved), Makeup (entered or updated a makeup grade), or Approve (final and approved), the Grader's email, and the role of the Grader. The Grade History link will not appear till at least one grade has been updated to the appropriate field.
DIRECTIONS to VIEW a GRADE'S HISTORY:
- Display the Grade Summary/Assignment or Grade Summary/Student page.
o To display the Grade Summary/Assignment page, click the Assignments tab in the Gradebook, then click an assignment title.
o To display the Grade Summary/Student page, click the Students tab in the Gradebook, then click a student's name. - Click the (IMAGE)
The History pop-up opens. To close the History pop-up, click the [ x ] in the pop-up's title bar. <ac:structured-macro ac:name="anchor" ac:schema-version="1" ac:macro-id="62f75841-947d-4acf-ab98-a010a322bc45"><ac:parameter ac:name="">Changing Grades</ac:parameter></ac:structured-macro>
Changing Grades
Changing a grade in the Gradebook is the same procedure as entering a grade. If the grade was already approved, its approval status is removed and the grade must be approved again in order for it to be posted in the student's Grade Report. Stellar records any changes to a grade or makeup grade in its history.
Note: When an approved grade is changed, it is up to the instructor/TA to notify the student of the change.
Makeup Grades
Makeup grades allow can be inputted into the Gradebook through the Makeup Grade field. A Makeup grade will not automatically be put as the grade received for the assignment. You can choose to either keep the original grade, use the makeup grade, or input a different number by manually filling the main point field for that assignment.
DIRECTIONS to ENTER a MAKEUP GRADE:
- Display the Grade Summary/Assignment or Grade Summary/Student page.
o To display the Grade Summary/Assignment page, click the Assignments tab in the Gradebook, then click an assignment title.
o To display the Grade Summary/Student page, click the Students tab in the Gradebook, then click a student's name. - Click the Makeup grade button (PIC)
Stellar will display a section with the grade given, original grade, and makeup grade. If you have already put in a grade, the original grade field will be automatically populated. - Enter the Makeup grade in the Makeup grade field.
- (Optional)- Change the grade given by entering a new number in the top field.
- Click Update to save your changes
Entering or changing a makeup grade will be recorded in the history as "Makeup" not "Create" or "Change".
Graphs
The graph tool displays students' grades that have at the least an updated grade. The Y-axis displays the number of students; the X-axis displays the points received; the number of scores, average, and standard deviation is displayed below the graph.
Clicking on the graph icon (IMAGE) displays the recorded point values for an assignment as a bar chart. This link can be found by clicking "Assignments" in the Gradebook Navigation Bar and by clicking an assignment listed on that page, or on the dashboard.
(image of sample graph)
Graphs must be made viewable to students; the default is that students cannot view the graph. You can change this option by Configuring the Gradebook.