Personal Display Options allow you to customize how your grade book looks to you. Brightspace offers the following options:

• User Details: These settings determine whether user details will display in the user list for your view

  • Username: Determine whether users' usernames are displayed 

  • Org Defined ID: Determine whether users' Org Defined ID (Colleague/Student ID) is displayed

• Grade Details: These settings determine whether certain grade details will display in the user list for your view

  • Points Grade: Determine whether the points display for Grade Items

  • Grade Scheme Symbol: Determine whether a symbol displays for Grade Items using a Grade Scheme

  • Grade Scheme Color: Determine whether color displays for Grade Items using a Grade Scheme

• Number of characters to display for text items: Determines how many characters of a grade item or category display on the user list. The limit may be overridden for Text grade items. The value must be an integer between 0 and 50. If the text is longer than the value specified, it will be truncated.

• Number of columns before user details repeat: Determines how often user details are repeated on the user list. The value entered represents the number of columns displayed before the user details are repeated. The value must be an integer between 0 and 99.

• Number of users before column header repeats: Determines how often the column header is repeated in the user list. The value must be an integer between 0 and 50. If 0 is entered the column header is not repeated.

• Repeat Final Grades: Determines whether the Calculated Final Grade column is displayed at the beginning of the user list.

• Default Grades Area: Determines the first page displayed when the Grades link is clicked on the Navbar.

Org Unit Display Options allow you to customize how your grade book looks to your learners. Brightspace offers the following options:

• Managing View Display Options: Set the Decimals Displayed for your view

  • Decimals Displayed: Controls how many decimals will be displayed to a user grading a course. The value must be an integer between 0 and 5.

• Student View Display Options: Set the following display settings for your learners

  • Grade Details:

    • Points Grade: Determines whether or not the Points grade value associated with a grade item is displayed in the learner view of grades

    • Grade Scheme Symbol: Determines whether or not the grade scheme symbol associated with a grade item is displayed in the learner view of grades. 

      • Note: The grade scheme symbol must be displayed if you want to display the grade scheme color.

    • Grade Scheme Color: Determines whether or not the Grade scheme color associated with a grade item is displayed in the learner view of grades. 

      • Note: The grade scheme color can only be displayed if the grade scheme symbol is also displayed.

  • Decimals Displayed: Controls how many decimals will be displayed to a user grading a course. The value must be an integer between 0 and 5.

  • Characters Displayed: Determines how many characters of a Text grade item users can see in their view of the Grades tool. The value must be an integer between 0 and 50. If the text item is longer than the characters displayed, the text will be truncated.

  • Final Grade Calculation: Determines whether users can see how their final grade was calculated in the student view of Grades.

Calculation Options allow you to determine how your grades are calculated in your course's grade book. You may choose from the following options:

• Grading System: Controls what grading calculation your grade book will use to determine a learner's final grade

  • Weighted: Grade categories are assigned a weight as a percentage of the final grade, and grade items are assigned a weight as a percentage of their parent category (or of the final grade if they have no parent category).

  • Points: Items are given a worth in points. Categories are then weighted by the sum of the points of their child items and the final grade becomes the total number of points of all the items.

  • Formula: Items are given a worth in points and then a custom-defined formula determines how they contribute to the calculated final grade.

• ✅ Final Grade Released: When enabled, the system automatically marks the final grade as released. The system does this at the time the final grade is saved for the user. If this option is not checked, you must manually release users' final grades.

• Grade Calculations: Determine how the final grade is calculated

  • Ungraded Items: Choose how Brightspace will calculate ungraded items

    • ✅ Drop Ungraded Items: This setting excludes ungraded items from the calculation of grades.

    • ❌ Treat Ungraded Items as 0 (zero): This setting assigns a value of 0 as the points received for all ungraded items.

      • Note: Treating ungraded items as 0 and having the Final Calculated Grade released will show all learners in the course as failing.

