In this Brightspace Minute, we focus on displaying overall course grades to students.
As we head toward the end of the semester, students may be eager to see their cumulative course grades. First, consider the two common grading systems—points-based or weighted—that you can choose from at the beginning of the semester.
In short, with a weighted system, a student can see their final grade updated throughout the semester. You can assign weights to categories of columns (e.g. "Weekly quizzes") or to single columns (e.g "Mid-term Exam"). The Final Calculated Grade column is updated, using the weights you've indicated, after every item is graded.
In many respects, a weighted grade system gives students a more transparent look at how they're doing, so we recommend considering it for future courses. And we're happy to walk you through the steps!
This method simply adds up points as a student's work is graded. Of course, this results in a low grade total at the beginning of the semester which can be confusing to students, especially if other courses they take use the weighted grade system.
So, if you're using the points system, we recommend that you communicate with your students (especially first-years) about how they can calculate their own overall grades: points earned out of points possible for what they've been graded on, so far. For instance, "If you've completed 3 quizzes, each worth 10pts, and your grades on theses quizzes are '10', '8' and '7,' you've earned 25 out of 30, which is ~83% (a B-), so far."
For either system you choose, to display the Final Calculated Grade column to students, follow the steps explained in the UVM Knowledge Base page, "Display Cumulative Course Grades to Students."
Center for Teaching & Learning
www.uvm.edu/ctl
ctl@uvm.edu