To create a gradebook and use the various features:

• You can access gradebook from the Grades tab on the course navigation bar or use the Course Admin tab and under Assessment, select Grades. Click on the Setup Wizard. The Setup Wizard allows you to:
  • select which grading system you will use,
  • how you want to calculate final grades,
  • how you want to treat ungraded items,
  • select a grade scheme and display settings.
• Once you complete the wizard you can begin creating grade items and categories. 
• Your gradebook is organized into different sections- grade item, type, association, and max points. Grade Items can be stand-alone items or organized into categories.
• In addition to Numeric grades you can create Selectbox, Pass/Fail, Formula, Calculated, and Text grade items. 
• You can link a course activity, such as a discussion, assignment, or quiz to a grade item; this connection will appear in the Association column. 
• The Max Points column displays the maximum score a learner can achieve from that grade item.  
• If you are using a weighted grading system, your grade book will also contain a weight column. The weight is the percent a category contributes to the overall grade, as well as the percent an individual grade item contributes to a category. 
• Click More Actions to delete items or categories, reorder items or categories, or view the Event Log. 
• The Event Log notes all actions completed in your gradebook. This can be helpful if multiple are using the same gradebook, or if discussing grades with learners. 
• To return to your gradebook, click Manage Grades in the breadcrumb trail. 

To set up your Gradebook:

• Access the Grades tool through your Course Admin link or from your course Navbar.   
• From the Grades tool, select Setup Wizard under the top navigation bar.  
• The Setup Wizard includes a seven-step process to help guide you through initial Grade Book configuration.   This includes:
• Grading System (which defines the overall grading system for your course):  
• Options are Weighted, Points, or Formulas.  
• Final Grade Released: you can set the Final Grade to be released automatically based on one of the following: Calculated and Adjusted.  
• Grade Calculations: drop ungraded items or treat them as a zero.  
• You can also set for the Final Grade to be automatically adjusted when changes are made to Grade Items or Calculation Options.    
• Choosing Default Grading Scheme: based on available grading schemes in your course, this can be Institutional Default or Custom Course Schemes.    
• View Display Options  
• Manage View Display Options: this setting controls how many decimals will be displayed to the user.    
• The value must be an integer between zero (0) and five (5).  
• Student View Display Options: control what learners view, including Grade details, Decimal Places, Characters Displayed for Comments, and Final Grade Calculation.  
• Grade Setup Summary: review settings and click Finish to save.  

Grade categories allow you to group related items .

 This will show you how to create a category in your grade book:

• From Manage Grades, click New, and select category.  
• Enter a name for the category.  The name will display in your grade book.  
• In the grading section, you can set the distribution for the grade items that will be included in the category.  
• Distribution works differently depending on the type of grading system you use in your grade book.  
• If you are using a weighted grading system, assign a weight to the category. Then, select the distribution method you want to use for the category.  
• If you are using a point grading system, click distribute points across all items.  You can then set the points per item and decide if you would like to drop the highest or lowest non-bonus grade items for each user.
• When you are ready, click Save and Close.  

Grade exemptions allow you to prevent a grade item from being included in the calculation of a learner’s final grade.

• To create an exemption:

• From Grades, click Enter Grades.  
• To set an exemption for a grade item, click its the context menu.
• Select Grade All. Identify the learners you want to exempt from the grade item and click Exempt.  
• Exemptions are identified in the Scheme column. When you are ready, click Save and Close.  Note: When grade exemptions are set, the Grade Value on Item and No Grade Received release conditions will not trigger.  
• To set multiple exemptions for a specific Bulk Edit Exemptions learner, click the learners name and then click the learner’s context menu.  
• Select Bulk Edit Exemptions. Click the grade items you want to exempt the learner from.
• Click Save and Close.  
• You are returned to the User Details page, click Save and Close to return to your grade book.  
• Grade exemptions display in your grade book.