  • Automatic Zero for Missing Submissions: Automatically apply a grade of zero (0) to missing submissions once an assessment becomes overdue.

    • Note: Changes to this setting only take effect on assessments with future due dates

  • ✅ Auto Update: When any change is made that affects the final grade calculations (i.e. modifying a user's grade, changing the 'bonus' property of a grade item) the final calculated grade will recalculate automatically. If this option is not checked, the final calculated grade must be manually recalculated. Out-of-date final calculated grades are indicated with a calculator icon.

✅ = Recommend Enable | ❌ = Recommend Disable

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Click "New"

4. Select "Item"

5. Choose one of the grade type options:

   • Numeric: Grade users by assigning a value out of a specified total number of points. E.g. 8/10

   • Selectbox: Grade users by selecting the grade scheme level that best matches their achievement. E.g. "Very Good" or "B+"

   • Pass/Fail: Grade users using a simple pass/fail grade scheme. E.g. "Pass" or "Fail"

   • Formula: Automatically grade users using a custom formula based on achievement on other grade items. E.g. Give users who received at least 50% on all participation grade items a perfect attendance bonus. IF{ MIN{ [P1.Percent], [P2.Percent] } < 50, 0, 1

   • Calculated: Calculate users' cumulative achievement across multiple grade items. E.g. Midterm Grade A1+A2+Q1+Q2 / Total Max. Points * 100 = 73%

   • Text: Provide comments in the grade book that are not calculated in the final grade. E.g. "Course Evaluation Completed"

6. Enter a name for the Grade Item

   • (Optional) Enter a Short Name which can be seen in the grade book

   • (Optional) Enter a Description for the Grade Item

7. Select the options/settings that work best for your Grade Item:

   • Category: Assign the Grade Item to an existing Category.

   • Description: Add optional text to describe the purpose of the Grade Item.

   • Maximum Points: Set the maximum points the Grade Item is worth.

   • Can Exceed: Set if the Grade Item can exceed the maximum points.

   • Bonus: Set if the Grade Item is a bonus grade that does count toward, but not against, the Final Calculated Grade.

   • Exclude from Final Calculated Grade: Exclude the Grade Item from being calculated in the Final Calculated Grade.

   • Grade Scheme: Apply a selected Grade Scheme to the Grade Item.

   • Rubrics: Attach a Rubric to the Grade Item to assess learners.

   • Display Options: Adjust your view and the learner view for the Grade Item:

   • Student View:

     • Display class average to users: Select this option if you want to allow users to see the class average on the item.

     • Display grade distribution to users: Select this option if you want to allow users to see a graph showing how grades were distributed between different percentiles.

     • Override display options for this item: Select this option if you want graded users to view grade information for this item differently from other items in the grade book. Toggle the following options on or off for learners:

       • Points grade

       • Grade scheme symbol

       • Grade scheme color

   • Managing View:

     • Override display options for this item: Select this option if you want to view grade information for this item differently from other items in your grade book. Toggle the following options on or off for yourself:

       • Points grade

       • Grade scheme symbol

       • Grade scheme color

8. Select the restrictions that work best for your Grade Item in the Restrictions tab:

   • Hide from Users: Select or deselect to hide or make the Grade Item visible to learners.

   • Has Start Date: Set a date and time when the Grade Item will be visible to learners.

   • Has End Date: Set a date and time when the Grade Item will no longer be visible to learners.

   • Release Conditions: Set specific conditions that learners need to meet before they can view the Grade Item.

9. Click "Save and Close" when done

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Click "New"

4. Select "Category"

5. Enter a name for the Category

   • (Optional) Enter a short name for the Category which will be displayed in the grade book

   • (Optional) Enter a description for the Category 

6. Select the options/settings that work best for your Category:

   • Grading: Set grading options for the Category

   • Can Exceed: The Category points can exceed the overall sum of the maximum points of the Grade Items within the Category. This is useful if you have Bonus items that you want to be calculated in the Final Calculated Grade.

