2019

Faculty - Weighting your grade center via points

Do you currently use the Weighted Total column in your grade center to weight your grade book? Do you find it cumbersome to set up or do you question the accuracy at times? Below, you will find another way to consider weighting your grade center that bypasses the need to set up the weighted total column. 

The Blackboard grade center is based off points. Even if you are weighting your grade center through the Weighted Total column, you must enter points for any grade center columns. Imagine your grade center is weighted by the following:

Within those Categories the assessments appear as follows:

Now, figure out how many  total points you want your classroom to reflect. Five hundred (500) points is a great place to start. Assuming the classroom is 500 points, begin to assign individual points to each of your assessments. 

Equal Weighting Example

Equal weighting means that each assessment in a category earns the same weight. In the table below, you will see that each category is assigned an equal weight among the category items. For example, there are four discussions and each of them are weighted at 7.5% for a total of 30% (which matches the very first table above). 

Proportional Weighting Example (Discussions and Exams)

Proportional weighting means that assessments within a category carry different weights. In the table below, notice that the discussions are not weighted equally and the exams are not either. Two of the discussions below are 5% while the other two are 10%, which still equals 30% (which matches the very first table above). For the exams, one is 5% and another 10% for a total of 15% (which matches the very first table above. 

To recap, notice that each category weight percentage (when added together per category) equals the total weighted percentage showcased in the first table.  From here, you would assign each grade center column (assessment) the individual points you calculated. Once all grade book columns are assigned points, your grade book is now weighted. You do not need to have a Weighted Total column in your grade center and can simply keep the Total column for students to track their progress.