[Gradebook] Add, Create, or Modify a Calculated or Total Column in the Gradebook

[thomas-rietz]

This was up, but archived.  See Add, Create, or Modify a Calculated or the Total Column in the Gradebook.

Being able to calculate things in the grade book beyond adding things up or weighting and adding seems like an absolutely necessary feature.  It seems like one of those that comes up repeatedly under various guises, but keeps getting archived.  But, I keep reading that there are lots of people who do more than just add things up to calculated grades.

[thomas-rietz]

It's a start and you can calculate a "true" grade column in excel and post it.  But, if the students are working through things self-paced, the calculated column you post is virtually never current. 

[GideonWilliams]

I've had a watch of the gradebook presentation on YouTube - Gradebook Futures: Kill All the Clicks! - YouTube and did not see anything that resembles this request or any thoughts about future implementation :O(

I am hoping that this idea might be noticed by the team - of course if we reach 100 then there is an even better chance..

[gschultz]

 @thomas-rietz ​

I am trying to better understand the submission idea.  Are looking for the ability to have subtotals for assignment groups and the ability to have a best of graded assignments (such 6 out of 10, or 10 out of 12) where only the top grades count?

[thomas-rietz]

Sure. And other things. For instance, I weight grades on group projects by peer evaluations...so a column that multiplies two numbers would be great. Sometimes, when an exam is particularly difficult, the score might be a percentage of the high score in the class, not the total possible on the exam. So, dividing by a number that is not predetermined (e.g., a max) would be nice. In short, people do more that simply assign fixed weights and sum to determine grades. While complicated grading schemes can present problems for students, simple things like these make perfect sense to them.

Tom

[Jeff_F]

To balance this out I virtually voted down 99 times. 

My opinion is that this 'feature' will do more harm than good.

[ejp10]

I understand this is complex, but a lot of faculty do need it. 

[GideonWilliams]

Add the functionality and make it optional. It frustrates me hugely when there is a perception/judgement about whether new features will/will not work. As a former Moodle user at a K12 school this was a MASSIVELY IMPORTANT feature and one that enabled us to improve our reporting system and reduce workload on staff. 

[lroe]

This would be a valuable feature when we need to calculate a midterm grade in the grade center. Also, can we block assignments by dates? Like create grading groups for midterm?

[dbohlmann]

Egadz, I was flabbergasted when I saw that I could not created a calculated column in the gradebook.  So essential.  In Blackboard (is that a bad name around here?) I always created a running total grade so students could see what grade they would get based on the assignments I had graded (with unsubmitted assignments being marked as '0').  This way they get a better picture of where they are, and it is an indicator for them that they need to do some catch up work.

     IMHO, the 'Total' column currently in there is totally useless; totally.  Pretend I have a 16-week course with 3 assignments each week plus a mid-term and final exams (50 total assignments).  In 'Total', the value calculated is not based on what has been assigned and due, but on submissions.  So if I am in, say, Week 3 (9 assignments due thus far), the Total column shows no difference between a student who has done all 9 assignments and received 100% for all 9, compared to a student who has submitted only 1 of the 9 and gotten a 100% on that - they both show up as 100%.

     If I click the option to convert non-submitted items to a 0, then ALL unsubmitted work -- including the assignments that are not yet due -- are counted as 0... and everyone's grade look poor in the early part of the course.

     I want the students to see a running total.  The assignments included in the running total could either be just the ones that have been due, or ones that I can manually enter to be included in the running total set.  And in either case, an unsubmittal is counted as 0.

[btbryant]

As many have posted before I find unthinkable that you cannot create a new total column.  In the department that I work in the students must reach a certain percentage on their overall exam score average before they can pass the course.  So for the students not to be able to see what their current exam average makes it difficult for the students and for faculty to confirm that they have reached the required score to pass the course.