KEY LMS FUNCTIONALITIES

Master Comprehensive Grade Management Using the Grades Tool

Grades

Purpose

The Grades tool in Brightspace allows you to manage and track student grades within a specific course. It offers a range of functionalities that go beyond mere grade tracking, allowing for a comprehensive assessment management system. Unlike the Quick Eval tool, which aggregates pending assessments in an individual course and across courses, the Grade tool is focused on managing grades for individual courses, offering a detailed view of student performance in a specific class. Key features include:

versatile grade management – you can efficiently assign and track grades and also have the flexibility to edit scores, exempt certain students from specific assignments, change grading schemas, and adjust grading as needed.
final grade calculation – the Grade Book simplifies the process of calculating final grades by aggregating scores from various assignments and tests. You can set up different grading scales and criteria, customizing how each assessment contributes to the final grade.

Example

Consider a scenario where you are concluding a semester in a Modern European History course.

Throughout the semester, students completed a series of essays, participated in weekly forums, and took two major exams. Each of these components has a different weight in the final grade calculation.
In the Grade Book, you set up the grading scheme so that essays contribute 40%, forum participation 20%, and exams 40% to the final grade. As you enter the grades for each component, Brightspace automatically calculates the weighted average for each student.
Before finalizing grades, you notice that a top student missed an essay due to illness. You decide to exempt this student from that essay, adjusting their grade calculation accordingly.
Once all grades are entered and adjustments are made, you review the automatically calculated final grades, ensuring they accurately reflect each student’s performance throughout the course.