Providing Extra Credit Opportunities – Setting up the Grade Center

It is a common practice that instructors assign extra credit work to help students do better in their classes. Thus, a student who has perfect scores in all regular work and also does the extra credit assignments will have an overall score over 100%. Blackboard allows extra credits to be given in three different ways:  

• Extra credit for the total column
• Extra credit when weighting grades – added to a category
• Extra credit for a weighted total column

Extra Credit for the Total Column 

An extra credit column can be created in the Grade Center with a maximum point of 0 and be included in the total point calculations. Then it can be used to add extra credit points. 

1. From the Grade Center, click on the Create Column button 
2. Provide a name for the column 
3. Provide a description (optional) 
4. Select Score for Primary Display 
5. Set Points Possible to 0 
6. Set Include this column in Grade Center calculations to Yes 
7. Set Show this column to students to Yes 
8. Click the Submit button

The extra credit column appears in the Grade Center. After you add points in an extra credit column, a student’s total points can equal more than 100 percent. If a student receives full credit for all gradable items (100 points) and also receives 6 extra credit points, the result is 106 out of 100 or 106%.

Extra Credit Points to a Category when Weighting Grades 

The weighted total column generates a grade based on grades distribution in percentages (Attendance 5%, Participation 5%, Quizzes 40%, Project 20%, Final Exam 30%). It can include other columns and categories. Let’s say 5 extra credit points will be given to the project category. 

1. In the Grade Center, click the Create Column button
2. From the Create Grade Column page, provide a name for the extra credit column and a description (optional) 
3. Set Primary Display to Score 
4. Set Points Possible to 0 
5. Set Include this column in the Grade Center calculations to Yes 
6. Set Show this column to students to Yes
7. Click the Submit button

After the column is created, you can add the total points scored by the student’s work for the extra credit. 

Another Total calculated column must be created to hold the calculations of the project columns and the extra credit one. 

1. In the Grade Center, hover over the Create Calculated Column and click on the Total Column option 
2. From the Create Total Column page, provide a Name for the column (project extra credit), Description (optional). 
3. Set Percentage for the Primary Display 
4. From the Include in Total, select Selected Columns and Categories and include all columns related to the project or a project category and the extra credit column. 
5. Set Calculate as Running Total to Yes 
6. Set Include this column in Grade Center calculations to Yes 
7. Set Show this column to students to Yes 
8. Click the Submit button 

In the weighted total column, make sure the column included is the one that you created to calculate the total of the project columns and the extra credit (project extra credit) and the percentage represents the one given to projects (20%). 

Extra credit to the overall grade 

1. In the Grade Center, create an extra credit column as described in the extra credit for the Total Column 
2. Add the extra credit points earned by students 
3. Create a Total Column from the Grade Center as described in the Extra credit points to a category. 

Make sure the only two columns included are the Total weighted column and the extra credit column.