Manage Grades in Brightspace

Brightspace Grades (Gradebook) is available in most Brightspace Courses and can be used to communicate grades for, for example, assignments, exams, projects and participation. It is important to set this up properly. In a learning system such as Brightspace, we know that students spend between 7% and 22% of their time on the Gradebook page. On this page, we will briefly explain the features.

It is not permitted to place a document (spreadsheet or PDF) of student grades in a course. Even a document with only student numbers and grades is not allowed. According to the new privacy regulation from May 2018, this is strictly prohibited, and large fines will be levied on institutions that violate these regulations.

You must set up your Gradebook before any grades are entered. You cannot change the way your Gradebook is set up once grades are entered into the columns.

When grading Group Assignments, the grade should not be entered in the Gradebook as these will only be assigned to a single student. To enter one grade for all group members, please enter the grade in the submission folder. The grade will then be assigned to all members of that group and will consequently appear in the Gradebook for each student.

Using the Gradebook

In the following sections, the way how to use the Gradebook is explained. First, some  useful terms  are explained in Basics of Grades. Then, in Setting up a Grade structure, you can read how to set up the grades, categories, items, and schemes. In Entering Grades, a guideline for how to enter the grades and use formulas is explained. Managing Grades is about releasing or hide grades and managing them in bulk. Lastly, the option is given to Practice with the Gradebook as Grades is one of the more complex functionalities in Brightspace.

Basics of Grades

Setting up Grade structure

Entering Grades

Managing Grades

Practising with Grades