Canvas: Divide Gradebook for Multiple Graders

If you have multiple graders in your course and you need to assign each grader a set of students; then, you can use groups to do this.

Randomly assign the students to groups and assign each grader a group(s).

If you have other group work in the course then you should know that you cannot hide groups from students. If you have the groups for the gradebook obviously named then I would have to express a concern for students sucking up to their grader for better grades. To work around this, divide the students into their working groups and assign graders based on those groups. This way students won’t know the gradebook is being divided or who is grading their work.

Canvas: Merging Quiz Grades

An instructor emailed me with a question about merging quiz grades in Canvas. Unfortunately, Canvas cannot combine grades in the gradebook, but there is something you can do to work around this.

Here are the problems that need to be solved:

  • 3 Midterms in one semester and the lowest midterm grade gets dropped
  • Midterm #3 was split into 2 parts and now the instructor wants them combined.

I’ll admit, I don’t know Canvas as well Sakai or Moodle, so I asked a colleague. Turns out, it’s basically the same solution I would use for any other LMS.

  1. Manually add the scores for part 2 with part 1, so the total score is combined in one column.
  2. Move part 2 to a different assignment group weighted 0% or adjust the settings for it to “Do not count towards final grade.”
  3. Once you have your 3 midterms ready, move them into one assignment group and apply the rule, “Drop lowest score” to that group.

Moodle 2.8: Gradebook

All the grades for students can be found in the gradebook. This is where various assessments are collected. They can be sorted with categories and the gradebook will calculate totals using chosen settings.

Access the Gradebook

  1. Log in with your NetID and password at moodle.rutgers.edu
  2. Find the course you want to access.
  3. Once in the course, go to the administration block.
  4. Click on Gradebook Setup. This will take you to the Gradebook Setup view.

 

Gradebook Setup View

The Gradebook Setup view is the place to go to add categories and items, or edit your gradebook.

Add a Category

  1. In the Gradebook Setup view, scroll down to the bottom of the page.
  1. Click on the “Add Category” button.

Grade Category

  1. Input the Category name.
  1. Aggregation: Determines how grades in the category are combined for the final grade. Choose an option from the drop-down menu. 
  1. You can exclude empty grades by checking the box, otherwise, the empty grades will count as zeros. 
  1. Drop the Lowest: Input the number of grades you would like to drop. For example, drop the lowest 3 grades. 

Category Total

  1. Grade Type: Choose the grade options. 
  1. Maximum Grade: Input the top grade. 
  1. Grade Display Type: Determines how the grades are displayed in the gradebook. 
  1. Overall decimal points: The number places after the decimal in a points type grade. For example, 65.7 or 48.667.
  1. You can also hide the grade from student view until a certain date (Hidden Until) or after a certain date (Lock After). Just check the box and input the date using the data boxes or the calendar icons. 

Parent Category

  1. If you want the category to be associated with another category you can choose that parent category in the drop-down menu. For example, if you have a category called, Participation, and you wanted that grade to include discussion forums, then you would create a discussion forums category and choose Participation as the parent category. 
  1. Weight: You can have the category’s weight adjusted based on how much of the parent category’s weight it is going to take up. If you set the parent category weight to 25% and check the Weight Adjusted box, then the new category’s weight will automatically be adjusted to only take up 25% of the Parent Category.

Add a Gradebook Item

  1. In the Gradebook Setup view, scroll down to the bottom of the page.
  1. Click on the “Add Grade Item” button.

Grade Item

  1. Input the item name.
  1. Item Info: Information about the item that will not be displayed to students. 
  1. Grade Type: Choose the options the grade. 
  1. Maximum Grade: Input the top grade. 
  1. Minimum Grade: Input the lowest grade a student can earn. The default is zero.
  1. Grade to pass: Input the grade a student needs to earn to pass.
  1. Grade Display Type: Determines how the grades are displayed in the gradebook. 
  1. Overall decimal points: The number places after the decimal in a points type grade. For example, 65.7 or 48.667.
  1. You can also hide the grade from student view until a certain date (Hidden Until) or after a certain date (Lock After). Just check the box and input the date using the data boxes or the calendar icons. 

Parent Category

  1. If you want the item to be associated with a category, you can choose that parent category in the drop-down menu. For example, if you have a category called, Quizzes, and you create a gradebook item for a paper quiz, then you would add it to the Quizzes category. 
  1. Item Weight: When you add an item to a category, you can determine the item’s weight compared to other items in that category. Though, you have to choose the category before setting the weight. 

Edit Your Gradebook

In the gradebook Setup View, you can:

  • Adjust gradebook item weights
  • Move items via selection or drag-and-drop
  • Edit item settings

Adjust Weights

  1.  Find the item or category you would like to edit. 
  2. Under the weights column, you will see the text box next to the category or item name. Input the weight.
  3. Click on the “Save Changes” button. 

Move a Category or Item

  1.  Find the item or category you would like to move. 
  1. There is a two-directional arrow icon next to the category or item name.
  1. Click on the icon and drag the item or category up or down the list.
  1. OR move the item to a category by checking box under the select column next to the item you want to move.
  1. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the “Move selected items to” drop-down menu.
  1. Choose the category and the item should move to that category. 
  1. Click on the “Save Changes” button. 

Edit Item Settings

  1.  Find the item you would like to edit. 
  1. Click on the Edit link. This will take you to the item’s settings page.
  1. Make your edits.
  1. Click on the “Save Changes” button.

The Different Views

The gradebook can be viewed in different ways. Click on the drop-down menu at the top of the page to see the menu. Under the View category you will see the following:

  1. Grader Report – See all students and gradebook items in one spreadsheet.
  2. Grade History – See modifications to any grades and search by the user. If an assignment has multiple attempts each grade can be seen here.
  3. Outcomes Report – See the course average.
  4. Overview Report – All your grades in every course you are enrolled. This is good for student use.
  5. Single View – Grades for a specific gradebook item.
  6. User Report – grades for a specific user.