Setting Up Grades in Brightspace

The Setup Wizard is the starting point for creating your gradebook in Brightspace. The first time you access Grades in a course or sandbox, you’ll be guided through a seven-step wizard to configure key settings. You can revisit the Setup Wizard at any time by clicking the Setup Wizard tab within the Grades tool.

1. 1. Log into Brightspace and access your course.
   •  [a] Click on Class Progress to access the drop-down menu and select Grades.
   • [b] Once on the menu, click on the Setup Wizard Tab
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3. 2. Scroll down to select Start. You will automatically be taken to step one of the seven-step Setup Wizard.
4. 3. Choose one of the following grading systems to determine how your students will be evaluated, and then click Continue:
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   • Weighted system: grades are calculated as a percentage of the final grade; grade items can be organized into categories.
   • Points: Each grade item has a maximum point value; final grades are calculated by adding all grade items together and dividing by the total points. 
6. • Formula system: allows you to create a custom formula for your gradebook. (not recommended)
7. 4. Choose one of the following options to determine how final grades will be released to students, and then click Continue:
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   • Calculated Final Grade: Final grades are calculated automatically; You cannot adjust the final grades without adjusting the gradebook itself; this setting can be changed later as well. (recommended) 
   • Adjusted final grade: Grades can be adjusted as needed.
   • Automatically release final grade (recommended to check)
9. 5. Choose how to treat ungraded items by selecting one of the following options and then click Continue:
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    • Drop ungraded items – Items that do not have a grade inputted are not counted in the final grade.
    • Treat ungraded items as 0 – Items that do not have a grade inputted are counted as 0 in the final grade.
    • Ensure the Auto Update box is selected to keep final grades updated in the grade book.
11. 6. Keep/Select the default grade scheme as UTRGV Scheme. And click Continue.
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13. 7. Enter the number of decimal places that will be displayed in the grade book. The number must be between 0-5. Click Continue.
14. 8. Customize the following Student View Display Options: 
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    • Points Grade – Grades will be displayed to students as a point value  Ex. 75/100
    • Weighted Grade – Grades will be displayed to students as a percentage Ex. 75%
    • Grade Scheme Symbol – Grades will be displayed to students as a symbol (letter grade) Ex. B+ NOTE: Only select this option if you have set up a grade scheme
    • Grade Scheme Colour – If a grade scheme has been set up, the student’s grade will have a shaded background colour that corresponds to the grade scheme symbol. Ex. a green background for an A grade.
    • Decimals displayed – Enter the number of decimals used for student grade calculations. The default is 2. The number must be between 0-5.
    • Characters Displayed – This setting determines how many characters of a Text grade item display on the user list. The default is 50 characters.
    • Final Grade Calculation – Select this box if you want students to view their final grade calculation. (recommended to check)

16. 9. Review your Grades Setup Summary .

    • Select Finish.

17. TIP: Select Go Back to return to previous steps and adjust any of your grade settings.

18. 10. You have now set up your gradebook and can begin adding categories.

Grade categories help you organize your gradebook by grouping similar items like assignments, quizzes, or discussions.

1. 1. Select the Manage Grades tab on the Grades homepage.
2. 2. Select the New button.
   • In the drop-down menu, select Category.
3. 3. On the New Category page, configure your category settings under the following headings:
   • General
     1. Enter a name for your category.
     2. If your Category name is complex, you can choose to add a Short Name, which will appear in the grade spreadsheet.  
     3. To add a description (optional) for the category, select Show Description to enter a description in the HTML editor.
   • Grading (NOTE: The settings under the grade heading will differ depending on whether you have set up your gradebook using a weighted or points grade calculation system.)
     1. If your gradebook is set up using a weighted system:
        1. Enter a weight for the category. Brightspace defaults to a weight of 10. Check the option of allow the category grade to exceed the category weight if needed.
        2. Select one of the following Distribution options:
           1. Manually assign weight to items in the category – Choose this option if the grade items in your category will have different weights.
           2. Distribute weight by points across all items in the category – Choose this option to distribute the weight according to the number of points given for each item in the category.
           3. Distribute weight evenly across all items –  Choose this option to make all grade items in your category evenly weighted. You can enable Brightspace to automatically drop the highest or lowest grade items in the category by entering the number of non-bonus items to drop for each user (optional).
     2. If your gradebook is set up using a points system:
        1. Select Distribute points across all items.
        2. Enter the number of points per item. 
4. 4. Adjust any display options as desired.
5. 5. Select Save and Close. 
6. 6. Your grade category will now appear in blue under the “Manage Grades” tab of your gradebook (see example of an “Assignments” grade category below).

You can set up grade items in Brightspace either directly in the gradebook or by linking them through tools like assignments, quizzes, or discussions—choose the method that best fits your course setup.

1. 1. Say you created an assignment and want to create a grade item through the assignment itself.
2. 2. On the assignment itself, click on Ungraded just below Grade Out Of.
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4. 3. Type your desired points and then select In Grade Book to access the drop-down menu, then click Edit or Link to Existing.
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6. 4. Here, you are able to choose between:
   1. Create and link to a new grade item
      1. Choose Grade Category (from Gradebook)
      2. Change Grade Type & Scheme
         • 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+”
   2. Link to an existing grade item
      • usually grade items associated with another assignment/discussion/quiz/etc.
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8. 5. Select OK when you are done.
9. 6. Select Save and Close when you are finished editing your settings. You have now created a grade item that is linked to this assignment.
   • The same process can be applied to quizzes and discussions.
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11. To create a grade item in the gradebook
12. 1. Go back to Grades and select Manage Grades.
    • Click on New to access the drop-down menu and click Item.
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14. 2. Choose a grade item type from the list of options. Numeric is the most common grade item type.
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16. 3. Enter the name of the item into the Name field.
    • Include a Short Name (abbreviated item name) for the gradebook, if needed.
17. 4. If you have set up categories in your gradebook, select a grade category from the drop-down menu.
18. 5. Enter the maximum points (your grading range) for the grade item.
19. 6. Enter the weight (%) that you want the grade item to contribute to the category or final grade
20. 7. The default grading scheme (how student’s will view their grades) is UTRGV Scheme. To adjust how grades will be displayed, select the Grade Scheme drop-down menu and select one of the options (e.g. Pass/Fail, Letter Grades)
21. 8. Select Save.
22. 9. Verify the grade item is linked in the Association column of your grades table. You should see the name of the associated tool and a question mark. Select the question mark icon  to view confirmation of the associated activity name.