   • Exclude from Final Calculated Grade: Set if you would not like the scores from this Category to be counted in the Final Calculated Grade.

   • Distribution: Select this option if you want all items in the category to be worth the same amount.

   • Display Options: Adjust what learners see when they view Grade Items within the Category in the grade book.

   • Student View:

     • Display class average to users: Select this option if you want to allow users to see the class average on the item.

     • Display grade distribution to users: Select this option if you want to allow users to see a graph showing how grades were distributed between different percentiles.

     • Override display options for this item: Select this option if you want graded users to view grade information for this item differently from other items in the grade book. Toggle the following options on or off for learners:

       • Points grade

       • Grade scheme symbol

       • Grade scheme color

7. Select the restrictions that work best for your Category in the Restrictions tab:

   • Hide from Users: Select or deselect to hide or make the Grade Items within the Category visible to learners.

   • Has Start Date: Set a date and time when the Grade Items within the Category will be visible to learners.

   • Has End Date: Set a date and time when the Grade Items within the Category will no longer be visible to learners.

   • Release Conditions: Set specific conditions that learners need to meet before they can view the Grade Items within the Category.

8. Click "Save and Close" when done

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Click the checkbox next to each Grade Item you wish to add to a Category

4. Once all are selected, click "Bulk Edit" at the top of the list

5. Under the "Category" column, select the Category you wish to add a Grade Item to from the dropdown menu

6. Click "Save" when done

Note: You may also assign invidivual Grade Items to a Category by editing the Grade Item and using the "Category" dropdown menu under the "Grade Name" field.

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Find the Grade Item you wish to edit and click on its title

4. Adjust the Grade Item's settings as needed

5. Click "Save and Close" when done

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Click the checkbox next to each Grade Item you wish to edit

4. Once all are selected, click "Bulk Edit" at the top of the list

5. Adjust the Grade Items as needed

6. Click "Save" when done

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Find the Category you wish to edit and click on its title

4. Adjust the settings as needed

5. Click "Save and Close" when done

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select "Manage Grades"

3. Click the checkbox next to each Category you wish to edit

4. Once all are selected, click "Bulk Edit" at the top of the list

5. Adjust the Categories as needed

6. Click "Save" when done

Grade items that are not associated with any activity in your course can be deleted through Manage Grades. You will need to do the following:

1. In your course, go to Grades

2. Select the Manage Grades tab

3. Click More Actions at the top then Delete

4. Select the checkbox next to the Grade Item(s) that you wish to delete

5. Click Delete when done

From there, your selected Grade Item(s) will be deleted from your Grade Book.

If you wish to move a Grade Item to a different activity or delete the Grade Item, you must first remove that Grade Item's association with its current activity. You will need to do the following:

1. In your course, navigate to the activity that is currently associated with the Grade Item in question

   • Note: If you do not know what activity is associated, go to Manage Grades and edit the Grade Item in question. This will show you the exact activity that is currently associated.

2. Edit the activity

3. Click on the down arrow next to the "In Grade Book" text

4. Select either Edit or Link to Existing, Not In Grade Book, or Reset to Ungraded to remove the Grade Item Association

   • Edit or Link to Existing: This will allow you to associate the activity with a new Grade Item or edit the current Grade Item.

   • Not In Grade Book: This will remove the association but allow you to still have a point value on the assignment that can be added to a different Grade Item.

   • Reset to Ungraded: This will remove the association and point value.

5. Click Save and Close when done

From there, the Grade Item will no longer be associated with the activity. You can then associate the Grade Item with another activity, or delete the Grade Item from your Grade Book.

Determine the grading categories you will use for your class and the weighting you will assign. The total must be equal to 100%.  For example:

• Assignments 30%

• Tests         40%

• Quizzes         20%

• Final Exam       10%

You may also include individual non-categorized items; for example, if you have a Final Exam worth 10% of the total grade, that can be set as 10% on its own without being considered part of any category.

