5.7. Establishing a Grading Policy¶

5.7.1. Overview¶

Establishing a grading policy takes several steps. You must:

1. Set the Grade Range
2. Set the Grace Period
3. Configure the Assignment Types
4. Graded Subsections
5. The Student View of Grades

5.7.2. Set the Grade Range¶

You must set the grade range for the course. For example, your course can be pass/fail, or can have letter grades A through F.

To set the grade range, from the Settings menu, select Grading.

The control for the grade range is at the top of the Grading page.

The above example shows that you have a pass/fail grade range, with a score of 50 as the cutoff. This is the default setting used when you create a course.

You use the grade range control to change these settings:

• To add a grade in the range, click the + icon.

  A new grade is added to the range between the existing grades. For example, if you add a grade in the default setting, the grade range changes to F (0 to 50), B (50 to 75), and A (75 to 100):

  

• To change the score range, move the cursor over the line dividing two grades and then click and drag the line left or right.

  You can see the range numbers of the two grades adjacent to the line change. Release the mouse button when the line is where you want it.

• To change the name of the grade, double-click the current name of the grade to select it, and then start typing the name of the new grade. For example, if the original name of the grade is “Pass”, you can double-click “Pass” and then type “Excellent” to replace the name.

  You cannot change F or Fail.

• To remove a grade, move the cursor so that it is over the grade.

  A remove link appears above the grade. Click the link.

  You cannot remove F or A.

After you make any changes to the grade range, you must click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

5.7.3. Set the Grace Period¶

You can set a grace period that extends homework due dates for your students.

In the Grading page, under Grading Rules & Policies, enter a value in the Grace Period on Deadline field. Enter the value in Hours:Minutes format.

5.7.4. Configure the Assignment Types¶

You must create assignment types for your course and determine the weight of the student’s total grade for each assignment type.

For example, you may have:

• 10 homework assignments, worth a total of 50% of the grade;
• A midterm exam, worth a total of 20% of the grade;
• A final exam, worth 30% of the grade.

By default, a new course you create has four assignment types:

• Homework
• Lab
• Midterm Exam
• Final Exam

You can use these assignment types, modify or remove them, and create new assignment types.

To create a new assignment type, in the bottom of the Grading page, click New Assignment Type, then configure the fields described below.

5.7.5. Graded Subsections¶

After you configure assignment types, as you are organizing your course, you set the assignment type for subsections that contain problems that are to be graded.

Each subsection that contains problems to be graded can include only one assignment type.

See Developing Course Subsections for general instructions on configuring a subsection.

See Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection for instructions on designating a subsection as a graded assignment.

Within a graded subsection, you create problems of the type designated for that subsection. You cannot not mix problems of different assignment types in the same subsection.

For example, if you want to create a homework assignment and a lab for a specific topic, create two subsections. Set one subsection as the Homework assignment type and the other as the Lab assignment type. Both subsections can contain other content as well as the actual homework or lab problems.

See Working with Problem Components for instructions on creating problems.

5.7.6. The Student View of Grades¶

After a grading policy is in place, students can view both their problem scores and the percent completed and current grade in the Progress tab for the course.

Each item in the X axis of the chart is for a graded subsection. Graded problems in units are not broken out in the chart; the score from each problem in the subsection is added to that vertical bar.

Graded subsections are grouped in the chart by assignment type rather than listed in chronological order. For example, all homework exercises are grouped together, followed by labs, then exams.