Using the Gradebook Features in Digication

Heather Cook

January 13, 2021 00:33

Digication’s Gradebook feature allows Faculty to create gradable Assignments within their course. This article will walk you through the process of creating gradable assignments and using the gradebook features. It is divided into the following sections:

Activating Gradebook for you Course
Creating a Gradable Assignment
Accessing and Using the Gradebook within a Course
Modifying Your Grade Settings
Creating a Gradable Discussion
Viewing and Grading Student Replies

Activating Gradebook for your Course

Select the Settings tab in your course (1) and then choose General Info from the side menu (2).

Select the Gradebook option (3) under What tools do I need? and then click Save (4) to activate Gradebook in your course.

Creating a Gradable Assignment

After following the steps to Create an Assignment in your course, select Edit (1) within the assignment settings.

Scroll down and select the checkbox for This is a gradable assignment, add to gradebook (2). This will open options which will allow you to give your students the ability view their grade for the assignment by visiting the Gradebook tab in the course, and to set the maximum points and relative weight of your assignment (3).

Viewing Grades for Students

When the option is selected to allow students to view their own grades for an assignment, they will access grades by selecting the Gradebook tab in the course (1).

Accessing and Using the Gradebook within a Course

Viewing and Updating Grades in your Course

Select the Gradebook tab within your course.

You will arrive at a table showing all grades that have been issued in your course. To expand the table, select the arrow button at the top right (2).

You will see all grades that have been entered for each student in your course on a per assignment basis. Each grade can be edited by clicking within the cell (3). New grades can also be entered directly into the gradebook in this way.

When entering or updating a grade directly in the gradebook, you can also leave a note for record keeping purposes by clicking the blue speech bubble button (4).

Updating How Grades are Averaged/Calculated

Select the gear wheel at the top of the Average column (1). This will expand options allowing you to choose how grades are calculated. Using the options under Calculate grade (2), you can select whether the gradebook displays the grade average for each student on a 100% Scale (default), or by letter grade based on your grade settings (see “Modifying Your Grade Settings” section below). The options under Calculate average from (3), allow you to determine whether ungraded assignments are calculated in the overall average for each student.

Updating Weight and Points Available for Assignment

At the top of each assignment column (1), you will find additional grading information for the assignment, including the average of all grades entered for that assignment. To change the maximum number of points available for the assignment, select the gear wheel button.

In the pop-up window, you will find a checkbox labeled Make viewable? (2). Selecting this checkbox will allow students to view their grade for the assignment by visiting the Gradebook tab in the course. You can also set the maximum number of points available for the assignment (3), and the relative weight for the assignment (4).

Modifying Your Grade Settings

The grade settings in your system may not reflect those used at your school. These settings determine the conversion from number to letter grades in the gradebook. To edit them, click the Grade Settings link (1) from the menu on the left. You will only see the Grade Settings link if Grades are enabled in your course.

And then select the Grade Settings link (2) from the menu on the left. You will only see the Grade Settings link if Grades are enabled in your course.

On the Grade Settings page, you will find a table which defines the number grades corresponding to each letter grade. To make changes, click the Edit button (2).

Each course can have its own grade settings. Faculty can define the mapping criteria between letter grades and percentage. The numbers in the boxes below signify the minimum percentage needed to achieve the respective grade. If you see grades such as "A+" that you do not wish to use in your course, simply leave the grade box blank. Be sure to hit Save (3) when you are done.

Creating a Gradable Discussion

If you happen to be using Digication for Course Discussions, the Gradebook can be used to grade discussion responses. Once a student responds to a Discussion topic, the faculty member can easily view their discussion response and then assign a letter or numerical grade, which is automatically recorded in the course gradebook

Creating a gradable discussion can either be done when the discussion is first created by clicking the Choose Categories button:

Or by accessing the settings for an existing discussion:

In either case, you will scroll down to “Who can reply to this,” and Check off Yes, this is gradable, add to gradebook (1). Once you've selected to make the assignment be gradable, you'll then need to specify whether students should be able to view their own grades (2), and what the maximum points and relative weight for the assignment are (3). Then, Save (4) the discussion.

Viewing and Grading Student Replies

Viewing student posts and grading them is super easy in Digication. Simply go to your course and go through the following steps:

Navigate to the graded discussion and click on the student reply you'd like to view

After reading the student's reply, simply enter a grade in the small box underneath the time stamp before clicking on the 'Save' button

And that's it! Once the "Save" button is clicked, the assignment will appear in the gradebook. Grades also can be changed by returning to the student reply and entering a new grade before saving again.