1. Log in to Brightspace and open the class where you want to set up weighted grades.

2. From the course navigation bar, click Grades.

3. Click Settings near the top-right.

4. The Personal Display Options screen will open.  Click the Calculation Options tab.

5. Click the Weighted option and click Save.

6. Click Yes on the pop-up boxes to confirm the changes.  Your gradebook is now set to use weighted grades.

7. Click the Close button at the bottom of the screen to return to the gradebook.

1. In the Gradebook, click the Manage Grades tab.  Click New and select Category from the drop-down.

2. On the New Category screen, enter a name for the category.

3. Scroll down to the Grading section:

4. Enter the weight for the overall category in the Weight text box. You may optionally choose to allow the weight to exceed the total for the column if you use any bonus within the category.

5. In the Distribution area, select how you want individual grade columns assigned to the category weighted within the category itself:

   • Manually assign weight to items in the category:  Allows the choice to assign a percentage to individual grade columns assigned to the category.  The total percentages to the individual grade columns must equal 100%.

   • Distribute weights by points across all items in the category:  If individual items within a category have different point values, those with higher point values will be given more value than those with lower values.

   • Distribute weight evenly across all items:  Regardless of the number of items assigned to the category, each item will have the same weight.  If you have two items within the category, regardless of points they’ll be worth 50% each of the value of the category.  If you have 10 items, they’ll be worth 10% each of the value of the category.  This option also gives you the option to drop a specified number of highest and lowest scores for each user.

6. Click Save and Close to finish your work on the category or click Save and New to create a new grading category with weights.

PLEASE NOTE:  You may choose different distributions for your categories.  For example, you can manually assign weights to items in one category and distribute weight evenly across all items in another category.

1. In the Gradebook, click the Manage Grades tab.

2. Click New and select Item.

3. Choose the type of column you want by clicking on the type.  In this example, the Numeric option is being used.

4. Type in the name for your item. 

5. If your item will be part of a category:

   • In the Category drop-down, select the category for the item.

   • Type in a description for the column (optional).

   • In the Maximum Points area, enter the total possible points for the item.

   • If you are individually weighting each item within the category with the Manually assign weight to items in the category option, enter the percentage weight for the column.  Otherwise, this textbox will be disabled.

   • If you will allow this column to exceed the maximum points, check the Can Exceed option.  If this is for Bonus Points only, check the Bonus option.

   • You may then change the scheme or add a rubric.

   • Click Save and Close if you are done or Save and New to create and move on to a new item.

6. If your item will stand alone and be weighted separately:

   • Leave the Category drop-down set to None.

   • Enter a description for the column (optional).

   • In the Maximum Points area, enter the total possible points for the item.

   • In the Weight text box, enter the percentage that this column will be worth for the overall course grade.

   • If you will allow this column to exceed the maximum points, check the Can Exceed option.  If this is for Bonus Points only, check the Bonus option.

   • If this is a standalone weighted column, it is not recommended to check the Bonus option.

   • You may then change the scheme or add a rubric.

7. Click Save and Close if you are done or click Save and New to create your item and move on to a new item.

1. In Grades, click the Manage Grades tab.

2. Review your weighting scheme. 

If there are any issues, Brightspace will include a notification at the top of the screen. If you plan on adding items through the term, you may ignore the notification, but you will need to fix any issues by the end of the term to generate an accurate final grade.

When you are in the Grade Scheme section, you will notice that all schemes are broken into two categories: 

• Organization Schemes: Grade Schemes that are shared and available to all courses in Brightspace. These can only be created by the DIID team and it is recommended that they are only created for specific programs.

• Course Schemes: Grade Schemes that are made by individual instructors, and are only available in the course(s) where the scheme was created or copied to. It is recommended that instructors create their own Grade Schemes if the Organization Schemes do not fit their course.

By default, all courses are set to use the Percentages Grade Scheme, however, instructors may apply any scheme that best fits their course. Please see the instructions below to learn how to apply a Grade Scheme to a course or individual Grade Items.

1. In Grades, click the Manage Grades tab.

2. Select the Grade Item you wish to apply the Grade Scheme to

3. Scroll down to Grade Scheme and select the dropdown menu

4. Select the Grade Scheme you wish to apply to the Grade Item

5. Click Save and Close when done

From there, the selected Grade Scheme will be applied to the Grade Item and will now display in the grade book. This will change the item to match the scheme by applying the grade symbol, color, etc.

1. In Grades, click the Manage Grades tab.

2. Select the checkbox at the top of the grade list to select all Grade Items

3. Click on Bulk Edit at the top of the list

4. Under the Grade Scheme column, select the Grade Scheme you wish to apply to each Grade Item

5. Click Save when done

From there, the selected Grade Scheme will be applied to all Grade Items and will now display in the grade book. This will change the items to match the scheme by applying the grade symbol, color, etc.

1. Log in and access your course. Click on the ‘Grades’ tool.

2. On the “Enter Grades” screen, look for the Final Calculated Grade Column. If there is a grey eyeball next to it, your students CAN see this grade in their grade book. That’s great and you do not have to continue to step 3, you are all set!

3. However, if you are not seeing the eye icon, and instead see the eye crossed out, that means students cannot currently see their grade in the Brightspace grade book. Let's continue on to step 4 to fix this.

4. Click on the dropdown arrow next to the ‘Final Calculated Grade’ item and choose ‘Enter Grades’

5. Click the ‘Select All’ checkbox at the top and then click the ‘Release/Unrelease’ button. Then, click ‘Save & Close’.

Click here to see released and unreleased Grade Icons

Any Grade Items that are associated with a deleted External Learning Tool (ELT) will need to do the following:

1. In your course, go to Course Admin

2. Select External Learning Tools

3. Click on the down arrow next to the activity that is still associated with the Grade Item

4. Select Delete

From there, the Grade Item should have the association removed and you can delete or associate the Grade Item with another activity. 

Note: This method simply removes the ELT from your course and does not delete the ELT from the source.

1. In your Grade Book, select Manage Grade

2. Click on the Grade Item you wish to remove the Grade Scheme from

3. Scroll down to the Grade Scheme section and click on the dropdown menu

4. Select Percentage or Default Scheme (Percentage)

5. Click Save and Close when done

From there, the Grade Scheme should no longer apply to the Grade Item.

Bonus Grades are extra credit Grade Items that can help a student earn extra points towards their Category Grade Total or their Final Calculated Grade. Please note that Bonus Grade Items will only add the allotted points up to the total for the Grade Category or the Final Calculated Grade by default. This means that if a student gets 100% in a Grade Category, the Bonus Grade Item will not contribute any points to the Category. However, if you set the Grade Category to Can Exceed, then the value of the Bonus Grade Item will be calculated. This is also true for a course's Final Calculated Grade, but note that enabling Can Exceed can allow a student to earn higher than 100% in your course.

1. In your course, go to Grades then Manage Grades

2. Edit the Grade Item in question

3. Select the checkbox next to Can Exceed

4. Click Save and Close when done

5. Go back to Enter Grades

6. Find the Grade Item in your grade book and select the down arrow next to it

7. Select Enter Grades

8. Add the extra points to the students that earned them

9. Click Save and Close when done

From there, you should see the extra points on the student's Grade Item.

Note that if the Grade Item is in a Grade Category, the extra points will go toward the category's total. In most cases this should be fine, however, if a student gets a 100% in the Grade Category then the points will not be added to the student's Final Calculated Grade. If you wish to include these points beyond the total of the Grade Category, you will need to enable the Can Exceed option in the Grade Category.